BlackberryJam

I’m enjoying Joel more and Maggie less so far. Joel, for all of his Fish Out of Water complaining, goes to the events, does the naked man run. Sometimes it’s complaining just to hear himself talk. Maggie, on the other hand, is a harder sell. She’s seeing Rick but willing to sleep with Chris, kissing Joel and flies off the handle a lot. Shelley’s TV addiction so reminded me of COVID lockdown, people sitting like zombies in front of their TVs watching absolutely anything, unshowered…just ..bad. I still adore Marilyn. I see Ed as a much more tragic figure than I had before.

Gillian Anderson’s dress was embroidered with vulvas and I love it. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/a46315978/gillian-anderson-golden-globes-2024-dress-vulva/

Meryl. Hate the pussy bow, but she look amazing.

Jonathan Bailey did the casual white suit 100x better than Andrew Scott.

Margot Robbie as Super Star Barbie is red carpet perfection.

Why not a COY year sandwich? I’m down.

The Holling/Shelley relationship is interesting, looking at it with a modern perspective. Shelley is 18. Holling is, I think, 63. I’m still in S1, but it’s portrayed very much with Shelley as the one pursuing and pushing the relationship. She is not framed as the “innocent young girl” pursued by the older, skeevy Holling. Instead, Shelley has prior relationships and sexual experience. It is Maurice who brought Shelley to Cicely. It’s the Maurice/Shelley relationship with the skeevy power dynamic. Shelley is given the agency to leave Maurice and approach Holling. I’m not going to say she pursued Holling though. She apparently went to him and said, “if you want me, I’m yours.” Holling said yes. They are a monogamous couple from then on. Even though Shelley is presented as somewhat child-like, she has the power in the relationship. Holling doesn’t parent her. I wonder if I will continue to be comfortable with the relationship, but right now, it’ s not giving me the ick. Well, I mean, imagining Holling as a sex machine gives me the ick, but that’s just me ;)

It’s been so long that while I remember the characters, I’ve forgotten so many of the storylines. I love Marilyn so much. Wow, Maurice’s casual anti-Semitism and homophobia…he was never a favorite, but I’d forgotten that.

It's now streaming on Prime!

A comedy? Is that some weird throwback that sexual abuse of boys is funny? Ugh. I read where Vili, the real Joe, is upset that he wasn’t consulted. I don’t know where to draw that line, when making a film based on real events, is there an obligation to seek out the people who lived it? I instinctively say no, but this feels like exploiting Vili all over again.

Boo Radley and Tom Hagen. Two characters I’ve always loved.

Yes, I think Vera did say that Annie didn't know about Daniel and had been living with guilt for years.

I watched it yesterday. It was…okay. Predictable. Well-acted. Felt a bit like Dead Poets Society fanfiction.

Hello Stannis Baratheon.

I think your first sentence, if turned into a tweet, is likely to go viral in the fanfic community :)

@ESS @Annber03SoA was very problematic when it came to the female characters. I actually remember one scene where all the men decided they needed a new income stream so they voted to get into the porn industry, and essentially make money off women's backs, and the women were happy with that. That's when I noped out of the show. The big problem gaining support for your rarepair is that the woman actually killed the female main character/male main character's love interest. I mean, that's hard to come back from. It's bothersome when people don't see the ship in the same way, and the fic gets no traction or interest. I just don't think with this particular couple that it's going to change, no matter how great your fic is. Rarepair shipping is lonely. @JustHereForFoodPretty much every GoT ship was problematic. Maybe Renly/Loras were okay? But Renly died early in S1. I get that J/B didn't work for everyone, and yeah, Jaime shoved that kid out a window in the pilot, but the acting chemistry just sold it. S3 Jaime and Brienne is, for me, one of the best road trips in fiction. It's got bathtubs, swords, fainting, confessions, a villain with a lisp, mud, amputations and fights with a bear. There is a great J/B fic where both are trans. It's incredibly well done. The tagging issue is always there though, isn't it? Should everything be tagged even if it spoils the story? Or tag nothing and just issue a general warning? I am of the opinion that kinks should be tagged. I once stumbled upon an untagged lactation kink fic. I can't unread that. I think it's easier for writers to take existing characters and make them trans/bi/gay/pan/asexual, etc. Writing is hard. It's even harder when you're stepping in complicated waters. This isn't the spot for it, so I'm just linking to a post I made in Books. That author has another book with a lesbian lead.

You’d think that, right? But no.

I enjoyed the Madam Blanc Christmas episode, although I'm not sure where they are going with the police detective. Then again, I love everything with Jeremy and Judith. Those characters have to be so much fun to play. I find Dom to be the least interesting.

Writing for a couple the fandom hates requires a pretty thick skin. I barely watched SOA, but I remember the really bad act committed by one of your pair, @ESS. And now that the show is over, there is no redemption arc coming. That really sucks for you. I don't think there is a way for you to pull people into interest about the pair. There are just too many other shows out there, too much new content, for new viewers to become interested. The original viewers have moved on. If you're going to keep at the story, I think you're going to have to accept that your audience isn't going to become larger or more invested. However, that doesn't mean you should quit. Maybe move your personal goalposts to make it a "win" just to finish the story, no matter who reads it. Is it something you can then turn into original fic? As I mentioned, I am a Jaime and Brienne fan from Game of Thrones. The fic community is still somewhat active and AO3 hit 10k fics this year, which means about 500 new ones from last year. My frustration is there is a movement towards certain kinks and sexual preferences that just don't work for me. I am all for inclusivity/exploration/creating spaces. I think there should be room for all kinks. However, it seems like 70% of the new fics make at least some allusion to pegging. I just don't get it. I've read/seen all the canon more than once and I just don't get how fans are insisting Jaime is begging to be pegged. Maybe it's some fandom "in" joke that I just don't get. It's to the point where I pull up a new fic and Ctrl-F for the word "peg" to see if it comes up. If it does, I'm out. I hate feeling that way, but it's like the pegging kink has taken over.

So I'm freaking out. I would have sworn the Rooster Harlin character, with that terrible accent, was played by Rupert Vansittart, but No. It was Corey Johnson, an American actor. Thanks for cluing me in! Also, I kept expect Havers to show up there with Inspector Lynley. There needs to be a British detective show actor bingo card.

I was really bothered by the dog collar murder. It was just so cruel. I love Fleur, but agree they are pushing her towards parody. I think Winter needs a girlfriend.

Is anyone reading or has anyone read Strange Sally Diamond by Liz Nugent? I'm partway through and having some feelings.

...Said the 2023/2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. They are dreadful and come out with yet another win. Tony Romo could continue his mumblefuckery if he had a decent voice. Dude always sounds like he's just back from Cheerleading Nationals and sucked lemons on the bus ride back.

I don’t know anyone who thinks it’s a documentary. As a fictional account, by ignoring the actual events, it results in a thin and dull narrative. It doesn’t have to be a documentary to be good. It does have to create interesting and full characters acting in reasonable and understandable ways. The season’s one-note Diana, weak-willed Dodi and mustache-twirling MouMou were one dimensional and their actions didn’t make sense.

I agree about third person POV. Despite the likability issues and easy mystery, I was still drawn in. I hope that the author settles in a bit and plots stronger mysteries now that she’s established the character, setting and backstory.