#thinking about norman kings

[adhd-merlin]

my most bizarre merlin thought (probably) is that I want immortal merlin to befriend a nun at some point

[wonder-worker]

A central element of the myth of [Eleanor of Aquitaine] is that of her exceptionalism. Historians and Eleanor biographers have tended to take literally Richard of Devizes’s conventional panegyric of her as ‘an incomparable woman’ [and] a woman out of her time. […] Amazement at Eleanor’s power and independence is born from a presentism that assumes generally that the Middle Ages were a backward age, and specifically that medieval women were all downtrodden and marginalized. Eleanor’s career can, from such a perspective, only be explained by assuming that she was an exception who rose by sheer force of personality above the restrictions placed upon twelfth-century women.

-Michael R. Evans, Inventing Eleanor: The Medieval and Post-Medieval Image of Eleanor of Aquitaine

"...The idea of Eleanor’s exceptionalism rests on an assumption that women of her age were powerless. On the contrary, in Western Europe before the twelfth century there were ‘no really effective barriers to the capacity of women to exercise power; they appear as military leaders, judges, castellans, controllers of property’. […] In an important article published in 1992, Jane Martindale sought to locate Eleanor in context, stripping away much of the conjecture that had grown up around her, and returning to primary sources, including her charters. Martindale also demonstrated how Eleanor was not out of the ordinary for a twelfth-century queen either in the extent of her power or in the criticisms levelled against her.

If we look at Eleanor’s predecessors as Anglo-Norman queens of England, we find many examples of women wielding political power. Matilda of Flanders (wife of William the Conqueror) acted as regent in Normandy during his frequent absences in England following the Conquest, and [the first wife of Henry I, Matilda of Scotland, played some role in governing England during her husband's absences], while during the civil war of Stephen’s reign Matilda of Boulogne led the fight for a time on behalf of her royal husband, who had been captured by the forces of the empress. And if we wish to seek a rebel woman, we need look no further than Juliana, illegitimate daughter of Henry I, who attempted to assassinate him with a crossbow, or Adèle of Champagne, the third wife of Louis VII, who ‘[a]t the moment when Henry II held Eleanor of Aquitaine in jail for her revolt … led a revolt with her brothers against her son, Philip II'.

Eleanor is, therefore, less the exception than the rule – albeit an extreme example of that rule. This can be illustrated by comparing her with a twelfth century woman who has attracted less literary and historical attention. Adela of Blois died in 1137, the year of Eleanor’s marriage to Louis VII. […] The chronicle and charter evidence reveals Adela to have ‘legitimately exercised the powers of comital lordship’ in the domains of Blois-Champagne, both in consort with her husband and alone during his absence on crusade and after his death. […] There was, however, nothing atypical about the nature of Adela’s power. In the words of her biographer Kimberley LoPrete, ‘while the extent of Adela’s powers and the political impact of her actions were exceptional for a woman of her day (and indeed for most men), the sources of her powers and the activities she engaged in were not fundamentally different from those of other women of lordly rank’. These words could equally apply to Eleanor; the extent of her power, as heiress to the richest lordship in France, wife of two kings and mother of two or three more, was remarkable, but the nature of her power was not exceptional. Other noble or royal women governed, arranged marriages and alliances, and were patrons of the church. Eleanor represents one end of a continuum, not an isolated outlier."

[fullscoreshenanigans]

tiony

[elephantlovemedleys]

once again thinking about how in disney's robin hood (1973), prince john and richard the lionheart are depicted as lions which obviously means that eleanor of aquitaine in that universe is a lioness.

[mariocki]

Play for Today: Not for the Likes of Us (BBC, 1980)

"It was a relief when she married you, I'm telling you. That'll calm her down, I thought, stop these crazy ideas. Mind you, I can't say that it did. Do you remember that spiritualism craze she had, when she was carrying Paul? Eight months pregnant and trying to contact other worlds! I said to her, that baby will be born funny in the head."

[dapgolf]

phil being salty about usamericans having castles as if the british aren't known for forcibly bringing their culture to other people's lands is so funny to me

[froginabogg]

tit tour gagged counter:

cutting off good luck babe after the first chorus and starting their intro announcement, this was the beginning of the end, i've never been more gagged in my life

the reveal of the first phedroom diorama

taylor barbie and ariana banana passing the bechdel test

the entire tour bus segment jesus motherfucking christ i'm still not over that one really

"were they married in japan??? let's ignore if gay marriage is even legal there" SCALPED!!! SCALPED !!!

calling phil a precious baby angel live on stage

the entire boxing match thing, that cunty intro video, the closeup camera following them, phil's silicone chest, yelling cunt live on the mother stage, "scared of my life without you", fucking put me on life support i think i'm gonna pass out

PHIL WATchiNG SUBWAY SURFERS AS DAN RANTS ABOUT INTERNET AND PARASOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS AND PRIVACY FUCKING GO OFF KING

the capitalester norman lore merch socks reveal, iconic

everything about Her

"fifteen years in december" i'm gonna throw UP

father philip leaning back real far and giving the entire front row a view straight into his shorts, filth absolute filth

i was already gagged when the metallic blue uke came out, i just about died when dan got down on one knee, but then he smashed it and they brought out the boyband choreo?? which dan fucking served on a silver platter by the fucking way

the tit grab,,, the tit grab,,,

rave time at the end

the way all of our signs went up all at once i'm fucking sobbing i love them i love the phans

[rogersandclarke]

mutual 1: see the thing about obi wan is that even if he could get pregnant he would do a force-abortion on himself because he believes that strongly in adoption

mutual 2: do you think matt damon was seething and coping when j-lo dropped "dear ben" or do you think matt and ben were still hooking up at this time? essentially if the album dropped in 2002, the bennifer engagement is nov 2002-january 2004, and matt gets married in 2005,

mutual 3: my ebay bidding war for paul reubens's spit in a jar is going really well due to the psychic attacks i've been sending to the other bidder

mutual 4: local authorities wont let me into this abandoned hoarder house in rural wyoming. dies horribly. #i love drunk driving

mutual 5: listen ive studied rpf for years you dont understand. the homoerotic undercurrent of britpop is a different breed than what george and bob had going on. theres a playful aura facilitated by the early 90s

mutual 6: i am going to pound philip seymour hoffman into the ground so lovingly

mutual 7: im doing crazy things to davy jones pussy over here

mutual 8: thinking of writing my thesis on the evolution of rpf #no don't look at my lb diary yes i watched 10 martin & lewis movies this week

mutual 9: you see robbie and bob were having on and off trysts ever since robbie stopped him from killing himself in 1966 but it took martin scorseses tender devotion to show robbie how unhealthy that was

mutual 10: thankfully neil young started estrogen in early 1970. otherwise she never couldve made harvest

mutual 11: how minutes of semi-truck sound effects do you guys think i can play on my radio show before people start tuning away

mutual 12: put this post underwater sorry. but i just feel so angry when people post about their mutuals like they're people they never talk to. i've moved to different countries three times for my mutuals.

mutual 13: [picture of orson welles and anthony perkins laughing on the set of the trial] do you think they ever fucked #hot! #who said that

mutual 14: i think i could fix norman bates if we got married and adopted the eraserhead baby together.

mutual 15: [picture of a computer fucking itself]

mutual 16: m sooooo girl drink drunk daveeeeee

mutual 17: eroticism of the machine? uhhh yeah only if the machine is a sexy car #STOP PUTTING THOSE COMPUTER PICTURES ON MY DASH

mutual 18: my warriors in maine are one step closer to slipping cocaine back into stephen kings food so he can be a good writer again

mutual 19: you don't understand. walton goggins isn't just gay in the show. he also walks gay in real life. you have to understand this.

mutual 20: im going to kidnap mike stoklasa and only release him when he makes a post coming out as bisexual

EDIT: ETHAN LET ME POST THIS: mutual 21: do you think lana del rey and joan baez are hooking up. why is lana with her everywhere and introducing her documentary and doing all these things. we KNOW joan is bisexual. do you think

[fullscoreshenanigans]

very good tags from @officersnickers​

and @emmaspolaroid​

Also emphasis on this bit:

And yes, Norman wanted to kill all demons for Emma. But not only for Emma. He had so many other people depending on him. If he solely cared about what Emma wanted he wouldn't have gone with that plan in the first place

I can sort of understand how this falls to the wayside due to fandom in general having a propensity for shipping and Shirai’s purposeful decision to keep the focus on the core cast so we don’t see supporting characters fleshed out nearly as much, but the love each member of the trio have for their entire family (and eventually ensuring the safety and freedom of all cattle children) is so integral to their beings that divorcing them from that is a great disservice. It’s a key part of why the escape from Grace Field works at all (with contrast provided by Isabella who, despite loving her family, did not have the support network to resist falling prey to the system). Norman’s friends and family are how he’s able to survive Emma’s absence during the two-year timeskip. Emma’s a big part of his life that he greatly treasures and would rather not be without, but poetic beauty of the notion aside, she’s not his whole world and she’d be upset with him if she was.

Usually, I don't like to bitch about characters not being interpreted correctly or being reduced down to their most basic traits cause not every single post about a character has to be a deep analogy of them, some times you're allowed to just be silly with it.

However

Keep reading

[monrageo]

Saw a lot of Spider-Steve art so I had to jump in. Most art modernised him but I want my 80s, mallrat, neon lights Spider-Man + I wrote his origin story. *POSES FOUND ON PINTEREST*

Also Steve looks great in the classic red and blue but I wanted him to have his own costume so yellow he shall be. Now onto my headcanons.

In a world where Hawkins is a megapolis a teen boy gets bitten by a radioactive spider in 83’ while visiting Hawkins Lab (Think less abandoned more Oscorp/Alchemax) and so it begins. He starts doing small good things around the city, experimenting with his powers.

But he isn’t thinking about being a superhero or anything close to that (I imagine the drawing with the sweats and goggles is his first “costume”). Then he gets with this amazing girl-Nancy Wheeler.

Life is looking up for Steve he’s got these weird powers that get him to be the basketball and swim team captain. He’s popular, he’s got this amazing girl that inspires him to be better and better.

He looses his popular crowd friends, he wants to be better. He starts thinking about the superhero thing and actually goes through with it. He isn’t shouting it from the rooftops but news is getting around that a guy in spandex is busting criminals- Spider-man/King Spider.

Steve gets cocky, thinks he’s on top of the world, untouchable. Then Will Byers goes missing-that’s a whole separate story. Nancy and John start their investigation. Steve gets jealous etc.

In the end a battle breaks out and Steve is unable to save one person-Barbara Holland. His girlfriend’s best friend. That of course destroys Nancy. She doesn’t know Steve is Spider-man, she seeks comfort in him but things are not the same.

There’s this whole thing with Jonathan, the obvious attraction, the compatibility. But also Steve’s guilt, his self hatred. He realises he was too blindsided by his cockiness. Barb’s death is on his hands. He breaks up with Nancy and solely focuses on being the best Spider-man he can be.

That of course costs him friends etc. but when you’ve been through what he has high school drama just seems pointless… and so King Steve falls from the throne.

I imagine the Nancy story line parallels the Gwen Stacy one in the original comics (without the death and clones), maybe Nancy even blames and hates Spider-man the way Gwen did… that also contributes to the Stancy break-up.

Perhaps Nancy becomes hyper focused on catching this Spider-man so he can be held accountable for Barb’s death.

Anyways now Steddie, I think Eddie would love Spider-man / King Spider he’s some guy with spider powers and bright spandex that helps people, super camp, Eddie would love him.

I think Steve starts noticing Eddie in a new light when his lunch table tirades now also include how awesome spider-man is. This unapologetic support makes the now loser Steve feel like it is all worth it-the stress, the pain, the loneliness-

Tough he of course knows Eddie isn’t talking about him, he’s talking about Spider-man, the hero. Not the former popular guy Steve Harrington.

I have many ideas regarding a Stranger things!Spider-verse and which characters could be what. Maybe Barb’s death was something Lizard-like, but upside down version. Like something from the lap infected her? I like the idea of Steve’s father being involved in the labs, perhaps as a Norman Osborn parallel, without becoming the Goblin though.

The goblin/Norman/Harry Osborn storyline could be reimagined with Tommy perhaps??? Then Venom with Eddie (so perfect) or Billy (a tragic end)??

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Carrie

Stephen King: check it out guys! King: they're publishing a book of essays about Carrie! King: we got richard chizmar, bentley little, mick garris, norman prentiss, tom deady, Anthony Breznican Angela Carter: are there any women involved in this King: oh yeah of course of course Carter: King:

Carter: don't you think, steve, that a collection of essays about carrie should include some womens voices King: oh of course! we've got bev vincent Carter: bev vincent is a guy King: King: what? Bev Vincent: yeah its fine, this happens all the time

King: look it's not all guys in this collection King: we also have caitlin kiernan Carter: oh really? caitlin, what do you think? Kiernan: i think that black people have a special gland in their brain that makes them do crime Carter: Carter: i meant about carrie

King: ok maybe the roster for this collection is a little guy heavy King: but, you know, maybe guys have some interesting thoughts about a story heavy on mother-daughter relationship issues and menstrual themes? Carter: King: it's possible!

Carter: ok fine, i would like to hear some of these interesting thoughts that you men have on carrie Bentley Little: did you ever think that maybe you should change the title from "Carrie" to "The Carrie?" Carter: King: King: you know what, i'll take that under advisement Carter: don't do that

King: c'mon guys don't let me down! Tell me your deep thoughts about Carrie! King: people want to know what you think of this story of a psychic teenage girl Richard Chizmar: psychic girl? wait, girls can do that? Mick Garris: whoa thats bad ass Josh Boone: this changes everything!

Chizmar: this whole time, i didn't know girls were psychic Garris: that explains why they're always setting things on fire with their minds Chizmar: yeah i was wondering about that Boone: everything makes sense now Little: guys i really think it would be better if it was "THE carrie"

Chizmar: [reading carrie] whoa whoa whoa Chizmar: what's all this menstruation stuff? Carter: [whispers in chizmar's ear] Chizmar: EVERY MONTH?!?!?! Chizmar: holy shit Chizmar: that's metal Garris: what are you talking about, i want to know too!

Garris: and blood comes out WHERE?? Carter: [whispers in garris's ear] Garris: ha ha gross! Little: this doesn't sound real, i think you're making this all up

Carter: ok so show of hands Carter: do any other men here need the concept of menstruation explained to them? Poppy Z Brite: no i think i'm clear

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I wonder how much time Chris has been in coma. He was hit at the head by a bullet but his brain was spared (if i remember, they said that the wound is only exterior) (which is good, i'm not sure they could have done anything if the wound had been actually deep and touched the brain, Chris would have died)

but he has been unconscious for a long time and had still crutches when they find Emma.

So it mean that his awakening was "recent" if he still needed crutches (so reeducation).

How severe was his wound? for how much time was he in coma?

Have you theories about it?

Fun fact: Chris was originally supposed to wake up during the Seven Walls arc.

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 5)

But yeah after they arrive at the paradise hideout his condition is "conveniently stable" so Shirai could utilize it to facilitate more drama if he needed to or just keep it as is, and he ended up going with the latter.

(Chapter 126 | Mystic Code Book Chapter 7 Series Timeline)

We don't know the exact date he was shot, but he spent roughly half of October 2047 and at least thirteen days of November 2047 comatose.

After that, it's arbitrary, even if one wants to be canon compliant.

If you want it to take a while for him to wake up, the explanation can be Peter wasn't careful while transferring him from the paradise hideout to Grace Field headquarters, and Chris suffered brain trauma they weren't aware of until they did tests at a hospital.

If you want him to wake up shortly after they arrive in the human world, like in one of Shirai's drafts of chapter 179, you can still have his recovery span the course of months since muscle atrophy occurs rapidly.

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 6; I would have been up for this version)

(Muscle Atrophy in ICU Patients article)

You can also prolong his recovery further by introducing a psychosomatic component. In addition to the physical harm that befell him, the mental trauma of the bunker raid resulted in a combination of him not waking up for however long one wishes to keep him in a coma and possibly hampered his physical therapy for months to over a year even after working to rebuild all the strength he lost.

There are a lot of ways you can adapt it to fit within the phrasing presented by the kids when explaining their trip to Emma in the epilogue:

"Able to walk again" meaning it did take him some time, although we never see him using crutches like Dominic or Sonya.

(Chapter 126 | Chapter 157 Bonus Sketch | Chapter 98)

Also it's never focused on, but Sonya uses a cane like her dad post-timeskip.

(Chapter 104 | Chapter 106 | Chapter 111)

[electronickingdomfox]

USS Enterprise decks

Updated part 1 here

Updated part 2 here

This post got me thinking about the actual location inside the ship of several areas. Sure, there are many blueprints and reference books that have published complete and detailed layouts of the Enterprise. But ultimately, they're interpretations of different authors, filling in the blanks, and they often disagree with each other.

So this is a list of the bare minimum of facts. All the deck locations that can be gleaned from TOS episodes. Beyond that, it's up to anyone's imagination.

*Feel free to make additions or corrections to this post. This is only in reference to the original ship as seen in the series, not taking into account the refit ship from the movies, or alterations/retcons introduced in later series.

Saucer section (primary hull)

Most locations seen in the series belong to this section (as deduced from the curved corridors). The first version of the Writer's Guide tell us it has 20 decks. The later edition (season 2 onwards) reduced the decks to 11.

Deck 1

-Bridge: Obvious from a simple inspection of the ship's exterior. And also confirmed by the Writer's Guide to be in this deck.

Deck 2

-The Romulan Commander's "guest" quarters: Spock tells the turbolift to bring them to this deck, before leaving her in detention, in "The Enterprise Incident". I don't think we ever see other location said to be here (maybe she got the whole deck for herself; lucky!).

Deck 3

-Recreation room 6: Rand offers Charlie to come here, in "Charlie X".

-Recreation room 3: Spock says Bele is chasing Lokai in front of this place, in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".

-Crewmen's lounge: Same as above.

Deck 4

-Environmental control: Scotty says power's been shut down here, in "The Ultimate Computer".

-Living quarters: Kirk confirms this, in "The Ultimate Computer".

Deck 5

-Sickbay: Kirk brings Spock to this deck after ordering him to report to sickbay, in "Amok Time". He does the same with Elaan of Troyius. Strangely enough, most blueprints place sickbay in deck 7 instead.

-Kirk's quarters: Confirmed in "Journey to Babel", which also shows the cabin number (3F 121). The same number was first seen in "The Conscience of the King", but without specifying the deck.

-Recreation room 3: Spock says Bele is chasing Lokai in front of this place, in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield". May be a script error, since a moment ago he had said this place was in deck 3.

-Transporter room: As Lokai seems to run directly here, we may assume it's also in deck 5 (though there are probably many more transporter rooms throughout the ship).

Deck 6

-Briefing room: Sargon calls McCoy from here, in "Return to Tomorrow". May be the same briefing room from other episodes.

-Guest rooms: Bele and Lokai are assigned quarters here, in "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield".

-Living quarters: Kirk confirms this, in "The Ultimate Computer".

Deck 8

-Auxiliary control: The android Norman hijacks the controls here, in "I, Mudd".

-Evaluation laboratory: Seen on a plaque, in "And the Children Shall Lead". Kirk and Spock arrived on this deck in search for Auxiliary control, so it should be in deck 8 as well.

Deck 12

-Janice Rand's quarters: In "The Enemy Within", after seeing Rand attacked by evil Kirk, a crewman reports they're in deck 12. The number of her cabin is also visible (3C 46).

-Kirk's quarters: In very early episodes ("Mudd's Women" and "The Enemy Within"), Kirk's quarters were here, instead of in deck 5. Since the number of saucer decks was reduced to 11 in season 2, the change makes sense.

Deck 14

-Transporter room: In "Dagger of the Mind", Dr. Van Gelder is locked in this deck, after arriving inside a cargo box.

-Personnel Director office: Seen on a plaque during Van Gelder's escape.

-Science Library: Same as above.

Unknown deck

These are some locations, likely from the saucer section, but with unspecified deck. There are plenty of such examples, so this isn't an exhaustive list.

-Impulse engines: The Writer's Guide confirms that the impulse engines are in the primary hull, in case of saucer separation. I think the impulse engines are only seen in "The Doomsday Machine", when Scotty is working aboard the identical Constellation. Though they look just as a reused set from Engineering.

-Spock's quarters: The cabin number is seen in "Amok Time" (3F 125). Possibly, it's in deck 5 near Kirk's quarters, considering the similar numbering.

-McCoy's quarters: Only seen in "The Man Trap" (I think), which also shows the number (3F 127). Again, it's probably near Kirk and Spock's cabins.

-Mudd's quarters: The number is barely legible, but looks like 3F 125, in "Mudd's Women". This happens to be the same as Spock's cabin. The likely explanation is that they didn't have a design for Spock's quarters so early in the series. The fun explanation is that they evicted Spock just to make room for Mudd.

-Uhura's quarters: Seen in "The Tholian Web", and adapted for Elaan in "Elaan of Troyius".

-Scotty's quarters: Seen in "By Any Other Name".

-Life Science Section - Botany Department: Seen in "The Man Trap".

-Gymnasium: Seen in "Charlie X".

-Officer's mess: Seen in "Space Seed".

-Botanical garden: Seen in "Is There in Truth No Beauty?".

-Briefing room: Different from the usual briefing room, it's seen in "Space Seed" when they decide Khan's fate.

-Biochemistry lab: Seen in "The Deadly Years".

Since I've reached the picture limit, the continuation with the Engineering hull sets will be in another post, here.

[blueiscoool]

1,000-Year-Old Norman Conquest Coin Hoard Sells for $5.6 Million

A hoard of Norman-era silver coins unearthed five years ago in southwestern England has become Britain’s most valuable treasure find ever, after it was bought for £4.3 million ($5.6 million) by a local heritage trust.

For the group of seven metal detectorists who discovered the 2,584 silver pennies in the Chew Valley area, about 11 miles south of the city of Bristol, it marks a lucrative windfall since they will pocket half that sum. The landowner on whose property the coins were found will receive the other half.

According to South West Heritage Trust, the body that acquired them, the coins date from around 1066-1068, spanning one of the most turbulent periods in English history as the country was successfully invaded for the last time during the Norman Conquest.

One coin, the oldest in the hoard, depicts King Edward the Confessor, who died childless in January 1066, triggering a period of instability since he had promised the throne to three claimants: Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex; Harald Hardrada, King of Norway; and William, Duke of Normandy.

Edward named Harold Godwinson as his successor on his deathbed, but the newly crowned King Harold II faced challenges from the other two claimants to the throne, and he was eventually defeated by William at the Battle of Hastings in October 1066.

The hoard of coins depicts this turmoil as Harold II features on just under half of them while William I (also known as William the Conqueror) features on the rest.

“It comes from a turning point in English history and it encapsulates the change from Saxon to Norman rule,” Amal Khreisheh, curator of archaeology at South West Heritage Trust, said in a video on the organization’s website.

“The hoard was buried in around 1067-1068 on an estate in Chew Valley which later belonged to Giso, the Bishop of Wells. We think it was probably buried for safekeeping during the time of rebellions against William in the South West.

“We know that in 1068, the people of Exeter rebelled against William. At around this time, Harold’s sons returned from exile in Ireland and their forces mounted attacks around the River Avon and then down into Somerset and the Chew Valley,” Khreisheh added.

Finding coins that were in use almost 1,000 years ago is exceptionally rare – this hoard contains twice as many coins from during Harold II’s reign as had previously been found.

The coins will now go on public display at the British Museum in London from November 26, before heading back to museums in southwest England.

[matan4il]

911 ep 701 first watch reactions

(I don't think I have the energy to write proper Buddie meta, so here's me randomly squealing instead...)

LMAO In case you were wondering whether s7 of 911 will be subtle about their gratitude/debt to ABC for saving the show, the answer is a resounding no.

Also, I have lost a lot of respect for Frank as a shrink, but gained a lot of love for him as a sass king. "Did she win!?" The murderous look Athena gave him was priceless. I love her, too. She doesn't even need words to rule.

Man, nooooo. Don't give me a mutual "I love you" between Bobby and Athena like that.

"Go ahead and cut the green wire." Everyone and their sister: "Green? You said Red."

9-1-1 is the superior comedy they slipped into our drink, while we were here for our weekly action, suspense, drama and familial love.

Buck broke off with Natalia, and the show really did it like that. XD Every single person who rolled their eyes at this pairing during s6, we were all justified, but wow. The show really is the only forum to respect the pair even less than fandom does. And of course we find out about it in the middle of a scene built around Eddie being half naked, Buck watching him, with the camera specifically turning so we can discover Buck was initially covered by Eddie's body, and the angle change reveals him, when the whole thing wraps up with Eddie welcoming Buck back to the land of the living... Yeah, wonder what made Buck feel alive again. Don't know. 'Tis a mystery. We were given zero clues...

"I want the honeymoon life." *cries* Chimney is just such a good, good man. And okay, expecting your whole life to be a honeymoon's a bit unrealistic, but Madney are living together and they have a child. They know this. Chim knows this, but he still wants to go for it. Aim for the moon, you'll at least land among the stars, right?

Bobby baffled by Athena's reaction to Norman and Lola is hilarious.

I like how Chim has a great idea, but it's still obvious that it's gonna go wrong, because he can't help going overboard with it...

OMG, that scene with Eddie recounting to Buck what Christopher's date was like... If I were to write my Buddie meta, I would serve a three course meal just from that. I mean, the fact that watching Chris hanging out with a girl he likes, makes Eddie compare it to "hanging out with his guy friends" (when there's no lack of interest in this girl... in fact, it turns out that if anything, Christopher's problem is the opposite of a lack of interest) is so telling. There's a reason why that's where Eddie's mind went.

But then also... Eddie's trust in Buck got to me, the way he went to his best friend (not his own gf) for help with Chris. But that was still played with half a smile. But then Buck sort of disses himself jokingly, and Eddie won't have it. "You didn't end up like you." He sees how Buck worked on being a better person, even when Eddie wasn't there for the worst of it, and he appreciates it, and won't let Buck forget it. Meeeep. I love them.

Oh Chim. I was giving you so much credit, and then you went and bought that outdoors jacuzzi. lol Still love him. That's what Maddie's reminding herself of right now, too. ;p

Poor Hen, she was great in this ep, but none of it was really about her, she was comic relief, both with Chim and with the red wire. Then again, she was amazing in this, like she always is with everything.

Eddie and Buck were both so good with Chris this ep, MY HEART. Buck with getting him to talk about what's really bothering him, and Eddie with realizing exactly what his son needs, and how to give it to him. They completed each other. Neither one would be helping Chris without the other one. Tell me again how they're not soulmates?

In conclusion, I love Bobby saying, "Let's go prove one of us wrong," when they're both right. Something WAS going on with Norman and Lola, AND Athena was using them to avoid him.

Argh. That scene of the ship and its passengers being hijacked was rough to watch. </3 I'll still be here to watch the conclusion of this. That's the power of 9-1-1 for you.

It def felt like a great kick to the new season. We had lots of comedy and fun, some great tension, some emotional moments (especially with Christopher), but all in all, it's still clear that the whole thing's a build up to next week. Are you excited?

[olympeline]

Got a sweet message about my FrUK posts. So have a few more headcanons for posterior posterity:

Arthur developed a crush on Francis almost immediately after they met as children. He used to trail behind Francis like a tousel-headed duckling after a swan. Scarlet faced and hanging on to the back of Francis’s robes. Francis found it adorable but didn’t reciprocate. You know how kids are. Even though there would only be a few years between them in human terms, young Francis already saw himself as far too old and sophisticated to return the affections of his “little baby” neighbour. He couldn’t resist teasing Arthur and giggling at his childish efforts at courtship. Only to feel bad when the teasing inevitably went too far. Francis promised himself he wouldn’t do it again every time he saw little Arthur’s lip tremble and his eyes fill with tears. Kids are cruel unfortunately and Francis broke that promise more often than not. He grew up to be kind in love, but he didn’t start out that way. Actually, remorse over the way he treated Arthur was probably one of the reasons Francis grew up to be kind in love.

Their childhood friendship soured after the Norman conquest made England a French colony (kinda, sorta. It’s complicated). They’d both suffered under Rome and Arthur naively expected Francis to do more to protect him. Only to be shocked and hurt by Francis’s seeming callousness. Francis wasn’t really callous. He was just older and understood their situation better. This blew up into their first really bad fight. Francis kept insisting William would be a good king and Arthur should just accept the situation with grace for his peoples’ sake. Arthur kept begging Francis to do something to help him. Francis - much more miserable than he was letting on - lost his temper. He exploded at Arthur in uncharacteristic rage: calling him an idiot baby and saying it was no wonder he kept getting conquered. That he deserved it for being so stupid and weak. Francis was going through national personification “growing pains” at the time. Chin deep in dealing with the angst of the actually-kinda-horrifying-if-you-think-about-it existence of their kind. Something I headcanon all nation people experiencing when they’re old enough. Arthur, still too young to understand, was stunned and dismayed. The guilt at seeing him this way only made Francis angrier. He ranted at Arthur, who ran away sobbing and hid for days. Francis, still horribly guilty, pushed it down with bitterness and didn’t apologise for a long time. One of Arthur’s worst traits is his ability to bear a grudge and, oh boy, did he bear one after that. Even after he himself grew old enough to understand, he didn’t let Francis off the hook for his cruel outburst. Swore he’d get revenge someday and make Francis feel the same pain he did under William. A “someday” that would come a few centuries years later during the Hundred Years War.

They are both perfectly capable of speaking the other’s language but choose to communicate in their mother tongues. Arthur complains constantly about Francis and his “frog language” but secretly* he finds French unbearably sexy. Especially the French exonym for England. All Francis has to do is purr Angleterre in Arthur’s ear and he’s all shivers and tight pants.

(*Well, he thinks it’s a secret, lol).

Arthur’s first kiss was given to him by Francis: a quick peck during their childhood days. He was very disappointed to learn he wasn’t Francis’s first kiss in return. That was Antonio who, ironically enough, ended up being the one Arthur lost his virginity to. As a prisoner on Antonio’s ship during the Age of Sail. Pirate sex, yo! You gotta love it. Meanwhile Francis’s first time was with a young, French farmhand. A very beautiful mortal who came to a sad end. The encounter left him overpowered by a draining need for Francis that mortals aren’t capable of resisting. A human can’t cope with romantic love for a nation person without being ripped apart by its intensity. The poor man eventually went mad and drowned himself in the river. Near to the bank where he’d first made love to Francis. Which traumatised Francis so badly when he found out that he never became romantically involved with a human again. Yeah, for some reason I headcanon Francis as suffering a great deal from being a national personification. I don’t know, I just see him as seeming to carry a lot of sadness from it, you know?

Francis is one of the few non-magical nation people who can see Arthur’s fae friends. Not often and not very clearly. He’ll just catch a glimpse every once and a while. Out of the corner of his eye when the light is right.

As nation-people, they can’t get married in the human way unless their countries join in a political union. Instead they have the equivalent for their kind. The “next best thing” for personifications. It’s another headcanon I play with. I’m not sure what it would be, but some kind of “terra” wedding? Non-binding in any legal way, but a symbolic way of making it official. Only recognised by other nation-people. Like they’d still have rings but wear them on chains around their necks instead of on their fingers. Because symbolism. Both romantic and tragic! So yeah, in modern times they’re married and call each other “husband.” Just in a way that avoided creating Angevin Empire 2: Electric Boogaloo, hehe.

Arthur is slo-o-o-owly getting over his Alfred induced blood spitting sickness as time passes. In the early years after the American War for Independence, he would get it so badly that he was crashed out and bedbound from mid-June to late August. Alasdair would take over as leader while Arthur was indisposed so the UK could carry on as normal on the world stage. These days Arthur is doing much better and is usually up and about before the end of July. Unfortunately Francis’s birthday is Bastille Day and, try as he might, Arthur still isn’t strong enough to get out of bed by the 14th. Let alone do anything to make Francis’s day special. They had lots of fights about it after they became a couple. Arthur is a stubborn creature and two things bring it out that trait particularly badly: hiding weakness, and his love for Francis. Yeah, not a good combo for this situation, lol. Francis kept postponing or cancelling his party to come to England and nurse his sick spouse. Something Arthur absolutely did not want. It made him feel even worse to know he was keeping Francis from what should be his happiest day. Already cranky, he would tell Francis to piss off back home and leave him be. Francis would retort that Arthur was an obstinate fool if he thought Francis could enjoy himself when the love of his life was alone in bed vomiting blood. Arthur couldn’t make Francis leave (he even picked the lock and broke in once!) so instead he tried to force himself to attend the party. Relying on magic and handfuls of human medicine to keep himself upright. A bold attempt which only made everything worse. The staff at the Élysée Palace still haven’t gotten all the bloodstains out of the furnishings. One explosive fight later, Francis and Arthur came to a compromise. Arthur spends July in France where Francis can look after him. In return for Arthur tolerating his fussing, Francis attends his birthday party. Promising to put Arthur out of his mind for one full day and night.

I like the headcanon that all nation-people are good looking. That even the least of them would be considered very beautiful by human standards. Fits with the “more than human, less than gods” thing they’ve got going on. I think Francis would be the most beautiful of them all. So much of his history and culture revolves around the appreciation of art, love, and beauty. I think it would “come out” in him as a personification and he would be a work of art himself, you know? So much so that he would have to “tone it down” around humans to avoid hurting them. Other nation-people aren’t harmed like the poor farmhand was, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get tongue-tied around gorgeous Francy-pants. Especially the younger ones. His good looks radiate off him like the sun’s rays. Something he passed on to Alfred, incidentally. Meanwhile Arthur isn’t as stunning at a glance - you wouldn’t take a second look at him if you saw Francis first - but instead he has the kind of beauty that surprises you. Visitors are always shocked at how lovely Britain is once they get out of the tourist traps and see “real” parts of the country like the Lake District or the Cotswolds. It’s an unexpected but pleasant revelation. I think Arthur’s beauty would be like that: hidden, but then suddenly smacks you in the face and leaves you stunned. Francis would have been one of the first to notice, beauty connoisseur that he is.

I’ve got loads more but this post is getting long so I’ll cut it here. Hope you enjoyed (￣▽￣)ノ