Jane Austen in Chapter 1 of Persuasion: We are all well aware of why a widow with a good fortune would never want to marry again. I’m not even going to explain its so obvious.
Now a MAN deciding not to remarry, that requires a full paragraph of explanation…
real
Gotham as a collective: beating up people for money is normal but beating up Bruce Wayne for money is like kicking a confused golden retriever puppy, bad and wrong, doesn't understand what's happening or why you're being mean
Still haven’t finished Blood, Sex and Royalty yet (planning on finishing it this Thursday) but one thing I do really enjoy about it is how the actors show moments of silliness/levity or just human moments of exasperation with their characters. Obviously this production has them act with modern mannerisms but there are ways of doing this more historically in character. I’m thinking Jeremy Irons as Robert Dudley groaning and resting his head on the table during a frustrating council meeting or his facial expression as he mocks the Duke of Anjou, or in The Virgin Queen when Elizabeth balls up a piece of parchment and playfully throws it at Robert’s head which triggers lightheared parchment fight between two old friends. It’s absolutely delightful.
I feel like sometimes period dramas get too caught up in making their characters super serious and in earnest all the time, especially if the characters are well known historical figures. But they were still humans too - they would have pulled faces, rolled their eyes, shared inside jokes with their friends and have moments of awkardness or bursts of emotions. They didn’t always have the perfect one-liner ready as a response. They were not cool and collected all the time, even if they were monarchs - and especially when they were not on display. I seriously doubt Elizabeth for example walked around in her private rooms, back straight and face impassive for example. Which is why when Cate Blanchett’s Elizabeth audibly sighs with relief and her shoulders slump forward after her heavy coronation mantle is taken off of her, or when she gets flustered and frustrated preparing for her first big speech to Parliament, it feels so wonderfully human.
Shows like Wolf Hall, The Tudors and even the Starz historical dramas I think sometimes lean too far into presenting themselves as “serious” historical dramas that they make their characters larger than life and forget the fact that they also were human beings.
I just watched some chaotic moments from The Great British Bake Off and I desperately, desperately want a cooking competition AU where Bruce is just this little agent of adorable chaos
It still takes place during the pandemic, so the contestants must bake from their own kitchens. If course, formalities aside, this is national television and people still want to look their best.
Bruce? He shows up in his fancy little robe with a Nirvana shirt under, hair a bird's nest from taking a clinical nap, but somehow still fluffy, some smudged eyeliner still drying under his eyes. The very definition of a hot mess.
Alfred is clearly seen face-palming behind him and Bruce is very oblivious to it. He's just fighting for his life trying to smear frosting on his little cupcakes.
The cupcakes are literally melting in his hands and he's like " That's good enough, isn't it?"
" No, you fuckin' muppet--"
" Mr. Pennyworth, no swearing please"
" Oh I'm sorry. What's next, forbid me from breathing?"
Bruce is such a spoiled brat and everyone has such a good time watching him pout at Alfred to do the work for him. Sometimes the judges just fail him to watch him pout and throw a little tantrum
Of course, little Dick Grayson is there to help (read: Make things harder for Bruce) as much as he can.
Which includes napping on his dad's shoulder, occasionally waking up when Bruce needs a taste tester. Bruce makes the news all because his little sweetheart eating cake from his hand half asleep
Bruce and Alfred have a bigger challenge; Trying to hide Batman.
[Bat screeching from the cave]
Bruce, looking straight to the camera: Ignore that
Rhaenys: Whether it's to my daughter or to someone else's, your father will remarry sooner than late. His new wife will produce new heirs, and chances are better than not that one of those will be male. And when that boy comes of age and your father has passed, the men of the realm will expect him to be heir, not you. Because that is the order of things.
Rhaenyra: When I'm Queen, I will create a new order.
Rhaenys: How I wish that could be, Rhaenyra. But the men of the realm already had their opportunity to appoint a ruling queen at the Great Council and they denied it.
Rhaenyra: They denied you, Princess Rhaenys. "The Queen Who Never Was." But they bent the knee to me and called me heir to the throne.
Rhaenys: Do you remind your father's men of that as you carry their cups? Here is the hard truth, which no one else has the heart to tell you. Men would sooner put the realm to the torch than see a woman ascend the Iron Throne. And your father is no fool.
Chrys Watches Got [x] / requests for individuals [x]
Maybe the thing that makes Austen the gold standard of romance is her focus on "esteem" as the all-important factor in a relationship. Your partner has to be someone you can respect. They have to have traits you admire. You have to value them, not just for the security they can provide or the feelings they give you, but as a separate, unique person.
This is so different from the bad romances I see in so many other places, where the two people are attracted to each other almost against their will. They'll be like, "I hate him and everything he stands for, but I just can't stop thinking about him," or the girl will obsess over the guy's body or whatever. We're supposed to believe that this attraction overcomes all the obstacles so they'll fall in love. But as a reader, I'm looking on like, "Okay, but do you even like him? What is there that you find admirable about him? Do you respect his judgement, his skills, his values? Why am I supposed to believe he'll be a good partner for you just because you stopped bickering for five minutes?"
Austen doesn't forget that the purpose of a romance is not to find someone who makes you happy now, but someone who'll be a good partner to help you navigate the rest of your adult life. You have to engage your mind as well as your heart to find someone that you can respect as a separate person before you can join hands in marriage.
Something funny to me about Percy Jackson is the family tree. The greek gods were wild and married and had kids with relatives. It's all pretty fucking incest-y dude. But that makes the demogods related too. Like. Lemme point out a few connections.
Percy - Annabeth: 1st cousins once removed
Percy - Nico: 1st cousins
Percy - Piper: 1st cousins once removed* OR she is his great-great-great-grand aunt/cousin**
Piper - Leo: 1st cousins ALSO could be in a weird kinda stepsibling situation because Aphrodite and Hephaestsus are divorced
Like what's that like??
______
Demigod #1: ugh you're a bitch
Demigod #2: I'm your aunt so shut up!!
______
Percabeth: making out, living the life, happy for fucking once
New demigod: you're actually cousins. Did you know? You're kissing a family member :D
Percabeth:
______
You're some poor guy listening to group of weird fucked up teens and half of them are dating. Then one of them fucking just looks at you and is like
"Technically we're all related you know"
* According to Homer, Aphrodite is Zeus' kid
** Aphrodite is Uranus' kid, who is Zeus' like great-grandfatger, according to Hesiod
*sighs* yes, aegon’s claim is actually very valid. he is not some second distant cousin pretender usurper. he is first born son of a king, in a land, where male primogeniture is an actual legal thing.
“viserys, the king, named rhaenyra an heir. not aegon.” - well, that’s nice and all but did he legally changed the primogeniture? did he made an actual law that woman when elder was to inherit instead of their younger male counterpart? no, he didn’t because that would challenge his own position. that’s the joke. viserys wanted rhaenyra to be the queen, which is totally fair and reasonable, but he was too comfortable to take the kingship from rhaenys.
viserys wasn’t some kind of progressive feminist king - he just had favorite child. and aegon, while ill-fitted to be the king, had a good claim. if viserys wasn’t the blind fool he was, he would realized that but he didn’t. that’s all.
What does the arab in your carrd mean? Is it like afab and amab?
.. i’m palestinian