I Don’t Usually Talk About My Personal Life Here, But I Really Need To Vent. 

If Martin had finished the books earlier I think we’d all have a different opinion on different plot points, but because he waited so long we’ve just built things up in our heads for years now so that nothing he writes can live up to what we want. He’s essentially screwed himself on so many levels.

i feel like when/if twow comes out(when he’s not distracting himself) it’ll divide so many ppl who made theories thinking its canon and if anything contradicts this in a book that’s been cooking for more than a decade(not to mention grrm kinda went everywhere in his world building and characters) , the fandom is just going to go nuclear

Sanditon seems like it might do better on a bigger budget streaming service.

Vote for Sanditon on Hulu

Hulu subscribers, you can vote for Hulu to pick up Sanditon - like they picked up The Mindy Project. You need to log in, then go to Ideas and search for Sanditon. Then vote!

https://community.hulu.com/s/ideas

We need another more mature adaptation, even if it’s clearly only for older kids/teens/adults with all of the details the TV series and family-friendly books choose to overlook or quietly sweep under the rug because it wasn’t family-friendly.

How Little House on the Prairie Butchered Almanzo Wilder

From Micheal Landon to Dean Butler, this list will explore everything wrong- and right- with the portrayal of Almanzo Wilder.

(In all fairness, I don’t think Butler has as much to do with this ghastly portrayal of his on-screen character as those who worked behind the scenes. He also admitted he tried his hardest to insure “the audience knew Laura would be safe with him” which came across well on screen.)

We never see his heroic act of saving De Smet

While Dean Butler saves the blind school by working two jobs, we never see Almanzo’s legendary journey to save the town. The real Almanzo Wilder and his brother Royal hoarded grain during the hard winter of 1880-1881 until Charles Ingalls, Laura’s father, confronted them about it. It was then that Almanzo and a close friend, Cap Garland, went in search of wheat to feed their starving town. They made the treacherous journey and managed to save the town, including Laura’s family.

It was a pivotal point in one of Laura’s novels, The Long Winter, and is ultimately the reason why Almanzo is deemed worthy of Laura. The audience sees him save the blind school and become seriously unwell because of that, but they never see his true defining moment.

We don’t see his second heroic act of taking Laura out of a volatile situation

In order to help support her family, Laura became a teacher. It meant she had to travel outside of her home town and board near the school. This meant she had to stay in the only homestead with enough space. The owners, the Bouchies, did not welcome her with open arms. Instead, Laura recalls Mrs Bouchie being sullen and being both aggressive towards her and Mr Bouchie. She also recalls Mrs Bouchie threatening her husband with a knife, proclaiming she wanted to go “back east”. In Laura’s books, she changes their surname to “Brewster”, but the story remains more or less the same.

To take her home each weekend, Almanzo would drive her home regardless of weather. For Laura, she was glad to leave the dangerous household, even if it meant braving Dakota blizzards.

This act of kindness continued for the entire time Laura taught at that school. She made it clear that she was only going with him to see her family, and that she did not reciprocate whatever he felt for her. He continued, and eventually she did fall for him.

He’s whinny, immature and acts like a petulant child

The real-life Almanzo Wilder was calm, persistent and reasonable. He never demanded anything of Laura, and even admired how independent she was. He never demanded anything from her, and remained patient when attempting to court her.

While we see this with Dean Butler’s portrayal in later seasons, he acts controlling and stubborn. This is particularly clear when Laura is forced to make a choice between her Pa and Almanzo, and he forces her to choose.

We never see any of his gifts to Laura

The beautiful pantry he made for her in their little house remained absent throughout the television series. Not only this, but the little slay he made for their dog to pull for Laura was also missing. He made it so she could still ride about in the snow while pregnant, which she used every day. Laura, at eighteen, would tumble of the sled into the snow, laughing and acting like the young woman she was. In fact, the one day she didn’t he became concerned at her sudden need for rest. It turned out that Laura was in labour with her first child, and he soon called the doctor.

In the adaptation we don’t get to see any of this, but why?

We don’t see their relationships for what it was

For the most part the audience doesn’t see their 19th century relationship. Almanzo peruses Laura even though she makes it clear she only goes with him on sleigh rides to get to the Bouchie school and back. He continued the strenuous journey for her benefit, proving what kind of man he really is.

We never see the exchange they have, the night he drove her home from the Bouchie’s during a deathly blizzard. He makes the trip and brings her home, keeping her awake during the trip so she doesn’t fall asleep- as Laura puts it, if you fall asleep in those temperatures, you don’t wake back up. He even later admits to being in “two minds” about it, and how Cap Garland encourages him with the line “God hates a coward.” Laura asks him if he really went to get her on a dare, yet he tells her “”No, it wasn’t a dare,” Almanzo said. “I just figured he was right.””

The audience also never sees how their first house together burned to the ground, and how Laura was terrified of his reaction - “what will Manly say to me?” The relief that he isn’t furious with her, but instead finds her on the ground and comforts her is also absent, taking the heart of the story with it.

Dean Butler’s portrayal, in the early years, would have probably left Laura at the Bouchie school and later screamed at her for burning down their house (or maybe just stormed out of town.)

We don’t see his famous pancakes

A large part of the later Little House books is Almanzo and his brother and their perfect pancakes. Sure, it’s a minor detail, but we all wanted to try them. (Where’s the recipe, Laura?)

Or his elder brother, for that matter

Royal isn’t actually a part of the television series as he only shows up twice- two different actors with three different children. He’s simply an add-on to the Ingalls-Wilder storyline.

The real Royal Wilder was a bachelor for the entirety of the book series. He was supportive of Almanzo and Laura and went as far as to care for them when they came down with Diphtheria.

Laura’s bout of diphtheria is also absent

While the television series does show Almanzo’s sickness Laura doesn’t show any symptoms. Laura, in fact, was the one who first developed symptoms and their daughter was already born. While Laura was unwell, Rose was sent to her grandparents and Almanzo cared for her until, he too, became sick. It was then that Royal came to take care of them as he was a bachelor and had no family himself.

Laura, was in fact, the sickest. She describes it as “severe” whereas Almanzo only suffered mild symptoms. She wrote, “Laura’s attack had been dangerous, while Manly’s was light.”

Almanzo’s “stroke” was also not portrayed correctly. Instead, after his illness, he went to get up one morning and found his legs could not carry him. It was mentioned that after rubbing them, circulation returned and he was able to go into town to see the doctor. He was told it was “a stroke of paralyse” and was most likely a complication of diphtheria.

Almanzo’s encouragement

Laura was often encouraged by Almanzo, even if it was unintentional. He asked her to drive Barnum, instead of telling her to “go back to the kitchen”. When Almanzo went to his parent’s farm for Christmas, he lent her Lady and the buggy so she could go for rides still. He even let her buy her own colt, and is part of the reason why she wrote the series.

We don’t see him encourage Laura to be who she is. He strikes the word “obey” from their vows, and tells her about how no decent man would keep that word in there. Laura isn’t a suffragette, but it’s a feminist moment in its own right.

Michael Landon, why turn a perfectly reasonable pioneer into a controlling husband? Sure, he’s “protective” but why make him even more backwards than an actual pioneer?

He often acted impulsively, but not selfishly

The real AJ Wilder is boyish, ambitious and adventurous. He isn’t always wise- he’s a true hero when it comes to saving the town, but at the same time he is risking his own life. He drives Laura through a deadly blizzard even against better judgement, just because he can’t see anything worse than being labelled a coward. He encourages a young woman to drive a “runaway” horse through town. He lets his heavily pregnant wife play in the snow, with a dog and sled. He drives their baby and Laura to her parents’ house during the winter because she missed them, and her family are furious that they took the risk.

Instead, we see a farmer who carries out impulsive acts differently. Almanzo’s real acts were selfless, whereas the character’s actions are nothing short selfish.

Dean Butler just didn’t look like Almanzo

Finally, the real Manly had brown hair and couldn’t have been further from Dean Butler appearance. It’s a small thing, but it is a little bothersome for die-hard fans.

It’s like a bunch of annoying teenage girls are telling us this story... Damn you Reign - lazy historical writing strikes again!

What level of Evul™ TV Henry VIIIs are you on a scale of Damian Lewis getting drunk and talking about his sex life in Wolf Hall to Mark Stanley growling “YOU PROMISED ME SUNNNSSSS” like an actual demon in the new Anne Boleyn trailer

Even though we didn’t get to see Sansa and Arya’s reactions to Jon’s parentage reveal, their next scenes subtly show how they process this information.

Arya, who previously worked so hard to return to her family and went out of her way to call Jon her brother (not her half-brother), now wants to go to Kings Landing to finish her hit list. 

Inconsistent character development? You might say that, but I have another theory. Arya only came home because she heard Jon had helped retake Winterfell, but when she arrives home he’s not there, Sansa and Bran are two very different people, and the loving family reunion she expected from Jon is ruined by the arrival of his new girlfriend and the impending war against the Night King. 

When we first see Arya this season she is standing with the commoners outside Winterfell watching Jon and Daenerys arrive. She smiles when she sees Jon, only to be disappointed when he rides right by her without recognizing her. This could be why she isn’t there when Jon walks into Winterfell--she’s sulking. Her reunion with Jon doesn’t go as planned because she has to defend Sansa and remind him that he needs to keep his family’s interests in mind. 

She reawakens her humanity (and dormant sexuality) with Gendry. After sleeping with him she looks...calm, disappointed? Maybe the experience wasn’t what she expected. Maybe she expected having sex would make her feel powerful and whole, maybe she thought it’d make her feel fully connected with someone for the first time in many years. Instead she stares off into space, probably thinking of the upcoming battle.

Then in 8x03 she saves the day by killing the Night King...only to not show up at the feast a few days later, where she SHOULD be the guest of honor, but is instead only thanked by Daenerys once in a toast which she doesn’t even see. Instead of joining her family and the other survivors, she training by herself all alone in the dark until Gendry arrives. 

Gendry proposes, but she declines because “that’s not me.” She doesn’t know how to do anything but fight. Revenge and hate have become a part of her, more than anyone else in her family, even Sansa. She doesn’t know the first thing about being a “lady” or a wife or anything but a nameless, faceless girl that used to be Arya Stark. 

She finally learns about Jon’s true parents off screen after calling Daenerys out and reminding Jon about the importance of family and protecting his own. The next time we see her she’s on her way to King’s Landing, back on the path to revenge. Why not stay home and let the others take care of Cersei? She previously said that she doesn’t trust Daenerys and now that she knows Jon isn’t completely a Stark, maybe she feels she can’t fully trust Jon either? Sure he’s still the man she grew up with and called brother, but Jon isn’t Jon anymore in the larger scheme of things. Arya might even think Jon going south and siding with a Targaryen (and maybe one day accepting that he is one too) is a betrayal of his Stark heritage and his Stark family.

Arya doesn’t expect to come back from her final mission. She doesn’t know how to live in her old home anymore. She doesn’t know how to be the Arya Stark she used to be and the Arya Stark everyone else wants her to be. She thinks she has no place in Westeros after Cersei’s death. But I hope the next two episodes prove her wrong. 

We are approaching the end of Game of Thrones, so at this point in any good story all of the major characters must feel a sense of hopelessness and darkness before the light at the end of the tunnel. Daenerys is loosing all of her allies, Jon suddenly realizes he’s not who he thought he was, and, likewise, Arya is questioning her identity and her own place in the world. 

I think she’ll find it, one way or another, by the time the show ends. 

Man had some problems

Hi! I'm really enjoying your blog, your predictions for S2 and how you analyse the characters! I apologize if you already did this but I'm curious about your thoughts regarding Edward (especially if you think he cares about Esther) and Clara as characters and about the nature of their relationship with each other. Thank you and happy holidays!

Hey, nonnie!

So sorry to take this long to answer your ask. I was so consummed with my fanfic in December and then so tired I didn’t manage to get to these meatier asks sooner. Hopefully, you’re still interested in my answer.

I haven’t actually talked about Edward Denham on my blog before, aside from a little comment in one of my first metas about him and Esther being Davies’ take on Mary and Henry Crawford from Mansfield Park. In fact at the start of the series the Mansfield Park connection is completed with Clara in the place of the innocent ingenue Fanny Price that is to be seduced by the rake with his sister’s support.

One of the coolest things Davies does with Sanditon is that he takes full advantage of our Jane Austen proficency by littering this world with all the familiar Austen archetypes. But just as soon as you begin to lament that this world offers too much of the familiar and not enough of the strange, he pulls the rug from under you and reveals these characters to be something else entirely.

And no one exemplifies this better than Esther. The cold, mercenary harpy bent on swindeling her aunt and ruining a poor girl’s reputation in the process is revealed to be the true victim of this little traingle. A girl who fell in love with a bad man without any chance of escaping him. And the innocent ingenue? Well … Clara is about as far removed from Fanny Price as one can get.

However, the one character that remains unaltered, in fact the character that holds the fewest surprises in the whole of Sanditon is Edward. He is exactly as advertised: the Henry Crawford bent on seducing virginal Fanny, Wickham planning to “whisk” Georgiana away, Willoughby playing with Marianne and then discarding her.

I actually think Willoughby might actually be the closest analog to Edward. Willoughby is, by far, in my mind the worst of Austen’s villians. A true, clinical case of narcisism if there’s every been one.

Willoughby and Edward aren’t dangerous simply because they will use you to get money the way Wickham does or because they want to saw wild oats. They are dangerous because they are perfectly willing to gaslight and use their victims for as long as they possibly can.

They aren’t content to simply go on their merry way once it becomes clear you’ve figured out their true character. They will come back and prod as many times as possible, searching for any weakness which might allow them entry back into your life. Their objective isn’t just material (although both Edward and Willighouby love luxuary when they get it without having to work for it) but emotional as well.

Everytime Esther relents to Edward, everytime she follows his lead, his influence over her grows.  Their relationship is all the more damaging and dangerous because she’s stuck in a house with him 24/7.

The worst part of it is, Edward doesn’t trick Esther by making her believe he is better than he is. She sees all his ugliness, his faults, his selfishness and ego. What he does is far worse: he makes her believe she is as bad as him.

He takes this naturally honest, compassionate and intelligent woman and twists her up into a shell of herself. He breakes down her selfesteem to such a degree that while she’s with him, she convinces herself of her own immorality and after she finally manages to leave him, she thinks of herself as worthless for having allowed herself to be manipulated by him. She is in a lose-lose situation either way.

Esther’s relationship with Edward is scary, sad and very, very real in a way that becomes all the more uncomfortable, the more you think about it so it’s hard to talk about love in this context.

The real question is: can someone who is inherently unhealthy love in a positive way? I do think Edward probably loves her but his way of loving is tained by his own twisted personality so it’s not something worth having in any case.

As for his relationship with Clara, on the surface it’s a classic cat and mouse game. But I do think beneath all that is some sort of twisted attraction probably born from selfloathing. They can recognize something of themselves in each other and they end up forming a bond, if their last conversation is any indication:

Edward: The vanquished enemy retreats.

Clara: I was never your enemy.

[…]

Clara: Look at you … Alone and unloved. Trust me. That’s not an easy placeto find yourself in. I will spare you a thought now and then. I know you will think of me.

I do think in a theoretical season 2, Edward and Clara would be back, possibly scheeming together.

Thanks for the ask!

But you see it’s not me, It’s not my family In your head, in your head they are fighting With their tanks and their bombs And their bombs and their guns In your head In your head they are cryin’ In your head

- The Cranberries

I once saw a parent take their 7-10 year old child to see Prometheus. Needless to say, the child was traumatized by the alien birth scene. 

Also, I can’t help but laugh at the parents who let their 10-year-olds watch Deadpool and then complain about the language, violence, and sexual content in a film that is clearly rated R. 

why the fuck would you bring young children to an 11 pm screening of “Joker.” There is absolutely nothing in that movie for children, what are you doing. It’s almost midnight and this movie is rated “R”

I don’t know about anyone else but I don’t go to late night screenings of R rated movies with the expectation that there will be children in the theater with me. 

At least once the children actually started getting upset she left, but jeez, maybe make sure a movie is appropriate for children before you buy tickets. 

Sansa : What about the North? Dany : Let it go…let it go…!  I can imagine Emilia Clarke singing.