slf

God, Max. I couldn't stand him. Right from the beginning. I think poorly of teachers that become involved with a student's parent, it's just so inappropriate. I completely agreed with Emily when she told Lorelai it was a bad idea, though of course that just convinced Lorelai that they were some kind of dramatic, star-crossed lovers situation which led to overwrought declarations about how much she wanted to be with him. And then when they finally were actually together they lasted what? Six months? I swear Lorelai was into that relationship largely for the wrong reasons (I do think she had some feelings for him I just don't think she ever really loved him). As much as I agreed with Emily perhaps she should have said, "Oh, Lorelai, I think that's just wonderful! When can we meet him?" Decent chance Lorelai would have run screaming.

Charlotte really looks like her dad when she smiles.

I'm happy Harry and Meghan included information for victims of intimate partner violence who are having to isolate/quarantine with their abusers. It's a nightmare situation and there's a lot of confusion and lack of information regarding what options a victim might have (it's my understanding that in the states you can still get an order of protection but I'm not sure how any of that works in the UK).

I don't think they changed Dean at all. He was only a "Bad Boy" in Rory's world and season one Rory was about as buttoned-down as it got. They were pretty consistent with his character. Dean was never portrayed as a classic Bad Boy, like Jess was. A lot of that hype was just Lorelai's fears which were pretty quickly disproven; he was always respectful of Lorelai and other adults, if he acted smart and someone got serious with him he was quick to change his behavior, he was quick to get a job and always attended school, wasn't into fighting with other guys, was loyal to Rory, etc. He was shown to adapt over time to the small town life and as early as the fifth or sixth episode of season one it was made clear he had "traditional" values. As far as his intelligence is concerned he was never shown to be gifted or even especially well-read. (Hunter Thompson isn't advanced and lots of people read him in high school.) ASP struggles with writing normal people because she wants almost every character in her show to be quick-witted and capable of making obscure references no matter their personality, age, education level, etc. So while Dean has the typical ASP sense of humor he isn't the sort of character for whom intellect is considered, rightly or not, a defining trait. And like Rory he didn't get better with age.

Damn she looks beautiful. Though it's hard to look bad with a face like that.

To each their own, I guess. I think the cape is what makes the outfit.

She does, as does Kate Middleton. Someone recently posted a picture of her playing some sport and the leggings she was wearing were a bit bloused around the ankles. I noticed it because I've honestly never seen that before.

No, the cape is sitting just as it's meant to.

Wrinkles aside (which don't bother me and I didn't take note of until other people pointed them out; people's clothes are often wrinkled when getting out of the car) I love Meghan's green outfit. Not just the color but the cape and hat as well. It reminds me of 1950s fashion. Sleek and elegant but dramatic.

Gotta disagree about Peter Phillips. He looks like Prince William, just with more hair and color. Harry is the most attractive of any of them and even he isn't particularly good-looking. The women tend to be far more attractive than the men in the BRF.

This is how I feel about pretty much every single man in the BRF.

This isn't new but was unknown to me until I was doing a little fact-checking about Natalie Portman's filmography. Her first film was Leon, aka The Professional, starring Jean Reno and directed by Luc Besson. She was 12. Luc Besson's first wife, Maiwenn, was cast in the film in a minor role and she's in a special feature on the dvd where she claims the film is loosely based on her relationship with Besson. Presumably, she isn't referring to the film's plot of a hitman who decides to protect a young girl but rather the emotional relationship between the hitman and child. When they first met Maiwenn was 12 and Besson was 29. They began dating three years later when she was 15. She gave birth to their child the following January. Nothing I've found suggests the child was born premie and Maiwenn's birthdate is April 17. Count back from January, y'all, consider her comments about Leon and draw your own conclusions. Dutch-Belgian actress Sand Van Roy said she was raped four times during “a controlling professional relationship" with the director that lasted two years. Besson called it a relationship "of subordination" but denies the allegation. 7 other women have come forward, all requesting anonymity, accusing Besson of rape or sexual harassment. One is a former assistant who said he sexually harassed her as well as coerced and blackmailed her into a relationship, another is a casting director who accused him of rape, one is an actress who "told prosecutors that she had to escape on "her hands and knees" from an audition in Besson's Paris office in 2002". Besson denies those allegations as well.

I always liked the Tok'Ra- the idea of two beings coexisting like that, sharing every memory and feeling, is fascinating and I don't think the show ever really did any of that justice. (More should have come of Sam being left with the knowledge, memories, and feelings of Jolinar. We learn in subsequent encounters with the Tok'Ra how common it is for the symbiote or host to heavily influence the other in terms of personality. Is that something Sam struggled with? Not to mention the way they just ignored her having naqadah in her blood.) But goddamn is Delek an asshole. He's the Council member in Death Knell who tells Jacob/Selmak that the Council has been running ops behind their back. I get when he says that Jacob, rather than Selmak, seems to be the dominant personality and how that clearly chafes. The Tok'Ra are their own people with their own culture and protocols and politics, etc. Trying to have their own society while living inside of other sentient beings can't be easy. The hosts have personalities and cultures that are going to influence things which is unavoidable if the Tok'Ra are going to take hosts ethically. How do you balance the two? All of the oldest Tok'Ra we saw in the first few seasons relinquished control to their hosts far more often than the Tok'Ra that rose up the ranks in subsequent seasons. In fact, after a certain point in the series Jacob is the only host you ever hear speak. A lot of the younger Tok'Ra who stepped into leadership roles as the older ones died or were killed seemed more...militant. Even relatively sympathetic ones like Malek, who told Jack he had no problem whatsoever with the symbiote queen and her offspring being experimented on because the Goa'uld had done far worse to humans, did not once let his host speak. (Which is notable to me also because I recall Martouf, iirc, explaining they prefer to let the hosts deal with humans because it makes humans more comfortable. By season six or so that consideration is out the window.) Then there's Delek flat out saying that the Tau'ri haven't had their spirits broken by thousands of years of subjugation by the Goa'uld- and that while that can be an asset is makes them dangerous. So while he probably opposes the killing and enslavement of humans, he does find the effects of enslavement to have a positive benefit for the Tok'Ra in terms of producing proper (meeker) hosts. Maybe the most punchable Tok'Ra from the entire series.

And Charles hasn't fired that man because? What a lovely family they are.

Most isn't all and one public accuser doesn't mean one victim. Natalie Portman was 14/15 when she made a movie with Hutton called Beautiful Girls. The dynamic between their characters is very uncomfortable. His character never tries anything that I recall but he's very obviously attracted to her, calling her hot, and gets jealous of her talking to a boy her own age (he watches her from his bedroom window). Portman said if it, "It definitely made me shy away from that kind of role. And there’s a surprising preponderance of that kind of role for young girls. Sort of being fantasy objects for men, and especially this idealized purity combined with the fertility of youth, and all this in one.”