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originalwinnercheesecake · 2 years ago

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Wish list for season 2 of Wednesday.

I am a long time fan of the Addams Family, and after spending a weekend at the beganing of the month visiting a close friend, who insisted I watch this show... well I found it kooky, pleasantly creepy, and pretty charming. It is a modern take on the the franchise and I can definitely see modern tropes: Enid loving social media, the dance theme, coffee shop hangouts. But is also clear from Wednesday's dance, love of history, the secret societies, Pugsly fishing with grenades and eating potpourri, Thing being the family's garden creature...the directors are definitely aware of the long history of the franchise and are trying to be respectful to the classic elements... (something I am grateful for after Sony showed them so little respect with its new movies). I do not think this series was perfect, but I do count myself a fan, and am very glad to hear we will get a season 2 early into the new year. Here are somethings I would like to see happen in season 2. (Note I am writing this assuming season 2 will take place in the new school semester.). (Second note I am aware many things I want may not happen because I am an adult and this show is primarily marketed as a teen sitcom. But I have heard that a lot of adults watch the too, and the directors seem to know that many adults grew up on The Addams Family, and that if they do the show right they could make something different generations of a family could watch together)

1.) First thing I want is a longer season. 8 episodes was not nearly enough time to sort through this whole mystery, to many plots were rushed, and to many plot points were dropped before they should be. Most series I am used to get 20+ episodes a season and Wednesday did not even get half of that. For next season can we please have 10-15 episodes minimum.

2.) The second thing I want is to see some more Gomez and Morticia. I have seen some people say that they do not like this Gomez and Morticia, because they do not have the chemistry of the couple. Which considering a lot of those people did like their past flashback depictions, what they probably mean is that they do not like seeing Morticia and Gomez just as parents with their daughter, and would like to see more of their famously happy, passionate, and supportive relationship with each other. I understand. I want that too. But that’s a little hard to do with them living outside of nevermore and only popping in every now and again to check on their daughter. So I do want them to both get jobs at the school so we can see more of the family. I do not think that would necissarly take away from Wednesday and her friends. Wednesday would still presumably live in the dorm with Enid, want to spend her time solving mysteries and occasionally hanging out with her friends, and she would still think her parents are annoying because she is at that age. Gomez and Mortica would just be around if she and her friends got in more trouble than they could handle on their own. Plus they would probably bring Pugsley with them and I really want him and Eugene to be room mates/science friends.

But I would only want to see more of the Addams if the show stays authentic to their characters. I am really bothered by the show saying Morticia was Captian of the fencing team while she was at Nevermore. Morticia does not Fence. That is Gomez’s passion. It has always been Gomez’s passion in every version of the show, He has had different secondary hobbies (In 1960′s he did zen yoga, in 1990′s movies he golfed) but he has always had a love for the saber. Morticia’s passions are gardening (ie growing thorns and carnivorous plants like Cleopatra) and helping out her favorite charities (she also sometimes paints or knits). If it seems like I am making a big deal about this its only because one of the things that made Morticia and Gomez so healthy was how balanced they were. They liked to talk and check in with each other as much as they liked to make out and more. They loved spending time together but also had relationships with their children and extended family that they placed importance on. They did activities together but also had personal hobbies that they did not require he other to share. Morticia is a very fun character and her interests and hobbies are enough. There is no need to make her into Gomez in a dress. .

Send both parents to Nevermore to get jobs. Do not give the principal job to Morticia. Give it to Gomez because he is the one who likes offices, business negotiations, finances, and legal stuff that comes with principal duties. Have Morticia take over Thornhill’s job as botanical sciences teacher. This job would make a lot more scenes for Morticia when you take in to count her first hand knowledge and enjoyment on the subject, her social and nurturing personality being a great fit for teaching. Plus the show is putting a bigger emphasis on Morticia and Wednesday’s mother daughter relationship. Putting Moritcia as Wednesday’s teacher would allow the two to spend more time together than her being principal would. Morticia could also get to know some of Wednesday’s friends, and it would be nice for Wedneday to see more of her mom up close as a career women, since up until now she has only seen her as a housewife/stay at home mother

3.) Lurch can be vice principal, Pugsley again needs to come to Nevermore and room with Eugene. Uncle Fester could maybe be a teacher to. Or, since he already has his own stuff going on, and since visits from him actually makes Wednesday break out grinning, let him keep doing his own thing and just popping in as a special treat. Thing becomes the new Dorm Parent of Ophelia Hall. I want that last one more than any of the others. Thing did such a great job taking care of Wednesday and Enid. Every child/teen deserves someone like Thing looking out for them.

4.) More focus on the kids powers. We got some pretty good focus on Sirens and Hydes, and okay focus on Gorgon’s but we did not see much of Werewolf’s, Vampires, or whatever Xavier and Eugene (Wizards???) are.

Give Yoko and her vampire abilities some spot light, Enid can wolf out now so show me her doing things to train and strengthen her new wolf form (Have Wednesday help. let them take a martial arts class or do drills runs together). What are the rules for Xavier’s art creatures; like how complete/shaded does he have to draw them before he can bring them to life? How much movement do they gain? Do they have to stay within a certain proximity to him to maintain their life? Or once he gives it to them do they have it until they die (Wednesday killing the spider he showed her)?. Does Ajax really always use cover his snakes or is here any instant where using his powers is beneficial? Like could he camouflage a person as a statue for a spying mission? Can he stone objects to make them heavier for weapons, or to change there weight to protect items for being stolen... Could stoning a person in a injured state hold their state until help arrived? After what happened with Laurel I want to See Eugene become a bit more popular and his interest in bee’s become regarded as more cool. He and the Bee’s deserve it!

5.) Alright let's get into the romance aspect. In season 1 we have been introduced to about 3 possible ships for Wednesday: Tyler Galpin, Xavier Thrope, Enid Sinclair. Tyler and Xavier both have big crushes on her. Wednesday at first tries to enter into transactional relationships with them to gain knowledge and resources. Xavier is a seer who knows more about visions than her and seems to be aware of clues about the monster through some kind of connection. Tyler has a car and is willing to drive Wednesday to investigations. Also being the son of the police chief Wednesday is able to get information out of him when his father is no help. Tyler and Xavier make up Wednesday’s season 1 love triangle. (Side note if we ever have a love triangle again can we please get boys that don't look so much alike. I had to pause so many times to try and remember "wait which one of them has long hair?" or, "who is it that works at the coffee shop?".) In the season Climax Wednesday decides Xavier has to be the Hyde (didn't she already give the cops a rag with his blood to test and it came back as no match? Come on girl) and gets him arrested, then goes to see Tyler seemingly having decided to chose him. Upon a first kiss though she has a vision where she see's him turning into the Hyde change back into Tyler after killing its latest villain. So much for their new relationship.She sets a trap for him and tries to force him to turn, but she proves to be as bad an interrogator as she was a detective (seriously girl). When Tyler's dad picks them up Tyler asks his dad to give him one moment to say good bye to Wednesday. Under his breath he confesses to knowing he is the Hyde, loving it (his eyes water at this so some fans think he is being corsed to say it), and gloats over beating her. Xavier tells Wednesday he wants nothing to do with her anymore. She betrayed him, and even afterwards had the nerve to demand help from him without offering so much as an apology. Buy in the final fight she jumps in front of him taking an arrow to the shoulder and he seemingly forgives her after that (little to easy if you ask me). As the season ends Tyler escapes custody and we can expect to see both boys again in season 2.

Enid is Wednesday's roommate who while only being confirmed to like guys (Ajax) does give off big bisexual energy. She is a wearwolf, but until the final can only develop wolf claws. She did not have any powers or prior knowledge that would be of help to Wednesday against the monster. Her personality and taste are the exact opposite of Wednesday's. Now with all that in mind it can also be noticed that Enid is not scared at all of Wednesday or her family (Thing and Enid become fast besties), Wednesday did really seem to warm up to/ genuienly want Enid as friend despite their differences. Lastly it's clear by the final episode that Enid is the friend Wednesday has bonded with the most out of everybody. Which of these characters do I want Wednesday to end up with...?

None of them. Someone mentioned that Tyler acted shady because he always agreed with and sided with Wednesday, as opposed to Xavier and Enid who always helped her but also were willing to argue with her when they disagreed. They were right that was shady, especially when his master chose "making her feel special" as a way to manipulate her. I think he did mean what he said in the police station. His Hyde talking through him might have been an argument I would believe if we heard his Hyde talk before, but we don't. Lastly I am taking his voice actors word that while Tyler may be physically attracted to Wednesday he also hates her and Outcast kind, that he blames them all for what happened to his mother. I think his mother was the reason he was holding back tears, not Wednesday. On Wednesday's side while the Addams do forgive crime and malice, they don't forgive people trying to take those closest to them away, and Tyler tried to murder both Eugene and Enid, plus made a fool of Wednesday. For those "he was controlled" saying Wednesday should become Tyler's master and help him use his Hyde for good... are you watching a show about Wednesday Addams? If that is true, Wednesday should never be allowed to have that power over someone because it's far more likely she would abuse it just like Laurel did. In that case Tyler did not deserve one sadistic master, much less two.

As for Xavier... after the way she treated him in season 1, and how she still doesn't really recognize that she was in the wrong/bad to him. Instead she just says "you need to forgive me because I still need to use your knowledge"...well even after the arrow he should be really careful about trusting her. From what we have seen this boy tends to crushes on dangerous people and is willing to forgive a lot, but won't be date people he has trouble trusting. Plus even if he forgives her, Wednesday's main connection with Xavier is that they are both psychics. Xavier frustrates her in that regard because he has no faith in either of their visions, and laughs at her needing to believe in her new powers. Both these two would need to undergo a lot of work to make it as a couple, and I think they are better friends.

Moving on to Enid. Yes I think Enid is bi. Yes, this is Wednesday's best, and easiest flowing relationship.. Why is it her best relationship? Well for one thing their opposite personalities bounce off each other. For another Enid's friendship with Thing helps Wednesday to trust her and allows Thing to mediate the girls disputes. Three Enid is a pack creature and as prickly, dumb, and dangerous as Wednesday can be Enid counts her as pack. As such, even if Enid is mad at Wednesday she will forgive her and have her back when trouble comes because that is what pack-mates do. But a final reason I think Wednesday is able to be so close with Enid is that they are platonic, and that is much easier for Wednesday to handle than a romance. People are linking Wednesday and Enid’s Goth/sunny dynamic to duo’s like Starfire&Raven or Ty-lee&Mai. I see that I do, but they also remind me a bit of Criminal Minds Derek Morgan&Penelope Garcia. To anyone who hadn’t seen CM the way to describe Morgan and Garcia is that if you watch one or two episodes with them you will think they are a couple because they flirt a lot.Watch more and you realize they are platonic and the flirting is their way of teasing/playing with each other. It’s how they help the other de-stress. Watch an episode where either is actually around someone they genuinely have romantic feelings for and you see how them struggle and have a hard time maintaining such a relationship.

In every version of Wednesday I have seen she has cared about her family/friends but struggled with romance. Let's not forget how in the second movie she and Joel crushed mad on each other at summer camp. But then after camp, when he asked her how she felt about being in a relationship, she got uncomfortable and tried to scare him to death. Enid is a good bestie to her. Tyler is set up as an antagonist, and the show writers want her and Xavior to be her friend in season 2. I want this to be a running theme of the show. Have different people crush on Wednesday, she may briefly consider them, but the relationships will go wrong, and they will either become enemies or friends by the next season. Keep Wednesday's friends/Scooby Doo team her main relationships though.

6.) Finally since we are on the subject of friends here are some friendships I want to see more of in season 2: Wednesday&Enid, Wednesday&Xavier, Xavier&Ajax (show/wiki claims they bro's. I like bromances), Wednesday&Eugene. Eugene& Pugsley (I want. Please), Bianca&Xavier (they seem to know about each others parent issues and support the other), Bianca&Kent (siren who helped her at The Poe Cup. What's there relationship?), Gomez&Officer Galpin. (Make these two enemies to friends in season 2.)

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half-man-half-lime · 2 years ago

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Fic I'm not gonna write: Wednesday edition

So this is the barest structure of an idea with some loose spitballing of what I'd like to see in a version of the show Wednesday that was maybe catered a bit more to my tastes. I don't know how much I like some of the ideas, but I thought I'd share some of them anyway. Sorry, this turned out very rambly and incoherent.

The core of what Wednesday didn't do for me was 2 things: it's a CW show, and, uh, the dialogue seemed dumb some of the time I guess.

I think I would have liked to see a campy comedy about Wednesday Addams attending a private school for actual weirdos, not just a bunch of cool teens doing love triangles or whatever. Not trying to hate here (apologies if I'm failing that attempt), but that stuff isn't my thing. Also no toxic family dynamics within the Addams Family! That is like the easiest fish in a barrel the writers could have ever shot and somehow they missed!

The foundation of the show or fic I'd make is that it has to be silly first. Think Homestuck: take a bunch of very wacky stuff and let it spiral out into something genuine and dramatic. Populate the school with campy movie monsters and monster-adjacent weirdos, then show what it's actually like for those people to live like that, and let drama ensue from serious lived experiences you never expected to take seriously.

If there's a grand conspiracy or mystery or big bad, it should fall in line with that idea. Absolutely ridiculous, but in a way that all of the high tension and melodrama extend out of. Something that ties into the tangled mess of spooky magic and relationships in the school, or something tied to fundamental structures that everything grows out from (like a central magic system, the origin of the school, whatever). I like the second one better, but the first is more fitting for an Addams Family series.

Some of the more shaky and specific ideas that I'm less attached to:

Base the houses or cliques on the Four Horrors theory. Separate your campy movie monsters into your Gothic Horror types (where Wednesday gets sorted), your Nuclear Horror monsters (I'm not sure where you find Kaiju small enough to fit in the school, color me stumped), your Lovecraftian kids (I'm thinking Night Vale inspired, maybe a core cast member who's like the floppy awkward fish people version of the Deep Ones as portrayed in the Innsmouth Comics), and the Slasher Students.

You could shove the Our Monsters Are Different tropes up its own ass? I don't know that this is a dead horse worth beating, but you could do that, if you humanize the characters at the end of it. I imagine that Wednesday gets introduced to the different kids as she's walked through her new school, the person showing her around says something to the tune of "I think you'll find the vampires here a little different from what you've seen in the movies." They gesture to a broody teen who's clearly an unapologetic Edward Cullen parody, in a joke that seems 12 years out of date. Then another vampire boy in a cheap Dracula costume with a cartoon Transylvania accent comes up and fist bumps him. A later episode sees these two boys try to force Wednesday into a love triangle, basically wingmanning each other. Wednesday isn't having it, but she gets entangled in their complex personal issues- not sure about the Dracula kid's deal, but we learn the Edward kid is pretty fucked up- he never mentally aged past 17 over the last several decades, he's caught in a mentality and role he's incapable of changing or breaking out of (like the Winter Court Fae in Pale), and there's a perception-altering field that everyone else treat him like a normal teenager. Wednesday somehow cottons on to the existential nightmare he's living in and helps him to actually grow up a little. Maybe in her very blunt and confrontational way, or with a strange and chaotic prank. These boys aren't in Wednesday's friend group, and don't function as anything but side characters most of the time, but when it comes time for things to go bad in the finale, kids who got spotlighted in episodes like these show up to support Wednesday with the Power of Friendship.

Actually, reading that, I think part of the issue is that Wednesday really functions best when she's in an antagonistic relationship with someone. I feel torn between thinking the series should put her against a preppy authority figure a la Addams Family Values, and forcing her into a situation where everyone's so much like her there's no authority to rally against. Probably the latter inside the school, and the former in the local town of meanies. Sort of like what the Netflix show does, but you know, less CW-ish.

IDK how to allude to this without spoiling it by implication, sorry: one of the Big Bads is played by the same cast member as the actual show. They get to be dramatic and chew the scenery and face off against Wednesday in a more intense way, and are better tailored to be a good foil for her character. I liked the idea in the show, even if the twist was a bit obvious after a while.

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themonkeycabal · 4 years ago

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WandaVision Ep 8 Spoilers

(THERE IS A MID-CREDITS SCENE, BTW)

Previously on WandaVision: It was Agatha all along.

This show has really come along well. I was worried after the first couple episodes, which were extremely slow, but it's tightened up and been entertaining as heck, in addition to being kind of a surprising meditation on grief and dealing or not dealing. You go along with wacky sitcom hijinks and then get whacked with the reminder so many things that have happened here are driven by terrible loss.

Anyway …. Acting Director Dick is Up To Something regarding Vision, and I fear we're all going to have to endure lots of his jackassery this episode. He's the not very fun part of this show, tbh. But we're getting down to it, so hopefully he gets his comeuppance sooner rather than later. And then on to deal with Agatha. Who is fabulously rotten. I love her, I have to say.

I guess this all leads into Doctor Strange 2, which I didn't know until Feige said it at the TCAs this week. So, that's something to look out for, too. Maybe everybody already knew that, but that was new to me, I think.

In happy news, nobody is power washing the sidewalks this morning. Hooray.

Creepy woods, a figure holding a flaming torch, Salem, Mass. 1693. Ah, Agatha's origin story. Burning at the stake. Or, maybe not. So far it's just being tied to one in the middle of a dark, creepy night.

"Agatha Harkness, are you a witch?" "Yes. I am a witch." "Yet, you have betrayed your coven." *gasp* Agatha!

She's been captured by her coven, because she stole knowledge, practiced dark magic, and other sundry evilities. But she says she's innocent, innocent, do you hear her! Oh, I guess not, "I did not break your rules, they simply bent to my power."

The lead witch is her mother, apparently. Since Agatha seems unrepentant, all the witches zap her with witchy magic or something. She screams a lot. But then her dark powers start drawing from the witches, sucking them dry. This is all very dramatic. Mom casts the final bolt, but Agatha is too powerful and she breaks free. All the other witches, except mom, have been grotesquely mummified.

Agatha swears she can be good, mom doubts. Mom zaps her again. Oh, whoops, Agatha drains mom next. She takes the broach from mom's desiccated corpse then zooms off into the sky in a burst of swirly purple magicy mist. The coven really didn't think that plan through all the way.

Present day, we're right where we left off, in Agatha's basement cavern of dark witches and nosy neighbors. Agatha is talking to her rabbit, Mr. Scratchy, and smirking at Wanda. "I know. She does look shocked to meet the real us, doesn't she?"

Wanda's eyes go glowy and Agatha laughs. "Oh, that's adorable. My thoughts are not available to you, toots."

Wanda wants to know where her children are, and Agatha mocks her about her reappearing/disappearing accent. Wanda tries to whammy her. "Huh, your magic's no good here." But Agatha's is. Agatha's no dummy, and now she's got Wanda magically trussed up in the center of the room.

"Didn't you notice? Basic protection spell? One on each wall? No? Nothing?" Hmm. Agatha, tbh, Wanda has like no idea what she's doing. So … "How do you not know the fundamentals?"

Wanda asks "Who are you?" and Agatha asks the same "Who are *you*? All those costumes and hairstyles. I was so patient, waiting for you to reveal your true self. I got close with fake Pietro — Fietro, if you will". Lol. I love her. She goes on about the magicy stuff she did to make Fietro "But you're so crippled by your own self doubt that you believed it. Oh Wanda."

"When I sensed this place, the afterglow of so many spells cast all at once, I couldn't make heads or tails of it." She shows off a mind control spell with some sort of big gross bug. Great. And has it fly at Wanda's face. Super awesome, Agatha. Oh, I see, she's going through the spells she thinks Wanda has cast, all the details, all the control of a whole town and all its storylines. Agatha's impressed and envious, "What's your secret, sister?"

Wanda says she didn't do anything and Agatha doesn't like that answer and tosses Wanda around. Now, see, Agatha, much as your coven underestimated you, I think your runic protection is only going to go so far before Wanda decides it doesn't.

"I tried to be gentle, to nudge you awake from this ridiculous fantasy. But, you'd rather fall apart than face your truth." Well, I mean. She's really been through a lot the last few weeks, Agatha. Like A LOT. Oh, and we're going to relive it. She's casting some sort of memory spell on Wanda, taking them back to the vast emptiness, endless nothing Wanda described to Fietro a couple weeks ago. You're not being very nice, Agatha.

"It's time to look at some real reruns." Wanda doesn't want to play along, but Agatha reminds her that she's got her children.

So, through the magic memory door they step, and into a tiny Sokovian apartment, with Wanda's parents. Her father apparently smuggled DVDs of "I Love Lucy" and "Bewitched". Didn't the people of Sokovia suffer enough? Well, he's got "The Addams Family", too. That's okay, I guess.

Little Pietro runs in reminding Mama and Papa that the only rule of TV night is you have to speak English. They call for Wanda and Agatha nudges her to step into the role of little Wanda. Papa says Wanda can pick what they're going to watch, but outside, there's gunfire. Except, I guess it's no big deal, Mama turns away from the window and the street battle below their apartment, while little Wanda says she wants to watch "The Dick Van Dyke Show", season 2, episode 21. Poor kid. Pietro agrees and moans, "Always sitcom, sitcom, sitcom!"

I'm waiting for the Stark Bomb to fall.

Little Wanda is far too enamored of "The Dick Van Dyke Show". Oh! There's the bomb. Pietro grabs her and they hide under the bed and they stare at the Stark Bomb. She and Pietro discuss what to do, while in the background, behind the bomb, the tv continues to play.

Little Wanda reaches out with her magic hand and then big Wanda is yanked out of the memory by Agatha, who demands to know if she stopped the bomb going off. "You used a probability hex?" Wanda says she didn't do anything, the bomb just never went off.

"So, what I see here is a baby witch, obsessed with sitcoms, and years of therapy ahead of her." lol, but harsh. "Where'd you get the big guns, Wanda?" A good question, Agatha. We never did get that answer before, really, did we? Just a sort of vague suggestion of "hydra did stuff to her and pietro maybe?".

"I don't want to go back there." "I know you don't. But it's good medicine, angel. The only way forward, is back."

Through another magic door we go.

Ha, I just paused and saw the title of the ep is "Previously On".

And into the Hydra lab. "Don't be scared, you already lived it once."

Oh, it's Loki's scepter. And the … whichever stone that is. I can't remember, totally lost track of them. Mind stone?

Wanda is in the containment unit with the scepter. The Hydra scientist wants her to do something with the scepter, and jr scientist says that no subject has survived this and lead scientist is like shut up and 'go ahead Wanda, it'll be totally fine'.

Wanda approaches the scepter and it starts to shake and the stone breaks free and flies at her, but then pauses and they stare at each other. She reaches out for it. Then the blue outer bit of the stone explodes off and underneath is the the yellow stone. Ok, yeah it is the Mind stone.

Lots of dramatic power stuff with Wanda and the stone. She sees a flying silhouetted figure in the light of the stone and then passes out. She survives! I mean, obviously. The Hydra scientists have her sent to isolation where they torture her by making her watch "The Brady Bunch". Well, no, I guess she likes it. Keep this under your hat, but if you ever want to break me, making me watch "The Brady Bunch" could probably do it.

The Hydra scientists meanwhile are trying to figure out what happened, watching the recordings over and over — they don't see the whole stone flying towards Wanda and the subsequent mind meld. She's just standing there, and then falls down.

Agatha sums this up for us "So, little Orphan Wanda got up close and personal with an Infinity Stone that amplified what otherwise would have died on vine. The broken pieces of you are adding up, buttercup. I have a theory, but I need more."

Door number three reveals her digs at the Avengers compound. She is, of course, watching TV. "Malcolm in the Middle." Well, it's better than "The Brady Bunch." The only thing I hate more than "The Brady Bunch" is "The Partridge Family."

"Where are we now?" "The Avengers compound. It was the first home Vision and I ever shared. Pietro was dead, and I was in a new country. I was all alone."

Vision enters through the wall, back when he didn't remember doors existed, and Wanda invites him to sit next to her and watch TV. "It's funny because of the grievous injury the man just suffered?" Vision doesn't get sitcoms either.

Vision sweetly tells her that if she wants to talk about what she's feeling, he'd like to know. "Should you wish to tell me. Should that be of some comfort to you." "What makes you think talking about it would bring me comfort?" "Well, I read a thing—" that's the Tony Stark part of Vision. "The only thing that would bring me comfort is seeing him again." Poor Wanda.

Vision has a little "I don't know how to respond to that" face journey that is subtle but made me laugh.

She apologizes to him. "It's just like this wave washing over me again and again." She says the wave will drown her, but Vision says it won't.

"It can't all be sorrow, can it?" IS2G if you two make me tear up this morning, I will … not do anything but be kind of annoyed. I have had the worst allergies the last couple of days, don't make me more snotty!

"I've always been alone, so I don't feel the lack. It's all I've ever known. I've never experienced loss, because I've never had a loved one to lose. What is grief, if not love persevering?" Damn you, Vision. At least I have a new box of tissues.

He sees something funny on the telly and laughs then apologizes. She laughs with him, though. "No, it was funny." They smile at each other, cutely awkward.

Even Agatha wipes at the corner of one eye. Though it could be annoyance. Hard to tell.

"So to recap: parents dead, brother dead, Vision dead." You're still a very mean person, Agatha. "What happened when he wasn't there to pull you back from the darkness, Wanda?"

Wanda doesn't want to play this game anymore. Agatha insists. "Tell me how you did it? Vision was gone, but you wanted him back."

Wanda sort of wakes up, "I wanted him back." Door number four takes us to SWORD's ridiculous and massive lobby. Really, what is with the stupidly enormous monitors hovering over the whole absurd place? So stupid. Nobody wants to watch the news that badly or bigly.

Wanda is walking through the lobby — SWORD's security sucks — but contrary to Acting Director Dick's version of the story, Wanda is politely asking the security guy where Vision is. And not throwing red woo-woos or anything. "Please, please. When I came back, he was gone. His body. And I know he's here. He deserves a funeral, at least. I deserve it."

Speaking of AD Dick. He seems to be watching this on the security feed, he calls the security desk and talks to the guard. Wanda spots the camera. But, security guy waves her through, gives her directions to wherever.

Security guy gets up to buzz Wanda in, but she says she's got it, and she opens the door herself. The footage AD Dick used to make her look like a terrorist. I mean, we knew he was a dick, so this is no surprise, but still. Jimmy! Arrest that asshole for aggravated assholery and general shadiness!

Anyway, Wanda's striding down hallways and as she comes even to the Director's door, the security light goes green and beeps so she goes into his office.

There’s polite introductions and whatever.

"I understand you're here to see the Vision. To recover his body." "Well, I'm his next of kin." "I understand." You're a lying sleazy snake who's been doing shady things with Vision's body. "I'd like to show you something?" "And then you'll give him to me?" No, because he's a scumbag.

He shows her a lab, she's confused, he says it's what she asked to see. And down in the lab are technicians taking Vision's body apart. Obviously, this is horrifying to her. What did Hayward expect to get from showing Wanda that? Like she'd be all "oh, hmm, how fascinating. Look, he's made of wires and such. By all means, cut my boyfriend's robot head off. For science"?

"What are you doing to him?" "We're dismantling the most sophisticated sentient weapon ever made." I think you're a liar pants, Dick. "It's our legal and ethical obligation."

"I just want to bury him. It's all I want." "Are you sure?" "Excuse me?" "Not everyone has the kind of power that could bring their soulmate back online — forgive me — back to life." You are such a sleaze, Dick. They can't get Vision to work again, so why not emotionally manipulate the grieving woman to do it for you. Gross. DIAF Dick.

"No, I can't do that. That's not why I'm here." "Okay, I can't allow you to take three billion dollars worth of vibranium just to put it in the ground." He's the worst. "The best I can do is let you say goodbye to him here."

"He's all I have." "Well, that's just it, Wanda; he isn't yours." Somebody needs to squash this guy like a bug. I don't care who. Wanda, obviously, deserves the honor most, but let her get on with her life, I say. Monica's probably the next best for sure. SOMEBODY THOUGH! Hand Darcy a wrench, she'll take care of it.

Where were we … Oh, Wanda's doing the head tilt of impending magical ass-kickery. She busts through the glass, drops down to the floor of the lab, and a security team runs out to point their guns at her. AD Dick tells them to fall back. Why, his plan's working just perfectly, no need to interfere with the woman he’s making suffer extra.

Wanda walks around Vision's body to his head. And she puts her hand over the giant hole where Thanos ripped out the mind stone. "I can't feel you." Every bit of this, for me, takes AD Dick from a generic loathsome character, to somebody actually disgusting. Do not like.

Wanda can't feel Vision at all, and she walks away, out of the room, out of the SWORD building, leaving the body behind. THIS IS VERY SAD, MARVEL.

She gets into her car, and in the passenger seat is an open envelope, like for a greeting card or something. And off she goes to Westview, New Jersey. A down-on-its-luck small town, full of sad looking people and dirty streets.

She pulls into the driveway of a property that's overgrown, with just a foundation, no house.

Damn you show. It wasn't an envelope, it was a real estate deed with a plan of the property with a red heart drawn on it, and the words "to grow old in. v." inside. What did Wanda do to deserve this? I mean, fine, she was in Hydra for like a minute, but she wasn't a true believer or anything, and she redeemed herself. Come on. Stupid Marvel, making all the things hurt.

She's crying, you're crying, I'm crying, everybody's crying, as she walks into the foundation of the home that never was. And then it all just comes pouring out of her in a great burst of red light and grief and power. Creating the sitcom world around her and swallowing Westview. Poor Wanda.

There. There's your answer, Agatha. Are you happy, you big meanie? Go turn AD Dick into a toad, or something, would you?

Hm, from her power, the yellow light of the mind stone starts to separate out, from back when she and it sort of had their moment in the Hydra lab, and out of that Vision is recreated or reborn or reconstituted or … whatever. Then they're in the black and white world of the first ep, and everything is perfect. Damn you, Marvel.

Real world Wanda looks up from where she's standing behind B&W Wanda and Vision and sees it's all just a TV show set. Agatha is in the audience, clapping. She vanishes and Wanda can hear Billy and Tommy screaming for her. She runs off set and into her front yard.

Out on the street, Agatha has the boys on magic leashes.

Agatha says she knows what Wanda is and that "You have no idea how dangerous you are." Well, keep holding her boys with magic ropes around their necks and we'll all find out. Agatha's gone full witchy here, she looks great.

"You're supposed to be a myth. A being capable of spontaneous creation. Here you are, using it to make breakfast for dinner." lol. Hey! I was actually thinking last night that I hadn't made waffles in a while. Breakfast for dinner is its own kind of magic, Agatha. (note to self: check we have syrup)

Wanda is pretty done with Agatha. She wants the boys released.

"Oh yes, your children. Vision. This whole little life you've made; this is chaos magic, Wanda. And that makes you … The Scarlet Witch!" DUN DUN DUN! CREDITS! !!!!

Well that was all very dramatic and sad. A really good episode, really good. Damn you, Marvel. Kathryn Hahn is great, absolutely love her.

Yes, there's a mid-credits scene, btw. F'in AD Dick, for what it's worth, finally putting his Genius Master Plan into action. What a dick. The biggest sack of tiny dicks you ever saw. No really, I hate this guy. I hope Wanda tears him a hundred new ones. Then sets what's left on fire. With her mind.

Also, he’s dumb. He can’t possibly think he can contain Wanda when she gets a look at his Genius Master Plan, can he? Is he that dumb? Probably, but couldn’t one of his little minions go “um, sir, she did almost defeat Thanos. I suspect this may end catastrophically for us.”

Do you suppose Darcy’s still stuck in traffic?

OH NO! There’s only one more episode left. I’m sad about that. This has turned out really quite good. Well done, show. Well done.

#wandavision #wandavision spoilers #wandavision liveblog

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dreadwulf · 4 years ago

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Love is a Burning Thing

(part 1) (part 2)

He is riding away from her. Farther and farther away.

Jaime is riding at the head of his battalion across the Crownlands. Glory trots along quite amiably, at pace with hundreds of other horses around him. Without his needing to move a muscle, at every moment Brienne is farther away. He can feel the distance stretching between them like she is still holding onto him somehow and pulling with all her might, ever since she had left him this morning.

It hurts. Like a steadily increasing stomachache, only it’s some other organ down there in his gut. If there is a structure in the body that secretes devotion like eyes spill tears, it is surely there, somewhere in his belly, and it is contracting violently, whispering at him to turn around and go back. But his gut is perpetually wrong, and cannot be trusted. This is exactly what he wants, to be getting away from Brienne as fast as he can. If it hurts, well, Jaime is quite accustomed to being hurt by the things he wants.

They ride for King’s Landing, and the ache simmers inside him like a low fire. But there is enough else to occupy his mind, and surely it will fade into the background, unimportant, beside the urgency of a Targaryen invasion.

His squire is watching him worriedly from his palfrey nearby, and Jaime straightens under the young man’s scrutiny. Smiles back at him until his squire grins cautiously back, and spurs his horse to ride over to the flanks. There, that’s more like it. Lord Lannister is no lovesick boy pining after some maiden. He made a foolish mistake, but fortunately it has cost him little. A few days away from his post, some chagrin before his men, and this wretched ache in his gut. That is nothing he can’t recover from.

His squire is riding, he notes, much more smoothly than he did when last they rode the Kingsroad, leaving the capital. He has grown tremendously in these months. Just as he had told Brienne, he will have to knight him sometime soon, Peck. Else some other knight will do it, and deny him the honor. He has been a good squire, and Jaime will regret losing him.

Does he hope for it? Jaime wonders. At his age I thirsted for battle, and if there are truly Targaryens on the march there will be some promise of glory. If he knights him today, Peck will have to fight for his King. He will probably have to fight either way, but as a squire he will keep to the periphery, and a knight will be expected to charge on horseback, into the thick of the fighting. But Peck has not shown any remarkable talent at swordplay, not as Jaime had when Ser Arthur Dayne had knighted him. Not that, not yet. Let him squire a little bit longer.

His eyes drift to the wagon where the sons of the Riverlands are riding, where until this morning Podrick Peck had sat chattering and playing at dice with the other boys. What will he do with the hostages when they ride to battle? They could squire for his men. But if he loses any of them in battle, he will lose the cooperation of their parents as well.

I think Peck was sorry to see young Podrick go, Jaime thinks. His squire had taken the smaller boy under his wing, and the younger Payne had looked up to him with the kind of hero worship reserved by young boys for older, not-quite-grown boys. Peck enjoyed that attention, clearly. Podrick had a starry-eyed eagerness that his squire would be just outgrowing. An innocence.

Jaime had spoken with the child as well, the night they had caught him sneaking into the camp. A scared and reticent boy to begin with, with a fearful glaze and a pronounced stammer that made one wonder if he had lost his wits. But with only a little encouragement, he had turned into a fair chatterbox. He had been startled to learn that the boy had squired for his brother Tyrion during the battle of the Blackwater; it had been he that saved his life, though not his nose. Timid he may be, but the young squire does not lack for bravery. It seems he had left King’s Landing looking for Tyrion, and followed the Maid of Tarth in hopes that her quest would lead him there. His brother had been good to him, Podrick said.

As not many people have been, I’ll wager. Cast-off of a cast-off of House Payne, small for his age, and guileless as a newborn.

Jaime had offered the boy a berth in his army. He could squire for Jaime’s cousin Addam Marbrand, or at least apprentice to someone in his camp, earn his keep. He would not be a hostage like the Riverlands’ noble sons, but he could still run about and play with them, as he seems to enjoy doing. I suspect the boy has not done much of that either, he notes.

Pod refused his offer, however. He said, with some hesitation, that he hopes Lord Tyrion is well, and thanks Ser Jamie for the kind offer, but he would rather stay with Lady Brienne, wherever she will be. He has a fair cavalcade of praise for the lady, which Jaime endures without comment. All in all, he seems a good lad. Loyal. From what little he saw, they are quite tightly bonded, the boy and his lady knight.

He ought to feel better knowing that. If he was to be sacrificed for another, at least the other was a good-hearted and clearly beloved child. It could have been Lem Lemoncloak.

It does not make him feel any better.

He had gritted his teeth to look upon the boy, to be honest. Can one be jealous of a child? But Podrick very obviously had his lady’s love, and Jaime does not.

He has only just learned how much the wench meant to him, and how comparatively little he had meant to her in return. For her, at a moment’s notice, he had thrown over his family, his house, his responsibilities, to follow her into the Riverlands on the flimsiest of excuses, all because he thought she needed his help. It had been startlingly easy to do it, and as he walked away from his life he had felt lighter and merrier with every step.

What a fool he had been. As it turns out, she would not do the same for him - no, he was no more than a hostage himself, intended to free the companions she valued more. This boy, and that Hunt fellow, a hedge knight of some sort, who awaited them at the Dread Lady’s Gallows. Brienne had risked a great deal to come and find him, but the risk had not been for his sake.

But no matter. She is gone now and he will not see her again. He will return to his life and go about forgetting her. That should make these feelings stop. It will have to end sometime, the crawling betrayal, the creeping shame, the sharp sting of rejection, and that time will come much sooner without the constant reminder of her presence. With time he will stop thinking of her, and it will be like he had never met that stubborn, ugly beast of a woman.

This is not making him feel any better either. Cheer up, he tells himself, tomorrow you may die.

The Targaryen pretender has already taken Storm’s End in a rout. This “Aegon” has a band of supporters and a hired troop of mercenaries, the Golden Company, and at last word was riding out to face Mace Tyrell and the Crown forces. Of course it isn’t Aegon Targaryen - Jaime knows all too well the babe was slaughtered, skull crushed against the wall by his father’s creature The Mountain - but he looks the part, with the Targaryen hair and eyes. Perhaps he is some unknown cousin, some lost branch of the Targaryen family tree using Aegon’s name. Should Westeros be nostalgic for the relative peace of Targaryen rule, they might find the young man very persuasive.

He turns the details over and again in his mind. The Golden Company, a fearful force, and Targaryen banners stirring the populace to rebellion. They could be marching into a battle they cannot hope to win. Impossible to tell from the increasingly vehement missives he has received from the Queen Regent. She commands him to victory, but does she truly expect it? As has been amply demonstrated to him recently, he cannot expect even his closest allies to place much value on his safety. After all, what does anyone care if the Kingslayer should die?

My sweet sister would summon me regardless. She has shown that often enough. As coin she would spend me on a hopeless trial by combat merely to flaunt her purse. No doubt my beheading at the gates of King’s Landing would be just as gloriously pointless.

Though Cersei, it seems, wants him only to return to her side directly, to serve as her personal bodyguard. She is grown obsessed with some prophecy that the children will all be murdered and her choked to death at Tyrion’s hands. Hearing that Tyrion himself is approaching the city has sent her into a kind of frenzy. Her last letter was nearly incomprehensible, raving.

Yes, that had been the last bit of news the Spider had passed along, with the rest of his whispers: his own brother Tyrion rides with Aegon, and advises the Targaryen pretender how best to defeat their House in battle. That was the lowest blow, and it had knocked his usual confidence right out of him. Jaime does not fear battle, but he dreads this confrontation.

If one side wins, his sister and son are dethroned and probably executed. If the other side wins, he will have to kill his brother. Jaime loses either way.

He should not worry about defeat. The Crown forces are superior, the Lannister army vast and well-provisioned, and King’s Landing is by design a difficult city to take. But his brother is fearsomely clever, and he was Hand. He defended King’s Landing against Stannis Baratheon, and a man who knows how to hold the city will know how to take it. If he does, he will have his revenge for a lifetime of slights. He knows Tyrion holds it against him still, the lie he had told him about Tysha. After all the years they had been beloved brothers, after Jaime had set him free and saved his life, his little brother saw fit not only to murder their father but to conspire with their enemies to contest Cersei directly for the throne. He does not expect Tyrion will pull any punches now for old time’s sake. Not when they will face each other across a battlefield.

If there is anyone left who has not yet stuck a knife in my heart, they are running out of time to do it.

He mulls over such thoughts feverishly as the dimming winter sun lowers in the sky. For a time he considers pressing the Lannister troops onward into the night to reach King’s Landing. It will be only a few hours march from here, and their summons have been increasingly urgent. Still, he would rather rest his men so that they can arrive fresh to the fighting and not exhausted from the road, and he commands them to set camp.

“Milord,” a lieutenant interrupts him tentatively as he unhorses, “we have Thoros of Myr bound in your tent as you requested, awaiting interrogation.”

Jaime smiles thinly. They have captured Beric Dondarrion’s Red Priest, who had somehow turned Catelyn Stark into the apparition who had lead the Brotherhood without Banners to capture him. Somehow during the conflagration with the Brotherhood he had run away and vanished into the trees. But Jaime’s scouts found him in the night, Thoros, stoking a meagre fire near Maidenpool. There was no time to deal with him in the morning, so they bundled him up and brought him along on the march - though they gave him no horse, and forced him to walk along tied to one of the wagons, thinking it would make him more cooperative.

The Lord Commander’s tent is first to rise, and resplendent before ever he sets eyes on it, not that he notices. He leaves Peck to unsaddle his horse and enters it in full uniform. He will get through this interrogation before undressing and taking his supper.

He sits in the armchair they have carried across the Riverlands for him, and accepts a glass of sherry. The muddy priest is bound on the floor before his desk, and at his command his bonds are loosened, and he is allowed to sit in a wooden chair before his desk. Jaime observes all of this as he finishes the first glass of sherry, and requests another.

Once a huge man, both tall and fat, Thoros of Myr is now considerably diminished. His red robes are cavernous around him, his skin hanging loosely off his skeleton in great folds. Formerly a fierce swordsman, the fire that he once brandished by burning swords has seemingly gone out. The old Thoros could wear this one like a cloak.

Even before Jaime can begin to question him, the Red Priest is firing questions back. First among them, “What have you done with the girl?”

“Which girl?” he stalls, disconcerted.

“The maiden with your blade.” He may be physically smaller but his eyes are bright and sharp, and he holds Jaime’s gaze without flinching. The priest explains patiently, “the tall young woman with the king’s seal, she who brought you to the Brotherhood. I saw you strike her down. Where is she now?”

Jaime ignores this questioning; it is none of the man’s concern. Instead he asks him of his escape from the ambush that night, which quiets him a bit. He could have fought them, could have produced a flaming sword and defended his Lady Stoneheart, but instead he had fled. Thoros does not seem to be interested in explaining why, averting his eyes and answering him shortly with “yes” and “no”.

He questions the Red Priest about Catelyn Stark, about Berric Dondarrion, about remaining members of the brotherhood and the commonfolk who supported them. Still Thoros turns the conversation back and back again to Brienne.

“But what of the Maid of Tarth? I saw her nowhere in your formation, amongst prisoners or soldiers.” He pokes and prods, Thoros, and his brow furrows with concern. “It has not gone unnoticed that she is gone. Some here have it that you have done away with her.”

His patience at an end, Jaime snaps back, “And what if I have?”

Thoros puts on a perplexed expression, blinking at him curiously. “That cannot be. Surely even you are not so cruel as that.”

“Surely I am, ask anyone in the Seven Kingdoms.” Thoroughly tired of judgement, he decides to go along with the Red Priest’s poor opinion of him, if it will loosen his tongue. “The wench lured me to my barely-averted death. I am well within my rights to punish traitors such as she.”

“Brienne of Tarth never betrayed you for a moment.” The Red Priest is disturbed, shaking his head sadly. “That poor, brave girl. She defended you to a crowd baying for your blood, said that you were a changed man, that you were not responsible for your reported crimes. We called her your whore. But you never touched her, did you? Wouldn’t trouble yourself with someone so pure of heart, when you have your sister the Queen in your bed.”

Ah, so Thoros still has a sense of humor after all. Jaime snorts. “So pure of heart she would lead me to my death, while calling me friend. How is that not a betrayal?”

“She was forced to it. Our dread lady commanded her to kill you and she refused. The entire Brotherhood demanded it and she refused. We offered her a choice, the sword or the noose.”

“And she choose the sword to save her own skin.” Jaime swallows from the glass. “I understand it, of course. It is a hard lesson for one such as her. No one is pure.”

“No!” Thoros smacks the palm of his hand against the commander’s table, and Jaime cannot help flinching. “She chose the noose. Brienne said she would not betray you and they put a rope around her neck and hung her, hung her choking and kicking from a tree. She would have died there without relenting but for Podrick Payne, the boy.”

No. No, it isn’t true, he tells himself. But it tracks with what the boy had told him. She did it for me, my lord, you have to understand… He had assumed the choice had been a simple one. Podrick or Kingslayer. But had there been another choice as well? Hadn’t he seen the angry red marks around her neck, or decided not to see?

“They hung him from the tree next to her, and when she saw him dying, she called for a sword. Not before. Not for herself. She would have died for you.”

“Lies.” Jaime has gone very still. Only the muscles of his hand flex, where he holds tightly onto the drinking glass. “The Brotherhood’s Red Priest. Why should I believe anything you say?”

The priest raises his hands, palms beckoning to the air. “What reason have I to lie about this? What benefit to me? I care no more for factions or grudges. I have seen war render this land a hell beyond anything my lord R’hllor or any the Seven could dream up. So far as I care whoever is left standing at its end is welcome to its rotten fruit. All that matters is that in the ruins of honor and justice I met a maid who embodied both, and now she is dead. That, my lord, is a calamity, and I would have you know just how great of one.”

He hardens his heart. “In this world you are either faithless or dead. She is both, and soon enough we will be too. It’s no calamity.”

“You utter fool.” The Red Priest has the nerve to look sorry for him. “Let me tell you: when we found that girl she was dying of fever, battered and broken by brigands, and all she would do is talk about Jaime Lannister. She said your name in her sleep. She said she had to find your honor. She pleaded for you to come for her when she was next to dead. Not her companions, or her kin. Only you. No sword could have been more loyal to you, and no woman more true to anyone.

Jaime’s guts are churning now, his heart clenching painfully enough to turn him inside-out. What a stupid organ, the heart. If he could, he would carve it out himself.

It makes him snap back at Thoros tightly, “Gold will buy loyalty as reliably, and a woman too.”

“Not like her, not to you. You are only too cynical or too stupid to see it. That girl loved you. She loved you.”

The glass in Jaime’s left hand abruptly shatters.

Thoros jerks back, more at the noise of it than anything else, and stares down wide-eyed at the Lord Commander’s desk. His hand had squeezed and squeezed the glass until it finally popped, in a small explosion of shards and blood. Now his hand opens and stretches, and the Lord Commander examines it curiously. A few jagged bits of glass stick out of his palm and fingers. It hardly hurts at all, but it produces an impressive amount of blood.

Lannister guards burst into the tent at the sound of breaking glass, and the sight of blood makes them draw their swords. Jaime waves them back. “My golden hand holds drinking glasses not so well as I’d hoped. Stay at your post.”

“My lord…” Thoros, distinctly alarmed at his lack of reaction, darts his eyes between the bleeding hand and Jaime’s impassive face. “Your hand…”

“It’s nothing.” For a second he moves to pluck the glass bits out of his hand, but his other hand is made of gold. Not much good for that. He can only poke at the bloody shards with a strange fascination. His guards watch warily, not leaving but keeping their distance.

“You know I am a healer. Allow me.”

He shouldn’t allow it, and his guards are visibly appalled, but Jaime makes no move to stop him when Thoros kneels at his side. He moves aside the golden hand, taking his flesh hand and extracting shards of glass with careful attention.

“I can’t imagine why,” the priest murmurs, “but Brienne thought very highly of you. I owe her some kindness, for what we did to her. If she is gone, you will have to do.”

Then it comes again; the pain. Worse than ever. Jaime bows his face to the floor at the weight of it.

“I let her go,” he manages to say, hoarsely. “I gave her the sword and I let her go. Her and the boy.”

“Truly?” Thoros looks up at him dumbfounded, uncertain whether this could be another of his jests.

But of course he let her go. What else could he do? He couldn’t keep her prisoner forever.

He sees it now, too late. Brienne in the cell, wasting away. The tears she had shed when he denied her Oathkeeper. How she had hesitated so inexplicably when he allowed her to leave. The way she had looked on him, as though she would accept any punishment he would give her. He had thought it was her simple goodness that made her contrite. But it could have been more. It could be true; somehow, she had loved him.

When he could not bring himself to harm her, he thought it his own weakness that stayed his hand. Perhaps they share the same weakness.

He jumps up from his chair with that thought, snatching his one working hand back from the damned Red Priest and sweeping out of his commander’s tent. He strides rapidly to the stables and grabs the bridle of the first horse he sees. Honor, not yet unsaddled from their ride.

Jaime rides hard against the twilight, back down the trail they’d come. Back to the place where he’d left her. It was a day’s ride back as an encampment, but a single man riding as fast as his horse is able made the distance in a few hours.

She won’t be there. She could have gone in any direction with a day’s advance. But if she stopped there. If she stayed to rest, and to think out her next move. If she waited there. If she waited for me.

He urges Honor to run faster at the thought.

The Riverlands rush by headlong and the pounding hooves drive every thought from his head until he is pure instinct, animal-simple: find her.

The clearing is empty when he arrives, and quiet.

Jaime slings down from his horse looking around him wildly. It’s dark. There’s no sign of anything. No fire, no trail, no sign she had been there at all except that he knows this is where he had left her. He knows that in his bones. He will never be able to forget this place.

He walks aimlessly in one direction and then another. Which way would she have gone? East is Maidenpool, closest of anything, where she might find Tully allies. Riverrun in the other direction, a farther walk but where she might potentially find a ship, go back to Tarth. Or would she have headed singlemindedly North, towards the Vale, without even stopping to supply herself?

He takes not much time to decide. He thinks Maidenpool, then North. Climbing back onto Honor he rides East, alert for any campfires or single riders,scouring the forest hour after hour, and shouting out her name until his voice is nearly gone.

He reaches Maidenpool with the dawn and sees no sign of her there.

In a haze of desperation he accosts passers-by, one after another. Have you seen a maid pass this way, with a sword and a young boy? Riding a chestnut horse?

They all say no. They step back from him like he has gone mad; but of course it sounds a bit mad, doesn’t it? A lady knight with a Valyrian steel sword, as big as The Hound, with her own squire. While he’s at it, he should ask after Galladon of Morne, and mermaids, and the Crone with her lantern. But perhaps it is the stench of a cursed man they respond to, a man who has held riches and lost them. Such ill fortune is catching. They give him a wide berth, they murmur, they leave him standing in the street lost and alone. Perhaps they do not know a Kingslayer when they see one, but anyone can spot a man laid low by love.

Have you seen a woman, an absurdly large woman? With the bluest eyes you’re ever seen? A woman with a sword - a broadsword, two-handed? Looks like she knows how to swing it? Have you seen her? Big and strong as an ox but pure as a maiden? Straw-blonde, a hand taller than me, shoulders as broad as a barn. Has no one seen her? A knight? A true knight? The truest knight that ever walked this land? Tell me where she’s gone. Please, tell me if you’ve seen her. I saw her and I sent her away. She loved me, and I let her go.

******************************************************

The sun is marking mid-morning by the time he returns, and there are dark clouds looming in the distance, swirling up from the horizon.

He has hardly left the saddle before he is accosted by a barrage of debriefs and dreadful news.

King’s Landing is burning. Aegon’s forces arrived faster than anyone predicted, are thoroughly breaking Mace Tyrell’s formation, and their secondary forces sneaking up the bay have set Flea Bottom afire. The Goldcloaks have surrendered already, and the Red Keep will soon be under siege. Even if they ride full-tilt for the capital it will be a rescue mission now, not a defense.

“Ready us to ride directly to battle in an hour,” he instructs his captains. “Leave the camp set here, and I set my cousin Addam in command. Peck, you and your lady Pia will stay behind with the hostages and the provisions. If we face defeat see that they are returned to their homes - quickly as you can, the Kingsroad will be dragon territory before long.”

His squire’s face turns quite red and he looks ready to argue with him, and Jaime quickly turns his back to him. He hears the lad sputtering behind him as he throws the tent flap aside and goes into his Commander’s Tent.

Jaime sits alone in his tent for that hour and he burns. He feels the flames of wildfire in King’s Landing, hears the screeching laughter of Aerys Targaryen getting his fiery baptism at last. His most sacred oath is to guard his King, and his King is in mortal danger and he is not there. He left Tommen unprotected. Left his sister, his son, his duty. His doom awaits him there, is waiting for him still. He must go.

All around him his men are making ready for battle. He knows, with a dreadful foresight, that it is not a battle they can win. It will be glorious, and at the end of it he will be dead and he will never see Brienne again.

Brienne. Brienne. His heart blazes in his chest.

He should have kept her with him. He should have let her tell her tale. His stupid pride would not allow it and now she is gone.

Where is she now? Sheltering in some rain-soaked forest? Hiding in some Tully supporter’s house in Pennytree? Could she have seen him foolishly asking after her, and held her tongue?

He has been cruel to her. He has let her suffer. He denied her Oathkeeper. He had been badly wounded, his pride wounded, his poor sore heart wounded, and he had wanted to hurt her too. When he saw her tears some sleeping part of him wanted to take it back. He felt monstrous for doing it, and told himself it was because he was a monster. He had stood there and watched her with her shoulders hunched and fists balled at her sides, tears running down her face. What might she have done if he had tried to soothe her tears? He could have been kinder.

Now she will remember him as bitter and petty and hateful when he is gone, and there will be no one left in the world who thinks on him fondly.

But at least she will not see this battle; at least he gave her Oathkeeper to keep herself safe. She will have to think on him when she wields the sword, and perhaps she will remember whatever it was that had made her care for him. Perhaps she will know, when she holds the blade, that he had loved her too.

Mother, let her know it for certain. Give her my love.

When the hour is up, he leaves his tent, mounts Glory, and rides to battle.

#ring of fire #tumblr fic #oh hello there plot #middle chapters are tough - there's two more after this

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rayatii · 4 years ago

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A (somehow both very biased and not very opinionated) review of the Met orchestra musicians concert “Song to the Moon” from February 21, 2021:

I had been bothering my Tumblr followers with my excitement over this event yesterday, so it felt only right for me to stop procrastinating and give an attempt for a review of the whole thing; I think this is actually my first time writing a lengthy review ever, and it will probably sound naïve and be an embarrassment for me in the future.

It started around 10 PM where I live. I sat in my bed with my computer while eating chocolate in order to stay awake throughout the whole thing, and trying not to spill any pieces on the sheets, excitedly waiting for this event, having actually bought myself a fifteen-buck ticket about three weeks prior with my parents’ credit card (they didn’t bat an eye when I asked their permission), happily knowing that the money was not going to end up in the pockets of the undeserving Met management.

Given the shitty Lebanese Wi-Fi and the fact that this was a livestream, I had been worried that I might miss significant chunks and get upset over the fact. The stream did glitch a few times for me during the first number (mainly because I had my computer on my constantly-moving knees, before settling it down next to me on the bed), but otherwise it never failed me.

But let’s get on with the review. The livestream began with a title card representing an animation of a lunar eclipse, displaying the title “Song to the Moon”. The concert started with a performance of Antonín Dvořák’s String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 77 by members of the Met orchestra. (actually, given that this is a Met musicians concert, I feel that they ought to be rightfully credited; Nancy Wu, 1st violin [for this piece], Bruno Eicher, 2nd violin [for this piece], Désirée Elsevier, viola, Kari Jane Docter, cello, and Leigh Mesh, double bass.)

I actually listened to a recording of this piece in preparation a few days prior, just so you guys know. Obviously, there were a few slightly flat notes that were played, but overall this was quite a pleasant rendition, and I still have the theme from the 2nd movement stuck in my head as I’m writing this. What I also liked was that at one point (i.e. when I was actually paying attention in that area) I could actually hear the notes being played by the double bass quite clearly, at least compared to the other recording that I had listened to.

Next on the program, the musicians were joined by soprano Angela Gheorghiu (i.e. my main reason for actually purchasing the ticket), who performed all the way from the Athenaeum of Bucharest, Romania, [1st instance of Raya uselessly gushing] looking ethereal in that shot that was shown of her just walking inside the building wearing that white dress and flowing cape, before the actual performance. Just a warning for you guys here; I love Gheorghiu (actually, it’s a bit of a celebrity “crush”), so please expect a little bit of somewhat controlled gushing here and there (partly physical appearance-wise, which are indicated by the bold, and which I deeply hate myself for). This part of the review is causing me even more anxiety for that reason.

She performed on the stage of a theater that was practically empty besides the pianist. She sang in two languages I do not understand at all, which helped me a bit with not getting too distracted by pronunciation. [2nd instance of Raya uselessly gushing] Before I get into what y’all actually came for, I just wanted to get it out of my system about how she had this appearance that defined “has aged, aged really well”. She had this kind of mature beauty, especially with her makeup, that seemed to give me the overall vibes of a pleasant middle-aged auntie. (well, this was very difficult embarrassing to write) Even her singing voice had this sound that can be described as having this sort of “mature” quality blended with the whole fact of her overall sound being “hers”. I hope I have made myself clear.

Okay, gushing finished for now, let’s move on with the review!

Apparently the footage taken in Bucharest and the one taken in New York were both filmed separately. I found it really mind-blowing how the audio of both got synchronized so perfectly.

The first gem Gheorghiu sang was an arrangement of “Tatăl nostru”; basically an early-19th-century musical setting of the Lord’s Prayer by Anton Pann that is still used to this day in the Romanian Orthodox Church (totally NOT reading off the PDF for the program notes provided on the website). I had obviously never heard this piece before; I had tried to (VERY lazily) look it up a bit, but to no avail. I unfortunately don’t remember much from this performance apart from everything mentioned before, but what I do know is that was rendered really epic thanks to the participation of principal Met percussionist Gregory Zuber alongside the string players.

Next was performed the aria after which the whole concert was named, the incredibly famous “Měsíčku na nebi hlubokém” (aka “Song to the Moon”) by Dvořák again, from the opera Rusalka. This version was actually arranged by the violist Elsevier, who is among the musicians who retired from the Met during the pandemic. And it was indeed a beautiful arrangement! Now, unlike “Tatăl nostru”, which I virtually knew nothing about, I love this aria and know it quite well, so I did pay attention to some of the pronunciation; but then again, I do not speak Czech, so it didn’t matter much. Overall, Gheorghiu’s rendition was not perfect (I thinnnnnnnnk there were some notes that were a little bit out of tune? but there was vibrato that also touched the right tone and so I couldn’t tell), and I would certainly not imagine it within the full context of Rusalka the opera (see what I noted above concerning the quality of her voice), but that did not stop me from finding it quite beautiful.

It felt so weird not to hear any applause after each number, and so I could not help but clap after each gem, even though no one could hear me.

After the concert wrapped up, the audience got to watch a chat session between Gheorghiu and Met horn player Barbara Jöstlein Currie, where they talked about how this whole thing came to be (so apparently there was Instagram DM’ing between the two that was involved in the preparation?), before the five string players (which actually include two married couples!) whose music we heard earlier joined in. So unlike the concert, which was all pre-recorded, this was a Zoom session being streamed live. [3rd instance of Raya uselessly gushing] Gheorghiu’s speaking voice sounds radically different from her singing voice, and I can tell English is not her primary language, but that’s just something useless I wanted to include, on which I have zero strong feelings. In contrast to the pre-recorded concert, here she was responsible for me writing in The Balcony Seats Discord server earlier today about how “you know you have aged well when you end up looking a bit like Morticia Addams”, especially with the makeup. [gushing done]

The whole discussion hinged on the concept of “Met family”, and I found the whole interaction between Gheorghiu and the musicians just very very sweet, a star singer and musicians in the pit seeing each other as equals, as family. It’s not every day that I see that (but then again, my background is severely limited, so what do I know). Among the relatively unimportant things the convo touched on that stick with me, in no particular order, are:

Gheorghiu apparently married on the stage of the Met because the guy from the City Hall lost their papers and I never knew that??? (but then again, I never directly research info about my hyperfixations because I get overwhelmed) Everyone had a nice laugh at that recollection.

She got into this whole profession mainly to sing at the Met. Also the whole deal of her making L*vine cry and making her debut at a young age for a star singer.

Everyone relating to the feeling of going home at night after a concert, and not being able to go to sleep because you still have adrenaline flowing through you. As someone who does performing arts, I also relate to that on a moderate degree.

Family life talks.

Gheorghiu mentioning how she can’t work with a director who’s like “your character does that because that’s what I decided” because something something harmony? I can’t remember; I’m pretty sure I’m misquoting. But that’s basically the equivalent of “my house, my rules” (”my production, my interpretation” in that case, lol) imo, so can’t object too much.

Something about playing the finale of Götterdämmerung led the musicians to humorously throw in the idea of Gheorghiu singing Brünnhilde as her next role, and she went all “nah” to that, also humorously.

This led to her admitting that she’s not the biggest fan of Wagner’s music (though she would consider singing Elsa); saying that she’d travel back in time to tell Wager to stop writing these interminable phrases, to just get to the point (I’m not really into Wagner either, so I don’t completely disagree). Also, she believes that Wagner is difficult to sing, and that singers who nail Wagner tend to end up singing only Wagner (here, I think it depends, but there is a point somewhere in here).

She doesn’t seem to like singing acapella/without music very much, which also led her to record some sAcRiLEgiOuS versions of Orthodox worship songs, which you’re apparently not supposed to sing with music.

She sang something like “goodnight, goodnight” (idk) at the very end, it was cute.

To go back to the important stuff, Gheorghiu apparently wrote directly to the Met donors, asking to help in any way, because she wanted to set an example for other people by doing the right thing, and to help what she sees as her “family”, as mentioned above. I had heard some stories about her diva reputation (and she does seem to enjoy attention and stuff, from what I’ve seen myself), but overall she seems like a pretty good person. Mainly mentioning that because as y’all know I’m autistic and can’t tell intricate body language and stuff, plus my very strong belief that good person >>>>>>> great performer. (but my dear friends say that loving her is valid, so I guess I’m safe from too much disappointment. what am I even writing).

And that’s it for my incredibly long and uselessly detailed and almost incoherent and somewhat gushy review, which took me nearly 3 hours to write (and for which I may or may not have replayed a little bit of the stream just to get one bit of info right), and which will, again, probably embarrass me for the rest of my puny life, but which I could not not let out into the void of operablr.

(There were also moments earlier today where I was fantasizing about being interviewed on that very Zoom meeting for the scene-and-duet I composed back in January in response to the Met’s poor treatment of its musicians)

I guess what I can take from this post is: never write a review again, Raya!

#sorry everyone!!!#raya writes a review #concert review #opera concert review #angela gheorghiu #(whom i have excessively gushed over)#(but seriously you should count the number of times i have written 'gheorghiu' in this one post!)#(i haven't bc it's late)#met orchestra musicians #song to the moon #song to the moon concert #dealing with part of a current hyperfixation

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firesign23 · 5 years ago

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Trope mash up: detective au + poorly timed confession

Okay, so, a few notes first. I got this mash-up (detective AU + poorly timed confession) and it so perfectly fit my plans for Cocks and Robbers (not its real title, I promise) that I was like “Damn.” So then I decided to write a version of a scene that will eventually be part of a longer fic. In theory. The basic premise of which is FBI-agent-equivalent Jaime has struck up an unlikely friendship with Detective Tarth of the King’s Landing PD after they worked the kidnapping of the Stark girls together three years previously. Simmering attraction, blahblah, Jaime gets caught in a bank robbery/hostage situation, manages to notify Brienne’s captain/his close friend as it started, blahblah, y’all know this trope.

Trope mash up: detective au + poorly timed confession

(Below the cut for length)

Jaime looks around the office, assessing each of his fellow hostages. The group has formed a near-circle, though none have been brave or foolish enough to put their backs to the door where one of the robbers stands sentinel. The man is watching the corridor, not the hostages, his fingers tapping the barrel of his rifle in a strange staccato. Amateur, then. Or possibly just cocky.

Of the hostages, six of them are some degree of hysterical, ranging from slightly upset (one of the tellers) to about-to-lose-their-shit-and-get-someone-shot-in-the-process (the bank president); the only one who isn’t is the bank security guard, a crude man who is eyeing Jaime with the same sort of assessing gaze. Blackwater, says his nametag. Jaime hopes like fuck he’s uninterested in getting shot--he’s the closest thing Jaime has to an ally at the moment.

Shuffling back slightly so his back is against the heavy oak desk, he manages to slip his phone from his sock, where he’d stuffed it as the robbery began. He doesn’t want this noticed, hopes like hell none of the others see it and ask questions. The quickest glance tells him his text chain with Addam is still on-screen--he mutes the output and hits the call button, then shoves the phone beneath the edge of the desk. It should be good enough to pick up the conversation in the room, give the police outside some idea of what’s going on, at least in this room.

He runs a hand over his face, eyes roving around the room once more. He's trained for this possibility, it’s part of the job, but he never expected to have to use it. Not for what was supposed to be a routine trip to the bank. He hadn’t even stopped for coffee this morning. He just hopes it’s enough, hopes he can keep order before someone fucks up and gets hurt, or--experience warns him--gets someone else hurt.

Brienne isn’t entirely sure how long they have been sitting in the surveillance van, waiting for Ops to get a video feed inside the bank. Too fucking long, by any reckoning.

She’s contemplating whether she can just walk into the damn building and fuck the consequences when Addam’s phone rings.

“It’s Jaime,” he says, and for a moment Brienne thinks that maybe he’s inside but not--

Addam answers, muting the mic and putting it on speaker in one swift movement, hooking it up to the computers in the van, and Jaime’s voice comes through. She’s never been so glad for his expensive taste in technology--he’s distant, as if he’s hidden the phone nearby, but the sound is clear.

“Hey,” Jaime says, interrupting low murmurs—the other hostages. “If we’re going to be stuck in Edd’s office, why don’t we go around, tell everyone our names? We might as well know who we’re stuck here with. The guy at the door isn’t going to mind.”

Edd. Bank president. Brienne writes it down, shoves it at one of the officers in the van with them. It should help, knowing where the hostages are being held. There’s a frisson of… not excitement, this is too dangerous to be excited about, but it’s something. Jaime leads the conversation, the voices in varying degrees of clarity, but he is always clear, his words layered in subtext that Brienne and Addam are able to parse. There are seven hostages in addition to Jaime, a single man guarding the door to the office where they are being held. Jaime manages to convey that there were at least three more, all armed, and he has no idea where any of them are. Nobody is injured. Yet. It’s something.

The conversation dies away, but even through the phone Brienne can tell that people are getting restless, panicked. Panicked people are dangerous. They make stupid decisions and people get hurt. Jaime must notice too, because he speaks again, in that same level, soothing tone. Panicked people are dangerous, but they can be controlled.

“Listen,” he says. “Every single one of us has a reason to walk out that door safely. Let’s focus on that, okay? Jeyne, what about you? What is waiting for you?”

Brienne listens as the group takes turns talking about the thing that means the most to them, the thing worth living for. Friends. Family. One of the women mentions that she has a cross-stitch she’s never found the time to finish. Another talks of the holiday she has booked, her first one since her husband passed away the year before. Jaime keeps them talking, engaged, distracted. Brienne tries to pick up hints of the situation inside the bank, keep her mind on the task at hand, but there is an aching humanness in the conversation that sets a strange lump in her breast.

“What about you, Jaime?”

It’s one of the women that asks. He’s avoided talking about himself up til now.

“I have a cat,” he says, a familiar gentle fondness in his voice. It’s a good line. True, but not revealing. “Giant grey tom called Honor. I rescued him in the Vale last winter. Well, I didn’t. I was with a friend--”

“You fucking her? This friend of yours.” It’s one of the men. Bronn, she thinks, the security guard. She doesn’t even want to imagine why his mind went there, but it keeps the conversation moving. Someone titters, a nervous laugh but a laugh all the same.

“I never said it was a woman,” Jaime replies dryly.

“It’s always a woman,” says the man. “That’s a no, then. You wanna fuck her?”

This time, Jaime ignores the comment entirely. “We had to head back early, before a snowstorm hit, and it was dark and late and fucking freezing, and she insi--”

“Told you it was a woman.”

“--insisted on checking the car before we moved. Said animals would sleep anywhere when it was that cold. Of course, she was right. She found this scrawny little kitten tucked around the engine and…”

Brienne knows the way he smiles at this part of the story, the unaffected little shrug he gives as if to say what else could we do? One of the women laughs genuinely, despite the circumstances. Jaime has that effect on people.

“The friend can’t have pets at her place, so he came home with me. He’s mouthy and stubborn, so I tried to name him after… well, she didn’t like that. And Meticulous Pain In My Ass was too unwieldy, so Honor it was.”

There’s a softness in his voice by the end, an affection that she knows is about more than the most spoiled feline in King’s Landing.

“Sounds like you have more than the cat waiting for you,” says one of the women, startling Brienne. “She must be very lucky.”

She expects him to object, or play it off, but Jaime is simply silent for a long moment. “She’s extraordinary,” he finally says. There is a raw honesty that she rarely associates with him in his tone. “She doesn’t know that I... She should be told.”

And she knows, objectively, that he is talking about her. She’d held that little kitten halfway to King’s Landing before they’d found a place to stop and buy supplies, it’s not like she can forget that. She can even, in that distant part of her that is not entirely focused on the job, acknowledge the implications of what he is saying. She can’t deal with them, but she can acknowledge them. It isn’t until Addam looks at her though, far too much sympathy in his eyes to be coming from her captain, that she realises.

Jaime doesn’t know she is here. His words are meant for Addam, not for her. A message to pass on, if the worst happens. He doesn’t… however calm his voice, however clever his communication, he doesn’t think he’ll be walking out of that bank alive.

And his last-- no.

“Take five, Tarth,” orders Addam, brisk but not unkind. “It’s your turn to grab the coffees.”

She doesn’t want to go, doesn’t want to risk missing… She doesn’t want to go, but she can’t stay either, can’t sit in this cramped little van listening to his voice knowing it might be the last time she hears it.

Not when he’s just admitted he loves her.

Fanfiction Trope MASH-UP

#tropes #ask meme #all the fics I'll never write

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fandomdancer · 5 years ago

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1, 7, 22, 30, 40, 46, 49

Original post below so you can see the list. I am answering these questions but if you are interested in hearing more, I can answer more!

1: What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded?

I have two OCs right now I could answer this for, so I’ll actually answer for both.

My first OC is Talia Talbot. I was brainstorming names and just wanted something fun and carefree-sounding. The first thing that popped into my head was ‘Tabby’ with ‘Tabitha’ as the full name. My brain just decided it didn’t want the ‘kitty cat’ subtext and I started thinking of names with the same rhythm. ‘Tally’ came next, with ‘Talia’ as the full name, and I got stuck on it. As for ‘Talbot’ as the last name, I was literally just thinking of last names that felt right and and ‘Talbot’ just sort of popped out of my mouth. So really - ‘Tally’ was kind of a random name that had the right rhythm and it stuck. ‘Talia’ itself means ‘gentle dew from heaven/by the water’ which is a soft and beautiful meaning and kind of fits her personality. She is the steady person in her relationships, the listener, the supporter.

The second OC is Roslyn and to be honest I haven’t decided on her last name yet. My original idea for the character was a rich girl with an aristocratic name. I asked my girlfriend for help and she replied: “Roslyn” without hesitation. I don’t usually choose the first name that comes to mind but it sounded so absolutely perfect, the only thing I asked was: “Roslyn or Rosalyn?” She said: “Roslyn” and that was that. So...I don’t have her maiden name, but that is how I got Roslyn Thawne (yep...you read that right). The meaning of her name is ‘gentle horse/rose’ and while I know the story she is involved in, I’m not sure if the meaning of her name fits.

7: Is there a catchphrase or sound that they tend to make a lot (likely without being aware of it)?

Tally tries to keep her swearing down. How does she do it? Usually by muttering: “For the love of....” without actually finishing the sentence. Her frustration level can be determined by how loud, soft, fast, or slow she says it!

Roslyn is a big fan of asking questions without actually asking them. She’ll flatten the end of a sentence so she isn’t actually making a questioning sound, but usually the sound that comes out is pretty sarcastic. “Really...” is something she’ll say, usually to let someone know they’re going too far, or doing something completely ridiculous.

22: What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have?

Tally and her best friend Ren (short for Renault...but only she can call him that ;) ) have matching tattoos. I know they have but honestly I don’t know what they are yet haha. (They’re both still in development)

Roslyn is even less developed so I’m not sure of any distinguishing characteristics. I know she has a smattering of freckles on her face and her significant other (Eobard) does like to kiss them when he feels affectionate.

30: When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like?

Tally loves music. She listens to most kinds from all decades, from Billie Holiday and Kay Starr to Elvis Presley and The Runaways, to the Bangles and the Backstreet Boys. She does prefer songs with lyrics and doesn’t spend a lot of time in the classical or smooth jazz range. She does have a solid appreciation for movie scores. She has a tendency to annoy the Wells (EoWells and Harry both) by blasting classic rock when she’s burying herself in work, but Cisco will often drop by for an impromptu dance party. Film wise - she gets along like a house on fire with Cisco Ramon so the two of them share their love of classic - and not-so-classic - films. She’ll quote scenes from Die Hard with him over the course of a day, and then flop down with Buster Keaton and a bowl of popcorn in her off hours. She isn’t big on going to the theatre for plays but will sneak over if it’s a musical or a dance show (like Riverdance).

Roslyn received piano lessons at a young age (which she eventually traded for violin lessons), and is definitely quieter than Tally when it comes to musical tastes. She enjoys film scores, orchestral or symphonic music, and even band music when she can get to it. She considers opera to be an impressive vocal achievement but doesn’t listen to it on a regular basis (unless Eobard’s listening and letting it play in the house). Roslyn doesn’t quite enjoy sitting and watching many films or plays or television but will do it occasionally. She prefers to be outside, enjoying what nature she can.

40: Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others?

I actually can answer this for Ren, not Tally or Roslyn (because I just don’t know yet). Ren’s guilty pleasure is comedies. He was a more casual fellow before the catastrophe that ripped him and Tally apart, but later he comes off as very grumpy and dark. No one would suspect his favorite actor is Dan Aykroyd and he secretly loves to watch Addams Family and Get Smart and Max Headroom.

46: What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover?

Tally will blow kisses at Ren randomly. She doesn’t do it during serious moments like when they’re at work, but relaxing, or even at a dinner party, she’ll send one when she thinks no one is looking (however, someone often sees).

Roslyn knows Eobard isn’t huge on contact so she adapts the Vulcan affectionate gesture between Sarek and Amanda, and usually keeps two fingers in contact with a part of him when there is need for support or when her heart is full. Eobard will at times be more comfortable with contact, and instead of letting her rest her fingers on him he’ll take her hand or place his hand on her opposite waist. When the two of them are truly alone they are in much more prolonged contact with each other but in most situations it’s just the two fingers.

49: What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood?

Tally consistently dreams about the final moments of her Earth - Earth-15. As she spends more time on Earth-1, the dreams are less frequent but they still happen. They heavily affect her mood at first but again, over time, the effect lessens. She never truly stops being affected by them and they never truly stop. Sometime she dreams about what actually happened, and sometimes her mind makes up alternate. She has woken with a start, woken normally but disturbed, woken screaming, woken crying. In a few short hours, she lost everyone and everything but the clothes on her back, and she is scarred from that for the rest of her life.

Roslyn doesn’t start to really have nightmares until she sees how far Eobard is falling into his obsession with The Flash. She dreams often of him turning on them, or leaving them. Little does she know their daughter Melody also dreams of him killing them. This is an additional strain on her marriage to him, particularly when he begins to say and do things she thought she had only dreamed. She is watching her husband and the love of her life descend into madness and she is helpless to stop it.

Original Post:

Get to know my character

Reblog this so your followers can spam your ask box. Have fun! ♥

01. What does your character’s name mean? Did you pick it for the symbolism, or did you just like the way it sounded? 02. What is one of your character’s biggest insecurities? Are they able to hide it easily or can others easily exploit this weakness? 03. What would be their favorite physical trait about themselves? 04. What are their favorite traits about their lover? (one psychological and one physical) 05. Are they sexually confident or more of the shy type? 06. Do they have any hobbies that their lover finds unusual, odd, or otherwise annoying? 07. Is there a catchphrase or sound that they tend to make a lot (likely without being aware of it)? 08. What is, perhaps, their biggest flaw? Are they aware of this or oblivious to it? 09. Do they have a favorite season? What about a favorite holiday? 10. Is your character more feminine or masculine? 11. What is something that would make your character fly into a rage? 12. Is there some particular talent, skill, or attribute that they simply could not give up? 13. What are your character’s sleeping habits? Heavy or light sleeper? Blanket stealer? One that always rolls onto the floor? Pushes their lover onto the floor? Sleep talker or walker? 14. Do they live alone or with family? How do they feel about their family/roommates? 15. Is there a certain person in this world that they cannot stand? The very mention of this person’s name makes them tremble with anger or fear. 16. Is your character the athletic type or more of a couch potato? What are some sports/games that they like? 17. Does your character have dreams of getting married and/or having children? 18. What kind of home would they want to live in? Where would they place this abode? 19. Would your character be the kind to get into fights? (physical or verbal) Would they be a good fighter or cave in rather easily? 20. Does your character like animals? What are some of their favorite animals? Would they want pets? What about mythological creatures? 21. What is one of your character’s biggest fears? How would they react when dealing with this fear? 22. What kind of tattoos, piercings, birthmarks, freckles, and other such unique physical features do they have? 23. What is your character like when it comes to school? What subjects are they good/bad at? Do they get in trouble a lot or are well behaved? 24. In their own words, how would your character describe what their lover is like? 25. Is there something traumatic from your character’s past that greatly affects them even to this day? 26. What is their lover like sexually? How do they feel about their lover’s quirks, needs, etc? 27. If your character was going to get arrested, what would be the most likely reason for it? 28. If your character became a celebrity, what would they be famous for? 29. What is one of the most courageous things your character has ever done for a loved one? 30. When it comes to the arts (music, film, theater, etc), what does your character like? 31. Would your character be the kind capable of killing? Would they enjoy killing or only use it when necessary or, perhaps, refuse to kill no matter what? 32. If your character’s lover offered to take them out on a dream date, what would they want to do? 33. If your character wanted to be alone, where would they go? 34. Does your character have favorite foods? (breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert, snacks, etc) 35. Is your character afraid of death? If they got to choose how to die, how would they want to go? 36. Does your character have any medical conditions? Are they serious or minor? Do they affect their day to day life? 37. What are some of your character’s pet peeves? What are some things that annoy them or disgust them? 38. What kind of weather does your character like? Cloudy skies, rainy days, sunshine, etc? 39. When people look at your character, is there some assumption they might make about them just by appearance? Is that assumption correct? 40. Does your OC have any guilty pleasures they enjoy? Hobbies, past times, music, etc that they wouldn’t want known by others? 41. Does your character’s family affect your character in any way? 42. Is there anything in your character’s past that they regret, haunts them, or they wish they could change? 43. Does your character have a switch that changes aspects of their personality whether they are around friends, family, etc. Is there someone who gets to see their true self? 44. Is there a particular event that would emotionally devastate your character? 45. Is your character the kind to hide their true emotions or do they wear their heart on their sleeve?

46. What is some random affectionate thing that your character always does to their lover? 47. Is your character outgoing? Would they be the leader of the friend group, or the quiet one that gets dragged along? 48. Is there anything in particular that would ignite your character’s jealousy? Or does your character not get envious? 49. What is something that your character has nightmares about? Are these frequent? Do they heavily affect your character’s mood? 50. If your character confessed love to their crush, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc, what would they say?

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classic-rock-roller · 6 years ago

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I'm sorry but I'm a bit of a newbie fan of motley crue. Is it okay if you give me sort of like a crash course on motley crue? The need to knows and basic shit? Thanks!♥

That’s totally ok! :) I’m glad you find them enjoyable they’re a great band.

Ok, so there are four members.

Nikki Sixx, who plays bass

Tommy Lee on drums

Mick Mars on guitar (rhythm and lead, he’s fucking amazing)

and Vince Neil on vocals

I would suggest listening to Too Fast For Love, Shout at the Devil, Theatre of Pain, Girls Girls Girls, and Dr. Feelgood.

Ok so now into our crash course.

Mick Mars was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis which is a type of arthritis which causes his bones to fuse together at the spine and at the larger joints in his body. It took a while for him to be diagnosed and for a while, he was self-medicating with alcohol. He feels bad that he can’t interact with fans the way that Nikki, Tommy, and Vince can because of this. He was born Robert Deal and had three kids by the end of the 70s. He was trying to get into a famous band and worked with many in the 70s but nothing got big. He actually met Nikki in a convenience store about a year or two before they formed Mötley. He hasn’t had the best luck with love. He was married to Emi Canyn which caused a lot of trouble between Mick, Tommy, and Nikki because Tommy and Nikki would be dicks to Mick and Emi when they were dating. They got married but she divorced him about four years later. She married him just for his money. She recently passed away in 2017. Although he’s happy now I know he’s with someone else but I don’t know her name and apparently, he was supposed to be coming out with solo music.

Mick and Emi

Nikki Sixx had a very volatile childhood. He was born Frank Feranna Jr after his dad, who promptly left a couple of years after he was born. He has two sisters a half sister and a sister he didn’t find out about until well into the 2000s who was in a house for people with disabilities. He had a very bad relationship with his mother and tended to live with his grandparents, who he was very close to. He was in a band called London in the 70s and tried out to be the bassist for Quiet Riot but that didn’t pan out. He stole his first guitar and he wrote most of the songs/lyrics for Mötley. He was married to Brandi Brandt from 1989-1996 and they have three children together. He later married Donna; D’Errico and they have one child together. He is currently married to Courtney Bingham and I think they are expecting a child. Nikki also died from a heroin overdose in 1987ish and was brought back to life via two shots of adrenaline to the heart.

Nikki and Brandi

Tommy Lee is half Greek his mother is from Greece and I remember him saying in his book his mother couldn’t speak English all that well. He has a younger sister and he and Vince went to the same school and knew each other before Mötley started. Although Tommy and Nikki were the start of the band after they met at a party. When they first met Mick they found the ad he’d put in the paper. Something like “Loud, rude, aggressive guitar player. No shit Call…” When he came to the door both Nikki and Tommy thought he looked like a reject from the Addams family. Tommy was married to Heather Locklear but they divorced in 1993 I think. He then married Pamela Anderson and they had two kids before a big fight and he then got charges of spousal abuse and went to jail. He is engaged to someone now, I don’t remember her name I think it’s Brittny Furlan.

Tommy and Pamela

Vince has been married four times and he had three kids. His first kid was with a girl he knocked up in high school. He was then married to Beth Lynn and they had a daughter, Elizabeth. He was charged with vehicular manslaughter when he killed Razzle of Hanoi Rocks in a car accident. When he came home, Beth had left him and he came home to an empty house. He wanted to be in his daughter’s life but Beth kept his daughter away from him. He then married Sharise Ruddell around 1987ish. They had a daughter, Skylar, but she died at a very early age from cancer. I think she was four. He was then married to Hedi Mark and his final wife was Lia Geradini. They married in 2005 and separated in 2010. His current girlfriend who he’s living with is Rain Andreani. He was very upset over the car accident and his daughter’s death and talks about it in depth in his book Tattoos and Tequila.

Sharise, Skylar, and Vince

That’s all I can think of now. If you want more info you should read The Dirt by Neil Strauss, Tattoos and Tequila which is Vince’s biography, Tommyland which is Tommy’s and The Heroin Diaries which is Nikki’s. If you have any questions after the film comes out I’ll gladly answer them for you!

Send me a question about Mötley Crüe

#motley crue #mötley crüe #the dirt #the dirt movie #nikki sixx #vince neil #tommy lee #mick mars

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moonlitgleek · 6 years ago

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samwpmarleau

replied to your post

“Don't you think POD was a bit abelist for refusing tyrion?”

see, idk, while that may be par for the course in westeros, it's pretty dang hypocritical. elia wasn't supposed to survive infancy either, and yet she did. oberyn is the one putting the ableism spin on his mother's choices, we have nothing from her specifically. imo, she easily could have taken it as an insult for a) ableism towards her own daughter, b) the reneging on the deal she had with joanna, which tywin presumably used to be on board with, c) the assertion that elia isn't ~worthy~ of his precious jaime, and d) because betrothing elia to tyrion would mean at EARLIEST elia couldn't have her first kid until she was 29, which is just ridiculous in westeros' terms.

It’s true that we haven’t heard from the Princess of Dorne herself but Oberyn is as close to a reliable witness as we’re going to get until GRRM deigns to give her a voice. By no means does that mean that everything he says must be accurate, but the flow of the conversation between him and Tyrion doesn’t seems to support that this is only Oberyn’s spin imo. Oberyn alternates between telling his mother’s observations and giving his own conclusions in this conversation but he does frame each as they are. For example, he clearly presents his thoughts about the supposed double betrothals and the cabin on their ships as his own deduction before he shifts into telling information that his mother told him. The part about the match with Tyrion being taken as an outrage not only comes with Oberyn’s assertion that it was, it comes in-between an instance where Oberyn is recounting things his mother told him, and another where he confirms that she did think that she won the tilt. The context that Oberyn gives - that this is a story that merited a mention on the Princess’s deathbed, no less than 6 years after the incident and (probably) after Elia had married Rhaegar - coupled by his lack of objection to Tyrion’s assumption that the Princess did think of the offer as an outrage makes me inclined to take this as the Princess’s take too and not just Oberyn’s. After all, if she didn’t take it as an insult, why did she think that she won the tilt like Oberyn confirms? Yes, it’s absolutely because wedding Elia to Rhaegar was a resounding rebuff to the ableism Tywin showed towards Elia, but that is intrinsically tied to Tyrion and his disability.

Thing is, the ableism against Elia can not be separated from the ableism against Tyrion because it was delivered through Tyrion. The very expression of Tywin’s ableism towards Elia was in offering disabled Tyrion instead of able-bodied Jaime, sending a message that sickly Elia could only be worthy for the disabled kid, not the golden able-bodied one. If Tyrion was not disabled, if there was no ableism leveled at him from both parties, the offer wouldn’t have been an insult in the first place. We can’t claim that the Princess of Dorne was insulted only because the offer of Tyrion displayed ableism towards Elia which had nothing to do with Tyrion himself when said ableism lies in offering Tyrion. If she didn’t think there was something wrong with Tyrion, then what was the insult to Elia? That Tyrion was much younger? That might have made the match a bad fit, disadvantageous and unsuitable for the Princess’ dynastic hopes, but it’s no insult in and of itself. Not “an outrage” as Tyrion put it and Oberyn agreed with him. Simply a part of dynastic negotiation.

Nor can the fact that Tywim refused the match be taken as an insult on its own, unless every other lord took failed marital plans as a personal insult, and unless the Princess of Dorne herself took Tywin’s rejection of Oberyn for Cersei as an insult. Which she didn’t though Tywin’s brusque tone clearly bothered her. Too, it can not be said that Tywin reneged on a previous marital agreement because we got no indication that Tywin even knew about the correspondence between the Princess and Joanna, and Joanna’s own agreement can not be seen as a solid promise of betrothal that Tywin should be held to because marriages are typically arranged and negotiated between heads of Houses so Joanna couldn’t have formally betrothed the twins without Tywin’s approval. As a political actor in her own right, the Princess knew that, which is further supported by how all the information we have indicates that she didn’t approach the matter like it was previously preliminary approved. I’d also think that the Princess would have mentioned it to Oberyn if this was a case of Tywin going back on his word, considering that betrothal agreements are a big deal in Westeros.

while ableism is rampant, given elia's own condition, the fact that dorne is more lenient with pretty much everything, and tywin's betrayal, i think it just as likely she took it as just a plain insult, irrespective of tyrion's condition.

I don’t think that Elia’s illness precludes the Princess of Dorne displaying ableist behavior. It is not uncommon for someone to display prejudice against the same minority group that a loved one belongs to. This is a bit like saying that someone isn’t racist because they have PoC in their family. Not only does casual prejudice exist in behavior that isn’t consciously recognized as prejudice, but selectivity in prejudice also exists. It is not uncommon for someone to exclude a loved one from a certain prejudice. We see this all the time in real life and also repeatedly in the text. Various Starks causally dehumanize Tyrion by referring to him by a slur or reducing him to his disability, but they’d never do that to Bran (though casual ableism towards Bran does creep up in several places because they don’t even realize that’s ableism). Tywin is a ramping misogynist who thinks women are inherently inferior and has wild issues with powerful women but Joanna was still his confidante who he left in charge when he was absent. Rhaenyra Targaryen displayed the usual prejudice and scapegoating of bastards when she ordered the arrest of Addam Velaryon based on nothing but his bastardy, even though her fiercely protected elder three sons were all bastards. Lysa Tully is grossly ableist towards Tyrion, even though her own beloved child is also a victim of Westerosi ableism. Oberyn himself showed ableist behavior towards Tyrion in a way I highly doubt he showed with either of his beloved siblings.

(I also think there is a conversation to be had about the kind of disability in question because that does affect the form of ableism leveled at a disabled person. Ableism aimed at Tyrion is different from the one aimed at Elia is different from the one aimed at Lollys is different from the one aimed at Hodor, even though all have points of correlation and all share the implicit belief that the disabled person is worth less than others. That casual assumption of Tyrion’s immorality and evilness and violence even as a baby or before he’d done anything questionable that’s from people who aren’t as grossly ableist as the Lannisters, that’s a distinct pattern of disturbingly common reactions to Tyrion that is patterned to his specific disability. But I’m not really equipped to tackle this subject so I’ll leave to more informed people).

additionally, the fact that elia was besotted with baby tyrion and thought him absolutely adorable, and that oberyn thought him a perfectly normal (or at least not deformed "enough") baby suggests the POD didn't display much ableism at all in raising them. maybe they just turned out well in spite of her, but i'm not inclined to think that the case.

That’s a too narrow view of what ableism is, though. It restricts ableism to the purposely malicious and more extreme form, to instances where people call a disabled baby monstrous because of his disability or use it as an excuse to abuse him. But that is not the only form of ableism there is. Casual ableism is still ableism.

More importantly, it is not accurate to imply the Martells haven’t shown ableism and use it as a proof that the Princess didn’t display it in turn. Because Oberyn was repeatedly ableist. He might have thought Tyrion “a poor sort of monster”, but he said baby Tyrion had “an evil eye” (evil being a stereotype often used against Tyrion due to his dwarfism which automatically vilifies him in the eyes of everyone), regularly referred to him as the Imp, told him to his face that it was an outrage that he was put forward as an option for his sister and expected Tyrion to see where he was coming from. Oberyn displayed a lot of casual ableism with Tyrion, because ableism is inescapable in their society. I tend to think about the instance with the Princess of Dorne as a similar kind of casual ableism. I reiterate that I don’t think the Princess of Dorne was malicious or that she wanted to tear Tyrion down. But I do think that she thought him not good enough for her daughter because of his disability, in a similar way to Catelyn’s reaction to his marriage to Sansa (though that has other elements as well, of course. But thinking of Tyrion as “the twisted little man” really can’t be taken as anything but ableism).

Point is, one doesn’t need to be actively abusive or terrible to be ableist. Jon Snow actively lorded his physicality over Tyrion at the beginning. Some of the kindest souls in the series like Sansa and Bran still display that prejudice, not out of maliciousness or a desire to hurt and not out of a conscious belief of superiority to the disabled person. It doesn’t mean they are bad people. But that doesn’t make their behavior any less ableist, not when it’s built on, informed by and expressed through a person’s disability.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #tyrion lannister #elia martell #the unnamed princess of dorne #oberyn martell #tywin lannister #bran stark #lollys stokeworth #hodor #disability in westeros #ableism tw #ableism in westeros

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calamitaswrath · 6 years ago

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Okay, so in the past I’ve already made posts about my ideas for a Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Abridged series as well as my ideas for an AU in which Lora gets resurrected, but I think it’s about time that I get to the big thing: How I would rewrite the main game’s story/what I’d change around. I should point out, some of these ideas aren’t really that refined yet, and I don’t have that many ideas to give some characters that deserve more spotlight the attention they need, but regardless.

Everything’s under the read more, because this obviously gets long.

Torna - The Golden Country, Malos after that and a bit about Pyra

First things first, I’d keep the story of Torna - The Golden Country pretty much the same, with the exception of one thing in regards to the ending. Namely, rather than simply falling into the Cloud Sea being damaged, Malos is forced into a “repressed form”, similar to what Pyra is to Mythra. For this repressed form, it’d be a water element Blade going by the name of “Hydros”, to continue the trend of Malos’ element mirroring that of Pyra. This would also make it a bit more believable that Jin would join up with him, which I felt was rather iffy in the base game, since, y’know, Malos is responsible for a lot of shit that happened to him?? On a more general note, this would also make it more believable that Malos would be able to lay low for 500 years, because everybody just forgetting about the Aegis that caused the death of several titans feels just a bit too convenient. In terms of ideas on his design, the concept I have in my mind is that Hydros’ hairstyle is essentially what Malos’ hair would look if it got really wet, and was a dark shade of blue, to really drive home the point of him being water-elemental. Additionally, since he is a “broken” form of Malos, a could have an immediately obvious physical disability, such as missing an eye, hand or arm. This last point is something that I’d also apply to Pyra, since her design was supposed convey that she was an incomplete person. But since this is XBC2 we’re talking about here, it only really conveyed that Saigo and the entire development was way too horny. So it should go without saying, but most of the female character would be wearing more sensible clothing, with Pyra and Mythra in particular going fully armoured in a style similar to Malos.

Backstory for Rex, Tora and Vandham

Another thing that I’d change before the actual events of the game’s story would, of course, be the background of Rex. One of the biggest issues with canon Rex is that he has (with the exception of Azurda) no relationship with any of the characters of the main cast before the start of the game. This makes him feel extremely disconnected from all the events of the plot, and just makes it seem like he has no personal connection to anything. Therefore, I’d have it so that he didn’t grow up in Fonsett village, or even the Leftherian Archipelago. Since his Leftherian heritage is a plot point, that aspect of him is kept. However, rather than Rex’ parents suddenly showing up and dying with an infant Rex in Fonsett is changed to them doing the same thing in Torigoth. The person that his parents entrust him to is then also not just some NPC who has exactly one (1) scene of importance, it’d be a character with an actual role in the story - Vandham. This adoption would be taking place before Mor Ardain conquered Gormott, with Vandham’s presence on the titan being justified by him and some of his mercenaries being hired by Gormottian officials to help protect the people of Gormott in the increasing tensions with Mor Ardain and Uraya, which would be rather lengthy mission that’d allow Vandham to stay around long enough to actually raise Rex. Also, since Rex and Vandham are already in Torigoth? Vandham also takes in Tora after his father and grandfather disappear. Since the main game was rather vague about the point in time at which this actually happened, I’ll say that this happened when Rex was still a young child, meaning that him and Tora grew up together. Another thing that then happens while Rex and Tora are growing up is that Mor Ardain conquers Gormott, which would eventually lead to Vandham returning to Uraya because he needs to finally return to Garfont, leaving Rex and Tora in the care of Azurda. . . .Which I’ll just flat out say, this is a point that I have yet to work out some more for myself. Vandham just leaving Rex and Tora is rather irresponsible, and Azurda comes out of nowhere. But really, I currently have no real ideas on how to justify Azurda leaving Fonsett and getting to know Rex, except for maybe him having travelled along with Rex’ parents, and sticking around out of a sense of having failed them. Either way, the important part here is: Rex considers Torigoth to be his home, and having witnessed Mor Ardain conquering it and Gormott leaves him with a personal grudge against Mor Ardain, that he eventually needs to overcome, by the time of the main story he still spends most of his time out in the Cloud Sea with Azurda, salvaging. That, and Vandham is his dad.

Now, for the actual main story: Prologue

The opening scene remains unchanged, since it is a good enough introduction to the setting. However, the trip to Goldmouth is, all things considered, really just unnecessarily padding things out, and introducing things and concepts that don’t really matter that much. And even from a gameplay perspective, the mechanics introduced there could’ve just as well been shown off at Torigoth. So instead, let’s say that rather than returning to Goldmouth right away, Rex and Azurda stay in the Cloud Sea til nightfall, at which point they’re surprised by a storm - the very same that in canon happens before the Torna discover the sunken ship. Accordingly, Rex and Azurda come across the Torna and their party, and, realizing that Rex staying on Azurda would be pretty dangerous, have him come aboard. Jin, Malos (who I’ll keep referring to by this name instead of Hydros as I’ve called the sealed form he’d be in at that point, because it’s more convenient) and Nia are introduced much like they are in canon, and upon noticing Rex’ eyes, they recruit him for their expedition. As a small side note, Rex would here be able to open Addam’s seals because he explicitly is a descendant of Addam, which however wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Over the course of 500 years, it shouldn’t be too unbelievable that Addam’s line has spread out, so that there’s more than just one of his descendants running around. From here on, much of the prologue chapter would play out the same: The ship is found, raised, Pyra is found, Jin stabs Rex, Rex becomes Pyra’s Driver, over-the-top anime battle, Azurda escapes with Rex, Pyra, Nia and Dromarch. Of course, Nia’s initial bond with Rex is a bit weaker because they don’t share that little heart-to-heart on the ship’s lookout, but that shouldn’t affect Nia’s actions when seeing Jin stab Rex. On to the next chapter.

Gormott

The party still crash-lands in Gormott as in the base game, and gather around as they do there as well, complete with Azurda being forced to regress into his young form. However, dynamics and interactions are shifted around: Rex and Pyra actually use the moment to get to know each other a bit, because, y’know, they only really had the scene in the Dream-Elysium before that. Towards Nia, Rex is a bit more wary, since she was a partner of the guy that killed him, and her (and Dromarch) insisting that they don’t want anything to do with that sort of thing. Regardless, Rex can still trust them enough so that they travel together. In terms of Rex’ initial relationship with Pyra, they have some starting difficulties, which are also going to take some time to resolve. While Rex is willing to help Pyra get on her way towards Elysium, he sees no point in travelling there himself, figuring that it is no place for him, and that he’d rather stay with the people he considers family. He also considers using Pyra’s power to drive Mor Ardain out of Gormott, which she obviously shuts down immediately, seeing as she was born of Mythra’s fear of her own power. So since they can’t really send Pyra off to Elysium from their current position, and since Azurda still got them to Gormott, Rex figures that they best head to his home, so that they can properly weigh their options, and maybe contact Vandham about getting some help. The arrival in Gormott happens much as it does in canon, with the big exception of course being that Rex considers the place home, and isn’t too happy to see the recruitment for the Ardainian military going on. Regardless, the confrontation with the soldiers and Brighid still happens, Nia is captured, and Rex, Pyra and Azurda get away. Instead of blindly running away however, Rex leads them more directly towards his and Tora’s home, banking on Tora noticing what’s going on, and helping them out, which of course is what happens. Now, for Tora, one general thing right of the bat: The maid fetish thing is gone. Entirely. Doesn’t happen. If anything, he considers Poppi is daughter regardless of her form, which can be the replacement comic relief, since he’s still a child himself. As for Poppi’s further designs: Rather than “big tiddy anime maid” and “sexy robot woman”, they can instead be based off Nopon myths about creatures like bird people and dino beasts. Now, upon meeting Tora, Rex has a lot of catching up to do, which culminates in Tora chewing him out for going out to experience all this cool shit, while he was stuck at home looking after the house and doing some hopeless tinkering on Poppi. With that out of the way, the party comes to the conclusion that they can’t just leave Nia behind, and, as in canon, they get to rescuing here, complete with finishing Poppi first. While the canonical reason for Poppi not being complete was that Tora simply couldn’t afford the parts, this reasoning doesn’t really work as well with him living with both Rex and Vandham. So instead, the reason why Poppi isn’t functional yet is because, well, getting a functional AI with the exact powers and functions of a Blade isn’t exactly easy. Tora simply hadn’t been able to figure it out until Rex left for the trip where he would wind up finding Pyra. With this done, the party heads onto the Ardainian warship, where the rescue of Nia happens as it does in canon, up to and including the battle with Mòrag, which they just barely escape, leading to them fleeing Torigoth. In a departure from canon however, Rex isn’t too happy about having to flee Torigoth, and Tora isn’t too happy, either. This has been their home for most of their lives, and now they have to run away from it because they’re wanted - and Rex in particular feels like ever since he met Pyra, they’ve only ever been chased around. He does kind of blame her for this, both on the other hand, since she has saved his life, he’s of course still going to help. Tora, in contrast, is not as bothered as Rex is, because he sees this as a big opportunity to get out in the world and search for his father and grandfather, especially since he finally completed Poppi. In regards to Nia however, Rex is now more willing to trust her, since she does owe him for saving her. Keeping things more similar to canon, Tora still suggests that they head on over to his uncle on the other side of the titan, so that they can get a ship to head off towards the World Tree.

Lora getting resurrected

At this point however, I’d finally introduce a more major departure from canon, in using my premise for an AU in which Lora is resurrected. So instead of just fully typing that out again, I’ll just shortly summarize things. For a more detailed version, I refer back to the original post I linked up at the top. -The Torna organization has already tracked Pyra and the others down to Gormott, and has landed with the Monoceros around the area where Tora’s uncle lives -The party just barely manages to avoid all of the Torna minus Patroka as they head further onto the titan to search for them -Realizing that they’ve got an opportunity, the party decides to enter the ship and sabotage its engine, to make it easier for them to escape -While roaming around the ship, they come across the room where Jin keeps Lora’s body along with a Core Crystal (Haze’s) -They unfreeze Lora’s body, and Nia, noticing that this is a person that is only very “recently” dead and well-preserved, resurrects her while no is looking (like Niall in canon) -It works, Lora lives again, has amnesia (as in, she has no idea about her identity other than her name), but still (re-)resonates with Haze’s Core Crystal and joins the party -The party sabotages the engine and leaves the ship, but not without encountering, fighting and defeating Patroka -With this done, the party visits Umon, who gives them a titan ship to escape on -On their initial trip towards the World Tree, Lora and Haze get to properly know the party, who they are, and what they’re doing, with her coming very close to remembering something when the topic of discussion is on Pyra, but not quite getting there; Pyra and Azurda keep quiet because they need to figure out how to deal with this; Lora ultimately resolves to travel with the party in the hopes of uncovering who she is that way and because she feels like she owes them -Meanwhile, in the Torna organization, Jin, upon learning what happened, orders Patroka to keep quiet about what happened because he wants to figure out himself what to do about this; he’s especially not trusting Hydros (whose true identity as Malos he doesn’t know) out of a hunch -Unrelated to the premise of Lora being resurrected, at some point around this time, Rex drops the question of why Pyra wants to go to Elysium, anyway, which she dodges for the time being.

Uraya, Vandham, Minoth and Mythra

The party getting attacked by Artifice Ophion and swallowed by Uraya then happens as in canon, just as the events up to and including the encounter with Vandham. This encounter then is of course far different, since Vandham actually has a backstory with Rex, Tora and Azurda. And while he is surprised but overjoyed to see his “sons”, he still fights them, because he wants to test out just how good they are as Drivers now. After the battle, they all head over to Garfont, where there is a lot of catching up to do, especially in regards to Vandham being filled in about Pyra, Nia and Lora. On account of Rex and Tora’s relation to Vandham, the rest of the party also gladly heads to Garfont. For Rex and Tora, this’d also be the first time that they’re seeing it for themselves, which would cheer Rex in particular up a great deal. Most of the events in Garfont would still largely play out the same, only with the party also trying to figure out if anyone there has any clues as to who Lora is. Pyra and Azurda would still keep quiet about this, because, well, a lot of shit went down, and they’re not sure how to really tell her about this. Either way, the party, now with Vandham and Roc, decide to seek out Cole/Minoth, after fighting and defeating Akhos. The encounter with Zeke and Pandoria is then exactly the same. The only thing I’d ever change about that is them being acknowledged as a very legitimate threat to the party. Then, in Fonsa Myma, after watching the play about Addam, Lora gets her first flash of resurging memories, which let her remember that she was a knight of Torna who knew Addam, but not much beyond those basic things. When meeting Cole/Minoth however, things quickly turn into a four-way reunion. Minoth is not too terribly shocked to see Pyra and Azurda again, but Lora is another story entirely. In his surprise, he blurts out some things that Pyra and Azurda specifically kept to themselves, such as it having been 500 years, and just what happened to Torna, and what they thought had happened to Lora. Overwhelmed with everything she’s learning/remembering, Lora steps out for a while, with only Haze by her side. The others leave her be, because there really is a lot that she’s going through now. With Lora away for the time being, the events that lead to the confrontation at Olethro Ruins happen, Pyra realizes that this Hydros is beyond any doubt Malos, and the battle against him and Akhos goes as badly as it does in canon. One thing to note however, is that with Haze being a party member, Obrona takes her place in Indol, due to their similar powers. The spot as Akhos’ Blade could therefore be filled by a rare Blade that canonically has strong powers, because Obrona’s specific powers honestly don’t matter that much to this scene. So the initial battle against Malos and Akhos is lost, and Vandham dies, which is the point when Lora, having learned what’s going on, returns and gives everyone a second wind, just as Mythra also reawakens. Malos and Akhos are forced to retreat, and the party is safe, for now.

Aftermath

But for the aftermath, there is a lot to unpack. First off, with Mythra absolutely wrecking half the platform they were fighting on, Vandham’s body fell down into the Cloud Sea. Since Rex and Tora are absolutely devastated by his, they spend an unreasonable amount of time at the place, with Rex trying everything he can to retrieve Vandham’s body from the Cloud Sea, and Tora doing everything he can to help him. This is despite them both knowing that it’s pointless, since not only Uraya is constantly moving, but also because of currents in the Cloud Sea. They ultimately don’t even have Roc’s Core Crystal, because he fell down into the Cloud Sea with Vandham. Lora meanwhile has another painful returning memory after seeing Mythra, namely how the Tornan titan was killed and sank into the Cloud Sea. With enough of her memory having returned, Lora can finally have a proper talk with Mythra, Azurda and Minoth about the past, and what happened at the meantime, but she still does not remember Jin. The others also only fill her in on some basics, that she had a Blade other than Haze, but don’t specify - because really, how do you have the kind of situation where you tell her that the most important person in her life is now the leader of a terrorist organization, and most likely did some pretty disturbing things to you? One question that however starts to come up during all this, is how Lora is alive after all this. Pyra/Mythra accordingly has some thoughts about that, and about Nia, but only really tells Nia that if she wants to talk about anything, she’s there for her. With all this emotional bagagge adressed, the party gets ready to move on, although Rex and Tora are very reluctant about this. They do however move on nonetheless, with Rex in particular being more resolved now, because he figures that Vandham definitely wouldn’t have wanted him to be all half-hearted about helping Pyra/Mythra. As in canon, Minoth tells them that their best shot at figuring out how to get to the World Tree is to seek out Amalthus, making Indol their next target.

Everything from Goldmouth to Mor Ardain, Leftheria, Indol, Temperentia and Tantal

The party then moves on to Goldmouth to get on their way to Indol, making it the first time the place is visited. The filler story about Roc’s Core Crystal is cut for obvious reasons, and instead, there could be a bit of an interlude where Bana wishes to see the Aegis, which would also give him an opportunity to act a bit ominously when he sees Tora and Poppi, for a bit of foreshadowing for the next chapter. With this done, the party moves on to Mor Ardain.

. . .And now I gotta be honest, I don’t have much in the way of specific ideas on how to change things around for the events/story parts mentioned in the headline here, so I’ll simply make note of a few stray thoughts.

Rex is not particularly thrilled about having to go to Mor Ardain, but after seeing the situation of the titan and allying with Mòrag, he’s starting to come around on his grudge towards them.

The party does actually meat Niall face-to-face (which I think didn’t happen in canon), during which Lora regains her memories of Hugo, Aegaeon and Brighid, leading to some confusion for her.

The artificial Blades that Tatazo was forced to build for Bana are not maids. Cut that shit out.

During the encounter with Patroka and Mikhail at the end of the Old Factory, Lora does not recognize or remember Mikhail, but he very much recognizes her, which takes him extremely off-guard since Jin didn’t tell him about it.

The trip through Leftheria and Fonsett village is also the first time that Rex actually gets to visit the place that his parents came from, making the entire thing very interesting to him personally. Lora and Mythra likewise have a personal interest in the village, since it was founded by Addam, and a good deal of its population is directly descendet from him.

Meeting Amalthus leaves both Mythra and Lora extremely wary. While neither of them really know that he’s personally responsible for attacking the survivors of Torna, between him still being alive, Malos’ Driver and just generally giving off a bad vibe, they have more than enough reason to distrust him.

Zeke has a personal interest in Lora, because in Tantal there actually exist some records of her, about how she was a knight of Torna and everything. Plus, she knew Addam.

Now, the first major confrontation with Jin. . . I’ll admit, thinking of ways how this could play out with Lora there is tricky. Before I even get to this, I’m going to address Jin’s own personal goals, since him just joining up with Malos of all people to basically carry out Amalthus’ will really just comes of as a huge leap in logic to me. I would handle it so that Jin has two basic goals: First, destroying Indol and the entire world order it has created, and second, meeting and confronting the Architect about the state of the world, and the nature of Blades and titans. He’s not explicitly aware that Hydros is Malos for the longest time of them staying together (which, considering the timeline, could’ve been several centuries), but he does eventually find out during the events of the game, and grows more wary of him, while not changing his behaviour towards him. Jin’s reasoning for this is that in all the time he has known this sealed Malos, he hasn’t really noticed any of Malos’ genocidal and destructive tendencies. On Malos’ side, things are kept similar to canon in the regard that he basically views Jin as a surrogate Driver, while however still retaining his personality and ambitions. Due to his sealed form, he is more “docile”, but he still seeks to return to his previous form, which is just another reason why he wants to get his hands on Pyra/Mythra: He needs the data of her Core Crystal to reconstruct his own.

So, the confrontation with Jin. Obviously, meeting him first-hand would return a large chunk of Lora’s memories to her, potentially up to and including her death, and Jin becoming a Flesh Eater (I say potentially here because having these memories would definitely turn her against Indol right away, and while that’d be interesting, it’d be a bit difficult to account for writing-wise). Despite Lora being the entire reason behind Jin’s motivation however, he nonetheless opposes her along with the rest of the party, albeit reluctantly. As in canon, he pursues his goals knowing full well that Lora does not approve of them, with the exception here just being that, well, less idiotically genocidal. As far as the rest of the party is concerned in this encounter, Rex'd be a bit scared seeing as this is the guy that killed him, Mythra'd be even more confused as to why Jin went down this path, Nia’d more questionening just how much of his kindness towards her was real, and Zeke could very well be dropping the reveal that Jin was once the strongest Blade in all of Torna. This would only leave Tora and Mòrag with no personal connection in this fight, and. . . honestly, thinking of one for Tora to have is a bit tricky. The only thing that could still work would be if Soozoo’s disappearance could be worked into the plot more, with him being kept by the Torna organization. As for Mórag, she really doesn’t need a personal connection of any kind to Jin, and could instead point how regardless of how he was or what he did in the past, what he’s doing right now is pretty damn shitty and they had better stop him. Regardless, Jin is fought, defeated, and escapes after killing Obrona, who’s taking Haze’s place in the story, since Haze is Lora’s Blade again.

In the event that Lora regained the memories of her death, the following burial of Obrona and return trip to Indol could be used to get the full party to be more wary of Indol, and only rely on Amalthus as much as they have to. Before the party moves on to their next target in Tantal, Rex could address some personal parting words to Amalthus, about how he as Malos’ Driver should take more responsibility of his actions, which does actually get to Amalthus. . . but not exactly in the way that Rex’d hope.

Small note: The filler story bit about Bana’s return and Niall’s temporary death is cut. It’s entirely unnecessary, and direct foreshadowing of Nia’s Blade powers was already done by her resurrecting Lora. And hell, as I’m typing this out, I don’t even remember at which exact point this all took place.

All the story events in Tantal can essentially play out the same, with the exception of the climactic confrontation with the Torna organization at the end. For one thing, Jin’s anime power bullshit of being faster than light and controlling all particles is just. . . it’s absolutely stupid. I don’t have any specific ideas on how this could be changed, but it’s just better if it’s not there. Maybe all of the Torna could simply have the superior teamwork? Something like that. The other thing that’d need changing is Jin’s choice of words for breaking Rex. In canon, it was something about “Ummm do you even really pay attention to what Pyra wants??? I think not!!! Checkmate!!!”. Here, it could instead be something about any real personal ambition, only helps Pyra/Mythra out of obligation, and how Jin can tell that even now, Rex would rather be at home. Rex’ defense would of course be that this is a personal thing to him as well, since he wants to get back at Malos for killing Vandham, to which Jin asks the ever important question “And then what”. So, long story short, Pyra/Mythra is taken, Rex is broken, and Lora tries and fails once again to get Jin to explain why the hell he’s doing any of this.

Spirit Cruciple Elpys and Morytha

However, rather than snapping back to normal right away after getting a bit of talk from the other party members, Rex remains unwilling to get back into action. He does travel with the party back to Leftheria, and open up the Spirit Cruciple Elpys, but instead choses to remain behind in Fonsett. After some internal back-and-forth among the party, Nia decides to stay behind with him to still change his mind. Tora doing the same/taking Nia’s place is briefly considered, but the party figures that with the area’s Blade-hindering atmosphere, it’s best to have Tora and Poppi with them. So while the party advances deeper and deeper, cutscenes would keep cutting back to Nia and Rex, with Nia herself opening up to him and revealing her backstory to him, which in turn would lead to Rex opening up more to her as well. The rest of the party would meanwhile go through similar story beats as in canon, with Zeke talking about him being a Blade Eater, while additionally, Lora could tell the others about her time with Addam and Mythra. The battle with Addam’s phantom-things would then play out at least comparable to canon - the party gets backed into a corner, until a big twist happens, which in this case would be Rex and Nia dropping in to help them, with Nia being already in her Blade form, as a conclusion to her time spend with Rex. (Side note: I very much don’t care about any potential pairings for any of the characters, so this should not be taken as this being changed around to make room for a Rex/Nia pairing) With Pneuma’s sword then, both Rex and Lora have a little chat with this spirit-Addam, with Rex being told more or less what he was told in canon, and him wishing Lora that she finds in this time what she couldn’t 500 years ago. After all these events, party then has some obligatory talks back in Fonsett: Nia confirms to Lora that she brought her back to life, Nia apologizes that she could do nothing for Vandham (though that’s nothing that Rex or Tora blame her for), and everyone’s still not sure what to do next. Rex would be willing to just chase right after the Torna organization, but everyone else just heavily discourages him from that, considering how well last time went. This is when a message from Amalthus would reach them, stating that he has taken Rex’ words to heart, that he will personally take care of things, and that they will meet him at the Cliffs of Morytha. This does of course raise some red flags for Lora, but right now, the party simply doesn’t have any better options, and so they do just that.

Over at the Cliffs of Morytha, they then find Amalthus along with a contingent of Indolese troops, who ask them to go on ahead, with Amalthus following the party after some preparations that he still has to make. Again, with not much of a choice, the comply. The initial battle with Malos would here be cut, and instead the only real battle would be with both Jin and Malos right at the end. However, rather than being finished with reconstructing his Core Crystal before the party even gets there, Malos is still busy “downloading” while they fight. But then, when Malos is finished, and he can finally return to his actual normal form from his Hydros form, Amalthus shows up. He’s not here to fight Malos. Instead, for probably the first time, him and Malos properly synergize as Driver and Blade, and announce their plans to head to Elysium together - without Jin, the party or the Torna. An obligatory over-the-top anime battle happens, during which Mythra reawakens, and begins to start using her true power - but without becoming Pneuma just yet. In the end, the battle destroys the platform, and the party, along with Jin, falls to Morytha, while Amalthus and Malos get ready to cross over to the World Tree, which does however take some time.

Down in Morytha, rather than the overly Rex-and-Jin focussed story bit from canon, I’d instead propose a situation similar to how the party in XBC1 is split up after they fall off Galahad Fortress and down onto the Fallen Arm. As in, everyone gets their moment in the spotlight, showcasing their own character growth, current motivations, and so on. For Rex’ own part of this, he’d start out alone, find himself under attack from the mutated zombies, and then find a Core Crystal just in time to save himself - Roc’s Core Crystal. For Lora’s “episode” in this, she’d be the one to end up with Jin around the corpse of the Tornan titan, and it would lead to him finally properly talking to her, and ultimately joining her - and by proxy, the party.

Finale

Now, for events that could happen while everyone climbs to World Tree. . . I’ll admit, I don’t have much in the way of ideas. The big battle between the titans and Torna organization could still happen, but with the different scenario here, I’m not sure if it would still work. Rather than that, what could happen is that Malos uses his newly reawakened Aegis powers to send his mechs to attack the titans, causing destruction similar to what is shown in the very last cutscenes before the canonical final boss, with all the various characters the party has come across shown defending themselves. The members of the Torna organization - that is, Akhos, Patroka and Mikhail - wouldn’t even necessarily have to die while the party climbs the World Tree. Instead, they could at one point just hold off Indolese troops.

Now, for the actual big, final moments: The reveal of Elysium works as it is in canon, so there’s nothing to change here. The dream sequence where all the party members turn against Rex would still take place. But instead of Pyra and Mythra being the ones that finish things off, it would instead be an appearance by ghostly Vandham, who question Rex about his growth, ambition, goals, and whether he really stands behind everything he does. Simply put, Vandham’s last goodbye to his “sons”, since Tora would also join in on that talk after a while. The meeting with Klaus would be similar, but not quite the same: Amalthus and Malos would also be present during the big exposition, which would end with Klaus basically telling everyone that he has no right to make any more decisions for the world, and that they should decide between them who’s in the right. The final battle would then be as follows: Amalthus with his ridicilous amount of Blade Eater powers as Malos’ Driver, with Malos himself assuming a full-power form as Logos - essentially, a counterpart Pneuma. For a later phase, the battle would then be against Artifice Aion.

The various ending cutscenes could then stay mostly the same. However, Pyra and Mythra are not resurrected as two seperate entities, and are instead either just Mythra, or just Pneuma. And last, but certainly not least: While some parting words from Klaus along the lines of “Live in a world with no need for gods, titans or Blades” are heard, all currently inactive Core Crystals all awaken, and all Blades simultaneously lose their Core Crystals, making them actual living beings that don’t have any need for a Driver to live.

And. . . yeah, that’s all I got. Obviously there’s still plenty of room for improvement here, especialyl in regards to the development of characters other than Rex and Lora, or the state and politics of the world, and how the conflict between Uraya and Mor Ardain could be adressed. But more than anything, I just want to get these ideas out there first.

#xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles 2 #xbc2 #xenoblade 2 #long post #like not actually a long post #but definitely very fucking long after the read more #. . .should I tag this as xbc2 critical? I'm really not sure #someone send me a message in case I should

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joannalannister · 7 years ago

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Ladies in Waiting

@blenderbender1811 submitted:

Your blog made me realize what a serious dearth of female friendships and ladies in waiting there were in the series, especially when by all rights they SHOULD exist. So here is my list thus far. Some of them are existing characters but some are straight up inventions for the campaign because otherwise I’d basically be using every female noble character in the books (because GRRM doesn’t have nearly as many noblewomen around).

It looks really cool!

I also included a little bit about brief personality sketches, their main duties (since ladies-in-waiting often have at least one prominent job) and a tiny bit about how each region views ladies-in-waiting. I decided that most of the ladies-in-waiting situations for the campaign would be ladies in great houses, with other noblewomen having the possibility of having some, but not necessarily guaranteeing it (so we don’t have to deal with every noble daughter ever ending up someone’s lady).

I should probably also note that the campaign starts about a year or two before the events of the series, just to give the players some breathing room to get used to the campaign before the action of the series starts. It’s not a strictly canon compliant game - it’s largely based in book canon, but I’ve added elements from the show, video games, etc. that don’t contradict the books outright as well as thrown in a few twists to prevent my players from just looking at the canon and spoiling what will happen (assuming their actions don’t drive the plot out of whack anyways which knowing them they very well might).

I see ladies-in-waiting as being very Andal in origin. It fits in with the Andal ideas of culture and court. However, unlike knighthood, it’s not bound in rules to the Seven and ladies-in-waiting have practical uses like acting as secretaries or running messages, so I can see the concept spreading to the Isles and the North (albeit, in smaller numbers). Kind of like tourneys - they started with the Andals, but you don’t have to BE of Andal origin (or the Faith) to have them around.

CROWNLANDS:

The main women who would have ladies-in-waiting in the Crownlands would be the Queen (in this case Cersei) and any little Princesses (Myrcella). Since Myrcella’s only like 7, her handmaidens are more like either play mates or babysitters depending on how old they are. I figure that the Royal family should probably have the most handmaidens/ladies-in-waiting out of anybody…which means they have a LOT because Margaery brought a butt load with her as part of her Tyrell retinue (and since some of them left post-wedding, I’m assuming they’re not meant to be her maids when she’s Queen necessarily). Cersei’s are mostly from the West, and the West is well represented in Myrcella’s group as well, but since they are royalty, their ladies are more spread out.

Cersei Lannister’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Bernadette Lannister: I can’t leave out Bernadette the maid. ;) She’s either a cousin (from one of Joanna’s siblings) or a Lannister of Lannisport, I haven’t decided yet. Possibly engaged, very good at keeping Cersei’s secrets. Mostly runs messages and spies on any potential rival ladies Cersei doesn’t like.

- Senelle Lanny: From a smaller house in Lannisport, smaller distant Lannister cousins. She’s shrewder than Cersei would like, and she can be bought to spy on her lady (which, as we know, ends poorly for her). She’s Cersei’s current Chief Lady, so many of Cersei’s personal servants report to her, which she passes along to Cersei if its important.

- Jocelyn Swyft: Jocelyn is small and bony, but a kinswoman to Kevan’s wife, so Cersei got stuck with her. Thankfully, at least she’s quiet. Her primary duty is to help find what Cersei wants and have things fetched for her, like having servants bring her bath water or setting out her clothes.

- Dorcas Lantell: Another distant cousin from a tiny Lannisport house. Dorcas is a good bit older than Cersei and her children are grown now. She helps Cersei day to day with her own children when Cersei is otherwise occupied (such as making Tommen toys) and helps Jocelyn have things fetched. She’s clumsy, but well meaning.

- Alysanne Lefford: Lord Leo Lefford’s wife, likewise older. She’s come from the Golden Tooth to serve Cersei (and hopefully ingratiate her family to the Crown) at least until she and her husband have children. An eye for colour, it’s her job to help Cersei choose her clothes.

- Elyana Sarwyck: With her oldest brother away in the East, her father sent her to court to earn prestige for the Sarwycks. She’s a capable manager and steward, and so she largely spends her time helping supervise the servants and get things done the way Cersei wants them.

- Gwyn Marbrand: Addam Marbrand’s sister - she was probably brought to court when Cersei married Robert. She largely keeps to herself (which is just fine with Cersei). She’s industrious though and does a good deal of needlework for the Queen.

- Melesa Crakehall: Here as a favour to her mother-by-law, Genna Lannister, Melesa is still young at court. She’s not quite evened out her own place yet but she works with determination not to humiliate her goodmother. She helps keep Cersei abreast of the news from the latest riders come to court.

- Jeyne Wendwater: Born just south of King’s Landing, Jeyne is young as well. She’s still a bit starstruck by the capital, and Cersei’s long since decided she’s insipid and timid. She does her best to please the Queen every day and by night, she plays the harp for her upon request.

- Marya Rogers: Marya hails from Amberly in the Stormlands, she’s a hardy girl. Friendly, if a bit one to fawn, Marya’s a firm negotiator. As such, she’s trusted with overseeing purchases for the Queen and her retinue.

- Amaena Chambers: A woman about Cersei’s age, but unwed (and the hideous scar on her face from a childhood illness doesn’t make that more likely to change), Amaena is severe and serious. Her father is growing ill, and so Amaena may be returning home sooner than she might think - but until then, it is her duty to keep an eye about for anything strange or improper around court, particularly from those Cersei dislikes. Amaena is skilled in Valyrian though, and she has served as a translator for Cersei when dealing with people from the Free Cities who only speak High Valyrian.

- Lyanne Waterman: A northwoman, Lyanne is a long way from home and the newest . Her father sent her here hoping that the warm southern climate might make her healthier - and on the condition she would serve their overlord, House Manderly’s, interests at court. Not exactly the hardiest girl, nor the most cunning, Lyanne means well. She ensures the Queen’s horses are taken care of, and tries to stay out of the Queen’s way otherwise.

- Aisling Belmore: Aisling is very practical and organized. She’s got a decent idea where everything is and keeps a decent eye and ear out for court, so she keeps the Queen’s schedule set for any given day.

- Lena Tudbury: Overly detail oriented and a bit fussy, Lena likes everything to be just so. She’s a bit hard to deal with when it comes to setting things up because she is very picky. She’s got a neat hand, though, and so when Cersei allows other people to write her letters, it’s usually Lena.

- Heather Waynwood: Ambitious, sneaky, and just cheerful enough to fake sweetness, Lady Anya’s niece may prove a force to be reckoned with. She and Aisling were gifts from Jon Arryn to the queen, and thus far Heather’s making herself a comfortable little network to help with Waynwood wishes. Thus far, her most consistent job is to style Cersei’s hair, but she hopes to make herself useful in other ways as she proves herself.

***

Myrcella Baratheon’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Rosamund Lannister: Well, this one is canon, so this was probably obvious. She’s a cousin from Lannisport. When she gets older, she will serve as the princess’ body double in times of crisis and attends her as per her desires.

- Myrielle Lannister: Another young cousin. She’s crafty but sunny and, for a young child, she’s got a very straight hand that suggests she’ll be good at sewing and embroidery when she gets older.

- Joanna Swyft: A gift from uncle Kevan - most people mean dolls when they gift their grandnieces with playmates, but apparently he meant a new little lady. Joanna is sweet but a little shy, which means she usually has to be corralled into Myrcella’s braver exploits. That said, she’s extremely trustworthy when it comes to the princess’ secrets.

- Tya Westford: Less a lady, more a hostage. Her father’s been sent to the Wall, and Tya’s been brought here as a ‘watch your step’ towards her mother’s good behaviour. Thus far, her mother has complied beautifully, a picture of loyalty. Tya is like most children her age - a little rambunctious, playful, fairly good natured, but still learning. Thus far, she seems very good at learning to ride.

- Vilessa Rambton: Meek, quiet, and obedient, Vilessa is the most eager to behave for Septa Eglantine. Mostly, she just wants to not get in trouble. Given her more tractable nature, some suggest her best place would be passing along the princess’ messages rather than anything requiring her to take charge.

- Cerise Roote: Cerise is 14, a little over twice the age of her little charge. Until Myrcella is older, she’s essentially a babysitter for the younger girls - keeping track of their schedules and where they’re supposed to be. Cerise is a loyal, protective, quiet, and caring lady, but she’s also a bit distant (probably due to the age difference) and fierce when pushed.

- Alyssa Melcolm: Alyssa is a year or two older than Myrcella and is one of those kids who can’t wait to grow up. She looks forward to going to dances and wearing pretty dresses and marrying a handsome nobleman. For now, she likes to pretend and make things pretty. She’ll likely end up either sorting Myrcella’s wardrobe or painting for her when they get older.

- Alona Staedmon: Myrcella’s youngest lady, a few months younger than Myrcella, she’s desperately homesick for Broad Arch. She doesn’t dislike the princess, but she wants to go home. As such, she’s still quite withdrawn. She does like music though, so perhaps those lessons would draw her out.

- Unella Manning: Upbeat, excitable, competitive, and daring, Unella is always coming up with things to do. She thinks of new ideas at a mile a minute. She doesn’t mean to wear people out - she just wants to play! Unfortunately, her antics distract her from most lessons more often than not. Perhaps if Septa Eglantine could turn them into games.

- Merianne Mertyns: Merianne likes to learn! She’s not very good at art, but she’s taken to heraldry and history very well. She’s a bit boring for the other girls since she would rather read or people watch than play the sort of games that her friends want, but at least she can come up with a good story for them.

- Gisella Gaunt: Gisella is, bluntly, a little bit of a priss (not to mention a suck up to any authority figure she sees). She gets very grouchy if the other girls do something she thinks is dirty or boring or beneath them. Since she’s about 9, she thinks the other girls should listen to her since she’s one of the oldest. Needless to say, the other children don’t like her very much, though the adults tend to because she’s organized, neat, and (on the face of it) very well behaved.

- Bessa Blount: Bessa is big fun. She likes to sneak food and sparkly objects and little trinkets she finds around that look interesting (like coloured pebbles she finds while walking the Red Keep). She’s always getting in trouble for picking at things and scraping up her hands - she’s indignant. She just wants to know how they work!

- Maerie Rykker: Maerie is an artistic little girl - she’s enjoying learning about poetry and art and sewing. She’ll be a proper little lady, that one. She’s still learning the ins and outs of courtesies, but she’s enjoying it. It’s hard though - she wants to play but also wants to be a lady. It’s hard to resist a ball game though - it’s only passing a ball around to each other, surely something that fun isn’t so bad?

- Joy Hill: Joy was sent to Myrcella hoping it would be easier for some smaller lordling or knight to make a match for their son. Serving as a lady-in-waiting is a respectable position until then and the Lannister connections will surely catch some small noble’s attention, even if she’s baseborn. That said, she’s under very strict instructions to keep a reasonable distance from Myrcella (as much as she can while still doing her duties) because she is a bastard. She’s still a very lonely girl.

***

DRAGONSTONE:

Dragonstone is bleak and poor, so I figured they probably couldn’t supply too too many ladies. But when you add in different Reach and Stormlands connections Stannis and Selyse have, I figured the number would be about average for most of the south - around 5. Shireen has fewer because of the greyscale - I figure if Stannis is having a hard time arranging a match for her because of it, other nobles probably wouldn’t be jumping at the bit to have their daughters serve Shireen either.

Selyse Florent’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Amber Grandison: Amber is a skittish, superstitious, very timid young lady. Dragonstone is not helping. She’s probably going to get worse dealing with the very severe ruling family here. Until she can return home, she passes along messages (often between Selyse and Stannis).

- Leria Chyttering: Leria is just as stern and severe as her lady. She’s older, with her own grown children, and she’s been with Selyse longest. She’s done her best to ensure her lady gives Stannis the son he wants, but so far her advice and research has proven fruitless.

- Alona Celtigar: Alona is a pragmatic and humourless women on her best days. She’s a hard worker though and when she works on Selyse’s schedules, they’re always prudent and well thought out, with enough time to move from one to the other. Even if she doesn’t have much time for much amusement, the place is certainly organized.

- Rona Sunglass: A pious woman from a pious house. She wants to help and to her, that means reaching out to the Seven and praying for their help to give Stannis and Selyse sons and for Stannis’ work on the council. She, ah, may not be having a fun time of it once Melisandre makes the scene, but right now she helps Selyse dress and fetches things for her and prays.

- Violet Celtigar: Violet is Alona’s sister. She’s less humourless but far more withdrawn. The constant weariness of Dragonstone gets to her too. She’s not one to speak up and she generally lacks confidence - which she takes out on people who cross her and rank below her.

- Melara Crane: Selyse’s aunt, she came to Dragonstone with Alester. While she’s hardly exuberant, the fact she’s a bit of an optimist might still make her one of the sunniest people on Dragonstone. She’s stuck up and ambitious, but generally well meaning, and she’s done her best to mitigate the frustration her niece feels about not having given her husband any sons.

Shireen’s Baratheon’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Alannys Tarly: Alannys is the Tarly’s middle daughter. She was sent here hoping the stricter, more disciplined environment would curb her wilful behaviour. She’s not cut out for Westeros’ ideal lady’s temperament - she’s fierce, stubborn, and indeed wilful. Thankfully, she’s also brave, protective, and hard working, so she’s not been completely written off as a potential 'lady’ yet.

- Jonquil Peasebury: Jonquil is still sorting herself out at Dragonstone. Newly arrived, she’s still learning the lay of the castle and the people there. She’s very curious and inquisitive, but also apprehensive, owing to her lady’s greyscale and the general gloom about the place.

***

THE NORTH:

The North’s courts are small and practical, not big and grand like in the South. Plus the ideas of honour and morality are slightly different up North than in the South. I figure for the sake of the 'small, mostly practical’ court, I’d say the average around here is 3 ladies. Catelyn might eventually see about bringing up a few Riverlands ladies for her daughters, but right now they’re still a bit young. Besides, the girl’s ladies are more like play mates than assistants right now anyways.

Catelyn Tully’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Jonelle Cerwyn: Jonelle is confident, decisive, and companionable. Unfortunately, her appearance has ensured that Westeros’ marriage market has kept her single. For now, she uses her abilities to sort Lady Catelyn’s schedule and offer what help she can with the lady’s children.

- Elaena Glenmore: A good deal younger than the others, Elaena is very hopeful about the betrothal her father’s currently negotiating with the heir of House Forrester. She’s looking more and more to Lady Catelyn as a role model for how to rule a household. She’s also primarily responsible for any correspondence Catelyn entrusts with her ladies.

- Jathany Norrey: Jathany is an awkward, uncertain thing. She’s the daughter of the head of House Norrey, but Winterfell is another level of formality. She tries her best, but there are elements of courtesy she doesn’t understand and other elements she’s forever forgetting (like that it’s not 'the Lannister’ it’s 'Lord Lannister’ for example). She’s more helpful when it comes to having Catelyn’s horse tended and passing along what Catelyn tells her to pass along.

Sansa Stark’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Jeyne Poole: Jeyne is the steward’s daughter. Vivacious, proud, and a little mischievous, Jeyne’s very excited to serve as one of Sansa’s ladies - it’s just like the songs! The perfect lady with her perfect ladies. She and Sansa can usually be found somewhere gossiping.

- Beth Cassel: Beth is a bit younger than Sansa, but she admires the older girl and tries to imitate her to the best of her abilities. Beth’s still learning her way around a needle, but she likes to tell stories and sing with the other girls.

- Alys Karstark: A bit fiercer than the others, and a bit older, Alys has taken on a bit of role as a leader among Sansa’s ladies. She is ambitious and loyal to her family, but a courtly friend.

Arya Stark’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Rowena Umber: Rowena is Lord Umber’s littlest daughter. She is responsible and creative, though not so wild as Arya. She likes to come up with elaborate fantasies when she and Arya are playing. She’s a bit flighty, but reliable when Arya wants her.

- Lyanna Mormont: Stern, blunt and no-nonsense, especially for a child, Lyanna is diligent in the responsibilities she’s given. Fierce when crossed and a bit sarcastic, Lyanna is a loyal and prudent friend.

- Eddara Tallhart: Eddara is a playful, energetic little girl who would sooner ride or throw a snowball than be bored in lessons. She and Arya get into a lot of trouble together. She doesn’t mean any harm, but sometimes she gets carried away.

***

THE REACH:

Okay, the Reach is huge, heavily populated, and the centre of court life and chivalry in Westeros. With so many extra people (and by extension, extra children), and so much focus on acting like a 'proper lady’ it’s no wonder Margaery (and probably by extension, Alerie) would have a huge retinue. Olenna is no longer the wife of the lord or a daughter of the ruling lord, so I haven’t given her any. At least not yet. I know she used to have at least one because it ties into backstory but right now she’s a blank.

Alerie Hightower’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Salanna Ashford: Salanna’s come to serve Lady Alerie as an out from staying at home where talk was starting about a potentially dangerous betrothal, just to get her out of the house where it’s too expensive and the family gets along too poorly to keep everyone around. A position doing Lady Alerie’s hair offers her a way to potentially find a betrothal more to her liking…and maybe settle a few scores against her family.

- Alys Beesbury: A cousin by marriage, Alys came to Alerie’s service to seek advancement for her own Tyrell brood. In addition, her connections to the massive Frey clan via her sister Beony, she keeps Alerie abreast of whatever news comes from the Twins about the various houses connected to the Freys.

- Olene Caswell: One of the daughters of Lord Caswell, Olene was offered a position due to the strategic importance of Bitterbridge. A lively girl, younger than most of their ladies, she’s very helpful when it comes to planning frolics and games.

- Rose Mullendore: Alerie’s companion since childhood, Rose is the only one to remain from when Alerie came to marry Mace. Her husband was lost in Robert’s Rebellion and none of her children lived past toddlerhood. Serving Alerie is likely the only thing keeping her emotionally stable, because surely repressing her grief is the best way to deal with these personal tragedies.

- Corrine Cordwayner: Corrine is a deal older than most of Alerie’s maids. She’s seen all her children either married, buried, or in suitable positions that she feels she can take an appointment with the Lady of Highgarden to have something useful to do. And if people around her dismiss her as a lady-in-waiting and unimportant, well, that’s their mistake for underestimating an old woman.

- Obara Hewett: The eldest daughter of Lord Hewett, about 25 years old. Obara is learning from Alerie how to serve as a wife and lady. She seems very mellow and easy to get along with…so long as the subject of the iron born isn’t brought up, where she becomes very sharp indeed.

- Elyn Tyrell: Yet another cousin by marriage, Elyn is several years older than Alerie. She is a skilled steward, and she tends to keep the servants in order serving as Alerie’s Mistress of Keys (basically a lady’s steward). She tends to be approachable, but firm and in charge - a deal moreso than the ideal Reach woman might be.

- Mya Sloane: Sly, witty, and clever, Mya is also among the friendliest (and youngest) of Alerie’s ladies. As yet unmarried and childless, her father was hoping she could find an appropriate match at court. While Mya plays lip service to her father’s desires, she’s having far more fun learning about and taking part in the intrigues of court life for Alerie and Olenna than she suspects she could being married.

- Tansy Oldflowers: An old family with a potential claim to Highgarden (albeit, an unlikely one - their’s comes through a bastard line), Tansy was offered a position to secure alliances. A shy woman from an ambitious family, Tansy is far more an Oldflowers creature than Alerie’s and they have her seeking positions and judgements in favour of the Oldflowers family even while they’re making friends.

- Teressa Norcross: Appointed by the Tyrells as a 'watch yourselves’ to the Florents, the Norcrosses accepted an offer to send Teressa to court. Teressa is far more impulsive and slightly more hedonistic than the Reach might want. She steps lightly around her mistress, hoping she won’t be seen as more Florent than Tyrell as she tries to use both to her advantage.

- Charlessa Redding: A small house desperate to move up in the world, it was extremely exciting when the Reddings managed to pull strings to have Charlessa appointed to Lady Alerie’s service. She didn’t expect to fall hard for her. Between that and her family, Charlessa will do anything to keep her position. She’s dreading the day her family might announce some betrothal and force her return, and has done her best to subtly nudge potential suitors to other ladies instead.

- Cella Graves: Another strategic appointment. The shield islands are critical for the Reach’s defence, so keeping them loyal to the Tyrells is of the utmost importance to them. Cella is significantly younger than the others, and is still a bit awkward in her place. She looks forward to learning from Alerie, but has yet to learn a lady’s confidence.

Margaery Tyrell’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Megga Tyrell: Megga is boisterous and joyful. She tends to accompany Margaery everywhere on excursions and enjoys dancing, sewing, gossiping, and is eager for romance. She is desperate for love, and often sends Margaery’s messages…along with hearing intel from Tyrell agents.

- Alla Tyrell: Alla is shy, gentle, kind, and musical. She is also easily frightened. Easily an innocent girl, not prone to outbursts and more likely to cry or run when faced with confrontation than get angry or defend herself. She’s most comfortable at home with her friends and fellow ladies, where she can sing and play the harp rather than play at the game of thrones.

- Elinor Tyrell: Elinor is developing leadership qualities - she is brave and smart, but haughty the way older children sometimes can be with younger ones. She is a bit of a flirt and looks forward to when she is a woman wed and has her own household. She is also surprisingly well read and often has something to discuss that she learned in a book.

- Alysanne Bulwer: Aly is an active and playful child. She spends most of her time playing games and learning the basics of courtesies and ruling. Her brother is sweet, but too unhealthy to expect to take a lordship, so she expects that she will be in charge of Bulwer should anything happen to her father. Thankfully, her father is in perfect health…

- Janna Tyrell: Margaery’s aunt, and the only one of Olenna’s children to inherit her political acumen. She’s not overly enthused about her husband, Jon Fossoway’s, work, seeing him as not particularly skilled at politics. Theirs is a marriage best kept out of the political arena. Meanwhile, she dotes on her niece, helping to groom her into a shrewd and savvy lady and feeding her all the choice gossip about court (especially about their rivals).

- Taena Merryweather: Taena is an older woman with a young son. She serves to instruct Margaery in Valyrian and acting as her agent. She desires advancement for her son and the prospect of him becoming a squire or ward at Highgarden is too good to pass up.

- Alyce Graceford: A few years older, Alyce serves as an older sister figure for the younger girls. Anything they’re curious about but don’t want to ask their mothers or Olenna about, they tend to ask her. She is particularly skilled at courtly courtesies and subtly mockery, ever on the lookout for weaknesses she can bring to her lady. She’s also newly betrothed though, and who knows how a marriage and later on, children, will affect her relationship with Margaery.

- Leonette Fossoway: Garlan’s new wife from Cider Hall, Leonette has taken to accompanying her goodsister. She’s very perceptive and sweetly witty, being prone to worrying over others. She enjoys teaching the younger girls about hawking, playing music, and poetry, areas she herself enjoys while she waits for children.

- Meredyth Crane: The master-at-arms daughter, Meredyth came to Red Lake to be with her father after her mother died of a wasting illness. She’s the apple of her father’s eye and may have an eye towards Willas Tyrell. She knows it probably won’t happen, but she’s known him forever and surely there’s no harm in looking? Until then, she spends her time making jokes and telling stories, hawking and TRYING to arrange Margaery’s wardrobe - it would be easier if she spent less time riding and wearing out her clothes.

- Sera Durwell: Sera serves Margaery while she is on an ambitious husband hunt. She is desperate to secure her position because of a secret she’s harbouring - she’s actually a bastard. Her mother used to serve as one of Olenna’s ladies and for her service, the Tyrells have covered up her origins and called her a Durwell (who most likely have been bribed to keep their mouths shut). As Margaery provides her security, Sera clings to this job with all she has.

- Mira Forrester: Mira is DEFINITELY a far way from her home in the Kingswood. Her mother, from the Reach, used old connections to send her daughter to Highgarden. She wants her to learn the ways of a southern court (perhaps planning an ambitious marriage match for later). Mira is enjoying her life in Highgarden, but if push comes to shove, she is her family’s creature first, not Margaery’s.

***

THE VALE:

The Vale is where the Andals and their ideas of courtly life first showed up, so I can imagine the Vale wanting more than just the average number of ladies. Unfortunately, the Vale also seems to have a lot of old names who are strapped for cash, so I’ve given Lysa six. Enough to be more than average, but only by one.

Lysa Arryn’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Morgana Wydman: Brought into Lady Lysa’s service a few years ago, Morgana is very serious and dour, with a bit of a morbid sense of humour (possibly brought on tide of grim news during the Rebellion). She keeps to her ladies’ messages and takes great care not to be overheard by Robin, lest Lysa find out.

- Carolei Redfort: Carolei is a sly woman who focuses largely on using ceremony to her advantage. Using the details of courtesy and ceremony to get what she wants, Carolei can be extremely pedantic - but she is detail oriented, well suited to helping arrange meetings and activities.

- Ursula Elesham: Ursula is ambitious and clever, with an interest in reading about the arcane if you believe rumour. She did her best to advise Lady Lysa about her fertility and since then has done whatever is asked with regards to little Lord Robert. As such, she often has the Lady Lysa’s ear - though you can’t get something from nothing from Ursula. If you want her to pass something along to Lysa, you had best have something to offer her.

- Anya Templeton: Anya is significantly younger than Lady Lysa. She is an idealistic, compassionate, wise girl who tries to be understanding. In many ways, she reminds Lysa of herself and Lysa can’t decide if she likes her or is horrifically jealous of her relative innocence. As such, Anya is currently terrified of Lysa’s inconstant attitude and behaviour towards her and tends to keep as much of a distance as she can.

- Perra Hunter: Probably the most mature and sensible of the group. Perra tends to ignore the others schemes and drama and complicated relationships. She just hangs back and picks up the pieces when they fall. She tends to put together Lysa’s schedule and appointments, trying to keep things somewhat in order. She also is the one who keeps Jon Arryn abreast of what is going on with his wife and her ladies, at least as much as she is able.

- Jalona Moore: Jalona is a shy devotee of the Faith. She enjoys connections to her uncle, Ser Mandon Moore, but that is one of the few things she enjoys, as Jalona is very morose and sometimes despondent. She tends to serve as Lysa’s prayer companion and keeps to traditional pursuits such as embroidery, knitting, and singing.

***

DORNE:

Dorne’s not got a huge population, but then they also only have Arianne as a daughter of the Prince (and her mother’s long since left). I’ve mostly just translated her friends from the books into her ladies-in-waiting. Plus I threw in Elia because that’s the role she plays in TWOW, might as well get her started (Sorry, Arianne!)

Arianne Martell’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Jynessa Blackmont: Jynessa has been sent to cultivate relationships with Sunspear for when she and Arianne rule in their own rights. Jynessa is a tad more responsible, but she’s also slightly more fanciful and vain. The two of them work together scheming and they often talk about matters concerning Dorne.

- Myria Jordayne: Another heir sent to cultivate relations in Sunspear, Myria is a good deal quieter. She prefers to study and learn about Dorne and investigate than plot or hang around. Perhaps this is because she is several years older and can’t stand as much breathless melodrama anymore, and so she tends to stay out of Arianne’s games.

- Jayne Ladybright: A new attendant to Arianne, Jayne is made of far milder stuff. She’s not shy, but she’s not as mischievous, ambitious, or wilful as Arianne. “Relaxed” is a good way to put it. She prefers to do her duty to the best of her ability and enjoy pleasant times as they come. She’s got a sensible head on her shoulders though, and so she can be very helpful when it comes to day to day responsibilities.

- Sylva Santagar: Sylva has been one of Arianne’s closest companions since they were small. Sylva is loyal, funny, perceptive and always eager to go along with Arianne’s ideas. Recently, she’s become worried for Arianne’s place if her suspicions about her father’s relationship with her brother are true. Sylva will do anything to help Arianne keep her place.

- Elia Sand: A young cousin, Ellaria and Doran are hoping Arianne might be able to instruct Elia in acting more like a lady. So far, it’s not working. Elia is precocious, wild, adventurous, and too curious for her own good. It’s a wonder she hasn’t broken something important yet. She doesn’t mean to cause trouble, but she has a hard time thinking ahead. Arianne despairs of her role teaching Elia and wishes Tyene were her lady instead… which probably isn’t helping matters, no.

***

THE IRON ISLANDS:

The Iron Islands are broke, bleak, and super serious. Ladies-in-waiting are probably more used for practical reasons. And in Asha’s case, they’re probably expected to work on and help on her ship. Due to the population, money issues, and cultural differences, I’ve just given 3, like in the similarly practical North. Alannys is recovering from her cough on Harlaw, so her ladies have probably gone back home. Meanwhile I imagine Gwyn and Sona are much closer to the Ironborn’s traditional idea of what women should be, so they probably spend most of their time going 'ASHA NO’.

Asha Greyjoy’s Ladies-in-waiting

- Gwyn Goodbrother of Hammerhorn: Gwyn is probably a little too easily scandalized to belong to Asha’s crew. She believes in traditional roles for ironborn women - spinning flax for sails, weaving canvas, running homes and having children. Just because women SOMETIMES went on raids does NOT mean it’s their proper role, Asha. Needless to say, Asha tends to ignore her. Which is fine with Gwyn (no it’s not, it chafes her to no end), because she’s fine with going over the ship’s ledgers and at least keeping Asha’s affairs in order. Grumbling under her breath all the while, I’m sure.

- Sona Harlaw of the Tower of Glimmering: Sona is the quieter one between herself and Gwyn. She’s not physically cut out for raiding, and honestly lacks the bravado she’d need to do it herself. As a 'normal’ lady in waiting Sona would probably be sewing and weaving, singing, and generally being out of the way. On Asha’s ship, she’s more like to use those to help keep a rhythm for oars or to repair sails. She has little in common with her lady, being much more demure, and so she tends to stay out of Asha’s way and follow whatever orders she’s given while trying to gently nudge her towards more traditional ways of ladyhood (good luck with that).

- Yara Kenning: Yara is probably the only one of the three ladies who’s enjoying her time in Asha’s service. Or Asha’s company at all, really. She thinks this is all a great lark and she’s along for the ride. A bit of a troll and generally okay with learning to raid and sail, she fits in a lot better with the crew than Sona or Gwyn ever have. And if she’s keeping her own affairs secret along with Asha’s, well, you’d better just keep your mouth shut, hadn’t you?

- Ella Welkerton: A thirteen year old girl called a lady-in-waiting as a euphemism. She’s a hostage to her mother’s good behaviour after a failed revolt and everyone knows it. Normally charismatic and friendly, Ella’s still a thirteen year old girl who’s never been away from her mother for long before, never mind being on a ship crew. She doesn’t necessarily object to it, but the crew intimidates her. Asha’s ordered hands off, but that doesn’t make it easier. Already a pious girl, Ella’s sought solace from the Drowned God now more than ever. Nothing kills the crew’s interest in annoying her more than pious bleating, so that’s a plus.

Essos: I don’t really see Ladies-in-waiting being much of a thing in Essos? Female attendants, yes, slaves,yes (sadly) but not ladies-in-waiting as such. At least, not by that title. I imagine when Viserys bought Dany her Dothraki attendants, it was to befit her station as a Westerosi princess in preparation for his 'triumphant return’. If the players don’t somehow throw Dany off track, Missandei will become one later.

Daenerys Targaryen’s Ladies-in-waiting are Jhiqui, Irri, and Doreah, as per canon, with Missandei coming in later (along with a video game canon character called Udemi).

The Westerlands, Riverlands, and the Stormlands don’t currently have Ladies (as in, a woman married to the ruling Lord) and no female children of the Lord currently living there. It’s possible (even probable) other members of their families may have ladies-in-waiting but I’ve not charted them out yet. Renly and Edmure might get ladies-in-waiting around if they get married or have children any time soon. For reference, the Riverlands and Stormlands would have about 5 ladies and I haven’t yet decided the Westerlands number. I can’t imagine them not throwing in an extra or two just because they’re rich and they can. I’m not sure if there would be AS many as in the Reach because they’ve not got the same focus on courtly life, nor the same huge population. If you have any thoughts, please let me know. I’m thinking around 7 might be average for the Westerlands?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I think that you’ve done a really great job here. I like how you tried to sketch out their personalities and sort of fill in the blanks that GRRM left. I also liked the Lannys and Lantells of Lannisport ;)

I’m not sure that there would be a predetermined number of ladies-in-waiting for each region, or even a strong guideline, but I do agree that the Reach probably has more ladies in waiting on average. One of the things to keep in mind is that, as far as I understand it in real life and maybe somebody will correct me if I’m wrong, a lady in waiting became part of the household she was serving and so the households with higher incomes could afford more ladies, which is why wealthier places like the Reach or the Westerlands would tend to have noblewomen with larger retinues, while in poorer places like the Iron Islands, there doesn’t seem to be a very strong tradition of ladies in waiting.

I think that other factors that might determine the number of ladies in waiting are the lady herself (Cersei is very misogynistic and seems to have few ladies in canon), as well as the prevailing political situation.

One small correction - your in-laws in ASOIAF are called your “good-[relationship]”

For example, Marg is Cersei’s good-daughter, and Harys Swyft is Kevan’s good-father. Some examples in the text:

To be sure, a good-father is not the ideal hostage

"On the morrow I want you to pay a call on my good-daughter," Cersei said as Dorcas was dressing her for bed.

So I think maybe what you mean above is that Genna would be her good-mother?

Anyways, this all looks amazing! Excellent work! Thank you for sharing it with me 💕

#blenderbender1811 #replies #submission #long post #long post for ts #ladies in waiting #fanfic #really cool!

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thecostumeplot · 4 years ago

Text

Episode 9: Emma (1996) & Emma (2020)

Both

Welcome to The Costume Plot.

Jojo

I'm Jojo Siu.

Sarah

And I’m Sarah Timm. We're professional designers with a passion for costume design and the performing arts. Our podcast does contain spoilers. Accompanying slideshows for each movie are linked in the episode description.

Jojo

We hope you'll join us every other week as we delve into the wonderful world of costume design in The Costume Plot. [music]

Jojo

Okay.

Sarah

All right. Hello!

Jojo

Hello!

Both

Welcome back...

Jojo

...to The Costume Plot. I'm Jojo.

Sarah

I'm Sarah. It's good to have you here.

Jojo

We're so excited.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

Today we're going to do something a little different. We're going to actually compare two movies. There's a lot of remakes, actually, recently. In the movie world, there's a lot of old movies that are getting revamped and redone. So we decided to take one of these movies and take two different takes on it and kind of break down how they do costumes and how we feel they were successful. Or maybe not so successful.

Sarah

Yeah, and this is... so, we're both doing "Emma." I'm doing the 1996 Gwyneth Paltrow one. And Jojo is doing the recent one. And yeah... I love Jane Austen a lot. And I love watching any-- pretty much any version of Jane Austen adaptations, I'm on board. It's It's always a good time. And it's always gonna be pretty to look at.

Jojo

Mmhmm. I do love the Regency era... period.

Sarah

Me too.

Jojo

I think it's a really lovely period. And it's a really nice silhouette on guys and girls.

Sarah

Yeah, I agree. I agree. Okay, so I'll jump in. I'm going first. So yes, like I said, this movie is from 1996. It was directed by Douglas McGrath. And the costumes are by Ruth Meyers, who works a lot. She did "The Golden Compass" and "Ella Enchanted" and "The Addams Family." And she's been nominated for two Oscars, and one of them was for this. And then the other one was "Addams Family." She hasn't won any Oscars, but she's been nominated, which is always a big deal.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

I didn't realize that this movie had been nominated for Oscars, but like, it kind of makes sense. Like, a period drama is always gonna attract that attention, especially for the costume design Oscar.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

So our setting is, of course, England in the early 1800s. The novel was published in 1815. So that's about where people usually put it in time. And I couldn't find any interviews with Ruth Meyers about this movie, I think because it's old. So if there were any it'd probably be in a magazine and not online.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

But I did find one site that was like-- it was-- it's a blog, like a costuming blog. And they were comparing a bunch of different versions of "Emma." And I'm not going to say the name of the blog, 'cause it doesn't really matter. But they said that for this movie, the costume designer "abandoned historical accuracy..."

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

...which I thought was a hilarious thing to say. And also, I disagree. Because what she meant--what this person, the blogger, meant--was that like, a lot of the fashions are more like five years away from where they're supposed to be. And I'm like, "that's not exactly 'abandoning' accuracy." It's just kind of... fudging it a little.

Jojo

Because realistically, they wouldn't have worn whatever is right at the-- the climax of that era anyways?

Sarah

Right. She was picking out specific little things being like, "Well, this was from 1812, specifically, so it wouldn't..." and I'm like, "but that's still within 10 years!" Like, that's pretty darn good. It's not like they're all in mini dresses with their hair down. [both laugh] So that was... it was just like, that was kind of an extreme thing to say, I think. Because "abandoning historical accuracy" and picking something that's about five years away from where you set something; those are two different things.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

It's just very funny and nitpicky.

Jojo

Very different.

Sarah

So this is the Regency era of fashion, which is one of our favorites. We love it. It's very inspired by like, classical Greek styles. So the silhouette is very relaxed. It's like a column. We've really gone away from the big, crazy silhouettes of the late 1700s. So like, Marie Antoinette style: lots of surface decoration, and crazy colors, and huge wigs, and giant skirts; those things are of the past now, and we're in a more... I don't know, simpler, much simpler silhouette. And part of that is because of the French Revolution. And those big crazy fashions were associated with like, the French aristocracy and royalty. And no one wanted to be associated with that anymore. So it was like they had to swing in the completely opposite direction to get away from that period.

Jojo

I love the little history lesson we're getting.

Sarah

[laughs] Well, you know, it's for people who might, you know, hear "Regency" and be like, "What's that again?" You know.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

It's Austen times. That's a-- that's an easy way to remember.

Jojo

It's typically around the years of, I would say, 1810-18, maybe latest 1820. But probably be even a little bit before that.

Sarah

Yeah. Yeah. I think people say, like, 1805-ish.

Jojo

It's like 1816 or something like that.

Sarah

Yeah. Once again, we're not experts. [both laugh]

Jojo

And really, I mean, if you think about history of costume, everything kind of did overlap. Nothing ever just stopped right at a certain year.

Sarah

Right, exactly. So yeah, I don't think that this movie is inaccurate, in a glaring way. I think whatever liberties that Ruth has taken serve the story and help evoke the emotions. And the blogger called it an "impressionistic" view. And I think that that's kind of accurate. It's-- you know, you want to evoke the feeling instead of making it a carbon copy. And so this first picture I have is a good example of it. This is Miss Bates. And she's like, the spinster. That's what they call her. You know, she's an old maid.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

She's unmarried, ergo... she is dressed a lot older than our leads are. She's wearing a much darker color than all the other young ladies wear. And everything is a lot fussier-looking. And she has another look. Let's see... yes, this one is from much later in the movie, but she's wearing a mob camp, which I read is usually associated with married women. But I think probably if you're like-- if you've decided you're an "old maid..."

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

...you can probably wear a mob cap because you're like, signaling to everybody that you've given up? I don't know. [both laugh]

Jojo

It does look kind of Amelia Bedelia in the image that you've given us.

Sarah

Oh, poor Miss Bates. Yeah. And this color is like... it's just an oatmeal, kind of sad taupe and...

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

But I will say that this is this particular one, this beige one, is a good example of looking for historical accuracy in the character that the audience is supposed to see as mumsy or old.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

Because she has a long sleeve on, and a lot of Regency dresses should have a long sleeve, and there are not a lot of long sleeves in this movie.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

And she has a higher neck, and a lot of Regency styles have a low neck, but I think for everyday, most women would probably choose a higher neck than we're seeing in this movie.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

I mean, it's communicating what it's supposed to communicate. Also, I felt really bad for her. I feel so bad for Miss Bates.

Jojo

[laughs] I do too. They definitely made her look like a super nerd in this movie.

Sarah

This actress is really good, though. I don't know her name. But like, there's that scene where they're all at the picnic and Emma makes fun of her. And she was so good in that scene. I feel like I should look up her name and shout her out. Hold on one sec. Just 'cause like she...

Jojo

Do a little IMDb on her. Yeah, it's funny because I did not look back at the old "Emma" when I watched the new one to prepare for this. But it is interesting seeing even just the comparison as you're going through. I'm like, "Oh yeah, that's what she looked like in the original movie."

Sarah

Okay, so this actress's name is Sophie Thompson. Great job Sophie.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

Yeah, actually I wanted to watch yours too. But then I like... procrastinated and put it off, and I didn't feel like watching two "Emmas" yesterday. So...

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

I was like, "I'll just watch it later."

Jojo

I know, I was gonna say, I was like, "that would be a lot, to compare the two." But it's cool to be able to see the before and after, or the... the first and the latter? [both laugh] Whatever you wanna call it.

Sarah

The nineties and the now.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

Alright, so let's move on to Emma herself, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, of course. I picked this pink look, for when she's doing archery, because I liked... it looks really billowy and tent-y in this shot, but it's just because it was windy, I think. She has this little... thingy holding up her skirt for archery?

Jojo

Oh, interesting.

Sarah

Which... I thought that was interesting and kind of fun. And you can see her shoes which is... also fun. [both laugh] She's wearing a little buttoned-up boot. And the color I think is... I don't know, like, a little bright. Here's another picture of it. I mean, it looks pretty washed out in this picture. It's like a pastel pink. I like the stripe on it a lot.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

She wears pretty much all pastels and whites in this movie, and it really gives her that youthful air. She also doesn't have a lot of surface decoration, trims, like... not a lot of sparkly stuff, not a lot of jewelry. And that gives her sort of the... she kind of doesn't have a care in the world, you know? She just kind of throws something on and goes about her day, because she's kind of frivolous and spoiled. But in a youthful, naive kind of way.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

So I think that the clothes fit. Also shout out to the hair in this movie. I think the hair is excellent. I have a couple pictures where it goes kind of 90s.

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

But like, this one, it's pretty dang good. She's got her center part. She's got her little curls coming down.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

Pretty good! Lots of times, the place where you see the era that the movie was made is in the hair.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

Which is always so fascinating to me. This is a cloak she wears. I liked this a lot. It's like, the party where she goes, and then Elton--Mr. Elton--like, assaults her in the carriage. [both laugh] Side note, as I was watching this movie I remembered I have already covered "Clueless," which IS "Emma."

Jojo

Yep. Yep.

Sarah

[laughs] It's so funny how "Clueless," it hits the exact same story beats. It's amazing.

Jojo

Mmhmm. Yep.

Sarah

I love that movie. Anyway. [laughs]

Jojo

Also isn't... I'm trying to... yeah, it is Alan Cumming for Mr. Elton in this movie! [laughs]

Sarah

Yeah, it's Alan Cumming. I love him. He's--

Jojo

I do too.

Sarah

Listen, anytime he's on screen, I'm like, "he's welcome."

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

I love to see him.

Jojo

I forgot he was Mr. Elton. I do love him as as Mr. Elton in this movie.

Sarah

Mmhmm. So this is one of the examples of the hair getting a little bit 90s. It looks kind of like a 90s prom updo.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

I think it's because there's no part and it's pulled a little tight.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

I think that Regency styles were a bit more relaxed than this.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

But I also pulled this because I like the cloak. But I'm also unsure of what this fabric is. Like, is it supposed to be fur or is it supposed to be high pile velvet?

Yeah, I was thinking about that-- or like, a velveteen or something?

Jojo

Yeah.

I don't-- it is a little strange. It's hard to tell.

Sarah

Yeah, it looks like a really plush blanket. Like, my mom is really into blankets like this right now.

Jojo

[laughs] Love it.

Sarah

So it looks exactly like those. [laughs]

Jojo

She just needed to be warm!

Sarah

Yeah, I mean, it's in the snow. So it makes sense. I like the big hood.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

That's fun. I liked it, you know, I didn't dislike it. It was just an interesting fabrication choice.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

And then here-- so, she wears so many clothes in this movie that I had to just kind of grab a handful and then just let the rest go. And I don't have a lot of specific stuff to say about...

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

...any of the individual looks after this. It's just kind of like, "Look at this! Look at that! Look at that!"

Jojo

[laughs] "It's pretty!"

Sarah

So this is one of her first looks, it's a nice white. She wears a lot of white. And then we have Harriet over here, who's very youthful, and even more naive than Emma.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

And then this is another one. Like a green-y brown-y plaid with a red wrap. Very pretty. This is a party look. I like this one a lot. It's like a sheer with... it's like a chiffon with a satiny stripe in it.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

And we're seeing once again, she's wearing jewelry but it's very simple jewelry. She's got her sort of 90s updo again. Don't have much to say. [both laugh] Then, I like this one. This is them in the carriage, and she has this little, like...

Jojo

Capelet?

Sarah

Capelet! Yes, that's the word. [both laugh]

Jojo

I was like, "is that what that is?"

Sarah

I was making a little motion, like...

Jojo

[laughs] I did love that.

Sarah

I like the fringe on this a lot, it's very pretty. I don't know.

Jojo

Oh, I thought that was just an eyelet lace. That's cool.

Sarah

It's like a lace with fringe hanging down, like a little...

Jojo

Oh yeah, that's super nice.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

For those of you looking at this on Instagram, please zoom in.

Sarah

Yeah, zoom in, zoom in. Also these are screenshots, and like, this is as HD as this movie gets. Which is not very.

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

Do I have anything else to say about her? No. And then this is one that she wears to go to tea with Mr. and Mrs. Elton. I like the color of this. And the sort of, like, taffeta of it.

Jojo

Ooh.

Sarah

Also I like whatever...

Jojo

That's a lovely green.

Sarah

...whatever trim is happening on the neckline and on the sleeves. What is it? ...Unclear. It's pretty. It just looks like a little dashed line. But it's like...

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

...it's like a cord or something, maybe? Piping? Really skinny piping?

Jojo

Maybe. I wonder if they did an actual basting stitch, or you know, a running stitch but with... with some kind of cord?

Sarah

What's that called... couching? Couching is like when...

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

...when you sew around a piece of cord.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

Yeah, it looks kind of like that.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

Okay. My thing for this one is gonna be kind of short, because it's just kind of like, "Pretty! Great. Love."

Jojo

[laughs] That's okay. That's kinda how I feel.

Sarah

Yeah. [laughs] Here's some Harriet. She didn't wear a lot of things that I was super, like, "gotta talk about it." I do like this plaid number. It's got these really pretty frogs on the closures.

Jojo

Oh yeah.

Sarah

Which, if you don't know, frogs are closures that are made of cord and they're little knots that hook-- that loop into each other. I've made them before, it's very hard.

Jojo

They're used on a lot of Asian garments as well, as closures.

Sarah

Yes, yes. This is where she was in the rain.

Jojo

Or, I should say, Chinese garments.

Sarah

Yeah. Yeah, specifically. Yeah, I had to make them for... I had to make frogs for "M. Butterfly," I think. It was really difficult.

Jojo

Oh, you MADE them?

Sarah

Yeah! [laughs]

Jojo

Interesting.

Sarah

We made the-- we covered the cord, and then you have to wrap it and stitch it in place. It was... I don't... I didn't like it.

Jojo

That's intense.

Sarah

I don't want to do it again.

Jojo

[laughs] "I didn't like it!" [both laugh] I will say, the plaid on this does remind me a lot of the kind of color palette that they used in "Clueless."

Sarah

Oooh, yeah!

Jojo

For that character.

Sarah

I also like how it's on the bias. The lines are going at a diagonal. It always makes it more interesting.

Jojo

Great job, construction team, for lining up those lines!

Sarah

Yep, it's perfect.

Jojo

It's beautiful.

Sarah

We love a good pattern match. Here's a shot of it standing up. So it doesn't go all the way down. Like, it's just the... oh, is it a jacket?

Jojo

It might be a Spencer jacket.

Sarah

It might be a little Spencer. Yeah.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

Little cropped jacket. Oh, and I was gonna talk about bonnets. So, most of this movie, Gwyneth Paltrow is not wearing a bonnet when she's outside. And as we said in our last episode, in most periods, if you went outside, you had a hat on.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

And...

Jojo

And gloves.

Sarah

Yes. Oh, I think that blog I was reading said that bonnet-less women were-- that was a look that was reserved for prostitutes? And I was like, "Really?" [laughs]

Jojo

Well, I think it was kind of like a point of shame. I mean, it's the same as like, military men wearing their hats out of respect, right? You know, when they're uncovered by a roof, they're supposed to have some sort of a military hat on. So I think it's the same thing with women at this time? There was this idea of needing to wear one to show your piety or your status, I guess.

Sarah

Yeah, yeah. It's so funny. That's such a foreign idea now.

Jojo

Right, right. 'Cause hats are just so not a thing. [laughs]

Sarah

Yeah. But like, even as recently as the mid 1900s, you know, 1950s-1960s, people were still... if they were dressed up, if they were leaving the house, they were wearing a hat and gloves.

Jojo

Mmhmm. Yeah.

Sarah

And it's so funny how quickly that that kind of just like left our public...

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

...you know, rules. Or our consciousness.

Jojo

It's interesting to think about how that transition must have happened, too. Because the first people to not wear hats probably looked like they were being disrespectful. Or, you know... or a prostitute. [laughs]

Sarah

Well, yeah, and that would probably be like... yeah, counterculture of the 50s and 60s. I feel like those were some of the first people to really do that. And like, they were definitely seen as disrespectful. As like, hooligans, you know.

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

Hippies, or like, beatniks, or whatever.

Jojo

Anyway.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

Side note.

Sarah

I also think that the bonnets are a little bit small in this movie. Most of the time when I've seen this period, they're a little bit larger. But I'm also not sure if that's wrong or not. It's just like, what I've seen.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

Usually. What do I have next? Oh, this is Ewan McGregor. Forgot he was in this movie.

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

He plays Frank Churchill.

Jojo

I forgot about that, too.

Sarah

And I haven't talked about any men yet. But I will say he is a big contrast to the other men in the movie. He is a lot flashier, a lot more of a dandy. And it's like, his long, wavy hair, his fancy top hat. He just-- he looks like he's always really caring about what he looks like. Sort of like a fop. Is that what we call it? I don't know.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

This is a good example of this. It's what he wears to the party, one of the many parties in this movie. [laughs] I feel like they're always going to the party. It's like a burgundy velvet coat with a lovely patterned waistcoat underneath.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

I think it's beautiful. And then I want to talk about Mrs. Elton, who is very silly.

Jojo

Oh, Mrs. Elton.

Sarah

She is a great contrast to all the other women in the movie, because she is kind of... she's rude. And she's kind of like-- I saw her described on the Wikipedia article for "Emma" as "nouveau riche," which means that she's recently wealthy, so she's kind of like, tacky about it.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

So she wears much darker colors than everybody else, which is an automatic way to contrast her.

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

And then her hair is also like-- I don't know, it's exaggerated in a way that makes her look comical.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

And these, like-- this style with the curls on the side, it's totally period. But it looks-- compared to the other women, it looks much more exaggerated.

Jojo

It's almost heading a little into crinoline era.

Sarah

Yeah. I think that when the curls move over the ear is when that's... a thing. I don't know, though. Somebody tell me if I'm wrong.

Jojo

Regency era still had some of the curls over the ear. But it was starting to move kind of around the back of the head and the side.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

I think, in the crinoline era. It was kind of more ringlets all the way down.

Sarah

Yeah. Like, yeah, that's definitely a hairstyle I associate with "Christmas Carol."

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

Oh, and she has this really weird bonnet. Get ready for this bonnet. [both laugh]

Jojo

Oh yeah! I did forget about that one.

Sarah

Look at that!

Jojo

It looks like she's surrounded by a clamshell. Like it's about to eat her head. [both laugh] And she's the pearl coming out of it.

Sarah

Also, this actress is doing a great job doing crazy eyes in this movie. [both laugh]

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

She's really selling it. This is a picture of the whole outfit. So like, compared to everybody else, she looks very silly.

Jojo

Yeah, it literally looks like an oyster shell on her head.

Sarah

Yeah, I've never seen a bonnet like this, if I'm honest.

Jojo

[laughs] That's a pretty unusual one.

Sarah

Yeah. I like her dark green outfit, though. It's pretty. She wears a lot of jewelry too. So that's another way that she contrasts with Emma and with the other women. She's like, very tacky and exaggerated. But that's... that's fun. That's fun to look at.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

All right. And then I'm just gonna finish up by talking about Mr. Knightley. And I don't have a lot to say. He just looks really good. [laughs]

Jojo

Yeah, this I do love this rendition of Mr. Knightley.

Sarah

He's good. He's really-- he's handsome, but kind of like in an understated way.

Jojo

Yeah, I think that's one of the things I loved about him. I randomly saw... I can't remember what I was watching. I was watching something else completely unrelated. And this was like, years after this movie came out. But I recognized him because he was playing a completely different character. And I was like, "why does this guy look so familiar?" And then I realized this was the last movie that I'd seen him in, and I was like, "oh, duh!" [both laugh] But yeah, it's so weird to see them out of the element that you're used to seeing them in.

Sarah

I feel that way about the guy who plays Mr. Darcy in the Keira Knightley "Pride and Prejudice."

Jojo

Yes!

Sarah

He's in "Succession," which could not be...

Jojo

I have not seen that.

Sarah

...a more different character. He plays an American guy who's like a total... I don't wanna say "twat." [both laugh] But he's kind of... kind of a putz.

Jojo

I saw him in-- I don't know if you've ever seen "Death at a Funeral."

Sarah

Yeah! That's an older one. Yeah.

Jojo

Yeah. He's in that one. And that's the other thing that I remembered him from. So I was like, "This is so weird."

Sarah

He's so dashing and so handsome in "Pride and Prejudice," and then it's like, you take him out of the Regency outfit and you're like, "oh, okay." He's just a guy.

Jojo

"Oh, you're not as cool."

Sarah

I mean, no offense, he's still handsome. But he's extra handsome in "Pride and Prejudice."

Jojo

That's kind of how I felt about this Mr. Bingley. Or... not Bingley. This Mr. Knightley, as well. I'm mixing all of my Austens now.

Sarah

They all end in Y! Bingley, Darcy, Knightley.

Jojo

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Sarah

Yeah, so he's in cool tones for most of the movie, which is, you know, nice. Like it. This picture is from when they're dancing. And I love how every Jane Austen movie has to have a dance scene where they're like, you know, touching hands and making eye contact as they kind of... step around each other.

Jojo

[laughs] Yeah. It's all about what's unsaid.

Sarah

Exactly.

Jojo

And the almost-but-not-quite-touching.

Sarah

Yep. Flirting in an 1815 kind of way.

Jojo

[laughs] Yes.

Sarah

And you can kind of see Mrs. Elton behind Emma over here. And she's wearing this very like... her dress kind of has a cape?

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

It kind of has a Grecian-like red drape that goes around the side, which I thought was fun.

Jojo

Oh, yeah, yeah, I can see that.

Sarah

I didn't pull any pictures of it. I think it's because I had too many pictures. And I counted all my pictures to make sure I could fit them in an Instagram post. And I deleted some.

Jojo

That's good.

Sarah

Yep, I learned my lesson.

Jojo

I was trying to do that with mine too. I was like, "Alright, how many can I fit in one square?" [both laugh]

Sarah

Exactly. And then-- yeah, so this is just from the final scene and he looks great, and I liked it. The end.

Jojo

The end! [both laugh] Yay, Emma 1990s!

Sarah

That's your 90s "Emma." I hope you enjoyed my really not-thorough analysis of it. [both laugh] Truly I was watching it and I was just like, "I don't know what to say except these are pretty."

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

And I like 'em.

Jojo

Yeah, definitely. I feel like, you know, this movie in particular is very much about like, "how do we make these characters look pretty?"

Sarah

Yeah, and I mean, Emma's world is-- like, the book opens by describing her as selfish and sheltered. So it is kind of like you're making a fantasy world. And I can see that in the sort of pastels and the dreamy landscapes and stuff.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

That was definitely successful in this version.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

All right, so...

Jojo

Yay!

Sarah

Your turn.

Jojo

Do you mind if we take a quick break?

Sarah

Yeah! [short musical sting]

Jojo

So of course, we are still covering "Emma," I'm going to be covering the 2020 version of this movie. And this actually, this movie was actually a directorial debut for Autumn de Wilde. So she is typically a photographer and video artist. She's done a lot of music videos. She's also taken a lot of really famous celebrity photos. So that's kind of what she was known for before. And she also does a lot of movie posters. So actually, all the movie posters for this new version of Emma were photographed by her as well.

Sarah

Oh, cool.

Jojo

And that's actually-- it's a pretty clear visual that you see throughout this movie, like you can definitely tell it's from like a photographer's eye. And the visuals are very much about like, "how can we make this the most picturesque scene ever?" It's very apparent throughout this movie. The costume designer for this was Alexandra Byrne, who we have met before, she again did "Murder on the Orient Express," which we covered before. But she's also done "Mary Queen of Scots," "Doctor Strange" a lot of the Avengers movies, "Guardians of the Galaxy," "Elizabeth: the Golden Age." And so in terms of her variety and her scale of stuff that she's done, she's pretty used to this large scale, grand scale of things.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So I would probably say this is probably a smaller project for her, if anything. So one of the things I wanted to talk about... we've already talked about the setting, this is still England, we're probably between 1815-1820 or so. One of the blogs that I was looking at was called Willow and Thatch. So these are a couple of the things they were talking about with her costumes. They said, "Alexandra Byrne's thoughtful choice of various Regency era garments and textiles give us a better grasp of each character's role in the story," which was very accurate. And then "throughout the period drama we are treated to visually pleasing dresses. Their production's overall palette is pastel, as if the mood board started with a box of macarons," which you absolutely see with this. It's definitely a delectable delight of treats. The iconic white muslins of the Regency are everywhere, as are small scale printed cottons. The first image that I have here is, of course, my favorite. It's the first Spencer jacket that we see her in. And not only is the cut and the silhouette of this Spencer jacket accurate, but you can kind of see here, I've placed it side by side with an actual museum piece. Which is... basically it was essentially copied from this museum piece that was an 1817 garment at the Chertsey Museum collection. So this is kind of like the perfect example of how a costume designer sort of simplifies an already existing garment, or kind of changes up small details. So that we're not directly copying an actual garment that exists, but that we're putting our own spin on it without completely just scratching a new idea or... you know, because none of this is like original ideas. It's talking about real garments that exist in a real time. And I love that the costume designer really tried to honor the accuracy of the time period by doing that. So that she kind of still took her own take on these details and then was still able to make it this beautiful garment. So not only is the piping pretty, you know, it's pretty similar to the original. Obviously she simplified the collar of this coat. And you can see it's a lot more busy up top.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

And that's one of the things I think that you'll realize with this newer version of "Emma," which I found really interesting, because she doesn't keep her in all pinks. She does have quite a variety of different colors that she kind of wears throughout this movie. But there is a sense of... she's always going to be done up very fancy. I think the costume designer talked a little bit about how basically she has, I think... sorry, I totally didn't write this down, which was me being unprepared. But Willow and Thatch also mentioned that there's, I believe, five or six total like Spencer jackets, and another six, what they called "pelisse." Which is another... it's spelled p-e-l-i-s-s-e. And it's also a formal type of outerwear that was worn during the Regency era. Which is basically kind of fitted on top, and it sort of still meets at the empire waist. So right under the bust, but then it actually flows all the way to the floor. So the Spencer jacket is sort of a shortened version of that without the tail-- the long, you know, floor length coat, part of it. And then the pelisse is sort of a longer version of that, with that same idea of the fitted top.

Sarah

I didn't know that word. Today I learned.

Jojo

Yes. So one of the interesting things about all of those outerwear things was that the blog actually talked a lot about how the costume designer really took the time to understand what this woman's real closet would have looked like. She's someone who is wealthier, she's someone who comes from an upper class, she would have had the money--you know, the spending money--for shopping, that would have been common at this time for ladies of her age to be going out and buying all of these things. And one of the other things that I do love about the way Autumn has directed this movie is that she shows a lot of that "behind the scenes" of how people get ready.

Sarah

Mmm.

Jojo

And how people actually dress. So like, there's a scene where we see Emma actually getting a pelisse tailored to fit her. So she has, you know, they show the unfinished pelisse coat. It sounds like I'm saying "police coat."

Sarah

PO-lice, yeah. [laughs]

Jojo

But... it's like a pel... pelisse.

Sarah

Pelisse.

Jojo

I don't know how to say it properly. I'm probably saying it wrong. But the pelisse coat basically is left there with all the tailoring...

Sarah

The tacks.

Jojo

...stitching.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

That's in there. And then it also shows the pleating and all the different details that are on there as if she's getting it finished. And in the next scene, they show the finished coat after she's gotten it completed. So like, it really shows you that process of not just Emma's clothes, but also the world around how these clothes are made. There's a scene where they even show Mr. Knightley, how he gets out of his clothes and then puts on his next outfit.

Sarah

Ooh.

Jojo

So yeah, there's just a lot of like fine details. I think Autumn, as a photographer, is always paying attention to these things, I'm sure. And so you can see that detail is applied in the rest of the movie as well. So I've wanted to start with this because I do love the Spencer jacket. I think it's just so attractive. And it's so beautiful. And the fact that this much detail went into this. And even then, she's "simplified" this from the original. It just goes to show how much detail went into those garments at that time, because those were things you were wearing on a more regular basis. And the Spencer jacket was not meant to keep you warm, it was a typically a lighter fabric, or it was a lighter garment. So the fact that this is something that would have been worn probably out in public much more often than, say, a winter coat, it means it's getting a lot of screen time, for lack of a better word.

Sarah

Right.

Jojo

So onto the next one. This is just another outfit because, again, we talked about bonnets with the old "Emma" as well. And bonnets were a very big feature in this movie, she's pretty much always seen with a bonnet anytime she goes outside.

Sarah

Wow!

Jojo

So again, really, really accurate to the time. Really paid attention to the world and how they lived and what they would have been wearing. This is also just another really quick zoom in of this beautiful sleeve.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

Like, look at the way they've layered that, it's pretty incredible.

Sarah

That's amazing.

Jojo

And then the other thing I wanted to focus on, too, was just that attention to detail with the inside of the bonnet being covered in lace. Because most of the other ones... I mean, all the bonnets have a certain layer of lace on the interior of the brim. Which you'll see in a couple of the other photos I'm gonna pull up. But the fact that her entire interior is just lace on top of that pink is pretty incredible.

Sarah

Pretty luxurious.

Jojo

As are a lot of her other bonnets. It's just kind of... I think that's where she kind of over accessorizes, is on her hats.

Sarah

And lace is expensive in this time.

Jojo

Yes, very much so.

Sarah

I feel like bonnets are usually like the first thing to go in these kind of movies.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

Where people are like, "We want them to look beautiful to a young, modern audience."

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

"So the bonnets looks so stuffy and weird. So we're just gonna take away the bonnets." So, it's so interesting that this is a movie full of bonnets! [laughs]

Jojo

Yeah, definitely. So this was the next image I wanted to focus on. And again, this is a better example of a pelisse. So you can kind of see, it still has that sort of fitted top that we saw with the Spencer, but it continues down onto the sides here. Some of the pelisses actually closed in the front, this one just happens to close over the sides a little bit. But I do love this color. So this one, actually, was really important. Because one of the things that the costume designer did was she contrasted Emma's character to show her wealth by putting her in that fitted pelisse. And then for the Harriet Smith character, they actually put her in a red cape. So the red cloak was actually considered and called a "riding hood."

Sarah

Hmmm.

Jojo

Basically, that's what it is. But that was actually a typical standard for country outerwear. And so they actually showed a picture of a watercolor that was... I can't remember who it was written to be by on the website. But basically, it depicted life in the Regency era. So it was a whole book of things that people would wear, you know, the habits of that day. So the accuracy of just taking those garments, that not only put Harriet Smith at a very different class level from our main character, but also took accurate clothing from that time period. I just... again, kudos to this costume designer, she really did her research for this. And I love that she did kind of marry the idea of being as historically accurate as possible, while still taking her vision as a costume designer to a different level.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

The other thing that you'll see here, and you don't really see it in this image, and I didn't choose to focus on it specifically, is that they're in pretty much the similar color palette. But you can see that underneath, Harriet is actually wearing kind of... it's like a Spencer jacket shape. But it's actually a knit maroon cardigan.

Sarah

Really!

Jojo

So I just found that really interesting. Again, kind of just making... and we've talked about this in the past, how kind of knitwear--or sweaters--tend to make you a little bit more casual. Or it kind of brings down the classiness of a garment? I don't want to say that, because that's not necessarily always true. But there's a softness about knitwear that is not going to give you the same effect as something that's a little more structured, like this pelisse.

Sarah

It makes you a little more homespun, a little more country.

Jojo

Yes. And that is very much what Harriet Smith is. I mean, even in the way that her bonnet is decorated. It's so simple next to this ginormous, you know, velvet thing that Emma has on.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

This is probably one of her more simplified hats, which I just thought was kind of funny. But you know, again, it's such a striking and very saturate image that we see her in here. And I think that's one of the things that really characterizes this movie, in comparison to the old "Emma," is that it kind of feels like they've like pumped up all the colors, and it's much more saturate than the Gwenyth Paltrow version.

Sarah

And do we think that that's like a... 1990s versus a 2020s thing? Like, the ideal of...

Jojo

It could be. I do feel like, I don't know, I can't remember. I'm trying to remember if it was like, we just didn't have a lot of saturated colors. Like it just wasn't a thing to be super vibrant in the 90s?

Sarah

I just-- I think that that one, you can definitely see... the 90s--a lot of 90s fashion--is really streamlined, you know, like Cher's white dress in "Clueless" that's literally just a tank top.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

So, that kind of thing, I could see the 90s in the 90s "Emma."

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

So I wonder... I'm looking for the 2020s. I'm like, "What are the hallmarks of the 2020s in this movie?"

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

I feel like we won't know until 10 years from now, you know?

Jojo

That's true.

Sarah

But it's interesting to think about.

Jojo

And I will say, you know, as we've been looking at a lot of the recent things that have been coming out, the other thing I was thinking about when you said that was "Bridgerton," right?

Sarah

Yes!

Jojo

It's a lot of that same... it is pastel, but it is that kind of "macaron color" world, where it's a lot of candy colored pastels, you know?

Sarah

That one's making a big splash because of how bright the colors are.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

And then this... that made me think of that Hulu series about Catherine the Great. Is it just called "Catherine"?

Jojo

Oh, yes, "Catherine." Uh-huh.

Sarah

Where she wears that hot pink gown. So like...

Jojo

Or, is it called "The Great"?

Sarah

"The Great." That's what it is. Thank you. [laughs]

Jojo

Yes. Yeah, I know what you're talking about. But yeah, I think that's definitely coming back in, especially with period stuff. Like, we're seeing a lot of that period, but we're amping up the color so much more.

Sarah

That's how we're making it look modern now, is by like putting a colorful twist on it.

Jojo

Yeah. Which is so fascinating!

Sarah

Yeah!

Jojo

You color forecast, I guess.

Sarah

But I love it. I love it because I love color. So I'm all for it.

Jojo

Me too. So again, I think... you know, same thing. We apply the same kind of color saturation to the menswear as well. And this is our Mr. Knightley, who... I think they made him a little bit more rugged than the previous Mr. Knightley, which I love. Johnny Flynn plays our Mr. Knightley in this version.

Sarah

I love him.

Jojo

And again, I didn't show these pictures because it's a whole scene that happens where he gets into this outfit. And it's like, he comes from walking because he walks everywhere.

Sarah

Aww.

Jojo

So there's this whole thing about how he doesn't take carraiges because he just likes to walk outside instead. And so he comes into his house. And then he gets... like, the first scene, we see him and he starts off naked, and then he's putting on all of his clothes. So you literally see him put on, you know, his shirt first. And then his servant actually helps him put on his ascot. And then you see him put on the vest, and then you see him tuck the shirt into the pants, and then button up the front fly pants. So it's like you see that whole process, and then you see his servant, help him get his final coat on. And I love that the director has honored that process, because that is a part of what they were doing every day to get dressed. And that was a part of who they were, and a part of their society. And all of that made that culture. And why, that whole idea of flirting and dancing, all of that was part of that world. Like, they didn't have TVs to just sit around and watch like we do. So...

Sarah

They spent a lot of time getting dressed. Getting dressed was like a big part of your day.

Jojo

Yes.

Sarah

So I like that.

Jojo

And it also goes to show his wealth, because he has a servant who helps him do all that. And he does live in this huge Abbey. And one of the biggest things that happens at the end of this movie is that he says he's willing to give all of that up so that he can stay with Emma. Because he knows she'll never leave her father's house, and her father will never leave his house. So it's this huge sacrifice, because you've seen all of the things that he's giving up, and you see the wealth and the prosperity that he lives in. And all of that goes to show, like when he puts on this final layer of his coat. It's this... I mean, I can't do it justice in this photo. But it's this beautiful, buttery, almost orange-yellow?

Sarah

Caramel.

Jojo

That is... yeah, it's a very beautiful caramel color. So when he first puts it on, he is wearing this dark navy blue underneath. And then he's got this complimentary yellow on top. Again, it just goes to show the level of wealth, the level of prosperity that he comes from, and he's a very educated man. So everything is very clean, and everything is very put together. Even when he walks to Emma's house in the first scene after he's gotten dressed, he talks about how basically he's walked through an entire field, and his boots have been left un-muddy, you know. So it's just this whole idea of his persona, like there's this very clean... he's very put together, he takes very good care of his appearance. And that's something I think a lot of this film focuses on, is the idea of each person and how they interact with everyone else. We talked about Emma being this, you know, kind of naive and sort of spoiled personality. And I feel like with Gwyneth Paltrow's version, it's a little bit more pithy? Whereas I feel like this version, Emma is very... I don't want to say "sociopathic," but it's almost like she just doesn't know how to empathize. Like...

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

...she just constantly gets annoyed at everything. And she's very like, "Well, you're not meeting my standard." And she just doesn't know how to interact. Like, she knows how to help people, because that's what she likes doing. But it's always for a specific reason, or there's always some kind of motive behind it. So I think-- I talked to a few friends who saw this movie after having seen the other "Emma," and a lot of the criticisms were that she just wasn't likeable. And I was like, "But that is kind of who her character is," to a certain extent, until we get to the end.

Well, she shows a lot of growth over the course of the story. So...

Yes.

Sarah

...it's okay for her not to be likable in the beginning, because we need to see her learn her lessons, you know, and grow.

Jojo

Yeah. And I think the other reason, maybe, that I like this movie a little bit more was because I also felt like I could relate a lot with this version of Emma. [laughs] Which sounds really bad. But like, I think I tend to have that mentality. Sometimes I'm kind of like, "Well, why can't you just do this?"

Sarah

Oh, yeah, same. [laughs]

Jojo

And I think that's very much how she's portrayed in this movie. It's that kind of like, "Well, you can't be right, because I'm right." [laughs]

Sarah

Right, right. Yeah.

Jojo

I think, you know, when she does finally get to that point where she's able to change, you see more of that redeeming factor, I think, at the very end. And even at the end, when they have their whole final talk, there's this cathartic moment between the two of them where they're both kind of like, "I know that you can never accept me because I'm this way. And I do all these things, I've lectured you, and I've been so blunt and blah, blah, blah," and then they still come together and say, "But I still love you, in spite of all that."

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So, again, I just felt like it was a really good portrayal of that relationship. Okay, so moving on. So this was the image that I meant to talk about earlier, where it's that watercolor scene of what they wore that time. And it was those white muslin dresses that were so iconic of the Regency era, and then those red capes that they talked about. So it was typically worn by students, which, in Harriet Smith's case--particularly in this movie--they basically have her because she hasn't... basically, they don't know who her parents are. And she doesn't find out until the very end who her father actually is, because she isn't of age yet. So she's very young, she's kind of student age. And so there's a couple scenes where they actually show Harriet Smith walking into a... it's like, it's not really an orphanage, but it's basically like a boarding house, I guess. Or a board house. And all of the students, anytime they walk outside with the teacher, are always in these red capes. So it's this line of basically like the Madeline girls, you know.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

Where they line up in two lines, and they all wear the red capes and walk around.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So I wanted to put that in there, just because I think it does... [zooms in too far] Ooh, didn't mean to do that. [both laugh] Because it does show just the accuracy of the research that this costume designer took from. And there's a couple different looks, too, that are kind of like that. So then the other costume that I really wanted to focus on... one thing that I haven't mentioned with this movie is that there's... I think this has been kind of the case with a lot of recent movies. "The Favourite" is another movie that kind of does the same thing, where it takes a period and then makes it very comical-- kind of a parody, almost, of that period. While trying to be...

Sarah

I would love to talk about "The Favourite" in the future.

Jojo

Huh?

Sarah

I would love to talk about "The Favourite".

Jojo

Oh, yes. Yes. Absolutely.

Sarah

The costume design in that movie is so interesting. And like, the story behind it is so... anyway. So cool.

Jojo

Side note! [laughs] Next movie. But I do love that in this particular version of "Emma," Bill Nye... he is basically the comic relief. Like, there's nothing at all serious about him. And I kind of just feel like the director was just like, "Just be yourself and just do whatever you want!" Like, that's kind of how I felt with this movie. Because half the time he's, like, jumping down the stairs, and he sort of just makes this very comical idea of, like... doing his Bill Nighy thing. Where he sort of just says something, and then it kind of just disarms you a little bit. And then he kind of just moves on, as if he didn't say it. [laughs]

Sarah

God, I love him.

Jojo

One of my favorite looks for him is this. It's like loungewear. And you can't-- there's a couple other pictures, I'll show in a second, where it shows the full length. Because this only shows you the top. But I love that the costume designer just made him blend into his background to become his wallpaper, or his chair.

Sarah

Yeah!

Jojo

And it really goes to show that he really is attached to this house, like he has become a part of this house, he will never leave this house. He was born and will die in this house. And he will become part of the house eventually, you know? So it's this idea that he's already starting to kind of blend in. And there's a couple moments where he kind of... he asks his servants to place fire separators... or like, they're room separators. But he has two different levels of room separators. So he's got the regular ones. And then he's got a kind of knee-height one. So there's a couple scenes where he's just like, surrounded by room separators. [both laugh] But he's created his own little room, and he's sitting in this chair and everything is sort of this over-patterned brocade. So he's just kind of blending into his own house. [laughs]

Sarah

That's wonderful.

Jojo

But the other thing that I wanted to say about this magical garment is that it's not just the vest that matches, but it looks almost like a long smoking jacket.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

Obviously it kind of is double-breasted, kind of buttons over itself, but it actually reaches the floor. So then the moments where he basically comes into a room--there's a couple scenes where he either runs into the room very quickly, or he jumps down the stairs--he's in this look. So you kind of just see him sort of create a little Superman cape with it. [both laugh] 'Cuz it's just this long garment. It's so Bill Nighy, and I feel like it works really well for his character.

Sarah

It's interesting because it's almost like it's a robe or a dressing gown. But I've never seen a robe or dressing gown with this style of collar. This very Regency menswear collar. So interesting.

Jojo

Definitely not. Yeah, if anything, I feel like this might have been one of the looks that might have been more of a design... created look? As opposed to some of the other ones. Because I'm not sure how much historical accuracy was taken from this particular look.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

So some of the other things that I wanted to focus on--and most of these I'm going to go through pretty quickly--but this was that kind of jacket I was telling you about, where they really show the tailoring. And you can see, a couple of her coats... there's a few of them that have this same kind of tuck-pleating that's in the back in a radial fashion. I dunno... how do you describe that? It's like small pinched tucks in the back of the clothing that you can top stitch over?

Sarah

They're like a little... a little pinch, and then you sew it.

Jojo

Yeah.

Sarah

Like a tiny little seam. If you need to know more just Google it. [both laugh]

Jojo

But again, you also have the Instagram photos.

Sarah

Yeah, you can see it.

Jojo

That kind of gives you an idea of what I'm talking about. But she actually has this on two of her coats, on the yellow one that's in the cover photo for this movie, as well as this blue one. But she features that a lot, because a lot of the fullness that was happening from the 17th century--rather than being pushed out and kept full, like it was at the end of the 1700s--because we're going more column-like, all of that fullness was actually nicely pleated into the back. And so that's where all of that fullness ended up. So it kind of gave you almost a little train in the back.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So you see that with a lot of her pelisse coats.

Sarah

That's also a way to add visual interest without putting a bunch of trim on something. It's just using the fabric and manipulating it.

Jojo

Mmhmm.

Sarah

It's a way to make it look designed, but it's not fussy or complicated. I mean, it was probably was complicated to put together. But it doesn't look complicated. You know what I mean?

Jojo

Right. It looks simple.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

So another zoom in for one of her other Spencer jackets, this gray one, which I love. It's just... I think the sheer amount of detail on this is just beautiful. And even just the small pleated... epaulets?

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

They're not really quite epaulets. But it's like a sleeve puff that she's added on her sleeves. And she also has that same ruffling around her collar as well. So you can see it on her neck. Very, very delicate.

Sarah

Like a cupcake liner, almost.

Jojo

Yeah, exactly. So this is when she first meets Trank... Wow, can't talk. [both laugh] This is when she first meets Frank Churchill, or at least sees him. She hasn't officially met him yet. But I wanted to focus on just the detail of this coat, and just it showing the wealth and the prosperity that she comes from. As well as the-- again, the lace interior of her bonnet. Just... everything is so put together in this look.

Sarah

Beautiful.

Jojo

Then for this look, I wanted to show the comparison between Harriet and Emma. So Harriet, at this point has started to dress a little bit nicer. One of the things I was reading about on the same blog--that was kind of going through and sort of analyzing all of these historical accuracies--they talked a lot about how during this time, women actually would have worn a colored slip underneath.

Sarah

Oh!

Jojo

Because the white was actually the iconic dress of that time.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So rather than wearing a colored, you know, white frock, they would actually have the color underneath for the slip. And then the frock would always be white on top. So it would allow for that color to show through. And it would be a much more subtle version of that colored version... frock, I guess.

Sarah

That's so interesting.

Jojo

So I love that they kind of showed this comparison between the two of them. We're still keeping Emma in her pinks. And likewise, they both have their outerwear, their gloves, as well as their bonnets that they're wearing everywhere. Harriet is obviously much more simplified in the... like, just the level of over-the-top that she's wearing. Specifically in their bonnets, I wanted to focus on how much more accoutrements Emma has on her bonnet in comparison to Harriet. And also just the fact that where Harriet has placed this bow makes her look even younger than she already is, in comparison to Emma. Whereas Emma's kind of more gathered look is much more classical, and it looks a little bit more mature, which... we kind of see that relationship between the two of them. What else did I write on here? Nope. That's all I had to say about that one. [both laugh]

Sarah

Great!

Jojo

Okay. Moving on to the next one. One thing they did mention in that, which I guess I should have mentioned... they were talking about how, you know, it's possible that Harriet didn't necessarily get all those for herself. Maybe they were things that either she got as a hand-me-down from Emma, and then she figured out trims and things that Emma maybe would have suggested when they go shopping.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

Which is very common, I think, in this time, because clothing was so much more precious. It wasn't just fast, quick fashion, like we have today. Where, you know, once it's done being used, you just toss it.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

Most of these dresses, you would either hand repair it yourself in order to fix it, or you change something up, add some new fabric, to try and make it more updated. As opposed to completely throwing out the whole dress and just saying, "Alright, well, time to buy a new dress."

Sarah

Yup.

Jojo

Because no one really has the money to do that.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

So I do love that that could have been like a little backstory for Harriet, where she got some of these dresses. Because some of her dresses do look like they could be older versions of what Emma wore earlier in the movie as well.

Sarah

That makes sense. I mean, clothing being disposable is a very new idea. Right?

Jojo

Yes, very much so. Okay, so then for this one I really just wanted to pull this scene because... again, it goes back to that whole candy striper... you know, like pastel that we were talking about. Each of these girls is, you know... these are the girls--are the students in the boarding house that Harriet is staying with. But I love that amongst all these girls, she's the one wearing the most atrocious looking outfit.

Sarah

[laughs]

Jojo

I mean, it's just so mismatched. Like, she's got this very multicolored cardigan sweater.

Sarah

Yeah, thats...

Jojo

This isn't the best image of it, because it was literally... like, I took a photo of the screen. So it's a little more kind of warmly washed out.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

But I love that you can see just how different she looks in comparison to even the girls around her. Which, you know, she's not that much lower class than maybe some of these girls are, but because she has no parentage, and because she doesn't know where she came from... the idea is that Harriet Smith's status is just so far below everyone else in that town. Because she has no way of knowing where she came from.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So yes, I just love that this is such a huge contrast to everyone around her. So that's why I pulled that image.

Sarah

That's fun. It's very different looking.

Jojo

Let's see. Okay, so the other thing that I wanted to focus on, too, was not just how this... you know, because this is probably one of the more muted palettes throughout this entire movie, in comparison to everything else. And this is when they're actually visiting Miss Bates's house, and they're first seeing... I just forgot her name. But... Jane! Jane Fairfax. [laughs]

Sarah

I got SO confused. I had to have the Wikipedia up the whole time, because there's so many characters.

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

And this happened to me when I read the book, too. I listened to it as an audiobook and I was like, "...WHO?! I forgot who all these people are!" [both laugh]

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

There's a lot of characters in this story.

Jojo

So Jane Fairfax, in this movie, is the one that basically ends up marrying Frank Churchill. And so there's this whole hidden marriage that they have. But Miss Bates, I believe, is Jane Fairfax's cousin, or aunt, or somehow related to her. And so Jane Fairfax basically comes to the house, and Miss Bates as the town gossip... and interestingly enough, in this movie, she is not quite as plain as the one in the 90s version. But the way that they've made her kind of dull and not quite so interesting, I guess, is to put her in these like really tiny... I want to say "prairie flowers." I don't know if you know what I'm talking about. It's a very prairie-look pattern.

Sarah

Like a.... what's it called? Is it called a "ditzy" floral print? It's like when it's teeny tiny?

Jojo

Oh, I don't know if that's the official term.

Sarah

I'm gonna look it up. Google it.

Jojo

Maybe someone out there can tell us as well. [both laugh]

Sarah

Is that her on the left?

Jojo

Yes.

Sarah

Oh, okay.

Jojo

So Miss Bates is the one that's to the very left. So Harriet Smith is in the middle, and she looks quite miserable here. Emma, interestingly enough, you know, this is the first time we really see her in this kind of plaid gingham. But I love that even here, she's kind of the most... the most nicely decorated, I guess, out of the three. Like, this jacket actually gets recycled quite a few times on Harriet, because it's probably the one coat that she owns. And then Miss Bates, a couple of her other scenes, she's always in something pretty dull and pretty muted or understated. Until Emma's wedding, where she's in a slightly more turquoise color. But most of her other looks are very similar to this, they all have that kind of really tiny floral print.

Sarah

So I googled it, and "ditzy" refers to a very small scale print. And it's most commonly used for florals. So I don't know if that was a term at this time, but it is now.

Jojo

Right. Okay, cool.

Sarah

So now we know.

Jojo

I'm learning new things too! [both laugh] So I do love that one of the things they feature on Miss Bates quite often, they do put her in this. And it's not quite a mob cap, but it definitely looks a little bit more like the mob cap that they had in the 90s movie as well.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

Which, again, you can see a lot of the same translations, in terms of costumes, are copied over from the 90s version of "Emma," but they kind of updated it, they changed a few things. And I think she also tried to honor the historical accuracy a little bit more. But one of the other things that I find really great on Miss Bates is that they always have her in this kind of... it almost looks like an Elizabethan collar.

Sarah

I was gonna say that.

Jojo

But she always has this kind of like crazy frou-frou thing around her neck.

Sarah

It's like a ruff.

Jojo

Yes. But it's like... it's not a uniform ruff like you would see in the Elizabethan era. It's very organic and kind of just flies all over the place every time she talks, which is very much like her personality.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

In this movie, she talks so so much and the whole idea is that she's constantly annoying Emma, and she's, you know, she's kind of... I don't want to even say she's the town gossip, because it's not like anything she says is malicious. She just likes to share information about herself.

Sarah

She talks in the book way too much. I would space out. Like, it would be five minutes. A whole monologue.

Jojo

[laughs]

Sarah

I was like, "is this really in the book? I can't believe it."

Jojo

I imagine that that's how these conversations must have felt, with whoever this real person was that Jane Austen was maybe inspired by.

Sarah

[laughs]

Jojo

But yeah, anyways, I just wanted to show this comparison of the three characters, because it really does go to show how much costume can, you know, identify character. And very quickly give us that first five second impression.

Sarah

I mean, yeah.

Jojo

Just from looking at this image.

Sarah

She looks so different from the other two women.

Jojo

Yeah, yeah. And in terms of class, you can already see the distinction between the three ladies as well. So I did want to point that out in this particular image. So I'm not going to spend a ton of time on this one, because I actually wasn't super hugely a fan of this dress. I didn't think it was ugly or anything, but I did... this is the dress that she basically goes to the first ball with. And it's... I believe it's Frank... no, not Frank Churchill's ball. It's another ball. There's so many balls in this movie.

Sarah

[laughs] Like I said, they're constantly at a party.

Jojo

Again, she doesn't wear this for very long. But I wanted to show this. So this is actually the museum version, I believe. And then they kind of essentially recreated it in the version that was used for the movie. So you can see very clear, like, she's definitely copied this dress. Almost exactly. But the other thing I wanted to mention here... nope, didn't write notes about this one. [both laugh] Sometimes that happens! But I think one of the things I wanted to say was that during this time, they mentioned that knitting was also created. Because the bobbinet machine... oh, I did write it down! So in 1809...

Sarah

Oh!

Jojo

This is the fun fact I wrote down, the mass production of line netting was available, because John Heathcoat created, or invented, the bobbinet machine.

Sarah

Oooh.

Jojo

So it allowed for this kind of colored net that was used on the top layer of a lot of these dresses for this time. So not only was he able to get it in color, because it was be able to be mass manufactured much more quickly. But he was also able to create netting much more quickly. So again, just the idea of just having the accuracy of the time period, having history really imbue itself in this costume design and in the process of research. So I did love that.

Sarah

I love the museum one, it looks almost like it's glowing.

Jojo

Yeah. Yeah

Sarah

I love that effect. It's so pretty.

Jojo

Yeah, and you don't quite get the same effect on her dress...

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

...but I can see where she kind of tried to get that same idea. And obviously, having the layer underneath, it could have just been the fabric that she chose for this particular image. This is also just an Instagram image. It wasn't actually from the movie.

Sarah

Right.

Jojo

So lighting doesn't always do us any favors, unfortunately.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

All right. The next one I wanted to focus on was her ball gown dress, and this was for Frank Churchill's ball. So she's got this beautiful... again, going back to that cream-colored, the iconic white dress. In this case, it's actually not a muslin, it looks like it's almost a chiffon or maybe... not really sure, maybe an organza on top?

Sarah

Mmm.

Jojo

It doesn't look like it kind of drapes as well, but I love that on this one, there's such a three dimensional effect with the leaves that she's got on here. And the flowers, the three dimensional flowers also continue on the hem of this dress.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So it kind of encircles the hem. But I love, love this image, not just because it also showcases the traditional tuxedo on the men, but also just the kind of ethereal quality of the white on her. And even though this isn't the climactic dress that she wears, for any reason, the fact that this is the ball that she's trying to dress up for Frank Churchill--because she still thinks he's in love with her and doesn't know about Jane Fairfax yet. But yeah, so, I just love this image. And it's just so beautiful. And again, hair, I think we're pretty accurate in this time period as well. Or, the hair designer.

Sarah

Looks lovely.

Jojo

And again, just those small ringlets in the front, and even just the ringlets in the back.

Sarah

There's... it's such a tight little curl. Really pretty.

Jojo

Yeah, and she definitely uses that a lot in this movie for all the characters. So then, again, this is not in order. This is kind of just by whatever is on my Google Drive. [both laugh] So I love this idea for Frank Churchill because, again, it's almost like this watermelon idea. We talked a lot about green and that pink.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

When they're combined, it does give us that watermelon effect. And so this is when she first gets introduced to Frank Churchill and they're finally talking. So she's back in her kind of pink Spencer jacket, and then he's in kind of a complimentary, almost sage-colored green, as opposed to a brighter green. But I love that he's got this little pink popping out and then his vest is actually pretty elaborately embroidered.

Sarah

Mmm.

Jojo

And I love that the colors have been combined in this way. Because it definitely... it's their way of showing him as the dandy, without being crazy over-the-top, because most of his other coats are just... I would say just as colorful as even, say, Mr. Knightley is. Because Mr. Knightley has some pretty rich colors on him.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

But I think they tried to kind of give him that dandy effect by adding other things, like embroidery and topical surface treatments and textures. So one of the last dresses... this is actually the one that basically she gets proposed to in, by Mr. Knightley. And I love that we've returned to this kind of green, and the embroidered delicate, very detailed idea on her dress. We still have that white. But now instead of having the color underneath and showing through like we did in some of the other scenes, we have this new embroidered idea on both her puff sleeves, as well as on the actual skirt itself. We're also bringing in some, I think, more contemporary color palettes because we've got this kind of ombre dyed belt, which probably was not common during that time.

Sarah

It's beautiful, though. I love that little touch.

Jojo

I do. And it's interesting because, you know, we talked about her being more mature and having a more classical silhouette. But this is actually one of the times where she actually has a bow, but it's kind of off the side. It's not right in the dead center, like we saw with Harriet. So, a couple other photos of the dress. So this is the last scene of her talking with Harriet. So yeah, it's interesting because, again, this is also the period--or the point in the story--where Emma has finally kind of realized that she's made all these, you know, kerfuffles, with all of the matchmaking that she has been trying to do. She's messed everything up. And she's finally realized that, you know, she was standing in the way of her friend this whole time. And so now she's trying to be sacrificially out of the way.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

While also trying to come to terms with her own love for the same person.

Sarah

Yep.

Jojo

So again, that whole delicacy of the green and the flowers in particular, that motif--even though it does kind of hit a little bit more... the nail on the head--but this idea of growth, that she's trying to become this new person, that she's trying to understand from a different perspective and not just look at her own selfishness.

Sarah

Also green versus pink. It's like green is more earthier, it's more natural, so going away from girly, frilly into more natural--of nature--colors. I mean, pink occurs in nature, obviously. But you know what I mean.

Jojo

Right.

Sarah

Like, it's almost like she's more grounded.

Jojo

Yes, yes. Literally. [both laugh]

Sarah

Literally. Like a tree.

Jojo

Okay, and then, of course...

Sarah

Oh my gosh.

Jojo

...some of the final images, I just wanted to focus on her wedding dress. But yes, her governess at the beginning, Miss Taylor, we see her wedding in the beginning. And it's much more like... she's dressed much more down to earth. It's a very country wedding. Like, you can just see the level of sophistication that Emma has in this image, as opposed to Miss Taylor. And then I love that they've put Johnny Flynn in this beautiful rich blue.

Sarah

Gorgeous.

Jojo

It's like a blue velvet, for his tail coat, which actually he does wear quite a lot of that color--his vest underneath that caramel, buttery-yellow coat that he had on earlier is also in this kind of same color palette. So I love that the costume designer has put him in these really yummy colors that really contrast, and kind of compliment, his hair as well.

Sarah

Mmhmm.

Jojo

So I think she did a great job with that, so... good on you. [laughs]

Sarah

He also has beautiful blue eyes. So I think that...

Jojo

Yes.

Sarah

...putting him in a blue that kind of echoes his eyes, that's very nice.

Jojo

Yeah, absolutely. So just really briefly, I just wanted to touch base on who becomes Mrs. Elton. And so in this case, obviously they've still made fun of Mrs. Elton. She's this, you know... like we mentioned, very she's recently come into all this money... with this crazy hair. Like, they've literally created a bow and slicked it back in her hair.

Sarah

It looks like... like a "hair show" hairstyle. You know?

Jojo

Yeah, absolutely.

Sarah

You've seen hair shows, right? Yeah, it looks like that.

Jojo

Yeah, like I almost thought this was an actual fake bow that they put on top of her hair. And then I realized it was literally like they had slicked and like...

Sarah

Shellacked.

Jojo

...it almost looks like they glued hair? Around the shape? And then just left it there.

Sarah

[laughs] Yeah. Wow.

Jojo

So yes, they've obviously used a little bit of the curls on the side to indicate the time period, but like, the bow up there is just... it's just so out there.

Sarah

It's so wacky-looking. [laughs] I love it.

Jojo

And the fact that she, again, has these crazy eyes. And it kind of just looks like she's this weird goldfish with all these orange colors she's got underneath. [both laugh] So yes, I just wanted to focus on her because, you know... Mr. Elton, in this case, is already hilarious enough, but then he's got this even crazier, kookier wife now that has to rein him in. But yes, casting wise, I think this movie did phenomenal. Costume wise, it's so beautiful to look at. So if you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it. And it's also pretty historically accurate. So yes, that's my take on the 2020 "Emma"! Woohoo!

Sarah

Yay! Great job. I'm excited to watch. I've been like meaning... like I said, I'm a procrastinator, and I never get around to watching movies. I've wanted to see it since it came out.

Jojo

Oh, you and me both. [laughs]

Sarah

Yeah, so I should watch it this week.

Jojo

This is why we're friends, Sarah. [both laugh]

Sarah

I just like... probably a lot of people can relate to this. But I'll be like, "I don't have te mental capacity for a movie right now." So I'll instead watch, like, six hours of TV. And it's like, how is that different? It's not. [both laugh]

Jojo

I feel like I'm the same way. It's like I have to be in the right mood for a specific movie. [laughs] It's harder when it's a show, where it's like, "I have to find out what happens next!"

Sarah

Yeah, that's true. Yeah, shows just... they keep you hooked.

Jojo

Yep, yep.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

All right. So that's our episode for "Emma." Hopefully, you enjoyed the side by side comparison.

Sarah

Yeah!

Jojo

And if you have seen both movies, you can let us know whether you feel like we were accurate or not accurate, or just tell us more about some of the things we had questions about.

Sarah

Yeah.

Jojo

All right. Well, that's all we have for today's episode. I'm Jojo.

Sarah

I'm Sarah. Thank you so much for listening.

Jojo

Yep. Bye!

Sarah

Catch you the next one. Bye!

[OUTRO]

Jojo

Thank you for listening to The Costume Plot! You can follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @thecostumeplot. If you have a question, comment, or movie suggestion you can email us at [email protected].

Sarah

Our theme music is by Jesse Timm, and our artwork is by Jojo Siu. Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts.

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howlingmoonrise · 4 years ago

Text

Dear Yuletide Author

Hi! Thanks for signing up for Yuletide despite the hell year it’s been, I hope you have fun with your assignment!

I ramble a lot so everything is below the cut. Obviously you don’t have to follow any of this (though I hope you’ll respect my squicks) but hopefully this will help you out!

general things i like

so much pining. all the pining. pining everywhere plz.

continuing from above, PINING. i mean it. i prefer a thousand times over idiots in love who are having a hard time wrapping their minds around it than an already established relationship.

either gen or romantic is fine! what really does it for me is the development of the relationship, platonic or otherwise. it’s all about the growing intimacy and understanding and character dynamics and interactions and developing trust and finding kinship and growing respect for the other and subconsciously learning to lean on the other over anyone else and--

i love love love enemies-to-reluctant-allies-(to-maybe-friends?)-to-lovers and bickering pairs in general! it’s so much fun and it gives us so many opportunities for character and relationship developments okay i’m a slut for that shit

sticking to the original characterizations and the tone of canon is a definite plus!!!

“missing scenes” and “what if” canon-divergent situations are excellent, as are continuations from where canon left us depending on the fandom! more details on the sections for the respective fandoms i GUESS

casual intimacy is super fun, especially when adapted to the character dynamics. a bickering pair being casually comfortable adds a whole new depth to it, enemy dynamics makes is hilarious since the other half would have zero clue as to how to react, a pair that is already comfortable with each other that they do stuff without communicating is so intimate, mix and match however you like!

fun tropes i enjoy (a bit romance-leaning but if you’re not into that then some of these can probably be adapted): fake dating, accidentally got roped into x and shenanigans of all sorts keep happening, misunderstood confessions, groundhog day au, one or both the characters having stupid levels of denial while technically in a relationship and just not realizing it like What Do You Mean We’re Dating??, that sorta thing.

TROPE SUBVERSION ALL THE WAY!

general things i dislike

kidfics. babyfics. next gen fics. pregnancy fics, or even pregnancy discussed in the fic is a major squick of mine. the one exception i make for kidfics is for kids already existent in canon and even then it depends, but no babies or children otherwise please.

future fics/time skips in general, actually. what i enjoy is the relationship development, so huge time skips make me feel like we missed way too much

angst is... mrrmf. it really depends on how it’s done, but usually it feels like it’s angst for the sake of angst instead of giving the fic some actual meat. as a result of this, i’d pass at least on most content with major character death, sexual abuse, self-harm, gender/sexuality angst, the like. beyond that, feel free to go ahead!

hard AUs are a bit ugh to me. by this i mean AUs that rely heavily on setting, such as high school AUs, harry potter AUs, that sort of thing. i DO however enjoy stuff like soulmate AUs and alternate canon AUs, depending on the concept and on the fandom. more details in their own sections if you enjoy writing those!

i heavily dislike things involving cheating/infidelity, sickfics, and genderbending of any kind is a bit ehhhh for me, as are concepts such as ABO. hard pass on stuff like dysphoria and deep diving into mental illnesses and disorders, too.

script-based or roleplay fic is not really my preferred format, i really enjoy prose instead of nearly all dialogue!

stuff with bigotry in general, racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, etc as well as discussions of it is a pass in general. it’s not a HUGE squick but i’d rather not see it if possible

discussions and thoughts on gender/sexuality. if you’re gonna make them gay/bi/etc, make them gay/bi/etc, no exploration of it added. delving into the psyche of it is a hard pass.

if you’re going for nsfw

kinks

moderate sadomasochism, uncommon forms of bondage (plants, stuck with strange substance or in awkward position, the shadows from p&tf as restraints, etc), choking/breathplay, xenophilia and tentacles/alien genitals (shadowplay in p&tf for example), moderate degradation, edging/desperation play, ladies topping and calling the shots, bloodplay/knifeplay, long hair dragging over skin, sharp nails/claws (charlotte la bouff, morticia), lowkey cannibalism imagery and hunger, biting, ladies stepping on body parts with their heels on

squicks

scat, vomit, praise kink, daddy/mommy or baby kink, vore, forced feminization, pet play, wound-fucking, abuse, abo, anything involving pregnancy at all

PRINCESS AND THE FROG

i am 100% aware this is a weird-ass pairing but gods, the possibilities. it has so much potential. there are few things i like quite as much as a villain and a good person developing a strange sort of kinship with each other >u> this doesn’t have to mean a romantic development, if it’s not your thing! as i said, for me it’s the building understanding and reluctant respect that i really love, far more than the actual romance.

ideas, ideas, ideas. i’m aware this is a rare relationship to either portray or ask for, so i’m gonna try to give some more concrete-ish ones for you to build up on if you have no clue as to how to approach this.

we could have canonverse with charlotte dealing with the shadowman in some other, unrelated matter while the main plot is occurring, making him feel somewhat guilty about the whole marriage plot with laurence-turned-naveen. cue introspection, or even an entirely different outcome.

or a post-canon sort of hades&persephone plot (please no actual hades and persephone au though), with charlotte curious despite herself and tempted to listen to a shadow/dead/whatever!dr facilier when she’s the only one that can hear him.

in a continuation from above, OR her being dragged Beneath with him in a freak accident and then charming him into helping her back to the surface/living world (very, veeeeery reluctantly on his part, at least at the start, he might have even be thinking of tricking her but then change his mind when the time comes to do it).

i think dr facilier wouldn’t be sure how to deal with charlotte’s particular brand of personality and good humour, and it’d throw him off his rhythm a lot - that sort of thing is always super fun to write.

soulmate au in canon would work pretty well, but with this pairing? you could even do a FULL AU, keeping only basic stuff like the shadowman thing to her normal bougie self; it’s one of her charms. (and their personalities, of course). stuff like charlotte thinking that she wants one thing (her prince-slash-one-true-love, etc) while keeping getting drawn to him time and time again could work on pretty much any era or setting. vice-versa for him, thinking he wants to be rid of her but coming to realize he’d actually miss her if she were to be gone. OR, charlotte deciding she wants this sullen manipulative bastard and manipulating HIM into taking her out and hanging out with her would be hilarious.

if you wanna do nsfw, i have only one major request: charlotte calling the shots/topping. i think this arrangement would be in character for both of them (dr facilier would prob also enjoy having someone else do all the work lol) considering her go-getter attitude, but keeping in mind his manipulative personality i’d be more comfortable if she had some control over what was happening. ASIDE FROM THAT, d’you know what would be fun? a little darkness, and by that i mean consider dr facilier’s shadow joining in on the fun. shadows would also be an interesting sort of constraint. also i know i said charlotte calling the shots, but she can be constrained by the shadows while being amused by it or being used to it (implying it’s not the first time that they’ve used it in bed play and that it’s therefore negotiated), or charlotte could team up with the shadow to do it to facilier instead. charlotte using her nails and facilier being a bit of a sub/masochist would be excellent!

(actually in general it’d be really fun if there was some complicity between charlotte and facilier’s shadow in general, nsfw or otherwise. the shadow being wrapped around her little finger is an excellent concept, especially if facilier isn’t too fond of her just yet OwO)

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

oh boy. let me just begin by saying that this really isn’t my usual kind of pairing, by sheer virtue of them being perfectly happy and established in canon. HOWEVER, they’re goth and they’re odd and they’re kinky and they’re delightful to watch interact (i’m familiar with the movie canon featuring anjelica and raúl and a few (few!) of the comics, so idk about other dynamics) and so they’ve managed to creep their way into my blackened little heart.

THAT BEING SAID, my absolute biggest wish for this fandom would be pre-relationship. i don’t mind if canon is twisted a bit for this, considering that they presumably met and proposed on the very same day, so it’s definitely a bit hard to work with. perhaps some shenanigans with the funeral itself? or gomez has a date/fiancée already and so there’s some juggling of priorities here while he’s absolutely falling over himself in order to continue looking at that gothic vision of a woman? or an old family feud, or them just being downright useless at knowing how to deal with proper romance (on morticia’s side, i’d imagine she’d only grow more stoic and be at a loss of what to say. on gomez’s side, it’s probably his first time being speechless, or he’s not speechless but he’s flirted so much in his life that he doesn’t know what to do with these actual literal feelings, what the hell is this and how does he show he actually means it this time??), or morticia has a long string of dead fiancés black widow-style (i think she and debbie would have gotten along great if given the chance okay), or a soulmate au where they don’t realize it’s each other right away, or morticia amusedly pretends to be dating gomez before they know each other to get him out of a bind, or they’re somehow roped into someone else’s shenanigans and don’t know how to react to each other (my money is on either ophelia or cousin itt putting them in a bind), the sky is the limit!

if you’re more comfortable writing established, however, casual intimacy or smut are the best! give me a moment of respite where they are just comfortable basking in each other’s presence, or when they’re separated for a moment at an event or something and the longing is burning all the way across them until they come back together again (y’know, in the good old way of the script). for smut, morticia being a mostly stoic dom maybe? (though yes, i know she’s very much into being tied up and tortured, i can’t really see her as a normal sub unless it’s really something languid and drawn-out - she doesn’t really read as someone who spends a lot of energy doing things others will do for her). they’re both definitely into pain and bondage too; morticia conflating arousal with hunger would also be really interesting to see (think praying mantis or lady spider who is actually very invested on not taking off her partner’s head, but who dreams of it all the same. gomez is, of course, very much into it). something lowkey macabre would be amazing.

things i’d like to see for this fandom in general are:

morticia being her stoic vampiric goddess of a self

gomez being completely twitterpatted for her as usual

burning sultry glares/staring across the room

overly passionate hand-kissing

creepy/gothic atmosphere

you know, like canon. (with non-existent or minimal kid existence, though)

references to horror stuff/general creepiness like sudden lightning, casual poisonings and dealings with death, dracula references, etc, like the movies would be super fun, as campy as possible! half the greatness of the movies come from these imho

MONSTROUS REGIMENT

i have a confession to make: it’s been a while since i last read it, and so i fear i won’t be as helpful in giving ideas/dynamics for this fandom as i was in the others.

i have one request - apart from what i’ve already rambled on about above - and that is for at least polly to be portrayed as female (or close enough, although not quite non-binary). to make it clearer: i usually see them both as female, even if not female-presenting (it’s funny because as i was writing this i actually kept writing about maladict as “he” so frankly it’s whatever, i definitely prefer “maladict” to “maladicta” at least in terms of names though) but chaffing to fit the roles that “female” comes along with, especially with maladict and the expectations for female vampires. i’d rather the fic not have gender or sexuality exploration, since like i said above i think it detracts from the meat of the stuff - if you want to see maladict as male, write him male with male pronouns (keeping the female vampire backstory if you’re keeping it canon, otherwise it wouldn’t really make sense). if you want to make her female, write her female with female pronouns. i’d pass on they/them pronouns though. i don’t particularly care either way outside of polly however, just don’t delve into the psyche/introspection of it please.

if you have different views on their genders and it would make you uncomfortable to write female polly or non-they/them maladict, then that’s fine with me as well! these are just my preferences, and i thought i’d elaborate on them since the fandom has many perspectives on this topic.

with that out of the way, on to more interesting stuff!

what’s good: their interactions. oh dear loki, their interactions. they have my favourite dynamic in the whole book, and they’re weirdly comfortable with each other (especially since polly lowkey threatens maladict after kicking the other dude in the nads, in my view that moment probably got his undead little heart skipping a beat (do vampires have beating hearts on discworld? i haven’t read enough discworld to remember this)) and they understand each other the best out of the rest of the squad. maladict teasing polly and pretending to be cool before polly catches on to him is absolutely hilarious, and i absolutely love maladict trying (and failing!! horribly!!) at being smooth. also polly blackmailing people left and right is absolutely fantastic.

as you can probably guess, i’d love some canon-verse interactions. perhaps alternate scenes or what-ifs of canon events, or even extra scenes during the ongoing plot of the book. OR, post-book, once they have their own squad of little lads and have to figure out how the hell to handle that, or shenanigans where they have some sort of mission or official event elsewhere and resolutely stick together because “if i have to deal with this then so do you”. or some hilarity with maladict desperately going after every coffee grain available so he doesn’t just bury his face on polly’s neck because she smells so good but that would be an awkward conversation to have and he’d rather die (again) than admit to that.

what else? AUs! feel free to completely tear apart the canon discworld, though i’d request polly remain her ass-kicking clever self and maladict an awkward vampire. maybe maladict has to deal with diaphanous underwired nightgowns. maybe polly has to deal with diaphanous underwired nightgowns. vampire politics? satirical awkward dracula au? maladict failing horribly at being a vampire (failing at being a female vampire or trying to pass at being a male vampire and failing at that, too)? they’re all great!

what matters to me is their banter and the way they keep falling into pace with each other, regardless of the way they begin. a good dose of sardonical pratchett-style humour would also be welcome ;)

thank you so much for staying with me this far! i hope you have a grand time this yuletide, and that you enjoy your own requested fic as well!

#yuletide 2020 #dear yuletide author #yuletide #howl rambles a lot

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