#so thanks fox anon for setting a lovely example

[pkmn-smashorpass]

🐍 Snake people representation 🐍

[girllookingoutwindow]

I might be wrong but wasn't it LW that named Daphne a diamond of the first water, bc the Queen said she was flawless? Therefore launching her as the most desired woman in the ton. And starting the whole a "diamond" needs to be named? Then I've always thought in season 2 LW timed her edition to come out as Eloise is presented, specifically to interrupt the proceedings because she knew Eloise was uncomfortable. And the Queen would be completely distracted sometime before Eloise had to go through. Could be wrong but with LW I'm reminded of the song "one night in Bangkok" bc of the line "thank God I'm only watching the game, controlling it." I love when Violet finds the tea on Lord B, and says "we'll talk" bc it's what women do. A flurry of gossip later It saved Daphne from a horrible fate of a loveless marriage to that gross man (he used his status to get a servant of his pregnant and then abandons her and the child. Was this servant girl allowed to even say no to her employer with power? To preserve her innocence/reputation). It seems as if it's the only way a woman could influence her life or make a change.

Also Pen often sets the rumors straight, when others go too far in their speculation and it could blow up as something else entirely. The ton trusts LW's word bc she didn't lie. If she hadn't said what she'd said about Eloise it could have been worse. It softened the social blow, it was merely a smaller transgression though, not as bad as her and her whole family ruined which if it had been exposed elsewhere it would have. The men would have been fine but the the others prospects of marriage would have been damaged or non existent. Same with Marina, the Featherington's had to be socially distanced from even knowing what she was up to, or they would be ruined. It wasn't that she was cruel to Marina, to me, but loves her sisters enough to save them from what Marina did (I can understand her motives, but her cruelty towards Pen and callous way she marked Colin as an easy target upset me). My favorite real life example of how people gossip that could be good, is Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire. Married at 17 in the 1770s, to "the only man in England not in love with his wife" and she was the main Whig party hostess, meetings, parties, and she even canvassed for votes. Parlor room behind the scenes politics. But the downside to gossip is that opposing sides will try to defame through gossip too, and caricature depicting the Duchess as an indecent woman who'd kiss men for votes in order to get Fox elected. That's a very quick overview of an amazing, yet flawed woman (her gambling). But it demonstrates for me at a time when women had very few rights, if you were in a higher social class, through gossip you can start change. Georgiana, as a Whig hostess, as a fashion icon of her time, a woman with the "common touch" very popular with the people, even though she was "her Grace" helped gain traction for her causes, wider rights, abolition and supported American colonial independence during the war. Whether it's a bigger or smaller issue, gossip can be both good and bad. The only time I really dislike it is when it's used to just purposely hurt others, instead of informing or questioning social outdated norms, its just a personal attack designed to hurt someone cruelly (Cressida making remarks about how many children Violet had and what that meant about her and her family...ooo I was not ok with Cressida there or her mama lol) .

I think Pen is sometimes judged too harshly, she'd been ridiculed and ignored in a society that already didn't value her as much as a man. Her future prospects to Her seemed dim, bc all Her life..... words like what Marina said, have been said to Her. Her worth was her family's good name and who she married, how much money they had. So she took some control and power for herself in the only way she could. Through gossip. Sorry I've rambled so long! This is an interesting topic though. 😊

Hi, anon.

I love this analysis. I agree with everything you said here.

I think I'm going to rewatch season specially because of this topic. I want to do an analysis about the nature of gossip and how affect the characters. Maybe more of one part because I think it's going to be long.

I think gossip has a force and doesn't need to be bad. It's neutral and it can show the real nature of the person who's using it. And like you said, Pen never lies. She says the truth, sometimes she even gave proof and her intentions were always good. She does it because nobody else want to see it. Nobody wants to listen the truth, she tried, and nobody was listening to her.

Colin never wanted to see Marina didn't loved him, because he didn't care, because he didn't loved her either. He was lying to himself. Eloise didn't want to see why Pen wrote about her, because she didn't wanted to accept Pen advertised about it many times, and she didn't listen. Daphne and Violet were practically saved by her, the marriage for Daphne, the Violet's reputation. We have so many moments of her helping them.

Gossip is a tool. A tool used women without any other weapon to protect themselves. I think it's a relationship between the female aspect of it and why society sees it like something wrong. Because words can hurt, and yes, they can be used to shame, and make damage, but gossip is a the weapon of the people who's not going to be heard otherwise.

Thank you so much for you message.

[sitp-recs]

Hey! Hope you're doing good!! :) I'm wondering if you know any Drarry fics that have mythological elements / stories as part of the plot. For example, a fic based on Greek myths like Hades/Persephone?

Hi anon! I’m doing great, what about you? :) oh that’s a really cool ask, I hope you enjoy these! I strongly recommend checking khalulu’s stuff as they always explore different mythologies and cultures across their works. I’d love to get more recs on this theme, too!

Nordic:

Veðr by @shealwaysreads (M, 3k)

Norsemen have ranged far enough inland to find Harry, alone and abandoned by his kith and kin. But they bring far more than danger with them, they bring adventure, they bring magic.

Swedish:

Sweden | A Midsummer Night’s Dream by @drarrelie (M, 5.5k)

With the war finally over, you’d think Harry would finally be granted that “normal life” he’s always dreamt about. Finally free from the Dursleys, from that nose-less megalomaniac, from Horcruxes, Hollows, Death Eaters, Dementors, Prophecies… you’d think that he, for the first time in his life, would be allowed to be just a normal teenager. You’d think he’d deserve that much, right?

Russian:

S’Mitten by khalulu (G, 6k)

Harry and Draco aren’t enemies any more, but it seems their history will always stand between them – so let’s try some other histories on for size! The fickle finger of fate is muffled in one of Mrs Weasley’s mittens. Did I mention kisses?

Norwegian:

East of the Sun and West of the Moon by khalulu (T, 6k)

One stormy Thursday evening, a big white bear named Draco turns up to carry Harry away from the dreadful Dursleys. They get along fairly happily together until one night Harry’s curiosity gets the better of him, and Draco is whisked away to his wicked aunt’s castle, East of the Sun and West of the Moon. It will take a strong wind to bring Harry that far…..

Albanian:

What Country, Friends, Is This? by khalulu (M, 8k)

When Harry and Draco are paired up for a nebulous “capstone project” in 8th year, Draco suggests they use it as an opportunity to take a free Grand Tour of Europe. Harry isn’t interested in being grand, and they soon veer off the beaten path. The journey to find what (and who) you really want can lead to unexpected places. (As well as Bertha Jorkins’ aunt, Illyrian Serpent cults, heroic baby Draco tales, and Slytherins singing Motown.)

Hindu:

Birds of Dreams / Remover of Obstacles / Guardian of Waters by khalulu (G, 12k)

Harry is exploring his Desi heritage, and Draco runs into him in colourful circumstances. Luna has a penchant for puns and the Patils watch Bollywood. Paper is folded, a flying carpet takes an Indian road trip, and a phoenix is found. Love blooms along the way, a flower that’s free.

Finnish:

Sparks from the Fox’s Tail by khalulu (T, 17k)

Draco is frustrated with his career as a travel writer, when a mini-tirade from Mrs Weasley and an encounter with the portrait of an intrepid great-great-great-aunt lead him to Finland to study wandless magic. Harry is – just being contrary and following his sweet-tooth, or taking the subtle route to saving the world?

Multiple:

The Hardest Hue To Hold by @cavendishbutterfly (M, 17k)

Harry needs to get the hell out of England. So he sets up a teaching assistantship in America, hops on a plane, and heads off to a fresh start. Except there’s a familiar face among the university faculty, and it’s really not the familiar face that Harry wanted. Or at least, it’s not who Harry wanted at first.

Irish:

Offer Up Our Hearts by @tackytigerfic (M, 23k)

Harry Potter has a very nice life, thank you very much. He's a top Curse-Breaker with a lucrative Ministry contract, and exciting prospects ahead. Sometimes he does wish that he had time to pursue something official with Draco Malfoy - they're half in love with each other, after all, and a great team (in and out of bed), though Draco is still one of the most infuriating people he knows.

Egyptian:

Memory Lost | You Found by @maraudersaffair (E, 30k)

After his Auror training, Harry's assigned to guard the Department of Mysteries - specifically the room where Malfoy is being held in comfortable captivity. Yet no one will tell him why, and what's more concerning? Malfoy doesn't remember Harry at all. To uncover the mystery, Harry must travel all the way to Egypt where he discovers a magical community living in the great pyramids and a long held secret that is dangerous to anyone who knows it.

Arthurian:

The Compact by astolat (E, 64k)

Hermione frowned. “The real question is why the magic of Britain would be failing now, in fact.” “That is not the real question!” Ron said loudly; he’d woken up fully by now, and Harry had too; it was starting to sink in that they’d found the problem. “The real question is, how do we fix it?”

Brazilian:

A Sense of Scale by @fantalfart and dragontamerdrarry (M, 70k)

In which Draco spends an obscene amount of time thinking of new nicknames for The Living Git, lying to himself and using his charms to seduce an extremely uncooperative sentient school.

Celtic:

The Stars Have Courage by @fantalfart (M, 85k)

Draco waited five long years to watch his husband wake up from a coma. He's not ready to meet a Harry with no memory of anything that happened after he died at The Battle of Hogwarts, twelve years ago.

Greek:

Close Behind by @oflights (M, 134k)

To rescue Draco from the Underworld, Harry has to look forward. Unfortunately, Draco has to look back.

Bonus: dark fae AU 🧚‍♂️

Mushrooms of Wiltshire by @shiftylinguini (T, 5k)

There's no point unpacking―Harry's not staying long, and besides, there's just bundled rags in his valise. The illusion of belongings, of a man heading to a new position at a prestigious manor―one beset with rumours of old magic and of impish forest dwellers causing chaos and mayhem amid the phosphorescent toadstool glow. Bugger the job. Harry's here for the rumours. He's been chasing them for years.

[mcthsman]

hi fox! another anon friend looking for some advice for a new rp. i want to open an oc hollywood rp and i'm stuck between making it a plot-less group for oc celeb muses or something more similar to a skeleton rp with basic outlines for muses to guarantee some pre built connections from the start. what do you think? also in your opinion, should there be a mun cap? limited to a specific age range ( 25 to 45 y/o muses, for example)? thank you!

hi  friend  !  personally  i'm  not  a  big  fan  of  plotless  rps,  so  i'm  not  the  best  to  give  an  opinion  on  that  ?  i  love  the  idea  of  the  pre-built  connections,  though  !  and  of  focusing  on  older  muses  ! what  i  would  personally  do  (it'll  help  with  the  mun  /  muse  cap  as  well)  if  i  was  the  admin  was  to  make  'positions',  instead  of  full-on  skeletons  ?  it's  what  i  did  for  my  old  rp  and  it  worked  wonderfully  !   mine  was  a  crime  rp  so  the  positions  were  a  little  different  but  what  i  mean  is  like,  let's  say  you  have  some  actors;  you  could  establish  a  movie  company  and  write  some  details  on  it  (how  big  they  are,  what  kind  of  movies  they  usually  make,  which  part  of  town  they're  established,  etc.)  and  then  make  a  list  with  jobs  for  that  specific  company:  like,  you  could  have  4  directors,  10  actors,  3  costume  designers  etc.,  and  those  are  slots  that  get  filled  so  when  people  apply  they  app  will  say  like  "they  are  a  director  for  a24"  or  something  like  that  ?   it's  a  way  for  muns  to  establish  connections  on  their  own  (two  actors  that  often  work  with  the  same  company  would  def  know  each  other,  that  sort  of  thing)  and  you  can  still  cap  the  number  of  muns  and  set  an  age  limit  (this  could  even  be  based  on  the  job  like  say  directors  must  be  at  least  30  years  old  or  something).

[nordleuchten]

Who was Lafayette friends with throughout his life, and were there people he wasn’t so friendly with? Thanks :)

Hello Anon,

La Fayette was the sort of person who made friends easily. He was not a grumpy person, being on good terms with somebody was his default mood so to speak – but there were also more than enough people with whom he was not on the best terms. During the French Revolution they did not call him “the most hated Man in Europe” for no reason. After all that I have read it strikes me as if you either loved or hated La Fayette and that there was little middle ground. The point that I want to make; I had to draw the line somewhere. The list I am going to present you is by no means complete. There are many names that could (and probably should) be added. Without further ado, lets get started.

Starting in America, we have George Washington. I think there is not much more that needs to be said about their relationship. It is commonly known how close they were and how much their relationship meant for both of them. Beside Washington, there was Alexander Hamilton. He and La Fayette first met early on in the War for American Independence. Hamilton was fluent in French and close in age to La Fayette. Their friendship was quickly formed and grew stronger as time progressed. Back home in France, La Fayette wrote Hamilton with a special proposal. Hamilton should send his oldest boy, Phillip, over to Paris, there to be educated under La Fayette’s guidance, while La Fayette would send his boy, Georges Washington, over to America, there to receive an education with Hamilton as a guardian. This plan never came to fruition, but when Georges Washington had to flee France for America during the French Revolution, Hamilton and his family took him in and tried to help him as good as they could. La Fayette never forgot that. After Hamilton’s untimely death in 1804 he wrote to George Washington Parke Custis that:

“Hamilton was to me, my dear Sir, more than friend, he was a brother. We were both very young, when associated with our common father; our friendship, formed in days of peril and glory, suffered no diminution from time: with Tilghman and with Laurens, I was upon terms the most affectionate; but with Hamilton, my relations were brotherly.”

This quote not only gives insight in La Layette’s with Hamilton but also perfectly sums up his relationship with John Laurens and Tench Tilghmam: most affectionate.

On to some people who are sometimes forgotten - James McHenry and James Monroe. James McHenry first met La Fayette when they both were members in George Washington staff. McHenry later transferred to La Fayette’s staff (March of 1781) and was one of his most trusted aide-de-camps. He often was chosen as La Fayette’s “liaison-officer”. I have three excerpts from letters by La Fayette, detailing his relationship to McHenry. The first one was written by La Fayette to McHenry on February 15, 1781, a few months before McHenry joined his staff:

My tender friendship and affectionate Regard for You, will Not lengthen this letter with Assurances from My Heart While the Heart itself must Be known to You. I intend to write You Again in a few days and with Every Sentiment of Attachement and Esteem Have the Honor to be Yours Lafayette

The second letter was addressed to General Greene on August 12, 1781, concerning a potential transfer McHenry’s in Greene’s staff.

McHenry is So well Acquainted with My Sentiments for Him that He knows My attachement is independant of whatever Steps He Might take on the occasion. He knows I am not of a temper that finds faults with the Measures of My friends, and that I will ever feel an obligation to the Man who obliges General Greene.

The last letter was written to McHenry on December 26, 1783. McHenry at this point had already retired from the army.

As an ardent lover of America I am glad to Hear of the influence You are said to Have in Congress. As Your most affectionate friend I shall Be glad whenever You Have an opportunity to display Your abilities. If Congress do not send me Any Commands, I shall Most Certainly embark in the spring. If they Have Commands for me, I would Be thrice Happy to Receive You along with them, and to Make with you french and European travels. You ought to Make them charge you with some political commission to Courts in Europe, and I would like going as a volonteer with you. [Manuscript torn; part a line missing] Your family and our friends. Most affectionately I am for [manuscript torn; several words missing]. Lafayette

I showed you this many letters for several reason. First, McHenry deserves more attention if you ask me. Second, they show not only their emotional relationship but also their professional relationship and illustrate how convinced La Fayette was by McHenry’s merits - and lastly, I like them all and could not decide. :-) Years later, during La Fayette’s imprisonment, McHenry was among the people who tried to help him gain his freedom.

On to James Monroe. Monroe was, just like Hamilton, close in age to La Fayette (actually, La Fayette was older then Monroe by several months) and spoke French. They both moved in the same social circle during the Revolution and had some common friends. It was also Monroe, who, with the backing of Congress, invited La Fayette to visit America once more in 1824/1825. La Fayette received the rights to some land during this visited and later gifted some of this land to Monroe so that Monroe could start paying off his mounting debts. Here is what La Fayette wrote to Monroe on December 19, 1784:

My dear Sir I Have Received your letter to mr jefferson, and shall very Carefully deliver it. Our old friend Gibbs will give you a Bundle of papers for McHenry which I Beg you will keep for Him untill He Comes to Trenton. To morrow morning, My dear Sir, I set out for Europe, and Before I go, it is pleasing for me once more to assure you of the value I Have By Your friendship, and of the affection and regard I Have the Honor to Be With My dear Sir Yours Lafayette

I may or may not have chosen this letter because McHenry also makes an appearance - but Thomas Jefferson is also mentioned, so the selection is valid, because Thomas Jefferson is the next one on our list. Jefferson’s and La Fayette’s friendship blossomed especially during Jefferson stay in Paris as ambassador to the French. La Fayette even consulted with Jefferson when writing the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen de 1789. Later, when they met again during La Fayette’s last visit to the United States in 1824/25, they embraced each other and cried tear of joy over the fact of being able to see each other again.

With that, I would like to leave America behind and move on to England. More people could be added though. We see in La Fayette’s letter to General Greene for example, how close these two were. La Fayette had a very friendly relationship with most generals, officers and aide-de-camps in the army.

In England, we see something very interesting. Many of his friends there were actually former opponents of his during the War of Independence - when the House of Commons discussed whether the British Government should try to take actions or not, some of La Fayette’s most vocal allies were veterans of the War of Independence. Another noteworthy friend of his was the Whig politician Charles James Fox. Who really stands out among La Fayette’s English friends tough, is a young women. Her name was Francis “Fanny” Wright. I have planed to write on her separately at some near point in the future and because this post is already way too long we keep things brief. Fanny was a feminist, abolitionist and social reformer. I wager that some of her ideas and proposals would even today be considered somewhat controversial. But she and La Fayette grew quite close and she even accompanied him on his tour in America in 1824/25 (although not officially). Their friendship illustrates two things about La Fayette. He had many female friends – not just female friends, but strong and intelligent and outspoken female friends – and he was not at all faced by that. He also had friends that were considered “bad company” – and again, he was not really put off by that. With that being said, let us continue to France.

France was his native country and he had many friends there; starting with his family and his in-laws. With only a few exceptions La Fayette had close and loving relationships with his family members. There is this one lovely quote from a letter he wrote his wife Adrienne on October 29, 1777 that I simply had to quote:

“(...) for my daughter will be always, I trust, my most intimate friend; I will only be a father in affection, and parental love shall unite in my heart with friendship.”

You have to keep in mind that La Fayette was a nobleman from the 18th century. Such affection for your children, especially daughters, was common not as one would like to think. But of course he had also friends outside his family.

First in my mind there is the La Tour-Maubourg family. Three brothers with all three of whom La Fayette was close. Marie-Victor-Nicolas de Faÿ, marquis de La Tour-Maubourg was a General during the Napoleonic Wars and saw a lot of action. For a short time he was imprisoned with La Fayette but then quickly released. I would say that La Fayette was probably the least close with him. Next up is Juste-Charles de Faÿ de la Tour-Maubourg who was also captured by the Austrians but just as quickly released as his brother. He later married La Fayette’s oldest daughter Anastasie. The current King of Belgium is their descendant. The last brother was Charles César de Fay de La Tour-Maubourg and again, as if to continue a family tradition – he was captured together with La Fayette but unlike his two brothers, he was only released in 1787. I would say that La Fayette was the closest with him. After the death of his wife Adrienne, La Fayette wrote him a very, very long letter, basically laying all his grief and pain and anguish bare. Another dear friend was Bureau de Pussy, again one of La Fayette’s fellow prisoners (being in prison or fighting in a war together appear to be La Fayette’s go-to bounding-activities).

Soooo ... after we have scraped the surface of the category “friends” we can move on to the category “not-so-friendly”. Great parts of La Fayette’s live were spend on the public stage ... and as you all can  very well imagine, he was bound to make some enemies there. Beside the people with whom he had a personal misunderstanding, there were the ones he enraged with his political opinions. He was a  well known supporter of the American Revolution and therefor not too dear to many people on England and to American Loyalists. Things became really interesting though, when the French Revolution gained speed. La Fayette was a centrist, he was searching for a middle path. That actually worked quite well for some time but as soon as more radical factions began to gain influence a middle ground became harder and harder to pursue. He Royalists called him a traitor to the monarchy and a revolutionary while the Revolutionaries called him a traitor to the Republic and a Royalist – he really could not win. While he was not well liked among the leading Revolutionaries (Robespierre, Saint-Just, you name them), few disliked him as much as Doctor Jean-Paul Marat did. I am currently reading  Marat’s L’amie de peuple and there a literally complete issues of the paper dedicated solely to La Fayette and all his alleged wrongdoings.

Things were not necessarily better on the side of the Royalists. When La Fayette entered the palace of Versailles after the event that came to be known as the Women's March on Versailles, he had to pass through a crowed of courtiers in order to reach the King and confer with him. Suddenly, a voice rose from the anonymity of the crowed – “Here comes Cromwell”, a courtier shouted. That is how many people at the court saw La Fayette at this time – as a French Cromwell. The Queen Marie Antoinette was on a later occasion reassured that she did not have to worry, La Fayette would protect her and the King. To that the Queen replied: “Lafayette is here to defend us, but who is to defend us against Lafayette.”

La Fayette’s troubled relationship with the Monarchs of France continued after the Revolution. He and Napoléon hat their ups and downs in their relationship – but mostly downs as time progressed. His relationship with Louis XVIII and especially with Charles X also was strained to put it mildly.

As I have said repeatedly, this is just a brief overview of La Fayette’s different relationships. I nevertheless hope that I could help you out with your question.

I hope you have/had a wonderful day!

[sugar-and-pearls]

7, 9 and 16 of platober takeover asks for the storyteller?

Thank you Anon!!

7. How’s your cooking? What would you like to cook for S/I?

I can only cook simple meals as my wife Eudora is the better cook of us. However Mai does love my mash potato recipe more than her Grandmama’s eyeball and spinach salad.

9. When hanging out with S/I, do you like to go out or stay in?

When I was younger I used to travel the world with Dog. Country to country, palace to palace, court to court. But now I’m getting older - I’m almost 700 after all - and I prefer to in my part of the realms, in my little hut in my own pocket dimension. Mai often comes to visit me and the Dog and we both prefer it that way, though I do still travel for special occasions.

16. What’s your favorite game? Board games, card games, sports, anything. How good at it are you? How about S/I?

When together Mai and I enjoy playing the Oldest Game. Its a verbal imagery transformation chase game. So for example I say I am a Hare, swift-footed and ambitious then Mai could say that she is a Fox, hare-eating, Trickster and I would pick something that could defeat the fox and onwards till one of us won. Its a brilliant game for Storytellers as it teaches you to think under stress and think out side the box, as a lack of lack of imagination is the most common way to loss. Often times when Mai and Cardan were young (before Wednesday and Pugsley were born) we used to play this game till the sun had long set and her eyes would be dropping in sleepiness. We also like to play cards but we never remember the rules and end up making new games. 

[mgkconfessions]

AMAs 2020 1/2

The entire night summed up in one word: anticlimax! ^^ I had more expectations from our twin flame couple after all their cheesy paparazzi videos and Megan’s poetic talk about their once in a lifetime love story and deep spiritual connection and this was the best that they could do. Spoiler: It didn’t get more romantic than this!

You can really see the love and sparks between them and how happy and excited they were to be there with each other! ^^

Their outfits

Kells’ outfit: I like the colour, the material, the cut from the top and especially his hair. He took another risk with his outfit and did something different :). However I don’t like that they mixed the top with a hoodie pocket in the front and I don’t like the shoes with the trousers. I would have liked them more with a dark boot that was more loose around his legs.

Megan’s outfit: I like the green colour a lot, I think it’s suits her very well! The only two things that bother me are the long thing in the front that is hanging down and the strap from her shoes around her ankles, because I don’t like it together with the rest of her outfit. Her outfit wasn’t ugly, but it wasn’t anything exciting or special either. I find it rather forgettable. Also she forgot to tan her belly!

Since they attended the award show as a couple they should have made sure that they would look somewhat coherent with their outfits in the pictures and not clash so much to create a true power couple moment, which I assume was the goal of their red carpet moment. Kells’ outfit isn’t amazing, but he tried to stand out and not look boring and I would have liked to see a woman by his side who felt the same way about fashion and match his ideas about how to use it to step up the game. I think for Kells it’s very important to make fashion statements on red carpets and at events at the moment, but I don’t think that Megan is on the same wavelength, so instead of couple goals, they just looked like they were going to two different events and someone just randomly put them together for a picture. It would have been very easy for Megan to match Kells more, for example she could have used a silver purse or matched the style of his outfit better and I’m only focusing on Megan matching Kells here, because I believe that Kells very likely got the job to perform before Megan was even asked to be a presenter or in other words, I believe that Megan was only a presenter, because Kells was performing.

When they previously released a list of 10 presenters, Megan wasn’t among them and usually they would have used the best names that would get the most people to watch the show and Megan surely would have been one of them. In addition I believe it was in the SPIN interview, where they described how he got the phone call that he would be performing at the AMAs and how Megan grabbed her phone after he got the news. Who did Megan immediately need to text to share Kells’ good news with? Her mum? Or her team to get her somehow on the show now too, so she can continue to leech on to Kells’ success and make herself part of it, because lately any interviews and photo shoots that Megan was part of were actually Kells’ and not hers and that’s a fact you can’t argue with!

The posing

I don’t think that the red carpet moment was their only goal with the PR, however this was surely supposed to be a highlight of their relationship, because they used it to become red carpet official, Megan showed her tattoo dedicated to Kells for the first time and she even had the honor to announce her own boyfriend’s performance. All points that were supposed to set them up for a perfect couple goals evening and to make people fall in love with them. However they managed to fail that goal in every aspect! And I honestly was surprised at how badly they delivered! I was really not expecting that :D! They had one job to sell everyone on their relationship and couldn’t even do that although both of them work as actors and therefore acting should come more natural to them and we know that they can play the in love couple from all the paparazzi pictures and videos, where they also look awkward and staged, but I can see why people buy their show. At the AMAs I can’t understand anyone who saw them as a happy couple in love, not even if I tried it!

Two stones would have had more chemistry than Kells and Megan! What was that? Lmao! ^^ Megan is only trying to look sultry and sexy and is hyper focused on the camera while forgetting that there’s a guy right next to her who she’s allegedly madly in love with. She looks like she didn’t come to take pictures together with Kells, actually she looks like his presence annoys her and she would prefer to just have him stand there, not touch her and get in her way so she can do what she came for, seducing the camera and look hot for her ultimate media coverage. I agree with everyone who said that she looked rather mad tho. I don’t think that Megan is a team player, not in her relationship and not when it comes to attention. She was only thinking about how good she will look instead of how good they could look together as a couple if they focused more on being there together instead of themselves. I take Kells looking to the side and down as a sign of trying to offer a more natural couple pose, where they would have been interacting more with each other while showing his hair cut from a better angle too, but Megan was on her ego trip or pissed at Kells and didn’t look like she wanted to be part of what he wanted to do. I don’t see any specific emotion in Kells either when he looked down. He could have looked at a white wall and have the same expression. If people think that’s love in his eyes, their standards for love are seriously low! The videos for their pictures are my personal highlights tho, because anything that already looked embarrassing and awkward in the pictures is only amplified in the videos and shows even more how ridiculously they behave and I can take them even less seriously as a couple who isn’t selling their relationship for their career and personal reasons! ^^ At first you’d think that Kells posing with Megan was like he usually poses, because in a way it is, but when you see the pictures of him alone and with Travis he came a lot more out of his shell, stuck his tongue out and even made an exaggerated smile face. I think it shows that with Travis he feels more comfortable to be himself and act silly even at a public event while with Megan it was strictly all about business and keeping it cool and hot. I assume that they talked about how they would pose for the cameras and maybe Megan decided that awkwardly standing next to each other would be enough to sell their love while not taking too much attention away from herself and maybe they had an argument beforehand which would explain the bad mood and long faces too. It would have been better if they hadn’t focused so much on looking hot and instead enjoyed being there with each other and then maybe they would have got better pictures too where you could have seen that they at least like each other, because in those pictures they don’t even look like they want to have anything to do with each other! Someone on DailyMail commented that you can tell that they practiced their poses in front of a mirror and they literally did, because majority of their official couple pictures are mirror selfies where they stand next to each other like buddies and it won’t get any less awkward the more they pose like that! :D But the picture where both of them have their mouths open is hilarious! It’s probably one of the worst pictures I’ve seen of them. They look like wax figures! ^^

Their body language as a couple with such an intense love that Megan can only express it with toxic poetry is horrible although this was supposed to be their big couple goals moment! There’s no chemistry between them, I can feel the coldness and bad atmosphere around them by only looking at the pictures. I thought that we would see more of their super intense and special love and connection as twin flames, but there’s nothing between them. They look like two random people who were asked to take a picture together and afterwards went their separate ways. They aren’t interacting with each other, they are stiffly standing straight to the camera with their bodies. Both of their feet are also pointed towards the camera, which means that there’s no interest in each other in that moment and Megan even crossed her legs, which isn’t a good sign either. Like I mentioned, Kells looked at Megan one time, but she didn’t look back and he went back into his initial pose. And only then Megan tilted her head into his direction for a couple of seconds without ever looking away from the camera tho. It’s so awkward to see them pose in the video that it’s funny again ^^! Megan actually posed with Brian and Shia on red carpets a lot more naturally and in love than with Kells and so did Kells with other women too, who he was dating or had a thing with like Remy LaCroix or Halsey. But with each other, Kells and Megan failed this red carpet moment although they are self claimed twin flames like this is the ultimate relationship and they are with their ultimate partner and still they look like wax figures on their special day! In case anyone wants to claim that I’m only saying this because I don’t like them together there’s even an article about their body language at the AMAs from a body language expert who said the same things and even more. If you think there’s any love in these pictures, you’re lying to yourself! Thanks to the anon for finding the article! :)

“This is not what I'd expect from a couple who's gushing over each other," says Traci Brown, body language expert and author of Persuasion Point: Body Language and Speech for Influence after examining their pictures. Brown describes their body language as "almost emotionless."

Click here for the link to read the full article: Megan Fox & Machine Gun Kelly's AMAs Red Carpet Body Language Is Surprising

The announcement

We could argue now that it was just in that moment that Megan seemed more mad than in love with Kells when they took the official pictures, but when she presented him, she acted the same way. No emotions, not even a little bit of faked excitement although she was talking about all of us being under his spell for many years lol. ^^ It makes me wonder if she was only allowed to accompany Kells if she also announced his performance or her team thought that this would be a great idea, but she didn’t want to do it, she only wanted to come, look sexy at the camera, get her attention and articles and leave the work as per usual to Kells. But even on her own fan pages people noticed how emotionless she was and how weird that was, because if you are allowed to announce your own boyfriend, who was giving his AMAs’ debut, you’d think that you’d be more proud and excited about it and try to give your best and not what Megan did on that stage! There’s a behind the scenes picture where she is smiling on stage, the only time that she was caught smiling by the way, but when she was filmed, she was as emotionless as she was in the pictures that she took with Kells and those were the moments that mattered.

[agl03]

Do you think ABC's late renewals of AOS has worked against its writers? If you watch S4, it's apparent that they had a tighter season because they were given an early renewal during S3 compared to other seasons. That said, I feel like the late renewals started to work against the show after S4 because there was a continuing uncertainty if the show would give S5. In fact, I'm pretty sure there wasn't a plan for S5 and space was a random choice rather than planned out. Thoughts

Adding onto my post about AOS's late renewals. I also think that it worked against the show because actors would take projects without knowing if the show would be renewed that would force the writers to work around them and create obstacles with the story telling. This mainly applies to Iain, and how it affected Fitzsimmons story arc in S5-S7. Their story has literally been reduced to separation arcs without nothing else and I think Iain being demoted to a guest star is the final straw.

Hi Anon,

I think a lot of shows have to deal with renewal roulette and its scary to take the gamble of leaving a massive cliffhanger and then never getting to resolve it.  Lucifer is an example of this, they pulled a major cliffy thinking it would pad their renewal chances and nope Fox pulled the plug, they got lucky that Netflix saved them instead.

The thing with Renewals is the shows have to pitch to the networks what their next season would be as part of the renewal process usually about the time they are writing their finales.  So the writers had to at least have some idea about where they were going. And from what I gather from the interviews with the AOS writers is in these pitches they just started going for broke at the end.

Season 4′s early renewal allowed for a ton of set up in Season 3 with Radcliffe and Mad Science Season 4.   The surprise there was Ghost Rider and the writers working him into it via the pods.

Season 5 they’d pitched space, the writers knew well before the end of Season 4 Iain had been offered Overlord and had the contingency plan in place of “Fitz get’s left behind”, they confirmed in an interview Fitz was always going to be left behind/separated.   Which led to one of my favorite episodes in Rewind so I’m cool.  I also don’t think the network is unhappy with the bottle episodes with all three to date being some of the most acclaimed of the series.    It was in the process of the time loop that the writers realized they could kill Fitz (something they’ve wanted to do but never could) and had now had an out.  This allowed them to go places with Maurader Fitz in his break and then kill him off setting up Season 6.  Which again The Search for Fitz was one of my Fav arcs and gave us Inescapable (cue the choir) I really enjoyed how they had the different arcs going until they literally crashed together mid season. 

Season 7 was a surprise for them and ABC came to them mid filming Season 6 because they loved what the writers where doing when they essentially had no “f’s” to give.  And like before Clark, Ming, Chloe, and Iain had other projects lined up.  Thus the writers once again worked around it all.

I’ve noted many times Iain not being a regular anymore is all based on AVAILABILITY not a reflection of how many episodes he’ll actually be in.  Jeff was a regular for Season 6 but wasn’t in 1, 2, 3, or 6.  Joel isn’t a regular for Season 7 but is in IMDB for all but 2 episodes I think.   Iain was not available at certain points of filming Season 7 and its wait and see how that plays out.  I am thankful he and the show worked together to allow him to do both projects nor can we fault any of the actors for accepting work while ABC drug its feet.   But I am holding onto bits like he came back and filmed when he could and there were a number of days they were working multiple scripts.  Not to mention the thing I cling too in that they pulled he and Elizabeth from SDCC to come back and film all day with Jed and Mo...something BIG happened that day and I’ll go down with my ship on that.As for the FItzsimmons separations.  Iain having other projects or no...this was going to happen.  The writers have said many times they like to put obstacles in their way and for Fitzsimmons they use physical separations which I will take over a blasted love triangle any freaking day of the week.   

They use these separations to build the story, build the characters, and then build to a big milestone moment for the couple.  This is one of many pieces of Baby Fitzsimmons Perthshire or Bust in the end as that is the next milestone they have in my book.  

I accurately predicted the repeated near misses until they finally reunited in Season 6 because it drew out the drama and left us screaming at our TV’s and maybe hurling things at it.  Season 7 I feel the drama will be different be it the secret child theory or just that we know something is wrong with Fitz but the team doesn’t know....Jemma has a sense and that drama keeps building. 

While the late renewals were not ideal I think everyone involved wound up making the best of the situations.   

[aspoonofsugar]

(1) I’m the anon who sent the question about whether characters need to be sympathetic in order to be likeable. Thank you for such a thorough response! The examples you provided were incredibly helpful! As a writer, I often wonder if I need the readers’ sympathy in order to make a point about an issue a particular character represents.

(2) It’s also hard for me to predict readers’ reactions, so I get anxious at the thought of writing contradictory characters who occasionally do something unforgiveable. Then there’s the question of what constitutes as unforgiveable, especially since I find that women tend to be more harshly scrutinized than men who are shielded by the idea that “boys will be boys.”            

(3) Then there’s the ableist aspect. Mentally ill people are often seen as incapable of taking responsibility for their own actions, which conflicts with my bipolar OC’s desire for self-agency. That’s why my OC hesitates to request even minor accommodations for her condition, because she sees that as an admission of defeat.

(4) At the same time, however, she understands the temptation to blame her actions on her illness and remain the good, innocent ‘angel’ adored by her family and peers. However, it frustrates her when people dismiss her uncomfortable, cynical, angry, aggressive traits as being part of another manic/depressive episode. But then, who is she?            

(5) She struggles to separate her own personality, thoughts, feelings, and impulses from her disorder. She worries that her “deformity of mind” reflects her “twisted inner nature.” Similarly, she wonders the same about her grandmother, who hurt my OC’s father during a breakdown. My OC purposely triggers her grandmother to see if the latter would revert to violence.            

(6) Sorry for sending you such a long ramble. Basically, I want to know how integral is sympathy in communicating a point through your characters? Is there a way to write a character as being conflicted and contradictory without coming off as hypocritical? On a related note, can you still express a point through a hypocritical character?            

(7) For example, my OC resents people using ‘crazy’ as shorthand for violent, yet resorts to violence toward herself and others. In addition, she goads her grandmother into another violent breakdown to see if destructiveness is an incorrigible side effect of mental illness and if recovery and rehabilitation are actually possible.

(8) I’m also curious to explore how characters operate on and distribute sympathy. For instance, my OC wants to make things better for mentally ill people, but is also aware that she often antagonizes certain individuals who remind her of her worst insecurities toward her condition (i.e. her grandmother). She also tends to justify this antagonism.            

(9) Do I need the reader’s sympathy in order for someone to be invested in my character’s arc? I’m afraid that making her too imperfect would cause people to lose interest in her. However, I also know there’s a danger in making her invincible. How do you balance a character’s strengths and weaknesses? Does a character even need to be balanced?            

Hello again anon!

First of all, yes it is possible and also common to make a point through characters who are hypocritical. This is simply because real world people are hypocrites, so if one trie to write a character as if they were a real person it is completely possible they will turn out hypocritical on some level depending on their flaw.

I would say again that what @hamliet said about sympathy being subjective on some level is true and it is an unexcapable fact. Some people will not like your character and your story, but others will and there is no way to control it.

That said, when it comes to make a character sympathetic, I think that there different approaches which can be followed.

Before I give some examples though, I think that considering one’s public target can help a little. For example, writing a story for a specific target (e.g. kids, adults etc.) or a specic genre (e.g. detective story, hrror, thriller, science-fiction etc.) might help you come up with some of the attributes your character will have. After all, every genre has its stereotypes and tropes and one can be inspired by them both in recreating them and in wanting to make something completely different.

Going back to your main question, I think that a good way to make a character sympathetic and liked is honestly to just give them an arc. Let’s consider for example Eva Heinemann in Monster. She starts the story by being very detestable. She is arrogant, spoiled, doesn’t care about others and basycally spells word by word the opposite of the series’s themes. However, she develops and grows a lot by the end becoming a better person. I have seen several people starting Monster and commenting how horrible Eva was and by the end many of them have come to consider her one of their favourite characters thanks to her development. In short, a good development can make a character who starts off as negative loved.

That said, it is true that often the characters who start off as completely negative are not the MC nor the main POV characters because they could alienate a part of the public (I think this is particular important for longer stories where the development is slow; in those cases even if the character is going to have a development eventually people might lose interest before that happens). In many cases, it can be useful to give the MC some sympathetic attributes. I think this can be done in multiple ways and there is not really just a right way to do it. I will try to make two different examples using what you told me about your OC.

1) You could give your character a sympathetic objective. For example, you said she wants to make things better for other mentally ill people, so that could be her objective which is sympathetic. It could be better if this objective were made somehow more concrete in the plot itself. So for example she wants to help a specific person or she wants to enter a specific organization/do a specific job which might help her reach this objective. However, while she pursues this objective it might become clear that she herself has some contradictions. For example, she might dislike being seen either as “crazy” or as a “pure angel” whose all flaws are blamed on her illness, but she might treat the person she wants to help exactly in the same way. She might realize she has the tendency to see the other as a person she must protect and not as an equal or a proper individual.

Let’s highlight that a similar dynamic is present between Killua and Alluka who is a character I used as an example in my previous answer. I think Alluka is a character who despite her short screen-time explores themes related to mental-illness pretty well thematically and she is also used to highlight Killua’s own contradictions as a character.

In short, your character can be presented as a character having a very sympathetic objective and being honest in her pursue of it. She can react strongly at people catecorizing her in one way or another and this can be inspiring to people reading. However, as the story develops it becomes cleaer and clearer she has her own insecurities and struggles with her own  identity and how her mental illness influences who she is. In this way, her flaws and negative traits can emerge little by little until she realizes that before she can reach her objective she has first of all to solve her own personal issues and grow as a person.

If you want another example of this dynamic you can think about Judy in Zootopia. She doesn’t want to be discriminated for her being a rabbit and works hard to overcome others’ prejudices, but she herself has prejudices against foxes and other carnivores even if she says she hasn’t.

2) An almost opposite approach would be to give your character an egoistic objective, but to show early on that despite her having negative traits, she has also some positive ones hidden deep down. This is what one would call a “save th cat” moment. For example, you can have you OC state she doesn’t care about other mentally ill people, but have her go out on her way in the beginning to help someone who is being bullied. In short, she can pursue selfish objectives, but she can still show positive qualities despite it. Her arc will be about taking out these qualities and making them shine. For example, the character’s unwillingness to have anything to do with other mentally ill people migth stem from her not wanting to accept her own illness or at least from her not wanting to be seen as only that. And in the end she might realize that even if she is not her illness, she still has to accept it on some level and that her not wanting to be defined by it doesn’t mean she has to lash it out on others.

These two examples translate in two opposite ways to organize a character arc. The character has the same flaw which might be synthesized with her not wanting to accept some of her feelings towards her own mental illness, but she declines it in different ways and her personality will be different in the two scenarios. I would also add that it is not set in stone that everything you have written to me about your character is something she has to realize and to know since the beginning. For example, she might start out as earnestly believing she is helping others with her behaviour, but then she might have to realize she herself can be violent and discriminating towards others. One she realizes it she might have to choose what to do about it and this will help with conveying specific themes rather than others.

I hope this was useful! Thank you for the asks!

[quellines-stories]

Omg omg the way the next half of the season’s being set up is giving me major Batjokes vibes. Any headcanons on possible Bruce and Jerome dynamics?

Anon thank you so much for sending me this and giving me a reason to ramble about it lmfao! If you have any headcanons, I’d love to hear them! Feel free to message me some through anon, off anon, or even Instant Messages if you want! No pressure of course :)

I’m sorry for getting to this late! I’ve been super busy with work and finals 😭 But I should be more active on here now until college starts back up! I’m trying to get to all my asks and whatnot lol!

In any case, I definitely agree that the preview showed us Jerome’s gaining even more Joker vibes than he’s already given off, particularly with the iconic Joker card usage!

As for Wayne, I also agree he’s giving off Batman vibes as well, however I feel like it’s the increasingly popular Batman (and heroes in general) trope of the doubtful vigilante. Essentially, we see Wayne examining the equipment Fox gave him, and then we see his mask burning in a fireplace. This along with how the episodes since the Ra’s Al Ghul incident could be leading up to a point in which Wayne considers being a vigilante isn’t his true path, and will briefly give up on being a hero altogether, only to have something significant snap him back into heroic reality, thus going with said doubtful vigilante trope.

Now, the likely path the show’s taking here would be one in which Wayne gives up on being Batman, and gets rid of the equipment Fox gave him. This would make Wayne incredibly vulnerable, particularly when Alfred’s not there to protect him, and he’s been pulling away from a lawful path which means he’s probably been pulling away from Jim as well. The only thing Wayne would have in this instance is his training, which he’s not fully skilled in yet.

Jerome on the other hand has his copycats, and supposedly Oswald as an eventual ally given that the writers revealed Oswald would be teaming up with an unlikely character hinted to be Jerome.

Wayne’s pushed pretty much everyone away other than Tommy at this point, who’s the only character we’ve seen and heard Wayne repeatedly hanging out with the last few episodes. Assuming that Tommy can’t do shit other than talk big, that leaves Wayne pretty alone compared to Jerome. Now, Tommy MIGHT be skilled with firearms since Hush (the character he’s based on) is a marksman, but at best Tommy would probably be about as skilled with firearms as Wayne is with hand-to-hand combat, because they’re both still young and training.

Wayne would essentially be screwed if Jerome decided to go after him. The only thing that could POSSIBLY hold Jerome back is Oswald since Oswald might have a soft spot for Wayne AKA the boy that gave him a hefty amount of money during that bidding event for Ra’s dagger, not to mention that scene where Oswald lays a hand on Wayne’s shoulder and says he’s a good kid, all while he could sympathize with Wayne also being an orphan. Given this, there’s still a chance this wouldn’t be enough to make Oswald risk trying to hold Jerome back for someone he’s barely spoken to if Jerome did want to go after Wayne, depending on how the writers handle it. Maybe Oswald would request Jerome leave Wayne out of their schemes, but not stop Jerome from doing it, and merely stay out of it.

This could result in Tommy cowering and telling Jerome to go after Wayne instead of him, only for Alfred to be the one that saves the day, and resulting in Wayne realizing he’s not surrounding himself with true friends, and Alfred’s the one that’s looked out for him through all the hardships he’s faced– not the party goers.

Let’s say the writers go with a second possibility where Jerome doesn’t go after Wayne, and instead goes after other innocents. For a while, Wayne might ignore it, because he wants to choose his own selfish purpose rather than the heroic purpose Thomas and Martha intended for him. Eventually, Wayne wouldn’t be able to ignore it anymore. Perhaps Jerome goes after too many innocents and Wayne realizes he has to stop this if no one else is going to, or perhaps Jerome goes after one of Wayne’s loved ones, like Alfred, Selina, or Jim.

Heck, maybe the very second Jerome breaks out of Arkham and causes chaos is the very instant Wayne can’t turn away from crime anymore, and has to go against the number one person he recognizes as his enemy he’s encountered thrice now, and accepts he can’t rest as long as Jerome won’t rest.

Regardless, this could result in Wayne having to go up against Jerome in hand-to-hand combat if Wayne really did destroy all of Fox’s equipment in the fire, which would make the stakes even higher considering Jerome’s the type to not play fair in fist fights.

Now, consider the least likely plot the writers probably won’t go with, but I personally would find the most interesting.

Consider this really is where Wayne hits rock bottom, because that’s what every hero has got to hit before they can fully rise.

Consider this is where Wayne finds himself not only surrounding himself with future-villain-Tommy that’s relatively harmless for now, but the bigger badder villains that are already causing chaos upon Gotham.

Consider Wayne so desperate to not fit into Thomas and Martha’s heroic version of him, he pushes so dangerously far away that he gets close to becoming anything but heroic.

Consider how Wayne’s breaking the law in small ways for now, like underage drinking for example. Consider him gradually breaking increasingly bigger laws.

Consider the fact that a big trope of Ra’s Al Ghul in comics and movies is how he wants to take over Batman’s body and continue his immortality throughout the vigilante. Consider the reason Ra’s wanted Wayne to use that specific dagger on him wasn’t to kill him, but was to possess the holder of that dagger, since Ra’s became Ra’s after bathing in the Pit and being given that very dagger. Consider Wayne’s still himself for now, and doesn’t realize the villainous Ra’s is subtly influencing him bit by bit, which makes this entire matter even more dire.

Consider how maybe Wayne sees Jerome is causing chaos, and realizes that breaking the big laws like Jerome’s doing looks a lot more entertaining than breaking the little laws Wayne’s breaking. Imagine Wayne wanting a bigger distraction from the pain he’s facing than just risking drinking booze as a sixteen year old. Imagine him wanting to gain bigger and riskier distractions.

Consider how Oswald’s already teamed up with someone surprising– a Falcone. Consider how Oswald seems to hate Jerome in the previews. Consider how the writers could have very well just made it sound like Oswald was the one Jerome was teaming up with, so it would be even more of a surprise to see Jerome and Wayne team up since the writers have said one thing but meant another quite a few times in the past to keep us guessing.

Or consider how maybe Oswald and Jerome do team up after all, and Oswald suggests that instead of killing the Wayne he’s very possibly gotten a soft spot for as explained in an earlier paragraph, they should instead get the boy on their side to get back at the common enemy Gordon.

Either way, consider Wayne becoming just as villainous as he had been when under Ra’s control once before, and becoming such once again due to very possibly being under Ra’s hold once more.

Consider Wayne briefly teaming up with Jerome, and not quite doing anything serious other than causing a bit of mayhem where people don’t quite get killed, because Jerome’s aware they need to start off small to keep the kiddo around. Consider the adventures they’d have.

Of course, consider Jerome eventually going too far, and Wayne snapping out of it to put a stop to it when realizing being like the criminal that took everything from Wayne isn’t what Wayne wants to be.

When it comes down to it, I feel like each of these possibilities could very well have these things regardless of which one they go with, if any: Jerome commenting on how Wayne chose to not take the stab at his throat unlike Theo, Jerome bringing up how hardships made him a villain and Wayne a hero, musing how he’s beginning to find Wayne’s so much more interesting than Gordon, calling Wayne “darli'n” again, and Jerome either saying he finds Wayne intriguing since he proved to be the only hero he’d met in Gotham thus being one side to a coin while Jerome’s on the other in which they need each other to exist so Wayne has something to protect others from and Jerome has something to corrupt, or Jerome instead insisting he’s going to prove to Wayne that there’s no heroes in Gotham since everyone has a breaking point that can be snapped with one bad day.

[4077th]

Are there any parts about M.A.S.H you don't like?

Well hello there thanks for the interesting question!The short answer is ‘yes’ but I hate short answers so here we go!

Honestly, I do love nearly everything about the show, everything. Even some of the problematic bits, because I feel like they are all necessary to the overall development of the show.

For example: The womanizing ways of the early seasons is cringeworthy and terrible and I hate it but overall I think it is a very important part of the character developments, which to me at least is one of the biggest appeals to the show. That being said however there are a few things I’m nit picky on.

(1) The large amount of Hawkeye-centric episodes. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good hawkeye episode, maybe even more than most, but the sheer amount of them, compared to the amount of other character-centric episodes is insane. Like, if you take the amount of hawkeye centric episodes compared with all other character centric episodes, hawkeye got like 10 episodes for every 1 of anyone else. I’m just saying I wish they had evened that out a bit more and given different characters there own centric episodes instead of watching hawkeye have yet another crisis.

“But hawkeye is my favorite character!” You yell! Yeah, maybe. he’s one of mine too, but that’s because he got SO many of his own episodes and so much screen time. He got the best and deepest development because of it. So, to me anyway, I feel unfair deeming him my favorite character, because of course we think so he’s amazing, we know so much about him and he got the most opportunities to prove his relatability. But all of the characters are so deep and relatable and had so much potential to be just as good as hawkeye. I really wish that was explored more is all. Because while Alan Alda is amazing and makes an amazing hawkeye, so was everyone else!!!

(2) *banging fists on table* More! Nurse! Kelley! And more main character nurses in general to be honest!!! Nurse Kelley was adorable and one of the only regular nurses throughout the whole series! And it her took until THE LAST SEASON to even get an episode where she was focused on at all!??! Also! Give me Nurse Cutler back!!! She’s was adorable and hilarious and practically a regular for like the first ten episodes of the show! There was a whole episode about keeping her at the 4077th! And then a few episodes later she just disappears!!! What’s up with that FOX!?!? She would’ve made THE BEST regular female accomplice to Hawkeye and trapper and it would’ve been AMAZING! Mash needed way more deep, regular female characters. Like Margaret is amazing don’t get me wrong, but we need like, at least five more of her. And don’t give me that “but it’s a show set in war in the 50s so of course it’s going to be mostly men” because there were ALWAYS NURSES EVERYWHERE THAT WOULD’VE MADE GREAT REGULARS AND I WILL FIGHT YOU.

(3) This last one is really nit picky but important to me. m*a*s*h had practically no running jokes? Like there was that thing with Henry’s doll that lasted a few episodes which was hilarious. But that’s the only one I can really think of and it was very short lived. I want inside jokes between characters, silly recurring objects, camp memes, that sort of thing. They lived in a small camp with mostly the same staff for years, you can’t tell me there wasn’t an abundance of camp memes between them, you can’t. The show was still absolutely beautiful without those things yes, but I also feel like it would also have been just a perfect addition to a show where it’s mostly episodic but carries over personal developments. They could have balanced nicely and while I appreciate the episodic style, I think a little bit of humorous carry over would have made it even better, if that makes sense.

Haha wow I got VERY rambly and a little bit passionate! Thank you again for the question anon! I love a good ask that makes me analyze and yell about this wonderful show.

[leescoresbies]

hi! i've just finished the big sleep & was wondering what you liked about the detective genre?? the certain tropes you like/dislike or enjoy playing w/ in superstition?? do you have any recs? i'm v interested to know your thoughts xx

hi anon!! what an interesting question thanks for asking it!! did you like the big sleep? 

theres so much to love about the detective genre frankly!! (& so much to hate too... when its bad its baaaad - which is why poking at it & taking it apart is so fun right! like guy noir for example) jack is definitely in the “amateur information gatherer” spirit more than she is “hardboiled ex cop with a dead wife who drinks booze in the rain” spirit (& she, & i, like laughing at that trope) which is just a FUN character to write about, especially when she’s digging into a bunch of spooky mysterious horror-based occurrences. those are usually my favorite detective stories to be honest - when you take your detective out of the setting or plot they’re typically stuck in & throw them into something wild or different where the rules aren’t the same & see what happens. it’s why i like the penumbra podcast so much!

also, detective stories always have great tropey character dynamics & relationships. detectives & sidekicks are always the BEST, there’s a reason they get immortalized & recreated so often. irascible crime-solver & good natured sidekick?? i love it. even better is the “by-the-books detective deals with freewheeling consultant.” BEST when they kiss. thanks, the x files. jack & tommy, and jack & izzy, and jack & izzy & tommy all have shades of those tropes in their dynamics i think & they’re fun to play with & see what falls out.

i’m not suuuuuper well-read when it comes to real old school noir tales (hit up @pirepoumon for that tbh) but some a while ago asked me for my five favorite detectives/crime solvers & here they are:

mr. holmes minus that one tv adaption that we dont speak of, you know it, i know it, lets just move on

juno steel

tintin who was for many years the reason why i wanted to be a journalist

phryne fisher of miss fisher’s murder mysteries

dale cooper

BONUS: dana scully & fox mulder bc i feel sad to split them up & they count even if they dont ever like. solve cases really. 

OH i’m adding sam vimes from discworld too if you haven’t read those book you ought to

OH ALSO anything by agatha christie let’s face it aging up to be miss marple is my destiny & i’m ready for it

[lizacstuff]

Sen Çal Kapımı Ep 40 anon asks

Thanks for the asks, it was fun to talk about this episode, answers under the cut

Anonymous asked: it's amazing how the addition of the kids brings such a new light, a breath of fresh air, in the show. and i'm normally someone that doesn't like kids in my stories/tv shows, but i somehow LOVE it here already. maybe because the way serkan's relationship with her will develop is so different than normal. i haven't felt my heart in these characters like this since maybe 28.. i was hestiant about the plot when it was first introduced but now i think it's exactly what the show needed right now

Agreed. I also usually don't like precocious children on my TV. The show Single Parents is the lone recent example where I was able to enjoy them, but that was mostly because they all acted and talked like adults, lmao.

However, seeing Eda and Serkan with their child and, watching Serkan bond with her, and then anticipating the three of them finding a way to forming the family they should have had all along... MY HEART.

Everything feels re-energized and fresh. You know, part of that is also probably the rest that the cast and crew were able to enjoy over hiatus. The pace they worked at for 11 straight months was ridiculous, I'm glad they all got the chance to recharge and then come back to revitalized writing as well. But to your point, Kiraz really has brought new light to the show and I'M HERE FOR THIS JOURNEY.

Anonymous asked: i didn't have any idea that i could look forward to scenes besides any other characters than eda and serkan in the show, but my want, no NEED, for more serkan and kiraz scenes are overwhelming. i'm so excited to see how their relationship develops and changes once he finds out thats his daughter. one thing ayse knows how to do is a good buildup, and i'm expecting nothing less here!

Yes, I'm going to look forward to Serkan/Kiraz scenes each and every episode. It seems like we're going to get at least an episode and a half before he figures it out, so I think the writers really wanted to show us Serkan bonding with her and falling under her spell before he has any idea of their real relationship.

It does feel special to have him soften towards her when he's hell bent on having nothing to do with children, but still feels this connection with the child without knowing why. In this episode they already showed us many parallels to his relationship with Eda, but there's a larger thematic one where Serkan Bolat does what he wants and is beholden to no one... until he meets a special lady who turns his life upside down and to whom he can't say no. The first time was Eda, now it's his daughter. I will never be over him being late to a meeting but sitting there waiting for a child he's never met to pick her blackberries.

I already feel my heart melting at the scenes I'm sure we're going to eventually get. The first time she calls him Baba. The first time they hug. The first time she falls asleep on him. The first time they say I love you. And Eda watching all of it with tears in her eyes. Gah!

Conversely the emotional scenes we are in for when Serkan finds out that Eda never told him and they both confront why and how that happened.... we're not ready!

Anonymous asked: Do you think Serkan never actually showed Eda that flower necklace again after he found it on the boat? It sounds like they were considered engaged again at some point but this wasn't used and he still has it in that form.... so has she always thought it was lost at sea? I actually don't care for it as her engagement ring anymore but I think if it came back up, I want him to give it to Kiraz. I think that'd be symbolic.

Yes, I would like that too, as long as its curse doesn't carry over to the next generation! Kiraz does not deserve the tragedy that has befallen her parents. Can they find some shaman or someone to spiritually cleanse it or something?

Since the necklace is in the vault I'm going to assume he never told her he rescued it from the boat. She probably still thinks its at the bottom of the sea. If you think about it, they got back together, he immediately found out about the tumor and started the bucket list and then when she found out they went right into fighting cancer mode. So he was probably waiting for the right moment to give it back to her and it never came.

Anonymous asked: The Burak character seems kinda boring so far. I don't think I'd even ship him with Melo - let's find her a hot guy off of the beach instead.

Agreed! So far he is blaaaaand, a bit whiney, but mostly a non-entity. Which at least tells you he wouldn't have stood a chance even if Serkan hadn't come back into her life. Our Eda would never end up with a slice of stale wonderbread.

Melo deserves far better as well. I really do hope they find someone for her before the end of the series, just because the character wants to be in love so badly, not because everyone has to end up paired off.

Anonymous asked: Why did Leyla leave Sen Cal Kapimi? Did last nights episode also confirm Ferit is never coming back?

I assume the writers/producers decided that the character of Leyla had run her course and wouldn't add much to a season 2. I'm not really surprised, as much as we enjoyed Serkan bey yelling her name, she was the only regular character that was often left out of big group scenes, and she just didn't really have much to do other than a little office comic relief once in a while.

Yes, Ferit is also gone, Cagri confirmed, however I'm not sure about the "never" coming back. He's not a part of this story arc, but I suppose you never know what can happen and I wouldn't rule out them bringing back characters like Ceren and Ferit for a guest spot in the series finale, maybe an appearance at an Edser wedding or something like that. Melisa is on a Fox show after all. You never know! But even if we never see them again, at least we know Ferit and Ceren are happy in London and looking forward to expanding their family.

Though, that does beg the question... did Ferit and Ceren get married? Because if they did and had a large wedding, that seems like an event that both Serkan and Eda would have been invited too...

Anonymous asked: i think the biggest difference that i wasn't expecting to feel, was how right away i felt like these characters were BACK, in a sense. the last few episodes of s1, after the memory plot, it just felt like we were floating aimlessly with the plot direction.. so they would just throw random plotlines in there in hopes to prolong the series. now, i immediately feel the cohesiveness of plot already, and maybe thats the benefit of getting to write way ahead of schedule and knowing when the end is.

Yes, I feel this way as well. They didn't seem to have a strong direction after the amnesia. I'm not sure what they would have done with the tumor plot if COVID hadn't ended the season early, but it didn't feel like they had a specific direction in mind.

As you say, in this episode it did feel like the characters were back, especially after so many were unrecognizable during the amnesia plot. GAH! Not to belabor the past, but they pretty much had to ruin every side character in order to make Selin-the-villain work and it was honestly one of the worst decisions they could have made. I still think how much better those episode would have been if they were just dealing with memory loss and the return of robot Bolat without all of her nonsense and every other character pretending it was normal.

As I said back then, if you have to ruin every character to make your plot work... rethink your plot.

Anyway, it does feel like they were able to write ahead. They've clearly been filming season 2 episodes 1-4 (40-43) a bit out of order, utilizing locations to their fullest. Rumor has it that 4 is the last episode that takes place out at the beach hotel...we shall see! I don't know if there's any truth to that or not.

Anonymous asked: Something I'm confused about - did they reveal who did the breaking up? Because if Serkan ended it with Eda, why was he so bitter during their first coffee meeting? Was he just being irrational and had no business being angry? Or do you think there's something they haven't shown yet that Eda did? It seems like the blame is entirely on him right now, even if we as the audience can understand why he'd push her away after the brain tumor

I think some of your confusion may stem from trying to "pick sides" in what appears to be a pretty tragic situation. Why are you trying to place blame? I honestly don't get this mentality.

It remains to be seen how this is going to play out, but you seem to be looking at it as if one party decided they didn't love the other or betrayed the other and that's why they broke up, while I personally can't imagine that's how it went down.

If you watch the flashbacks, they clearly were deeply in love and committed while he was fighting cancer, but it was taking a terrible toll on both of them and he was struggling with everything including his own mortality. Again, I don't know which direction they're going to go, but I'm willing to bet you big bucks that the break up was at his instigation but he did it because he wanted her to lead a better life than what he thought he could give her and he knew she would never leave unless he severed their ties and was cruel in the process.

Also I think you may have misread the reason he got angry during the coffee date. I didn't read it as general anger at her over the breakup. You might watch it again and see what happens right before he makes his hurtful remark. I thought he got touchy when she wouldn't tell him if she was in a relationship and then told him he didn't understand anything about love and that this was a mistake. This is a man who has probably been in love with her every minute of every day of the last five years and here she is telling him he doesn't know what love is. I can see why that set him off a bit and it's also why the writers had her apologize for that line after he apologizes first. I'm not saying that was fair of him, which is why he apologized, just understandable considering his emotions.

Also can't he be bitter at circumstances, fate, the universe, his illness, everything that has happened to him and kept him from the life he once dreamed of with her? And now, whether it's fair or not, he has this fear she's living it with someone else?

For me, shipping is much more fun if I'm not constantly picking sides and pitting one against the other.... so I don't. Period.

Anonymous asked: i've seen so many ppl in the fandom be mad at serkan for what he said during that coffee scene (how GOOD was that entire scene tho) but barely anyone mention that afterwards he APOLOGIZED!! they BOTH did for the things they said and how they knew they didnt mean it. i wish the fandom would take these angsty scenes in strides instead of using it to pin serkan and eda against each other when in the show they clearly move past it. they are actually TALKING! that should be more important.

Preach! This is what I'm saying. I loved that they were talking in this episode, something that was sorely missing from this show. And as you say he apologized! This is a man who in episode 9 ran all over town, handcuffed her, spent all day with her and did everything in his power to get her to forgive him except for the one easy thing which would have worked off the bat... apologizing. It's so hard for him and the fact that he did it here, the next day, and without cajoling from her or anyone else speaks to the fact that he has not regressed to full Robot Bolat. Some of the growth we saw is intact!

As far as being mad at Serkan, I don't get that. It's obvious that his cancer was a heartbreaking time for both of them and ended up ripping them apart. I don't understand how you vilify a character like Serkan after everything he's been through. Yes, Eda, poor thing, has been the one holding it all together through every heartbreaking thing that happened, but Serkan is the one who actually has lived it. He's the one who was in a plane crash, he's the one who was brainwashed and preyed on by a psycho, he's the one who had a year of his life erased, he's the one who got a brain tumor and was confronted with his own mortality. The man has been through constant trauma!

Like... can we cut them both some slack?

Anonymous asked: I think that the doctors told Serkan he couldn't have children as a consequence of the cancer treatments and that's the reason why he pushed Eda away. That would also explain why he tried to become immortal through architecture. At first I wasn't a fan of the time jump, but I loved bölüm 40. I cannot wait to see Serkan falling in love with his daughter, reading her fairy tales and teaching her magic tricks and all he knows about the stars. I hope that we get a flashback of Eda's graduation because I'm a hundred percent sure that he was there watching her.

Yes! I saw this theory on twitter, and now I hope it's how it plays out. If would make so much sense. He knows how badly Eda wants a family and if he found out that news, after probably already feeling horribly guilty about the way she put her life on hold because of him so many times, and in his (probably) post-illness depression, I could easily see him deciding he needed to push her away for her own good. So that she could go have the family she dreamed of and he wouldn't keep holding her back and ruining her dreams. In that state of mind he wouldn't have been thinking clearly, and adoption and other alternate ways to have a family wouldn't have even weighed with him. He would have just felt worthless and decided she was better off without him, and it's 100% entirely in character for him not to tell her the real reason why.

Can you imagine if he found that out and decides to push her away for her own good right when she's headed to tell him she's pregnant?? Gah! Timing! But she's never able to tell him because he knows she wants kids so he used that fact and emphatically tells her he doesn't want kids, he wants nothing to do with kids in order to drive her away? This sort of tragic misunderstanding is soooooo them.

And that would explain why he's still so adamant that he wants nothing to do with children. A self-defense mechanism because he had to put away his own dream of having a family with her. It would also explain why it might take him a few episodes to figure out the truth, if he doesn't think he can have children, it gives him no reason to suspect he does have a child.

We'll see how it plays out but this would be a way to keep both of them from being to "blame" for the breakup. Once again tragic circumstances, bad timing, and terrible communication.

One bright note, other than the GIANT secret Eda is keeping from him, their communication was improved during this episode. Eda, at least, got to have her say and it felt cathartic to watch.