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man-down-in-hatchet-town · 1 year ago

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Enter Sandman

Spoilers for The Case of the Greater Gatsby Episode 9 below the cut.

I really, REALLY enjoyed this episode! Lots of fun quotes and little moments that piqued my interest and got ye olde wheels churning (not necessarily a good thing for the rest of you, but fun for me). And what a great use of set-up and pay-off with Willie's book club!

But before we get to all of that, a massive CONGRATULATIONS to my man Cliff Calloway on the romantic getaway to Ibiza with his contractor! And another massive CONGRATULATIONS to his household staff for not having to worry about any more bathrooms being added to the mix. It's nice when things work out! (Please let this work out. Do not take this away from me and Cliff and his housekeepers, Shipwrecked).

But onto the actual events of the episode. So Darby is getting tutored, which is perhaps the most sensible and least surprising thing happening on that entire set. Unless our note writer is using Mr. Broderick to infiltrate the set, I don't really think Darby's education will have anything to do with the case, but she did drop the potentially crucial factoid about Mel having a shindig on the night of Fitzy's death. We know he and Sheila were out partying that night--was this the event in question? (I might be wrong, but I don't think we've gotten the answer to exactly where he was that evening, right?) If so, that could place so many people with F. Scott the night someone decided that he had to die.

Also on the set, Leery received a threat of his own! The most notable thing about this note, besides its method of delivery (bold, and also underlines the suspicion that whoever writes/delivers the notes has free access to the lot and probably is or links back to one of the cast/crew/creatives) is that we don't know what it says. This is the only one that hasn't been read to the audience. Is this because it's the same-old same-old, nothing notable, anti-Grapes of Wrath stuff? Or are we meant to think that way, when in fact there's an important clue within that Shipwrecked is waiting to reveal? Even if it is simply another anti-adaption hit piece, it's notable that our Fitzgerald-penned movie has had three stars threatened--more than any other production that we know about. On one hand, a tap-dance version of The Grapes of Wrath is clearly a whole new level of egregious, so its understandable why whoever writes the letters would hate it the most. But still, the clear focus on Grapes is a definite tick in the "the anti-adaption letters are a really a smoke-screen for something else" column.

And then there's the big reveal of the episode: F. Scott Fitzgerald kept tapes of his writing process. Besides explaining Daniel Vincent Gordh's casting as Fitzy (I've genuinely been wondering about how they were going to incorporate him for months), this is huge for the cast. The tapes likely hold at least some answers as to what secrets The Greater Gatsby contained, why it was stolen, why Fitzgerald was killed, and maybe even who committed the murder. (It also could tell us and Fig about the secret Ford is protecting. I STILL HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN ABOUT THAT.) But where are these golden clues? It's possible, though unlikely, that they're boxed away at the studio like Sheila suggested. It's possible that whoever took the script also took them. But I keep coming back to the Persauds taking time out of the narrative to describe some of Zelda's paintings on the walls--particularly the one that shows a man whispering something "surreptitious" and is hanging slightly crooked. Like someone's been messing with it. What if the tapes are behind that painting? Could there be a safe in the wall, or even one or two tapes with the most vital information taped onto the painting's back (if the fame is bulky enough)? The subject matter of the art equates it with the hiding and telling of secrets, both making it an appropriate work to use to protect such things and also referencing the nature of the script stored on the missing tapes. And that would explain part of why Fitzgerald was so keen on keeping some of Zelda's work on the walls--one painting to protect his work, the others to distract. The psychological implications of him using Zelda's work to protect his precious secrets is also really interesting.

(My other thought is--what if F. Scott Fitzgerald was recording the night that he died? What if the final tape captured the voice of his killer, or even the murder itself? In that case, it certainly wouldn't be with the other tapes potentially hidden behind paintings or stored in studios, but it could be the set-up for a great reveal later on.)

Speaking of Zelda, welcome to the party Tessa Netting! I know that "it's the loose ends with which men hang themselves" is an actual famous quote from the real Mrs. Fitzgerald, but boy-oh-boy was it sinister in this particular context...

And off our duo goes to try and figure her out, anyways. I don't know about you guys, but I'm excited for the potential chaos of "no cop, no cop" if Ford actually ends up going along with Fig's shenanigans for once (he's thawing! I love him!).

#shipwrecked comedy #fig and ford #the case of the greater gatsby #fig wineshine #ford phillips #cliff calloway #darby farnsworth #enter sandman #leery o'shaughnessy

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bluedashboard · 1 year ago

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The Night Manager interview

As the title character on Fox’s long-running medical drama “House,” Hugh Laurie managed to find empathy in the grumpy, sarcastic diagnostician. Now he’s taking on an even more challenging task: starring as the so-called “worst man in the world” in AMC’s miniseries “The Night Manager” (premiering April 19).

In this modern-day adaptation of the John le Carre spy novel, Richard Roper presents himself to the world as a successful businessman — but behind the scenes, he’s exchanging in illegal arms deals.

Here, Laurie tells Variety how he went from playing the hero to the villain in a project that was twenty years in the making.

Why did you decide to sign on for the role?

I was, first of all, immensely flattered to be approached by the actual, the Cornwell family themselves, Cornwell being John le Carre’s real name. I had loved this book since I first read it when it was published in 1993. As a teenager, having devoured all of le Carre’s wonderful Cold war novels, I was a little nervous, as I’m sure a lot of people were, that the end of the Cold War would mean not only would spies be out of work, but spy writers would be out of work. I didn’t know what le Carre was going to write about, if he could find another subject worthy of his talents. I was about three chapters into “The Night Manager,” and I actually put the book down and tried to option the book. I’m still not entirely sure what that means. I’m not a natural born producer. I’ve heard the phrase bandied about.

And what happened?

Sydney Pollack already had it. He sat on it for, I’m not sure how long. Possibly until he passed away. Then, for one reason or another, it reverted to the Cornwell family and they decided to revive it and I was just so excited that this thing that I dreamed of, that I’ve been in love with for so long, nearly 23 years, was finally coming to life. Of course, back when I first read it, I imagined myself in the role of Jonathan Pine, the hero, the night manager. Time moves on, hair falls out, knees get creaky, and I had to move up to the veterans, older 50s division, and move into the role of the villain. It was still an honor to be involved. I would have done anything. I would have played any role or done anything to be involved in it.

The producers decide to put a modern twist on it, and set it in the modern day. How did you feel about that?

I was nervous, honestly to begin with. I think that as a general rule, the attempt to modernize something, to keep up with the times, you’re often chasing your own tail, really because modern times, by definition, are unpredictable. For example, no one saw the Arab Spring coming when it happened. For all the NSA spy satellites circling the globe, no one saw that one coming. No news organization saw that coming. I thought it would be just as likely that we would change the story to accommodate the new set of global events and in between us making it and the show coming out, maybe the Colombian drug cartels would hit the headlines again, which is where the story was originally set.

Under the sure hand of the director, Susanne Bier, I think it’s turned out really well. It seems to be just getting more and more topical with every week that goes by. There have been stories in the press recently about ISIS getting ahold of chemical weapons and no one knows where they got them from. Who’s been selling them these weapons. This is a trade and it’s a pretty unpleasant one. For better or worse, well probably worse, the British and the Americans are involved in it. There’s a great deal of money to be made. To some extent, we are actually dependent on it. In the end, it just feels it was a very smart decision. I don’t know who made it, but whoever made the decision really needs to take some credit for it.

I’d imagine taking on the role of Richard Roper, who’s described as “the worst man in the world” was a bit ominous. How did you find your way into it?

In my own deluded imagination, I felt like I knew this character the instant he appeared on the page when I first read the book. I just thought, “God, I could believe this guy, I could see the way he moves.” Le Carre was so specific about the rhythms of his speech, and his body language, his manner. I just felt like I knew him incredibly well, which is useful because when it comes to actually researching the role of the worst man in the world, it’s rather difficult. You can’t call someone up and say, “I’m playing the worst man in the world and I’d like to base him on you. Can we have lunch?” That doesn’t go terribly well.

I think Tom Hiddleston had a much easier job because he’s only got to say, “I’m playing the hero.” Everyone, of course, they fall all over themselves to unlock the vault and let him have the run of the place. The worst man in the world, it’s a little more difficult. Fortunately, I just I felt like I’ve known this guy for 20-odd years. He’s stayed in my mind and my memory so vividly.

Is there any good in Roper at all?

I don’t know if it’s good, exactly. There are things that I like about him even though he’s probably irredeemable. One of them is, I think that he at least has the guts to know he’s terrible. He knows that he’s going to hell. In fact, I even wonder whether he’s hoping to go to hell. He knows he’s a damned soul and he wants to be caught. I think it’s one of the interesting dynamics of the whole thing is that I have this feeling that Roper wants to be betrayed. There’s a strange sort of Christ allegory here. You know when you read about these crazy serial killers, these psychopaths, the police eventually come knocking on the door and the guy says, “What took you so long?” They’re almost relieved to be caught. They know that something in them has gone wrong. They know they’re going to hell and they want it to be over. I think there is an element of that in Roper. As psychopathic as he is, I don’t think he’s not someone who would whine about being treated unfairly. I think he knows what he’s done and he knows what he deserves. That I thought in a strange sort of way, I slightly admire. I try not to, but I do slightly.

What did Susanne Bier, the director, bring to the project?

Everything. I mean, absolutely everything. If there’s any credit to be had for this entire adventure, it’s all hers because she was just remarkable. What’s she’s managed to achieve here, making effectively, three feature films back to back, or six movies, in half a dozen countries with 200 actors and a crew of God knows how many, thinking and working, operating in a second, sometimes a third and fourth language, controlling all these elements, doing it with such grace and good humor, intelligence, and taste and skill is just remarkable. I can’t say enough about her. She’s been absolutely remarkable.

She was a surprising choice, I think. I mean, she obviously is an immensely well regarded film maker. She’s won an Oscar, and she’s done an enormous amount of really terrific films, but first of all, she’s not English. She is, I think as far as I know, has no sort of connection to this world, either the world of intelligence gathering or even the more general description of this particular tribe of Englishmen. Either Pine’s tribe or Roper’s tribe.

But as soon as I met her, I thought, this is going to be absolutely great. I know we’re going to disagree, and we did. We disagreed a lot, but in the best kind of way. It’s great to be made to justify why you think something and be forced to think things through. If you agree with everyone around you, I think it tends to not make for good results. It’s certainly true in music, isn’t it? You always hear the bands that fought a lot actually made much better records than the ones that were just a band of brothers. Their records always sound a bit dull because of it. I think the disagreement is healthy and good. I really enjoyed it. I hope she did, too. I hope she didn’t think I was a pain in the ass for disagreeing. It was really thrilling to engage with some of that intelligence and taste.

Talk about working with Tom Hiddleston. How was he as a scene partner?

I couldn’t imagine myself doing the role. That’s how instantly he inhabited it. I’d thought I’d be going into this thing going, “That could have been me 20 years ago. I’d have done it differently.” Actually, I saw him do this thing and instantly he became the character of Jonathan Pine, he filled it to the brim. He’s an incredibly committed and conscientious guy who will never walk away from something if he’s got anything left in the tank. He’s immensely intelligent. When he thinks things through, they really get thought. They stay thought. He throws himself into things physically and emotionally with such absolute commitment. He’s never trying to protect himself or hold anything back. A lot of actors do, I think. They feel they got to protect themselves. They go, they mustn’t risk anything here. I’ve got to make sure I don’t come out of this badly. I’ve got to look out for myself. Once he’s in, he’s in. He’s in all the way. It was a glorious experience. We got along really, really well. Probably too well for the sake of the story. Maybe we should have had a little bit more friction, but we couldn’t generate any.

And Elizabeth Debicki, who plays Jed, your love interest.

She was just magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. She’s very tall, as you know. That’s good for everybody’s posture on the set. We all got taller, I think working around Elizabeth. Some of the characters, Roper and Pine, particularly, I suppose one could argue that they treat Jed as a token to be moved around the chess board. It would be easy, I suppose, for her to just passably allow that to happen without actually creating something real and meaningful. \She was so fiercely intelligent and funny, and just determined not to be that chess piece.

#the night manager #interview

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finalgirlwillbyers · 3 months ago

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Apparently, Netflix is planning on making a Dorian Gray show. When I first heard about it I was so happy. I thought we could get an adaptation like IWTV. Turns out Netflix decided to go full homophobic and is actually planning on making Dorian and Basil as brothers... yes, actual brothers. And the show makers are arguing that the book wasn't 'actually gay'. God I hate Netflix so freaking much it's insane... they should give the adaptation right to AMC and fck off immediately.

Whoever green-lit this didn't pick up the book. If they did, they obviously didn't comprehend it.

This is a multi-level failure. Fingers should also be pointed at the writer, producers, and show-runner. 'Cause what the hell was this pitch?

The success of IWTV really speaks to the importance of an effective show-runner who not only loves the source material but understands the source material. Someone who unites the talented team of writers and producers under a faithful, coherent, creative vision.

This crew lined up for Dorian Gray already don't fit the bill, and they've just started (HERE).

#hello it's me #so it begins.#i will not be tuning in. but i know other ppl will.#it's like that line from grey's anatomy about how when ppl see a car crash they all slow down to take a good look at the wreckage.#that's this.

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onesaltyerik · 2 years ago

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Rant that has nothing to do with the rest of the blog

So it feels like half my island fucking sunk/flooded in the hurricane and the only media about it that seems to have gotten shared internationally is the 'haha goofy' shit of people sliding down hills on boards for fun or using fridges and canoes to paddle around the flooded roads. Like, I get that it's good to show the bright side of things, show the resilience of my island's people and our ability to make a situation more bearable. But I haven't seen shit about the sheer amount of destruction and homelessness this hurricane has caused, nor the incompetence of the local government in getting emergency care set up, the fucking mayor was more pissed he couldn't golf and didn't bother declaring a local emergency until it was too late. My friends have been displaced, their homes have been destroyed, roads are blocked from slips and fucking disaster tourists are making the blocked roads worse by deciding they're gonna go see the destruction which then in turn makes it difficult for emergency services and repair crews to get to where they need to go.

We're literally living in the most boring apocalypse and no one cares cause all the major countries that actually contribute significantly to climate change don't have to worry about their cities being swept away overnight. And then when you try to bring it up that it IS indeed climate change that's causing this, you just get met with "Oh well the earth is constantly going through warm and cold periods", yeah but that doesn't mean it's good! And it's happening far too quickly for us to adapt at the moment! The worst excuses though are the doomer shit like "nothing I/We do matters, we might as well die anyway", how fucking sad and pathetic and uncaring and selfish do you have to be to think that?! My people have been struggling for hundreds of years to survive against the efforts of colonialism and now that our voices are finally getting to be heard, we have to deal with you privileged fucks deciding that it's not worth saving other people's lives and cultures because "we're all gonna die anyway"! Yes! Yes we are gonna die anyway! That's why we NEED to do something about this! So our people can live on in some way, so our cultures won't be forgotten yet! So we don't end up as another statistic in your news reports and history books! We need to LIVE in a way that matters so that when we do die, we've made life better for whoever is coming next!

#mini rant

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adarkrainbow · 8 months ago

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I have been sitting on this one for a while so ow it is time to add my little French commentary about the French Donkeyskin!

So to answer your reaction about the narrator's treatment of the incest, I can already answer you with one very simple thing: this is not Perrault's. I mean quite literaly, the story you read is not Perrault's story.

I already made a post about it before, it must be somewhere down my Donkeyskin tag, but unfortunately the version your book contain is not Perrault's original tale, though the mistake is understandable because almost everybody believes it is...

I'll explain. Perrault did not publish his "Peau d'Âne" with his other prose-written "Mother Goose fairytales". Peau d'Âne was actually published earlier and is part of a different set of tales called "Tales in verse" (Contes en vers), precisely because... they were written in verse. Of these three tales you had one closer to an Aesop/La Fontaine fable (Les souhaits ridicules, The ridiculous wishes), one which is.... something all scholars and authors debate about still today (Griselidis, which is... yeah it is really a strange case among Perrault's stories), and finally you have Donkey Skin which is the only story that is truly a "fairytale" in the ensemble and fits with the rest of the Mother Goose stories.

As such, it became common to add Donkeyskin to the other Mother Goose stories, even though there was a certain discrepancy since Donkeyskin was a verse-story, a narrative poem, whereas the other stories were prose. And then, in 1781, nearly one century after Perrault published his stories (he published them in the 1690s), a publisher by the name of Lamy decided to adapt Donkeyskin in prose, because by then the Mother Goose fairytales were deemed for kids, and verses too difficult for common kids to enjoy. This prose version of Donkeyskin became MASSIVELY popular and widespread, to the point it replaced and overshadowed the verse version of the story - in almost all of the Perrault fairytales collections of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Donkeyskin you'll find is this Donkeyskin. When Gustave Doré did his famous illustrations of Perrault's fairytales, he illustrated the prose Donkeyskin.

But... there's a slight problem. Or rather a BIG problem. We don't know who did the verse-to-prose transition of the story for Lamy, but we know one thing: it wasn't just a simple retranscription. It was a rewrite. Whoever "prosified" the tale actually modified several details and rewrote numerous things, changing Perrault's original tales in many ways... For example you can recognize the prose Donkeyskin by the presence of the Lilac Fairy: yes there's a fairy godmother in Perrault's story, but she doesn't have a name and is not associated with lilac. There's also the druid, who was an invention of the rewriter, and is clearly meant to come off as a criticism of religion (we are at the end of the 18th century after all, in the Enlightenment and the huge fight against religion, its hypocrisies and all its abuses and excesses).

And the fact these two versions are different is EXTREMELY relevant in the case of the king's incest. As you said the prose version goes as such: the king was a great, beloved, respected, good king, surrounded by wise and intelligent people ; the king was madly in love and deeply faithful to is wife, and was deeply sad because of her sickness, ready to exchange his life for hers if it was possible ; the queen demands on her deathbed he finds a queen more beautiful and graceful than her, but only because she knows "the State will ask for a son to have an heir"... In the prose version when the king is first asked to marry again he finds this demands dreadfully harsh and cries with sorrow, but he still obeys because of his oath to his wife (he shows thus faithfulness) ; and more interestingly in this story the king is led to his incestuous choice by outside forces. The idea of him marrying his daughter comes from his ministers and his council of state (because the king thinks it is impossible to find someone more beautiful than his dead wife) ; then, indeed, it is true that the king ends up having a "bizarre desire" and "violent fire" for his daughter on his own, but only after comparing all the portraits and profiles of all the princesses disponible for marriage ; and there's the whole passage with the druid, where the king consults this ermit in the woods to check the validity of an incest and the druid, "more ambitious than religious", decides to become the king's personal confident and to get in his good graces he does everything he can to make it seem like marrying his daughter is a natural and regular thing to do, which in turn makes the king less ashamed and more accepting of this forbidden desire.

So as you said, while the king does end up having an incestuous desire, this narrative develops the context and the origin of this desire, and depicts the father as not entirely responsible of the crime - because while he does have the desire, it originates not from his own mind but from the politico-social system he must answer to and satisfy ; and it was eased and facilitated by a corrupt and false religion. (Again, this was a version written post-Enlightenment and scholars insist that the ideals of "The European Lights" seem to seep into this heavy criticism of the old-fashioned monarchies, the corrupt governments and the ambitious religious officials)

Why am I insisting upon all this? Because Perrault's story is WWWAAAYYY different! Oh my gosh, you can't imagine how different!

Because in Perrault's story the king is the villain! The prose story make the king more of a tragic character, guilty but mostly because he is a victim of an entire system working to allow perversions. With Perrault? The king is not a bad guy. He is halfway between an insulting denunciation and an extravagant caricature. In Perrault's prose story, the king is crying a lot when his wife is sick/dies, and he is said to be extremely sorrowful, and VERY expressive when it comes to his sorrow... And the poet adds with irony and mischief that usually, when a husband is so excessive in his sorrow about losing a wife, it is because he wants to be very fast in his grieving and to make sure the funeral duties are performed as quick as possible so that he can marry again freely. And the story proves the narrator right, since in Perrault's version the idea of taking a new wife comes from the king himself, not his government. Another detail for example: in Perrault's original story, the queen doesn't say "I know you will have to marry again, because the kingdom needs a son". No, that's the prose-invention. In Perrault's story she says "I do believe what you are saying that you shall never marry again, because I know how much you love me - but I want to be certain you truly loved me and you won't betray my memory after my death, and this is why if you ever marry again I only allow you to marry someone more beautiful and perfect than me." So in the prose version the queen was a noble figure thinking of the need of the state and of politics... In Perrault's version, she is halfway between a selfish and vain figure who refuses to have a "lower" replacement, and between a woman who wants to test her husband's love (a love which, as the narrator noted, was very likely exaggerated or falsified).

And as such, the king, just a few months after his queen's death, wants to marry again, and fast (we have to remember that the fairytales of Perrault and d'Aulnoy and others were still Christian in tone, and as such villains tended to embody major vices - and the king in Perrault's story seems to truly represent lust) - but since he is tied to his oath, he is quite bothered, and he looks for a suitable replacement everywhere... And he finds his daughter, and he decides "That will do it!". So in Perrault's version, the incest comes entirely from the father, and he is depicted right from the start as an unsincere husband and lustful man, a bad widow.

There's in Perrault's poem two verses that are the equivalent of the druid's passage in the prose version, but they are quite different. In the prose version, the king goes to seek the druid to "appease his daughter's worries" by proving to her the union is possible, and the druid also allows the king to dominates his own shame and doubts about his incest - worsening the situation. In Perrault's version, the king rather seeks on his own a casuist, so he can judge that the case is "proposable". It isn't a question of seeking a spiritual advice and strengthening a resolution: here the king seeks a subaltern who can twist the laws and the morals to give a pass to his own project. This was notably an attack by Perrault onto the Jesuit casuists of France at the time, who were renowned for how "loose" their moral was and how their judgement of things allowed for basically anything to happen - long story short, the role of these casuists was to prove that a situation could be "probable" (understand acceptable) under the eyes of human reason and morals... But the problem was that very often all they needed was just to be given one specific point of reasoning or one element of moral to judge that a situation was "probable", and as such you had tons of casuists who allowed tons of things that often contradicted each other because they relied on the most simplistic if not flimsy games of logic. And, as is the case here, when a father wanted to impose on his children something such as an union they rebelled against or that the law could be wary about, all they had to do was find an open-minded casuists, make one good point about their decision (just one), and the casuists would deem it "probable"... and this judgement would be enough to prove that it was not an immoral or a sinful union. Of course here the father marrying his daughter is an extreme caricature of this situation... but it reflects very well how these loose Jesuit casuists were used to justify the most improbable or revolting unions, against the will of the people involved.

The Donkeyskin portion of Cinderella Tales from Around the World has brought me to the various Donkeyskin tales from from Germany, Switzerland, and France. These of course include the two most famous variants of this Cinderella subtype: the French Donkeyskin (Peau-d'Ane) by Charles Perrault and the German All-Kinds-of-Fur (Allerleirauh) by the Brothers Grimm.

*The Grimms' version is the one I've always been most familiar with, more so than Perrault's. Just in case someone doesn't know it, I'll give a full summary. At the beginning, the dying queen makes the king promise not to remarry unless he finds a bride as beautiful as she is and with hair as golden as her own; as it turns out, of course, only their daughter fits this description. To try to stave off the wedding, the princess asks her father for gowns that resemble the sun, moon, and stars, and for a fur coat made from the skin of every kind of animal in the kingdom. Despite all odds, her father gives her these gifts, so she hides the three gowns in a nutshell, disguises herself in the fur coat, runs away, and becomes a scullery maid in another king's castle. When three balls take place, the cook permits her to go and watch the dancers for a little while; secretly she puts on each of her fine gowns, attends the balls, dances with the young king, and then hurries back to the kitchen in time to cook the king's favorite bread soup. Each night, she slips a gold trinket into the king's bowl, but when he sends for her to ask about it, she denies knowing where it came from. Finally, on the third night, the king slips a ring onto her finger, and she stays too long at the ball and is forced to put her fur coat back on over her gown rather than changing. When the king sends for her as usual to ask about the gold trinket in his soup, he sees the ring on her finger and tears off her coat to reveal the gown beneath it. Thus they're married and live happily ever after.

**This collection also includes Andrew Lang's version of the tale from The Green Fairy Book, which is bowdlerized so that the princess just runs away to escape from a loveless arranged marriage to one of her father's counselors.

**In the first edition of the Grimms' collection, before the three balls, All-Kinds-of-Fur has to take off the young king's boots every night, and he always throws them at her head. This obviously reflects the common pattern in Donkeyskin tales of the prince/king abusing the princess in her disguise, but the Grimms omitted it from later editions as one of their efforts to make the tales "more moral."

**In their footnotes, the Grimms mention another variant that doesn't include an incestuous father, but instead gives the princess a wicked stepmother and stepsister, who drive her away out of jealousy after a prince chooses her to marry rather than the stepsister. They also mention versions where instead of a fur coat, the princess dresses herself in a coat of moss from the forest.

**One of these days I plan to try a recipe for German bread soup just because of this story!

*Besides the Grimms' version, this book also includes a second German version, called Aschenpüster ("Ash-blower," and clearly related to the common Dutch name for Cinderella, "Assepoester"), and a German-language Swiss version, Aschengrübel. In Aschenpüster, which for the most part is similar to the Grimms' version, the heroine demands dresses of gold, silver, and jewels from her father (who is just a rich lord, not a king), as well as a cloak of crow feathers that becomes her disguise, and a magic wand that can transport her wherever she wants to go. In Aschengrübel, there's no incest theme: the heroine is just an orphan whose parents left her nothing but a beautiful gown, which she hides when she becomes a servant to an aristocratic family. But a mysterious dwarf appears throughout the story and greets her, then vanishes, and in the end he appears with her parents' long-lost will, revealing that they left her a fortune, giving her a suitable dowry for her marriage.

*Perrault's Donkeyskin goes like this, for anyone not familiar with it: The dying queen makes the king promise not to remarry unless he finds a bride more beautiful than herself. Of course no one fits this description except their daughter, and the grief-crazed king insists on marrying her. The princess consults her fairy godmother, the Lilac Fairy, who first urges her to demand gowns that resemble the sky, the moon, and the sun, and then to demand that the king sacrifice his most prized possession, a magic donkey that defecates gold coins, by killing it and giving the princess its skin. Unfortunately, he does all these things, so the fairy gives the princess a magic chest to secretly store her dresses, and urges her to wear the donkey skin as a disguise and run away. The princess obeys, reaches another kingdom, and becomes a scullery maid and animal herder at a farm near the palace. On Sundays and holidays, when she doesn't have to work, she shuts herself in her room and secretly puts on her gowns. One day the prince happens to stop at the farm, and he sees the princess in her sunbeam gown through the keyhole of her room and falls in love with her. But out of respect he doesn't approach her, but goes to ask the farm folk about her, and they insist that there's no princess, only a servant called Donkeyskin. The prince falls gravely ill and insists that only a cake baked by Donkeyskin will cure him. Donkeyskin bakes him his cake, slipping a ring into the batter. After the prince finds the ring, he has every maiden in the land try it on, and of course, it only fits Donkeyskin's finger. The Lilac Fairy them reveals the princess's true heritage, and the prince and princess are married; the princess's father, now sane again and married to another queen, attends the wedding and is forgiven.

**Andrew Lang also bowdlerized this tale in The Grey Fairy Book, by making Donkeyskin the king's adopted daughter, and by having gold coins fall from the donkey's ears instead of the other end.

**In a strange choice, Perrault goes slightly out of his way not to condemn the incestuous father-king. At the beginning, he emphasizes the king's benevolence and his subjects' happiness and love for him, and later frames his attempted incest as madness caused by the loss of his beloved wife. He also seems to want to blame the queen more than her husband: on her deathbed, she insists that the king must remarry to produce a male heir, but secretly she doesn't want him to remarry, so she makes the apparently impossible demand that the new queen be more beautiful than she was. And of course the princess forgives her father in the end, which is far from a universal ending for this tale.

***Of course, Perrault's stories always have at least a hint of satire in them, and maybe he meant for his readers to judge the king more harshly than he pretends to. There's also the fact that in reconciling with her father, Donkeyskin gains solid proof of her royal status, receives appropriate paternal permission to marry, and likely receives a dowry too. This makes her an unquestionably suitable bride for the prince by the standards of the era. In hindsight, this might also explain why Perrault's Cinderella so emphatically forgives her stepfamily, besides "virtue": her status as a daughter of the gentry is what makes her a suitable bride for a prince, so if she cut ties with her family, the king and queen might not accept her so easily.

*Based on the other French variants this book features, Perrault's version seems to be a typical French variant of the tale, although of course it's richer in literary detail than the others. Still, the others feature unique details too.

**The majority of French variants are called Donkeyskin (Peau d'Ane, Peau d'Asne, or Peau d'Anette). The donkey isn't usually a magical one, though (that detail is uniquely Perrault's), and isn't always sacrificed by the king either. In several versions, she buys a donkey after she runs away, then kills it and disguises herself in its skin.

**At least two versions specifically make the heroine's father the king of Spain. I suppose this is because in other European countries, Spain is often treated as the "exotic" land where unusual and exciting things can happen.

**In most of these variants, the king just decides to marry his daughter because she's so beautiful or because she resembles her late mother. But in one version, The King of Spain's Daughter, he resolves to marry only a woman who can wear his late wife's wedding clothes, and they fit no one but his daughter.

**The three gowns are usually themed to the sun, moon, and stars, though sometimes their themes are gold, silver, and jewels. The heroine usually stores them in a chest, but sometimes in nutshells.

**The heroine's love interest is almost always a prince, except in the French Basque Donkeyskin, where he's a king.

**The heroine typically becomes an animal herder – a goose girl, a turkey girl, or a shepherdess – at a royal palace. She doesn't typically attend balls in these French versions, though, but secretly dons her beautiful gowns in a private room or out in nature on her days off from work. One day the prince happens to see her and falls in love. Again, an exception is the French Basque Donkeyskin, which does have the heroine attend three balls. But in that version and the others alike, the prince/young king finally falls ill with longing and requests food made by Donkeyskin. She slips a ring into the cake or bread she makes, and the prince has every maiden try the ring on, but it only fits Donkeyskin's finger.

**The French variants typically don't include the theme of the prince abusing the disguised heroine. Once again, though, the French Basque Donkeyskin is an exception: after the first and second balls, Donkeyskin provokes the young king by saying that the beautiful lady must have disliked him, or she wouldn't have run away, and for this the king beats her with a slipper. At the next ball, the "lady" tells him that her name is "Braf-le-mandoufle" ("Beaten with the slipper").

**One version, The Golden Bull, follows the pattern we saw in some of the Italian versions, and has the heroine hide inside a hollow object (in this case a golden statue of a bull) which is sold to the prince, rather than running away in disguise and becoming a servant. Every night she secretly comes out of the statue and eats the prince's food, until finally she's discovered.

**Peau d'Anette features a second half that resembles The Three Spinners by the Brothers Grimm. To test whether or not the heroine is a suitable wife for the prince, the queen locks her in a room each day to see how well she can spin, knit, cook, and sweep. But four strange-looking people appear – three women and a man – who do the tasks for the heroine on the condition that she invite them to her wedding, which she does in the end.

**As usual, a few versions don't include the incest theme. In one version, the heroine is just a wealthy young woman in love with the prince, who disguises herself and becomes a servant at the castle to be near him. In another, Césarine, the heroine's father loves her, but her mother hates her, which causes strife between them, so she runs away to save their marriage. And in the French Basque Donkeyskin mentioned a few times above, she's neither a princess nor of high birth, but just a castle servant – when robbers steal some of the royal treasure, the king and queen accuse her of the theft, and Snow White-style, they order men to take her into the forest, kill her, and bring back her heart. But the men kill a donkey in her place, give her its skin to disguise herself, and take its heart to the king and queen. She then becomes a goose girl at the castle of a different king, whom she eventually marries, and she regularly meets a mysterious old woman, who gives her walnuts that contain silver and gold dresses, and a peach containing a diamond dress.

**The book also includes another French tale where the heroine is called "Donkeyskin," but which isn't really a Donkeyskin tale, but just a vaguely Cinderella-like story. A merchant's daughter and a rich young man fall in love, but her cruel mother and jealous sisters force her to wear a donkey skin to make her look ugly and drive her sweetheart away, and demand that she pick up a full bushel of barley with her tongue, grain by grain, before she can marry. The donkey skin doesn't dissuade the young man, however, and ants pick up all the barley grains for her.

Next I'll be reading the variants from Spain.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @adarkrainbow, @themousefromfantasyland

#reblog #donkeyskin #donkey skin #charles perrault #perrault fairytales #french fairytales #fairytale history

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marzipanandminutiae · 2 years ago

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Got any final lingering hot takes about Jane Austen’s Fleabag now that it’s been a few hours? Do you mind giving it a rating out of 5 or 10?

4/10

I think it was trying very hard to be Emma 2020 and Pride and Prejudice 2005, at the same time. With, as established, a hint of Fleabag.

(The Fleabag asides and such actually kind of made sense to me- I feel like they were trying to give this character who's SO meek and shy and quiet in the book some hint of an Inner Voice, or rather, let us see what was going on in her head the whole time. Unfortunately the inner voice they chose was Snarky Regency Wine Aunt.)

I don't think I emphasized enough in my liveblogging just how dull it was. But I've also never mentioned that I found the book rather a slog, too, towards the end. So I'm actually not sure my boredom is entirely the movie's fault.

The costumes were...I mean, they were bad, but in a very strange way. Every so often there would be some hint that whoever designed them had done decent research- Anne's stays, some of the hats looking quite Regency indeed, Henrietta's WHITE EVENING GOWN WHICH I LOVED, etc. -and just decided to throw out huge important chunks of that research for weirdly modern and/or bland designs. And I get it; that's a choice every period drama costumer has to make. It's the visual aesthetic of the movie. But the occasional VERY accurate pieces made the rest of the Half-Assed Faux Regency look seem even more half-assed.

Why does everybody hate bonnets? Did a bonnet go on a killing spree and murder a bunch of Hollywood costume designers' families at some point in the last 20 years? The men got hats! Why were the ladies largely hat-deprived? To show off their hair, which ranged from awful to mediocre? Free us from the tyranny of patriarchal hat denial!

I liked the racially diverse casting, as I said. Unfortunately that just made it a "diversity win! this desperately terrible Jane Austen adaptation has actors of color!" situation. I guess white people have had shitty period dramas mostly to ourselves for decades, casting-wise, so now, in the spirit of inclusion, it's time for PoC to join in. Welcome to the party! I'm so sorry.

Overall, two hours of my life that I'll never get back. And I didn't even get any sewing finished during. Hmph.

#ask #anon #persuasion 2022 #jane austen's fleabag

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therealvinelle · 3 years ago

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I've always wondered this, but what do you think the Cullen's political viewpoints would be, given their individual backgrounds? if vampires don't change after they turn, then surely they would all be extremely racist (especially Jasper). would this not come up at some point? they aren't like the Volturi because the Volturi are too old to care, but the Cullens are young enough that they have been brought up with opinions on stuff like sexism, racism, homophobia and the like.

Oh fuck.

You get an early answer because otherwise I'll just chicken out and delete this one, pretend I never saw it.

UMMM.

Since I'm guessing you meant American political viewpoints, we need a disclaimer. I am not American, and not too knowledgeable about your politics. Not just in the sense that I don't follow the day-to-day drama, but as I am not an American citizen there are several things I don't know, can't know because I've never lived in your country and therefore can't know what the effects of living in a country ruled by American policies is like. What I do know is based off of the news in the foreign section, social media (by which I mean tumblr posts), and Trevor Noah's Daily Show.

I am an outsider looking in.

Which is really rather appropriate, since the Cullens are too.

The Cullens go to high school and college, Carlisle works, they pay taxes, they own real estate, and submerge themselves in American culture. Esme, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Bella are young enough that this is in many ways their world, and apart from timeouts they've more or less spent their entire lives, human and vampire, integrated into American society.

Not fully integrated, mind you, they do what they need to to fit in and get to school or, in Carlisle’s case, to work. They go no further. No extra-curriculars for the kids, no book clubs for Esme, no game nights for Carlisle. They walk parallel to humans, not among us.

In addition to this they're obscenely rich, which puts them another thousand miles from the experiences of your average American. They won't deal with the health system, which means healthcare is a non-issue, they're not going to need welfare or other social programs, unemployment is another non-issue. Name your issue, and the Cullens don't have personal stake in it. Even the climate crisis won't be a problem for them the way it will for us.

What I'm trying to say is, American political issues are a concept to them, not a lived reality. Just like they are for me. So hey, you made a great choice of blog to ask.

I'll also add here that you say the Volturi are too old to care, and I agree- from an ancient's point of view, racism is a matter of "which ethnicity are we hating today?", and it all looks rather arbitrary after a while. Same with every other issue - after a while it all just blends together into "what are the humans fighting over today? Which Christian denomination is the correct one? Huh. Good for them, I guess."

I can't put it any better than this post did, really. The Volturi are real people, humans are nerds and tumblr having Loki discourse. Aro thinks it's delightful and knows entirely too much about Watergate (and let's be real, Loki discourse as well), but the point I wanted to get at is that politics really don't matter to vampires.

And I don't think they matter to the Cullens either.

So, moving on to the next point while regretting I didn't put headlines in this post, I'll just state that I don't think vampires' minds are frozen. Their brains are unable to develop further, and they can never forget anything, but... well, this isn't the post for that, but in order for this to be true of vampires they would barely be sentient. They would not be able to process new impressions, to learn new things, nor to have an independent thought process. Yes, we see vampires in-universe (namely, Edward, who romanticizes himself and vampires) believe they're frozen and can never change, but there is no indication that this is a widespread belief, or even true. Quite the contrary - Carlisle went from a preacher's son who wanted to burn all the demons to living in Demon Capital for decades and then becoming a doctor and making a whole family of demons. Clearly, the guy has had a change in attitude over the years. Jasper, in his years as a newborn army general, slowly grew disenchanted with his life and developed depression. James initially meant to kill Victoria and hunted her across the earth, then became fascinated and changed his mind about it.

Had these people been incapable of change, Carlisle would still be hating demons, Jasper would be in Maria's army, and James would still be hunting Victoria.

It goes to follow, then, that they are able to adapt to new things.

The question is, would they?

Here I finally answer your question.

So, we have these people who don't really have any kind of stake in politics, who keep up to date all the same (or are forcibly kept up to date because high school) and are generally opinionated people.

Where do they then fall, politically?

(And this is where you might want to stop reading, anon, because I'm about to eviscerate these people.)

Alice votes for whoever's gonna win. She also makes a fortune off of betting each election. Trump's 1 to 10 victory in 2016 was a great day to be Alice. MAGA!

The actual policies involved are completely irrelevant, she does this because it's fun. Election means she gets to throw parties. Color coded parties for the Republican and Democratic primaries, and US-themed parties for Election Night! (Foreigner moment right here: I at first wrote "Election wake" before realizing that's not what y'all murricans call it.)

Alice loves politics. Doesn't know the issues, but she sure loves politics.

Bella votes Democrat. She actually knows about the issues, and cares about them. This girl is a Democrat through and through.

Carlisle doesn't vote. I can't imagine it feels right. Outside of faked papers he's not a US citizen, this is meddling in human affairs that he knows don't concern him.

More, this guy has never lived in a democracy.

In life, Carlisle lived under an absolute monarchy that, upon civil war, became an absolute theocracy. From there he learned that vampires live under a total dictatorship.

For the first 150 years of his life, democracy was that funky thing the Athenians did in history books thousands of years ago, no more relevant to him than the Ancient Egyptian monarchy is to me. Then the Americans, and later other European countries started doing this.

Good for them.

There's this mistake often made by those who view history from a... for lack of a better term, a solipsistic standpoint. A belief that the present day is the culmination of all of history. “My society is the best society, the most reasonable society; all the others had it backwards. Thank god we’re living in this enlightened age!”

The faith in our current system of government is one such belief. We (pardon me if this doesn’t apply to everybody reading this post) have grown up in democracies, being told this is the ultimate form of rule, and perhaps that is true - but remember the kings who have told their subjects they had were divine and the best possible ruler based on that. Remember also that most modern democracies haven’t actually been democracies for very long at all, America is the longest standing at some 230 years (not long at all in the grand scope of things) and they have a fracturing two-party system to show for it.

Every society, ever, has been told they’re the greatest, and their system of government the most just. Democracy is only the latest hit.

This is relevant to Carlisle because he’s immortal and decidedly not modern. Democracy has not been installed in him the way it was the rest of the Cullens, Jasper included. To him- well, it’s just not his world. He has no stakes in our human politics, and as he is older than every current democracy and has seen quite a few of them fall, he’s not going to internalize the democratic form of rule the way a modern human has.

I think the concept of voting is foreign to him.

It requires a level of participation in human society that he’s simply not at. He does the bare minimum to appear human so he do the work he loves, but nothing more, and I find that telling.

As it is I think he'd be iffy about his family doing it. He won’t stop them, but in voting they’re... well it’s kind of cheating. They’re not really citizens, none of this will affect them, and by voting they’re drowning out the votes of real human voters. He does not approve.

Edward votes Democrat. He's... well he’s the kind of guy who will oil a girl’s bedroom window so he can more easily watch her sleep without being discovered, justifying it to himself as being okay because if she were to tell him to get lost he’d stop immediately. Same guy is so sure that he’d leave and never return again if she wanted him to, except this is the man who returned to Forks to hang around his singer, knowing there was a significant chance he might kill her. To say nothing of his Madonna/Whore complex, or of the fact that he tried to pimp out his wife twice, and was willing to forcibly abort her child.

This guy is very much in love with chivalry, with being an enlightened and feminist man who supports and respects women, while not understanding the entire point of feminism, which is female liberation.

He votes Democrat because he’s such an enlightened feminist who cares about women’s rights.

Emmett doesn’t care to vote, but if he has to he votes Republican. The guy is from the 1930′s, and has major would-be-the-uncle-who-cracks-racist-jokes-if-he-was-older vibes.

Esme doesn’t vote, that would require getting out of the house.

More, I just... can’t see it. I can’t see her being one to read up on politics and The Issues, period, but if she has to then I doubt she’d be able to decide.

Jasper doesn’t vote. Alice can have her fun, he does not care.

There’s also the whole can of worms regarding the last time he went to bat for American politics.

I imagine he stays out of this.

Renesmée doesn't vote. She has no stock in the human affairs. Who would she vote for, on what grounds? When Bella tries to pull her to the urns, she points out that she's three years old.

Rosalie, guys, I’m sorry, but that girl is definitely gonna vote Republican. Perhaps not right now as it’s become the Trump party of insanity, but the Mitt Romney type of Republicans? Oh yes.

And for the record, yes I imagine she does vote. To step back from politics would be another way she was relinquishing her humanity, and that’s not allowed to happen. So, yes, she goes to the urns, less for the sake of the politics involved and more because like this, she’s still a part of society in some way.

Now, onto why I think she’s Republican, I think it’s both fiscal and social.

This girl was the daughter of a banker who somehow profited off of the Depression, and who then became part of a family with no material needs that would soon become billionaires thanks to Alice. Poverty to Rosalie is a non-issue, as it is I imagine she views it as a much lesser issue than what she’s had to deal with. The humans can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, Rosalie’s infertility is forever.

Rosalie’s empathy is strongest when she’s able to project onto others, and she won’t be able to project onto the less fortunate at all.

Then there’s the fact that the Republican party is all about traditional family values, and pro-life.

Rosalie, a woman from the 1930′s who idolizes her human life and who‘d love nothing more than to get to live out this fantasy, is down for that. And as of Breaking Dawn she’s vocally pro-life, so there’s that.

This all being said I don’t think Rosalie cares to sit down and fully understand these politics she’s voting for, the possible impact they’ll have- that’s not important. What’s important is what voting does for her.

TL;DR: I bet anon regrets asking.

#long post #twilight #twilight vampires #twilight meta #twilight renaissance #politics #history #twilight history #carlisle cullen #alice cullen #bella swan #renesmée cullen #jasper hale #rosalie hale #emmett cullen

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blanketfortlibrary · 2 years ago

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First Kill has me wondering about how age guidelines work differently between books and television.

The young adult book category encompasses roughly ages 13-18 so it would be reasonable to assume that the content in YA fiction being held up against tv rating standards would result in a PG-13 rating. But the First Kill short story is YA while the tv adaptation is TV-MA and while the show clearly expands the story far beyond the last page, so it's not a copy and paste of content, I really don't think the show depicts anything I haven't seen shown in, or even exceeded by, a YA novel before.

So why the tighter restrictions on television by comparison? I find it somewhat unfortunate that whoever rates the show decided it excluded the actual target audience of the original story. Although it's not like the listed rating is in practice any sort of obstacle for most teens anyway unless they have strict and really vigilant parents that enforce that kind of thing. But kids always find a way if they want it.

Maybe there's not even an interesting answer to this and it's just that these systems developed independent enough from each other to have different standards. Or maybe books can get away with more because parents aren't looking over a kid's shoulder the whole time they read a book but they can easily overhear a tv in the other room. That also could tie into the recent surge in book challenging and banning in school libraries in that parents now have an easy way to look up a book's content without having to read any themselves. But I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

I personally think the amount of permissible content for YA is pretty much perfect from what I can tell. It just highlights how tv parental guidelines underestimate teenagers and are more there, if anything, for the comfort and appeasement of certain parents.

#this went on longer than I expected but I like where I ended up going with this #wow writing out my 2am thoughts really does organize it and can lead me to a semi substantial conclusion. very satisfying #first kill #queer lit #YA lit

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x688plsloveme · 4 years ago

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Companions react to someone saying something Insanely insulting to them and a usually calm Sole loses their shit, as in whoops their ass?

In their pre-war profession, Sole learned to take a lot of shit. They even had a retail job when they were a teenager, so most of what the average wastelander could spit out was usually nothing in comparison.

They'd just pretend the person in front of them was a usual customer and tune them out until they were done. Most regarded them as having the patience of a saint. They just thought it was due to not growing up in an overly impatient wasteland.

Either way, Sole had never even come close to the volume that they used on this idiot.

No one talked bad about their friends, no one. So when they heard the insults thrown at one of their best friends? They went off. Hurling anything and everything that came to mind at the dumb wastelander that thought it was a good idea to mess with them and theirs.

ADA: Although she wasn't hurt by the random human she didn't even care to know, she was touched by Sole's anger on her behalf. She was a tad surprised that her usually mellow was acting in such a way, but quickly adapted to the situation. She allowed Sole to continue their loud ranting for a few moments longer until gently stopping them. "Before he urinated on himself." Was her excuse. Sole snorted and told her it'd be funny, but ultimately let him go because Ada was probably right.

CAIT: The only thing that could've stopped her from punching the waster's lights out herself was the shock she saw from her well mannered friend. It literally stopped her mid-punch. All she could do was look slack mouthed as Sole ripped into the man in front of them verbally. They were usually the one who told her to ease up on her aggression, so seeing this was a treat indeed.

CODSWORTH: The only other time he saw his sir/mum blow up so.... Loudly. Was when they thought their spouse was cheating on them. To see them so upset over someone calling a mere Mr Handy names...it was truly moving. He was sure to clean up around their settlement extra meticulously as thanks.

CURIE: Sole was a sweet person, particularly to her who didn't know the ways of the wasteland quite yet. They were always calm and collected and Curie always admired them for it. Especially in a proverbial hell hole such as this. So the loud, started gasp she let out at Sole's outburst was very much granted. She had a million questions running through her mind that she had to ask as soon as possible. And she did, right after Sole drove away the rude man that sparked their wrath.

DANSE: He was very grateful to his friend for sticking up for him so readily. He didn't have the best mental state, and it seemed Sole picked up on how the insults were affecting him. He guessed that someone that would save his life would care enough to stand up for him, but seeing it - especially from such a nice person - was something else. He gave them a very long hug afterwards.

DEACON: He feels like he should be most surprised of all, seeing as he had been following them up until they discovered the railroad. Not once has Sole ever raised their voice that high, let alone rudely and directed towards another person. He was frozen in place, completely shell shocked. It was only later that he realized they blew a fuse because of what that nobody waster was saying about him. He felt tears as he thought about how much Sole has to care about him even though they don't really know him. He vowed to tell them the real, genuine truth next time he saw them.

DOGMEAT: He was a smart dog, but not even he could keep up with all the strange words Sole used. He had no idea what a "mutfruit humper" was, but he did recognize the angry tone his owner was using. He decided to help by growling alongside Sole to back them up. He kept rapt attention to the now distressed waster that was the object of their wrath in case they tried anything funny. After the whole ordeal was over, Sole spoiled him a little harder than usual, much to his immense pleasure. Extra snacks are always a good thing in his book.

HANCOCK: "I always knew you had in in ya Sole!" He proceeds to laugh until his stomach hurts. Seeing someone as calm as Sole losing it? Comedy gold in his eyes. He does give his best friend a hug when they're done though. He appreciates them so, so much for caring about a worthless ghoul like him. Doesn't mean he's not gonna retell this story to each and everyone of Sole's friends though.

GAGE: When he heard the yelling, he just thought it was more raiders causing a ruckus as usual. But when he identified the voice as his one and only calm overboss, he did a double take. Even as the boss of raiders, he had never seen Sole blow up at anybody, let alone raise their voice. He knew they were loyal sort, but he didn't know it was to this extent. It made his otherwise cold heart warm a bit at the thought that he was one of the people his boss was fiercely loyal to.

LONGFELLOW: He didn't have many people close in his life, so Sole was like a ray of sunshine in an otherwise foggy world. They were very pleasant to get along with and actually seemed to enjoy his stories, which was rare with people that young. They would often sit next to each other in complete silence and just relax without any awkwardness whatsoever. He didn't believe what the others told him about them going ape-shit on people who've insulted their friends until he saw it himself. Now... He enjoyed the calm and quiet, but he would be a liar if this wasn't the funniest shit he'd ever seen. When they were done scaring away the waster that had the bad luck of running into them, he pat an out of breath Sole with a smile on his face.

MACCREADY: He always thought himself as a pretty laid-back guy, but not even he could hold a candle to have chill Sole was. He never ever ever thought he'd EVER see them yell at somebody over a couple insults. Sure, they were directed at a close friend, but it was still jarring. Heck, seeing them flip reminded him of his younger years when the Lone Wanderer would scold him for being rude. He almost let out a few involuntary sorrys himself.

PIPER: As someone who liked getting Intel on everyone and everything, Piper was curious to what Sole looked like when they got truly mad. She heard everything from amusing to scary and just about everything in between, but all she wanted to do was see it for herself. It took a while of her tagging along whenever Sole went, but it was well worth it when some rando finally picked on her bad enough that it send Sole over the edge. Seeing it for herself, she could attest that all of their comments were correct ones.

PRESTON: He didn't like yelling at all, which is part of the reason he enjoyed Sole's company so much. He had never seen anyone so composed while face danger or the rare rude retort. They always took care of it gracefully. No one glanced twice at a mere minuteman soldier like himself, so he had never been witness to one of Sole's rare "blow ups" that he had heard from some of their other friends. But the day it happened.... Well let's just say he was very humbled for not only being cared about so much, but also the sheer force of their yelling was scary enough to remind him of him mother whenever his siblings got into trouble.

STRONG: Needless to say, he is very happy with these turn of events even if he doesn't quite grasp why Sole is doing this. As it stands, it hypes him up to the point that he joins in the yelling and the two of them make whoever was foolish enough to insult him in front of Sole scared out of their minds.

VALENTINE: He always appreciated how calm and collected his friend was. They were always on the same page in that sense. Never letting anything bother them for too long, even if it was truly personal. Just looking ahead and forgetting about things that could sway them from their goals. Nothing could have surprised him more than Sole suddenly started screaming at a particularly rude waster that would not leave him alone. He didn't even know his friend was there until they started screaming. It made him happy to know that the one time they lose their cool, it was for him.

X6-88: No one admires Sole like he does. There's no one else that could earn his respect, let alone friendship. His friend was always on his wavelength - serene and collected in even the most stressful situations. Sure, no one had insulted him quite like the random waster, but he was ready to scoff and brush him off like any other. He refused to admit that he was hurt even slightly, but it seemed like Sole was as sharp as ever and picked up on it. He never in a million years would've guessed that they could carefully and precisely cut into a person with mere words. But he also never guessed that Sole would ever raise their voice so he supposes surprises are a given. As he watched his one and only friend defend him, he let a small, rare smile show on his face.

#i started this when the ask was sent #and didnt have the energy to finish it until last night lol #i hope you like it anon!!!#fallout 4 #fallout 4 companions #fallout 4 companions react #hancock #deacon #danse #paladin danse #nick valentine #curie #cait #piper wright #mccready #dogmeat #preston garvey #x6 88

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textsfromthefifthbasement · 3 years ago

Text

I finally finished MAZM: Phantom of the Opera! I’m leaving the review under the cut because it’s long and also spoilers for some elements of the game that aren’t in other Phantom adaptations.

General

First off, I loved the art style of the game. The character designs were quite adorable, and it definitely seemed like they made an effort to follow the original Leroux character designs. They had a blonde Christine and an olive-skinned, dark-haired Meg. I also thought they did a great job with Erik’s character design (though there was too much hair). The sets were beautiful. The majority of the main plot of the game does follow the Leroux book, which I really appreciated. There were some favorite moments in the book that I wish had been incorporated, such as Raoul waking up to find Erik watching him sleep (don’t judge I just find it freaking hilarious), but they incorporated so many other small scenes from the book, such as the managers trying to prevent Erik from taking his salary by using the safety pin. As a history nerd, I also really appreciated the collectible notes giving historical context to some of the discussions, including about three notes on the Paris Commune/Bloody Week. I wished the characters would have had different outfits rather than wear the same outfit the entire story. At the very least, I wished they had made a Red Death outfit for Erik during the masquerade.

I also want to point out and give a warning to anyone who has suicide ideation before they try this game. Pretty early on in the story, you play an episode in which you control Joseph Buquet after he’s dropped into Erik’s torture chamber, and eventually, you have to walk to the noose and pick it. The scene cuts right before he hangs himself. About partway through the story, when you control Christine, there’s a scene in which she has to talk Erik out of killing himself with a shard from a broken vase. At the end, when Christine and Raoul go down to Erik’s house to bury him, they found that he had committed suicide.

In all, I spent about 23 hours on the game from start to finish. I still need to go back and replay a few episodes to complete the achievements. I missed quite a few of the historical notes, and there are parts where you can make different decisions to influence what happens.

In this game, the studio added a lot of subplots that didn’t exist in the book and expanded on some canonical subplots as well. I did enjoy quite a few of these.

The Dancers

Meg, Jammes, and Sorelli are all major characters in the game, and I loved seeing them have more characterization and actual character arcs. Jammes, as a character, doesn’t change as much as the others, but she is only a child. As in the book, she is pretty frightened of ghost stories, strangers, and the Phantom, but in the game, she also loves and takes care of the stray cats living around the opera house and does turn into a bit of a spitfire when her friends are threatened by the various happenings at the opera. Sorelli has a knife and is not afraid to use it, and she comes to realize that her fear of being alone led her to stay with Philippe de Chagny in spite of the fact that he would never officially acknowledge her. Meg, in the beginning, seems afraid of her own shadow, but throughout the game, definitely comes into her own and also develops a much healthier relationship with her mother.

Union

This had to be hands-down my favorite subplot of the game. In the beginning, when Moncharmin and Richard first become the managers of the Palais Garnier, they mistreat Christine and mass fire anyone who mentions the Phantom of the Opera. When Christine goes missing for several weeks, Meg, Sorelli, and Jammes finally decide they have had enough and basically unionize the ballet dancers. There’s an entire protest, a performance in which the ballerinas refuse to perform, and they end up getting a promise from the managers to stop indiscriminately firing and mistreating people.

Christine’s Ending

GUYS. When I joked about Christine just traveling the world and performing instead I had no idea that was an actual choice you can make for her. It’s such a bittersweet ending, but I personally hope that one day she would have emotionally healed enough from her ordeal to come back to Paris and reunite with her old friends.

That being said, there were also a lot of additions/changes that I…really wasn’t a fan of.

Melek

So, for context. During Christine’s first stay at Erik’s house, she decides to do some exploring while he’s gone. While in his room, she hears a woman’s voice behind a wall and goes to investigate. She discovers a hidden door, and behind that hidden door is Melek. We find that Melek is a blind Turkish woman who had been one of Erik’s servants during his time in Constantinople. She had refused to marry him, and so he had kidnapped her and had kept her locked in that room for ten years.

Yes, I have a lot of problems with this.

I think the first thing is that when Melek was introduced is when I really realized that the game was never going to go in the direction of presenting Erik as a character who was sympathetic at times and not so much at others. The game had already painted him as a very unsympathetic character up until then through showing how he had gaslit Christine as the Angel of Music. Introducing Melek really drove that point home, which was kind of disappointing seeing as how the literal point of Leroux’s Le Fantome de l’Opera was that we should pity Erik for how he was treated because of his face.

Additionally, Melek’s character just…didn’t do anything. The more she was around, the more I wondered what the point of her character was. She does offer Christine support half of the time, and then the other half of the time is her being upset because Christine wants to change Erik rather than murder him. Ultimately, it’s my point of view that her character was not a great addition to the game and would have preferred a closer adherence to the book in that regard.

Hatim and PTSD

*sigh* This part seriously pissed me off. While Raoul and Hatim (the Daroga) are in the torture chamber, Hatim tells Raoul the story between him and Erik. We end up playing through a flashback of when Hatim discovers Erik living at the opera house ten years ago. As they discuss their past, we and Hatim quickly realize that Erik has PTSD, and mentioning the Shah of Persia is a serious trigger for him. Which, alright. That does make some sense story-wise.

And then through other flashbacks, Hatim proceeds to use this against Erik. Like he literally would trigger him purposefully as a punishment. And say that he was doing it for his own good.

Like, excuse me, but. What the fuck. What. The actual. Fuck. No. Don’t ever do that, that’s shitty.

Anyways by the end I was legitimately rooting for Erik to punt him.

Erik’s Ending

In the original Leroux novel, Erik presents Christine with a choice: turn the scorpion, and she will marry him, or turn the grasshopper, and the entire opera house will blow up. Christine chooses the scorpion, kisses him on the forehead, and he is so overwhelmed by the action that he saves Raoul’s life and lets them go together. The only promise he extracts from Christine is that she will come back and bury him when he dies, which he believes will be soon. Two weeks later, an ad runs in the newspaper that reads simply, “Erik is dead.”

Yeah. The game really went off the rails here in respect to following the Leroux book. After Christine turns the scorpion, Erik pulls Raoul into the lake and leaves him there, thinking he’ll drown or freeze to death, and then returns to force the marriage. He does eventually let Christine and Melek go, as Christine tells him that she will never love him and that she believes he is a monster, all while he is on his knees begging her just to love him a little. There is no forehead kiss. To the end, Erik writes and tells Hatim that Christine is the devil, and that she abandoned him in hell and wants her to suffer for the rest of her life knowing what she did to him. Yeah, I wish I was making that up.

There is one point where Christine tells Erik it’s not her job to save him. Which I agree with. I feel like whoever wrote the story had a misunderstanding of the ending of the book, or else thought the idea wasn’t explicitly stated enough. The forehead kiss does, in some respect, save Erik. It makes him realize how badly he’s treated everyone and yet Christine is still willing to extend kindness towards him. But it’s not Christine saving him, it’s him coming to that realization on his own. Ultimately, the game traded that idea for a way more heavy-handed “I am not here to save you, I am going to make my own decisions from here on.”

And then, in the face of all that, we’re also missing Erik changing and redeeming himself despite the fact that he’s close to death. Instead, he dies while leaving basically a suicide note to Hatim saying that Christine is the devil and he made her promise to return to bury him to hurt her. Which is so out of character if we look at the book characterization.

Like I knew I was signing up to get my heart ripped out, I just figured it was going to maybe be the brand of Christine having to choose whether or not to stay while Erik dies. And damnit, I just wanted a single forehead kiss.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the game up until the ending. I just seriously disliked the ending for the most part. If you’re more of a fan of the idea of Christine being on her own and finding her own path, that is an enjoyable option to go with. I still need to play through that episode with the marry Raoul choice and see what happens with that option though.

#mazm phantom of the opera #mention of suicide #the phantom of the opera #poto #review

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darkshrimpemotions · 3 years ago

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yo i dont wanna discourse on ppls posts and cant message u, u can decide whether to post this or not, but i just wanna say that the reason ppl call az/crowley homophobic is bc gaiman only made them word of god genderless Because people were saying oh theyre acted by two cis men so their relationship would be gay.

i, as a nonbinary queer person, wouldve loved if it had been a genuine thought out piece of representation, but it wasnt, he just said it because he didnt want people interpreting his characters as queer, and continued to do so when people said ok but theyd still be having gay sex and he said well angels are sexless and (i cant remember if he said so actually theyd be asexual or if ppl just took it that way).

im really sorry if this is news to you and obviously i dont speak for everyones opinion and interpretation of characters, but gaiman's word of god nonbinary and (again iirc) asexual canonization of them was unfortunately Not him trying to give more nuanced/marginalized rep, it Was born of homophobia because he didnt want people to see his characters as being gay/having gay sex. thats why people call it homophobic. :( again sorry but i hope this explanation helped show where others are coming from when they call it homophobic :(((

They literally cast a non-binary actor to play a non-binary character and openly showed this in marketing as a positive point for the show. They literally did non-gendered casting where they picked whoever was right for the part regardless of gender and also proudly used that fact in marketing. They had angels and demons alike be gender nonconforming/androgynous in appearance on purpose because they are stated in the book written 30+ years ago to be genderless. But go off I guess? Sure, no thought went into it, it was allllllllll just a panicked reaction to people suggesting Aziraphale and Crowley might have gay sex! /s

No seriously, all of this is so wrong I don't even know where to begin, and the "gee golly I guess you didn't know" tone doesn't help like, at all. Maybe that wasn't your intention, but I have actually read the book. I've been a fan of Neil's for years. I watched the show when it first dropped and read every single thing the man has said about it, both here and on IG and in interviews.

He was writing queer representation long before it was considered profitable or "woke" to do so (and even when it could actually have hurt his career to do so). He has been an advocate for queer people and our stories since before I was born. He has openly owned up to instances where his attempts were imperfect, and taken steps in modern adaptations to update the material based on his increased understanding. In short, you could not be more incorrect.

Neil Gaiman has also made a consistent habit, since long before Good Omens, of two things: 1) he will not answer questions about his writing with his own headcanons, ONLY what he (or in this case he and Terry) intentionally put down on the page or screen. 2) Beyond that, he leaves EVERYTHING up to fans' interpretation, because he believes once a story is released, it belongs to the fans.

This isn't new. He was like this long before the GO adaptation. And only after being pressed repeatedly and called homophobic for increasingly stupid reasons did he finally explain that no, he would not confirm Aziraphale and Crowley as gay (because genderless) but that didn't mean they weren't queer. And he still left room for fans to see what they wanted, just refused to pretend to have been writing something one way when he wrote it another. When frankly it would have been so much easier to be like "oh yeah totally they were gay men the whole time." But no. He was writing agender romance, not gay romance. That's still queer representation.

And the willful decision by scores of people to read that as homophobia is either a function of ignorance, or bad faith, or both. But I'm really tired of seeing it written down as fact when the evidence is literally there on his own fucking tumblr account that this isn't the case.

#good omens #neil gaiman #queer representation #i'm so fucking TIRED Y'ALL #ask box #faghalforc

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aelin-world-walker · 4 years ago

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Some headcanons I have post-ACOSF

(don’t ask where this comes from i’m just aching because i finished rereading acosf and thinking headcanons is my coping mechanism)

(i wrote “some” in the title but they are like a million????)

(like now this is a master list of headcanons i have...)

BE AWARE OF ACOSF SPOILERS!!!

*Probably I’ll edit it pretty often because headcanons come whenever they like.

*i’ll probably add feysand headcanons in the future but not now because there’re A LOT out here but know I have some like feysand beign parents is too cute to ignore.

*sorry if there are some spelling errors, English is not my first language.

The cabin headcanons

(yes the cabin has its own subtitle)

Cassian takes Nesta to the cabin after their mating bond ceremony and then happens chapter 55 but Nesta adapted. There’s no soup but a biscuit.

When Nyx is a little older he starts participating in the snowball fight. Rhys, Cassian and Az let him win.

In one of her visits, Feyre paints her sisters and Nyx’s eyes beside the IC ones, because they are now part of the Court of Dreams (this one made me cry a little honestly)

Whenever one of the IC’s couples wants to take a break they go to the cabin. Sometimes Az goes too to play chaperone. Spoiler: it doesn’t work (especially NOT with Nessian) (this one made me laugh)

Nesta likes the cabin’s vibes to read, so she goes often. Sometimes Cassian joins her but he bores to death so he wouldn’t let her read (if you get what i mean)

I can imagine the IC visiting it, long nights bonding in front of a fire and playing board games. Rhys, Nesta and Azriel are so competitive that stay awake til one of them wins. (actually Rhys and Azriel competitive spirit over board games is canon) (i just imagine Nesta playing the courtier to win) (then she loses and is cranky for a day). Meanwhile, Mor and Cassian drink themselves silly, and Feyre and Elain play with Nyx. Amren just purrs sitting in Varian’s lap. (Amren as the house cat)

The girls decide to do their own snowball fight honestly i don’t know why this is not canon yet. One year they decide to do girls vs. boys. The girls win and the boys don’t want to play against them again.

Nyx and his cousins learning to fly in a summer vacation there. (yeah because nessian’s children are happening in the future and they are in some of my headcanons sorry)

Nesta, Gwyn and Emerie go there sometimes (not so often because they prefer staying with the House please never forget they are all friends) and go hiking.

When Nyx and Nessian’s children are older and misbehave their parents send them to the cabin. Then whoever of them didn’t got to be grounded slips alcohol to the ones inside. (Actually i can see them doing this??? Rhys and Mor did the same. Also I can see Nyx and his cousins having a relationship similar to Rhys and Mor’s and Aelin and Aedion’s)

Inner Circle couples and the sauna. Not gonna say anything else, but just know it’s hella weird there’re no scenes in there...

The House of Wind headcanons

(big house deserved its own headcanons)

Nesta installs a dance studio in there and whenever she can she goes and dance for hours.

Nesta, Gwyn, Emerie and the House start a monthly sleep-over in the private library. The House always conjures the miniature pegasus without being asked.

Can we talk about the fact that in the future the House of Wind will have a nursery???? because i have to talk about it. don’t know if i’ll be able to do so without crying but just- nessian’s babies nation

When Nessian’s children are born the House would conjure anything just to please them and will protect them at all costs. The House as a babysitter and mother-hen.

The House starts talking to Cassian and recommends him smut books. He reads them and find them pretty interesting. He also recommends the House books but as they are of warfare the House finds them boring.

When Cassian and Nesta fight the House would be angry with Cassian for some days and would serve his food cold.

The House of Wind is Nyx’s favorite place in the city. Cassian and Nesta even give him a room when he is older. He loves it for the same reason Rhys did: flying. He also likes asking the House ridiculous things -the House loves his petitions-

Azriel keeps his room of course, but playing the chaperone is useless now (it always was)

Mor befriends the house and together they plan jokes to Cassian.

Feyre loves going to the House because it reminds her that her sister is happy and will never be alone.

Nessian headcanons

(of course there are nessian’s headcanons)

While sleeping, Cassian is very restless while Nesta sleeps in a ball, but they make it work. Also, Cassian takes all the blankets so Nesta ends up beside him and his wings.

The two of them loves sleeping in. Cassian would never admit it because he would never hear the end of it from the ic. (i know he said in acomaf that daylight is precious but now that he has found his mate he has change a liiitle his opinion about that. like now wake up beside his love is more precious than anything!!!!!)

I think it’s not fair we didn’t got a smut scene in the bathtub.

And in Windhaven.

Aaaaand in the cabin.

When Nesta has a nightmare, Cassian would hug her and comfort her while remind her it was a dream, and now she got out, and is loved and cherished by a lot of people.

Nesta loves that Cassian strokes her head, more when her hair is down. (i really like that nesta prefers updo hairstyles tho)

Nesta sitting on Cassian’s lap. That’s all I need for a next book. (i also need more domestic scenes between them like the one in Winter Solstice when Nesta hangs their coats) (also i need to read nessian from another pov i want to know how they look like from outside their pov)

Nessian dancing into the darkest hours, losing themselves into the music and their embrace. (i need a slow dancing fanfic thx)

Nesta is still a little uncomfortable to venture into Velaris so she asks Cassian to fly her over the city whenever she needs to go out and doesnt want to tangle in the multitude.

Cassian reading an Illyrian report while Nesta reads a romance book. Domestic mates part one hundred.

Nesta loves flying (WHY THIS IS NOT CANON SARAH) (like i would have been awesome to read nesta liking flying after that scene with rhys in acowar)

I love that is canon they like chocolate cake idk just wanted to say that.

Nesta headcanons

(my daughter deserves them)

Every Starfall, Nesta would take the stairs down and up just to remind herself the way up is long but by the end she would find happiness.

She is really protective over the House. She wouldn’t let anyone spill anything or mess around.

She starts taking dancing lessons again, even though she doesn’t need them. It’s her favorite part of the week. I can imagine Gwyn joining her. Emerie prefers watching them and smirk while drinking tea.

She visits her father’s tomb more than her sisters, and tells him every aspect of her life because she didn’t do it when he was alive.

She doesn’t like the Court of Nightmares, but the Winter Solstice ball in there is one of her favorites events of the year.

She goes back to being a courtier/emmisary for the Night Court and loves tormenting the people she has to deal with. (just imagine Nesta in Vallahan, they would sign the treaty in a second)

She continues working in the Library because she is still healing and the Library is such a big part of that. She continues fighting with Merrill too (gwyn is please of that)

Also she starts practicing with Amren to use her powers, even if there is not a lot to master (tho i think she is still very powerful but let’s wait for the next book to confirm this)

ALSO Nesta as a mother: she gives her children a lot of love because she remembers how it is to have a cold mother and doesn’t want to repeat the story.

Nessian’s children headcanon

(tho i imagine they have at least a daughter so she is gonna appear a lot in my hc sorry)

I can imagine them having an unexpected pregnancy idk why they would be very happy tho (like chaolene’s) (not so soon after acosf, they would enjoy some free-of-babies-years)

Now I want a fanfic about nessian finding out they are pregnant please writers do it

Tho I can imagine its during training.

Nessian’s baby would sleep between them. Cassian loves that and even though Nesta says the contrary, privately she loves it too.

Nesta teaching their daughter to dance, while Cassian teaches her to fly. Together, they teach her to fight. Their daughter wants to be a Valkyrie like her mom and aunts.

Also Nesta reading her daughter to bed and then getting asleep. Cassian would find the two of them sleeping and would cover them with a quilt.

Their daughter loves to hear the stories about Nessian’s Blood Rites, and would ask everyone about them.

Their daughter is their number 1 fan im crying in softness

She also wants to hear the stories of her uncles and aunts even though some are sad, because she knows they are happy and together now.

I can see Nessian wanting another baby tbh but let’s stop in one until Sarah shows us the contrary.

But just imagine Nessian’s children + Nyx playing hide-and-seek on the House of the Wind and the House helping them hide.

Nessian’s daugther loves hearing Gwyn sing, and is particularly obsessed with Emerie because she sees herself in Emerie (like they are both Illyrians i’m crying nessian’s daughter doesnt understand why her aunt can’t fly).

She has spring allergies too.

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chuuulip · 4 years ago

Text

The First Kiss of Love

Pairing: Hannibal Lecter x Female Reader

Warning: Fluff with a smidges of angst

Words: 3262

Prompt: hey i was wondering id you could do a hannibal lecter one where the reader doesnt realize that hannibal likes her and she gets jealous when hes talking to another woman. when she calls him out on it he cant help but laugh. the reader is basically a oblivious dummy type and way too much of a klutz .

Summary: “Dr. Bloom is really beautiful.” your small, joyless voice continues its sentence. “Ah...yes indeed.” Hannibal replies casually.

A.N: This is for an anon that request some Hannibal fanfic. I’m sorry that it takes me so long xD I hope you like it! whoever you are ❤️ Thank you for @jewels2876 for helping me with this piece, love you ❤️ Also tagging fellow Hannibal fans 😉 @venusdemonroe and @detectivehannibal thanks for feeding me Hannibal content and discuss him with me ❤️

It’s been a couple of months since you’ve worked with Dr. Lecter. You were once a librarian; due to an accident, you lost your job as a consequence of a long time recovery. Hannibal Lecter literally was an angel or your angel to be precise. Vividly, you remember the time you met him. By chance, Hannibal is in the clinic when you do your physiotherapy. He catches a small stack of books that you buy that day. He manages to balance the books in his left hand while his right-hand catches you before your face kisses the floor.

Long story short, both of you have some sort of conversation that leads to you applying for a job to be Hannibal’s secretary. You are excited but also nervous when you do your interview. You have no idea that Hannibal is a well-known psychiatrist not only just in Baltimore but also in Maryland. There is a fear that Hannibal will not choose you because of your clumsy tendencies. You are naturally what people will call a klutz. Physical activity somewhat hinders your ability to shine among others. You are either too slow or too weak. Not to mention lucky stars seem to distance themself from you. But not that day, the day when you get an email of your employment. Hannibal is pretty impressed with your CV and how good your skills on scheduling and data management,

“Good morning.” the soft, accented voice of Hannibal greets you. Today, he wears a dark blue windowpane pattern jacket suit. He chooses a somewhat dark metallic floral pattern adorning the red-brown tie. His white buttoned-up shirt makes the color of his suit and ties pop. Hannibal always dresses elegantly, something that you always look forward to seeing.

“Good morning, Dr. Lecter.” You stand up and follow Hannibal inside his office. He takes a seat on his brown leather chair. Everything looks immaculate as always.

“Schedule for today?” he unbuttons his suit jacket and you quickly help him hang the suit. “Thank you, my dear, you didn’t need to do that.”

“It’s alright Dr. Lecter.”

Sometimes when it’s only you and Hannibal in the office, he accidentally calls you my dear. You aren’t sure if it's because that’s the way he usually addresses someone he is in contact on a daily basis, or it means something more? Oh, you wish.

“Dr. Lecter…, for this morning you will have two appointments. Mrs. Potter and Ms. Randall. Also-- Mr. Franklin said he might need to reschedule.” Your slightly breathy voice points out other appointments Hannibal has outside the office. Your work had become kind of a blend between his secretary and personal assistant, to be honest. It was actually Hannibal's idea to engage you more into work that’s not strictly his office related. Not that you are complaining because it let you take a peek on Hannibal’s other persona. Not to mention that the payment is pretty generous.

Not once does Hannibal ask your input on what type of thing should be added in his office, and by that, you are pretty proud of yourself. Not a lot of people give any thought about your opinion. Although Hannibal, like when his office has this sleek look and somewhat minimalist style, he always mixes something that you could say was classic inside his office. You have been inside his office quite a lot, but sometimes you help him tidy up his books and document. He’s somewhat more of a hard copy type of person than a soft copy one. Like you. You like the smells of an old book although some of Hannibal’s books smell too clinical for you. Like the smells of a hospital or a place with a lot of disinfectants.

Pretty proud of your experience as a librarian in the past, and knowing Hannibal is a perfectionist himself, you practically turned the side of his office into a perfect mini library. The medical record shorts are alphabetically arranged while his other books are listed by genre, then in an alphabetical manner as well. When Hannibal stays longer in the office, sometimes you catch him drawing. A hobby that he said he has since childhood. One day he told you, “Growing up, I found my hobby really useful when I decided to be a medical doctor.” and you can’t help but agree. After he finishes with what he sketches at that time, he specifically calls you into his office and shows you the final product. That action simply makes your heart flutter in excitement.

“Thank you, you can leave for now.” He gives you his subtle yet beautiful smile. Those eyes of his when he smiles always send some sort of quick rush to your brain.

Giving Hannibal a short nod, you quickly excuse yourself. You stumble upon your own shoe and almost fall, face first. Luckily you can prevent that from happening, hoping Hannibal doesn’t notice, although you think he did. Scurrying from his office, you station yourself on your spot. Continue typing and archiving what Hannibal asks you.

Sipping your now cold latte, your eyes shift to the books next to your PC. It’s a book called Les Fleurs du mal renaissance, a volume about French poetry that Hannibal had lent you after you finish some short of psychology 101. You have read a few pages of it, and since it’s in French, it takes you some time to understand it.

Sometimes Hannibal invites you to his office to let you read his book while he draws things. Trying not to get caught red-handed, you glance at him from the corner of your eyes, savoring the scene in front of you. Wondering what Hannibal actually does on his day off, is there anything he can’t do? Your brain likes to take a detour on what Hannibal does at home when he’s not seeing other people’s minds.

A soft clink of steps on the mahogany floor wood, momentary pauses your fingers on the keyboard.

“Good morning Mrs. Potter.” you stand up immediately. Greet her with a polite, shy smile. One of the things you are still learning from working with Hannibal is being confident. Since the secretary is usually portrayed as bold and beautiful, while you on the other hand are quite the opposite, Hannibal makes sure you take your time to adapt from ‘less contact with people at work’ to ‘in contact with different people almost every day.’

“I’m here for my appointment.” her British accent tickles your ear. It’s rare for you to meet a Brit, especially as posh as Mrs. Potter. Although you never glance at a patient’s medical record, you do actually google them. When you find out Hannibal’s reputation, you know that most of his patients are a somewhat well-known person. Mrs. Potter is an owner of exquisite but limited jewelry store on the east coast. From several articles that you read, she has had quite a lot of scandal. Despite that, you will not deny her beauty. She may be quite older than you, but the way her cheekbones stay supple and very few wrinkles decorating her face sometimes makes you jealous.

“Yes, sure. Please wait a moment,” immediately, you walk to Hannibal's office door that's just a foot away from your desk. Giving a soft knock, you open the door and inform Hannibal that Mrs. Potter is already here. He gives you a quick nod, and you open the door wider, to let Mrs. Potter start her session.

Hannibal isn’t a strict boss. Or that’s actually what you thought about him. Of course, you are a professional employee as you can be, but sometimes you spend time reading the book you borrow from Hannibal between your desk job. Mostly because you already do whatever Hannibal tasks you with. On some occasions, you join Hannibal when he attends some appointments, such as when he needs to be a keynote speaker in a well-known conference around Maryland and DC. An experience that you guess is his way to widen your social ability.

“Thank you Mrs. Potter. I’ll see you in the next session.” Hannibal’s accent cues you to stand up and bid your goodbye to Mrs. Potter. The rest of the day comes out like it usually is. Typing and arranging schedules for Hannibal while also scrolling on another book to read. Even though you were a librarian before, there’s just so many books and so little time to read.

When it’s time for you to go home, you knock on Hannibal’s office door and open it slightly when he answers you with a soft, “come on in”. You excuse yourself while also giving Hannibal’s friend a smile. Although Hannibal doesn’t have a lot of appointments today, his friend, Jack Crawford visits the office and you know that means Hannibal will stay late until dinner time.

***

The next day your work finished earlier than you thought so you spend some time at work to continue reading the poetry book. Some people may find it weird that you like to stay a little bit longer at work than going back home. There’s always this thought of knowing there is someone close to you, without the need to do conversations in every millisecond, calming. When your eyes shift to your gold bronze table clock, you haven’t realized that you are pretty late, as the sky already turns dark.

You know Hannibal is still in the office and you plan to excuse yourself before it’s getting really late. You don’t want Hannibal to drive you back home since you feel embarrassed about it. He always makes sure you arrive at home safely when you spend more time at the office or going home pretty late since Baltimore isn’t the safest place on earth. However, there is always a thought in your head that Hannibal being a little bit protective towards you, his employee because you are just a much of a klutz and he feels responsible.

You aren’t sure what possessed you to move too quickly and it just messes up your footing. The point of your left oxford shoes hit the castor office chair. Ungracefully you trip to the floor and bring the chair with you. The falling chair let out a loud bang while you landed on your hands and knees, grimacing in pain.

You aren’t sure when but your brain kind of mid freeze for a second. When you look up, you see Hannibal crouching down and calling your name, worried, “-- are you ok? Can you stand up?”

“I--I’m ok Dr. Lecter,” you try to stand up but you hold up your right hand in a sign of I need a minute.

Hannibal takes care of the office chair first, putting it back in its original position. He carefully lifts you up, supporting you and letting you sit back on your office chair. “I’m sorry my dear, but I need to check?” He asks you for your permission and you quickly give him your approval. With an expert examination of his hands, Hannibal checks your knees for any swelling or visual deformity. Since your past accident, you are prone to any joint and soreness on the knees. Delicately, he gives a little pat on both your knees. “I think everything is ok, you may need to have some pain killers.”

“Thank you Hannibal.” you blurt it out. Sometimes you call him by his first name when you aren’t in office hours, although rarely.

He graces you with that smile of his, subtle yet it always makes your heart quiver, the kind of smile you infrequently see. You notice that sometimes he has his professional smile, it is short and kind of cold. The smile you always notice when he meets his colleague. You don’t know a lot of Hannibal’s friends, but when he has some impromptu meeting with Jack, you slightly witness more smirk and sometimes there’s this naughty element like he is planning something evil, although humorously.

“Wait a minute, I will drive you home.” Hannibal left you to go inside his office.

There’s a guilt in your stomach that you feel you are being a burden to your boss. When your concentration dispersed like vivid smoke, the corner of your eyes caught the beautiful woman you have seen a couple of times visiting the office. Unlike other women who mostly visit Hannibal for a session, this woman is indeed different.

“Ms. Bloom.” You greet her. Your smile may look blankly courteous even, but you definitely are not in the mood to give her your big smile this evening.

“You look unwell, are you ok?”

“I-- I’m ok.” you try to answer her, less tense.

“Alana?” your eyes shift to Hannibal as he opens his door.

“Hey, Hannibal. I try to call you but I thought I might as well just drop by.”

Hannibal’s eyes divert from you to Alana, and he gives Alana a quick nod, letting her quickly enter the office. “It will be quick. Can you wait for a while?” you give him a nod and smile at him nervously.

At first you aren’t sure why you are nervous but something finally clear on your head. Maybe you are jealous. You know a lot of women near Hannibal are not only beautiful, or rich, they are also acutely intelligent. Although you aren’t rich, you aren’t that bad looking and you will not say you aren’t intelligent but when you compare yourself to someone like Alana, there will always be inferiority engraved in your mind. Not to mention that she has known Hannibal longer and better than you.

Hannibal's office door opens and Alana exits the door with Hannibal following her. “I heard what happened to you from Hannibal.” Alana stops in front of your desk and gives you her sympathetic smile. “Get well soon.” She gives you a pat on your shoulder and says her goodbye to you and Hannibal.

“Shall we?” Hannibal changes his focus towards you and you nod in agreement. Let him help you out of the office.

***

“So…,”

“So?” Hannibal glances at you momentarily while driving, asking you to continue what you have in mind.

“Dr. Bloom is really beautiful.” your small, joyless voice continues its sentence.

“Ah...yes indeed,” Hannibal replies casually.

Your eyes glance at the dark street. Hannibal’s office is located in a quite busy place and it’s nice to see less traffic when you get out of the area.

“Did both of you date?” you blurt it out. Your eyes widen in horrors as you blatantly just spill out something unprofessional. “Hanni-- Dr. Lecter, I-- I-- didn’t mean to pry on your personal life.”

Hannibal looks at you and lets out a laugh. Something really rare, something that you even have witnessed. The crinkle on his eyes when he laughs lets his somewhat cool and calm demeanor melted. It takes you sometimes to register on what just happens.

“I’m sorry my dear, that’s just quite funny.” Hannibal stops laughing and sends you a quick smile.

“Also that might not answer your question but the answer is no, Alana and I, we aren’t dating. I’m her mentor and our relationship is more of colleagues and friends.”

You aren’t sure why you hold your breath, but after listening to Hannibal's answer, you let out a long exhale, feeling that something heavy has been lifted up from your shoulders.

Hannibal’s Bentley stops in front of your apartment complex. Ever the gentleman that he is, Hannibal asks you if you need help. You decline his help as if you can’t embarrass yourself enough in one day.

“Before you go, I have something to tell you.” Like a deer caught in a headlight, you look at Hannibal. He switches on the light inside the car and pulls his bag from the backseat. He handed you several papers that looked likely to be a job application. Your eyes widen, vision blurry as a sudden tears drop from your eyes. This is it, maybe Hannibal has enough of your clumsiness. He doesn’t find you worthy as he sometimes needs to ‘babysit you’ when you do something you don’t intend to do.

Feeling that he may be approaching this the wrong way, Hannibal tries to comfort you. You put both of your hands in front of your chest, like a shield in a defensive manner. Try to accommodate his tall frame, awkwardly Hannibal turns his body to the passenger seat and embraces you. He shushing you and pat your heads

When your silent cry turns into a hiccup but more calmer, Hannibal pulls away from you. With a stutter, you explain to Hannibal that you understand if he doesn’t want you to work with him again and you are thankful that he’s been a very great employer to you.

“Hey,” Hannibal swipes the tears that rolls down on your cheeks with his thumbs, “--it’s not that. Look, my dear, the reason I handed this paper to you is not that I want to fire you, but I have been pretty impatient lately.”

You look at him, eyes full of question on what the fuck he means by that? Although you don’t let it out loud because you don’t want to make any rude comment. Because Hannibal doesn’t like that.

“I’m one of those people who do not agree with office romance.”

Office? Romance? What the hell? No one has any romance in the office, you thought.

“I have been pretty much intent to court you,” his eyes flicker to your lips and back to your reddish eyes. “Alana came today because she wants to give me the application personally, there’s a librarian vacancy in her University and I pretty much just want to hand it to you.” Your brain wiring, try to connect the words as if you forgot how to speak English.

“Apologize if I’m being rude my dear, but I have observed you for some time and I encourage myself to just lay it all here so I didn’t make you upset. Of course, if I am proven wrong, you can stay and still work as my secretary. No harm, the position will always be yours.”

“Hanni-- Hannibal, does this mean that you like ‘like’ me?”

He answers you with a quick nod and the smile that always makes your heart flutter. You try to reach Hannibal but your knee prevents you from doing such a thing. Hannibal let out a small chuckle as he finds your difficulty quite amusing.

You eye him in disbelief but your anger melts right away as his face gets closer to yours. His right hand's cup at the side of your face as his lips inches closer towards you. With eyes close, you feel the brushes of Hannibal’s lips. The kiss is soft and delicate as if he is just testing the water.

You let your hands sneak at the back of his collar as you seek more contact. Both of your lips slide and glide against each other. Letting out a whimper, you grant Hannibal’s tongue to slip past your lips. Teasing and flicking languidly, exploring something that makes you shudders in want.

After some time, Hannibal withdraws his lips from yours. Eyes fluttering open, you can see Hannibal’s pupils expand. He let his foreheads rest at yours while his hand still cups on your face. “So...I believe it is a 'yes''?” There's humor in his voice.

With a broad smile and less reddish eyes, you answer Hannibal with a confident nod and grant him another kiss on the lips.

As always, like, comment and reblog are really appreciated ❤️. Let me know what you think about this xo

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