[S01E02: Cursed]

Maybe if I had read the book (or books?), all of this would have made sense and felt significant, but as it was I spent the whole first episode asking "Why do the villagers hate and fear Nimue when she's not the only magic user in the village?", "Why do these guys in red cloaks hate the magic users so much?", "Why did that kid's hand turn green when the leaf touched it?" "Why couldn't the fairies fly away from their attackers?" "Why does the king let the red cloaks torture and kill his citizens with impunity?" "What is that?" "Where are they?" "What are the rules and cultures of this world?" "Why?" "What?" "Why?"

When I first watched GoT I had never read the books, but at no point was I confused about who the characters were or what their motivations were or what the hell was happening. If you're going to turn a book into a show, you need to establish the world and its characters. I would honestly take clunky exposition over whatever the hell this is.

The flashback to the bear attack really should have been the beginning of the first episode. It would have helped to establish Nimue as a character. It would have explained why the villagers hate and fear her in particular since she's been targeted by some powerful magical entity. It would have demonstrated how much of an outcast she felt despite her mother's love and the friendship of Pym and Squirrel, and why she refused the position of Summoner and wanted to run away. 

Are there limits to Nimue's magic? Can she only summon it sometimes but not others? Or has she suppressed her magic because of her bad history and now it just bursts out when she's particularly upset?  We haven't had anyone really explain why one of her own people can say something rude and she makes his bow strangle him, but while the red cloaks are slaughtering her whole village and she's being chased by wolves she just runs or cowers instead of using her magic, or even trying to use her magic.

[S01.E02: I Am No Bird, and No Net Ensnares Me]

I hated this episode. It is not canon and was so grim. When Anne almost got taken by the man in the train station (who I assumed was a pedophile) I nearly gave up watching. And then when she wises up and gets free we see him going to prey on two other children? Yeesh! Are some of these flashbacks and horrible circumstances realistic for the time period and the life of an orphan? Sure. But they just aren't in keeping with the original story.

I think I could just maybe get behind all this if this was meant to be a some kind of gritty reboot of Anne's story if the Cuthberts had sent her away, but since it's not, this is just a bizarrely depressing detour from the optimistic and uplifting story I grew up with.

[Josh & Anna Smuggar: A Series of Unfortunate Events]

It doesn't work that way. You can't spend 17 years and 364 days of your life being brainwashed, denied adequate education, and taught that your entire gender is flawed and only fit for breeding an army for Jesus, and then turn 18 years and one minute old and then be held accountable for every misfortune that befalls you because now you're an adult. I would expect that for most women brought up in this cult, it will take as many years for them to break free as it took their parents and Gothard to brainwash them to begin with, if they ever do break free at all. 

Do some women make it out on their own? Sure, and that is impressive, but it doesn't mean that every one who doesn't is worthy of derision. And to be frank, I've heard some nastier comments about Anna staying with Josh and having another baby than I have about Josh molesting his sisters, having affairs, and impregnating her with said baby.

[The Duggalos: Jinger and the Holy Goalie]

I'm not personally convinced that Jeremy is controlling, but supposing he is, he's controlling her in the direction of having more freedom than she's ever had in her life. She can go out alone without a chaperone, can wear brand new clothes in more diverse styles, is sharing a room with one person rather than eight, is no longer raising her siblings, is experiencing new places and hobbies not just as a plot line for the show, and the list goes on. She's away from the compound and finding her identity as an individual rather than just one of nineteen.

JB and Michelle are a hell of a lot more controlling, IMO, and if she seems like she's just blindly following Jeremy it's all due to the damage they inflicted on her growing up. So if Jeremy really is controlling, I say control on, because she's got a better thing going now than she ever had before.

[Sweet Fellowship: Duggars and Friends (aka the Bates Family and Other Featured Families Thread)]

In fairness to Erin, she said that her daughter's finger started swelling in the evening. She was probably already in full makeup and with her hair styled, because I'm pretty sure she does herself up every day. I think she is a bit vain, but in this case I would guess that she just went to the hospital the way she was, which just happened to be fully done up.

[The Duggalos: Jinger and the Holy Goalie]

At this point it seems as if nothing Jinger does will ever be interpreted as autonomous. She wears pants? It's Jeremy telling her to wear them so he can piss off Jim Bob. She spends less time with her family? Jeremy is isolating her. She goes months into her marriage without a pregnancy? Jeremy must be sneaking condoms or have forced her onto birth control. Every action she makes can (and has been) twisted to be an example of Jeremy controlling her. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. She might as well still be in skirts, running home to the compound whenever possible and knocked up, because at least the criticism would be fair.

[Josh & Anna Smuggar: A Series of Unfortunate Events]

I really can't hold any of this against Anna. She's in a very difficult situation and I think she's been pressured to stay with Josh from both sides of the family. I'm well educated and come from a loving supportive family that taught me how to live independently. If my husband turned out to be a creep, I would leave him in a heartbeat because I have the knowledge, support, and wherewithall to do so. Now, if I was brought up with limited education, in a family that devalues women, and taught my whole life that my duty was to be a breeder subservient to my husband, I don't know that I'd be able to just "snap out of it" and run to freedom as soon as shit hit the fan. For every one of those fundies who ran away from their terrible situations, there are about a hundred more who didn't and never will. If it was easy, every woman in a crappy situation would run away, but we all know they don't.

I think it's a damn shame that they're bringing another child into this mess, but that's what happens when you don't believe in using birth control and have to be joyfully available to your perverted husband.

[S12.E06: Hero or Hate Crime?]

This was great. I'm glad they're sticking with Mac accepting that he's gay.

For a minute I was really expecting the final arbitrator to claim the ticket for herself since she scratched it.

[Jessa, Ben and Their Brood: Making a (Diaper) Mountain out of a Mold House]

When I was pregnant last year I did a lot of maternity shopping and form-fitting stretchy shirts were the norm in stores, online, and in thrift shops. I only found a handful of shirts that had flowing waists. And the stretchy form-fitting hirts are the most versatile because I could wear mine from month 5 to birth and it would expand with me, and even post pregnancy without it looking too baggy or too much like I was still wearing maternity clothing  three months post-partum. I can't fault Jessa for wearing what is a very common and versatile maternity style.

Also, I think it's clear that when they say modest they mean "not revealing much skin", which she isn't. And I don't think they ever meant modest to mean "not seeking attention". I mean, they're on TV. So it isn't hypocritical, IMO. 

[Jill, Derick & the Kids: Moving On!!]

He looks pretty comfortable and happy snuggling with her on the couch. Maybe he even chose to "cling" to her and not the other way around.

[Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life Season 1]

On ‎12‎/‎12‎/‎2016 at 2:28 PM, Jack Shaftoe said:

But you are already fond of these characters and that's why you want to learn more about them.  The target audience of Rory's book would be people who have no clue who the Gilmores are.

I had no clue who the Gilmores were when I decided to watch the first episode of the show, but I was instantly hooked and intrigued to learn more. We here are definitely interested enough in Lorelai's and Rory's story to have watched seven seasons worth and to talk about it online. Yes, TV shows are different from books, but I don't think this show would have such a following if the entire concept was a snooze.

A book about a single mom turning her back on her privileged life to raise her daughter on her own terms would not be a guaranteed bestseller, but it is the kind of book I would read, and I could see it developing a decent sized audience if it was written well and marketed properly.