My Randomness

Mostly Xena...and other lesbian tv that I like, depending on my mood. Currently: lots and lots of Celia Silva (Seis Hermanas), my current fictional character soulmate.

[4alarmfirecracker]

Silvacre is back babyyyyy 🥰

[rivriv03]

Friday:

Silvacre (Amy Silva and Kirsten Longacre)

[4alarmfirecracker]

Finally gonna gif Vigil guys ! The videos I had couldn't be used as gif material but found a new one for at least ep 4 ! Of course that's the first episode I had to gif guys 🥰

[4alarmfirecracker]

Silvacre coffee hot chocolate first date

“So you do have a heart then, despite what you’re claiming.”

Bonus:

[natglee]

I am currently in a very Vigil mood. ♥♥♥

Season two is coming!

(Please don't ruin it, please don't ruin it, please don't ruin it...)

[sleepyleshen]

Today I rewatched both Fingersmith 2005 and The Handmaiden 2016 and I'm truly baffled that everyone prefers the over-the-top korean adaptation...

Those violence and sex scenes scream male writer. Focuses way more on the sex and violence, overall. Focuses a lot more on the men, particularly on the creepy uncle... The main characters, the two women, are way less fleshed out there, I think. Their scenes together are short, so it's harder to become emotionally invested in them. By this, I mean: the camera cuts away in like two seconds even if they're sharing a supposedly meaningful look. It's funny that, while it has a way more cathartic ending for our heroines than the older adaptation, it gives them less time to show who they really are. Everything just happens in succession with no pause to get to know them properly. No breather, just high after high after high.

Anyway, I wanted to rewatch them both in a row because, while I love Fingersmith for the plot, the exposition and the heartfelt performances, I felt uncomfortable the whole time watching The Handmaiden. Every time I see scissoring in a wlw film, I think: a guy wrote this... Aesthetically, it is very pleasant, but I think that actually reduces the impact of the core of the narrative. It distracts the viewer from the fact that it's a psychological thriller, that the characters are always in some kind of count down, or waiting, anxious for what is to come, and machine guns through plot points where it should delve.

Anyway, I think I just disliked this newer adaptation because it shifts the focus too much from the main characters and the sex scenes feel very male gaze-y... Of course, an adaptation owes nothing to the original, no matter how good or bad we find it, or to any other adaptations. Sarah Waters has stated she actually prefers The Handmaiden from the two, which makes sense since she was one of the three writers of the film.

I'm going to read the book, next, and make my final judgement on the three works of art.

[natglee]

I completely agree that Fingersmith is better than Handmaiden, by far. 

I think Handmaiden missed the point of the story completely, perhaps because the writer/director was so enthralled and titillated by the porn aspect of the original. To me Handmaiden for sure feels like it was written/directed from a male perspective, tho not necessarily because of the sex scenes. I found some parts cringe of the sex scenes cringe, but I liked other parts. However, I felt like Handmaiden was a story of falling in LUST, not in LOVE. That feels like a male perspective to me, equating lust with love. Hideko and Sookie spend the whole time lusting after each other very openly, but they barely talk (I swear they talk more to Gentelman than to each other). I don't mind the lust and them enjoying each other in bed, but it missed the development of the love, completely. 

You can also feel the "man" in how over the top the porn reading scenes were, how many of them there were, how much more perverted the uncle was, etc. In the book you never get the impression that the uncle is a pervert. He's a "librarian". I've always felt that, while memorable and attention grabbing, in the original story the books could've been about flowers and Maud still would've suffered the same because it was the isolation and life in that house that was destroying her. Handmaiden also gives much, much more attention and screentime to the Uncle and Gentleman, for no reason. We even have to endure Hideko almost having sex with Gentleman.

Enjoy the book, it's fantastic. It goes so much deeper into Maud.

[whatdoesshedotothem]

NEWS ON BEHALF OF ANNE LISTER ITALIA

Anne Lister's journals introduced us to Madame de Bourke, a dear friend of her who lived in Paris. She was the widowed countess of a Danish diplomat, with an intriguing and surprising life that began in Italy, since Maria Assunta Leonida Butini (her maiden name) was born in Siena, Tuscany. Our research sparked from Anne's journals, and thanks to documents we've found in archives between Naples and Copenhagen plus a few other biographical accounts, we have reconstructed her story.

🚨 Spoiler alert: unfortunately Anne Lister died before her, and could never know how right she had been about this woman. Read the article about Madame de Bourke on our website and find out why!

📸 Images courtesy @westyorkshirearchive @rigsarkivet

[crownspeaksblog]

what the fuck happened in season 2??!!

I'm serious what the fuck happened in season 2?? How does a season manage to anger me this much.. i rewatched season 1 a couple of days ago and i enjoyed it so much more than when i watched it a couple of years ago but season 2.. my god i wish i didn't watch it..

i know these are real people with complex feelings and lives but this is also a show, not a documentary, it's a fictionalized show where in season 1 the main focus was on the relationship and love that was developing between these two women where we watched anne chase and seduce ann and end up having so much care and feelings for her. They got married, they were planning on moving in together. Happily.

then in season 2 ann and annes relationship had so much less focus and screen time than season 1. Anne seemed to barely even care about ann.. ann looked miserable so much of the time when she was alone at shibden when her wife was cheating.. anne friends suck and anne barely even defended ann in front of them and everyone was like you don't even love her and when anne told ann she loved her i didn't even believe it..

Season 1 anne was crying, was upset about losing ann, saying how she thought about her every day and in season 2 when ann said they should separate, anne barely seemed to notice and even made a comment about essentially being free again.

Again i understand these are real complex people but this kind of story isn't compelling or fun or even interesting to watch especially after you watch season 1.

Honestly what the hell even happened in season 2. I can't even remember or distinguish what happened in a episode from the other.. Seriously it's like season 1 and season 2 were written by two different writers.

When i heard the show was canceled i was upset but now i kinda wish it was canceled after season 1 at least this way we would've had a well made, compelling story that ends well instead we're stuck with the mess that is season 2..

What hurts me the most is that in season 2 i felt like anne only wanted a wife the way men of that time wanted a wife.. just to have someone at home to keep the bed warm and to sleep with while they cheat with another woman.. ann literally apologize for doubting anne who again cheated on her!! (The fact that the whole cheating thing wasn't even revealed or acknowledged is insane to me)

In conclusion I'm sad and pissed because season 2 lessened all of the love and good feelings i had about these two characters and their relationship and now i wish i didn't watch season 2.

[natglee]

yep. 

Now you know why people don’t talk about it anymore. Season 2 sucked balls and even ruined season 1 retroactively. The scripts for season 2 are even worse.

[iredreamer]

Hi... absolutely new to GJ and Anne Lister. People often will quote AL's diaries with a date, etc... and as of yet, I have never ever actually found those entries in the books available (Helena Whitbread, or others I can get my hands on). Why is this? I thought her entire diary was transcribed...? Or maybe all of it is not available. Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

Hello – the journal extracts/entries that you find in books are a selection and don't actually cover the whole of the journals.

The journals are available on the WYAS website – there you can browse every single page of what Anne wrote by searching the Catalogue Finding Number which is a unique number for every diary page (random example: SH:7/ML/E/7/0009).

In the past three years people have been reading and transcribing the diaries by themselves and publishing their transcriptions online. Many "new" Anne Lister words saw the light of day because of that, and that's probably why you find quotes from her journals that are not in the books you've read.

The WYAS is currently publishing full transcriptions of her journals thanks to a volunteer project they launched three years ago.

Hope this helps to clear things up! Have a good day :)

[natglee]

This page has links to the official full transcriptions that have been published on the official website, in pdf:

https://wyascatablogue.wordpress.com/exhibitions/anne-lister/anne-lister-reading-annes-diaries/

And this is a great resource where you can find any day you want and it will tell you where to find it, either in the official transcriptions or in a link to a transcriber’s blog with that date.

https://jiangjy-713.github.io/AL_Index/html/index.html

 Not every single day is online yet, but there’s A LOT. The Ann Walker years (1832-1840) are very close to being completely online, if that’s what you’re into.

[carols-lipstick]

i really didn’t like season 2 of GJ, you could tell there was a different director and writer and damn it did not work did it. then they cancelled it after changing it completely, so fun

[natglee]

Agree, except it was the same writer. Hard to believe, eh? What a mess.

[the-deeds-to-shibden]

Thursday 13 August 1840

[Anne misdated this entry as Thursday 11 August]

[this is the very last known journal entry Anne Lister ever made]

(Image courtesy of the West Yorkshire Archive service)

[up at] 6 ¼

[to bed at] 9 ½

awakened last night between 1 and 2 cats at my cheese and squalling children squalling enough to distract the old gentleman himself   Ann awoke me before 6 anxious to be off – she ordered the horses – she out of sorts – terrible – did a good job so many women and people knew not whom to give to – gave nothing – the cottages so hid amid the trees and vines and 8 feet high maize hardly visible except when close upon them – off at 6 50/.. – the children especially and the men and women look pale and yellow and unhealthy in this moist hot bottom – at 7 35/.. Engour fine river nearish (left) ascend highish (left bank) above it and go upwards along its broad bouldery bedded islandy streamy course for ever thro’ lanes of alder and hazel every now and then in our eyes – bits of deep mud every now and then   at 8 ¼ at village (large) of Dvjari /Djvari/ i.e. orchards vine-covered, tees alders pyrus diospyros etc., the woods chiefly beech and next in quantity oak – at 8 20/.. close upon the Engour – then ascend again on high ground always in the village of Dvjari no houses to be seen – all hid – fine river running downwards amid lower green wooded rounded beautiful hills, and upwards amid higher such hills – beautiful valley   at 8 55/.. at the large beautiful square green of the village in the style of Zugdidi – with several picturesque goodish galleried sacles scattered around – alight at one of them (empty) at 9 to breakfast – the white krepost castle on wooded ridge of hill almost hid among the wood close over the river (left bank) – wrote so far till now 11 10/.. and Reaumur very nearly 21° – breakfast from 11 ¼ to 12 50/.. including a tolerably comfortable wash inside the sacle – 

off at 1 ¾ – at 2 50/.. out of our narrow lanes thro’ tall brackens in the bottom and I passed thro’ wood (beech and Spanish chesnut and alder and walnut) and up steepish not good ascent and then fine view over rich extensive wooded plain and the old tower of prince Āppăkīdzĭ at the village of Satchīnă close (left) – stop 5 minutes under enormous lime tree for the men to get water – off again from Satchina at 2 55/.. steepish bad descent down wood again from here – then up the hill and down and forded little stream and 2 or 3 or more cottages at 3 ½ still the village of Satchina – and Indian corn 9 or 10 feet high – a village (Sapêlĭ) is a little district – at 3 35/.. ford good broadish stream, the Īnsēērăh – and at 3 42/.. ford the Islēēăh an equally good stream – beautiful little green comby valleys among the rounded wooded hills, and here and there houses and fields on the lower hills – at 3 47/.. ford the Islēēăh again – several more scattered cottages still the same village of Satchīnă – at 4 10/.. the village of Nărolōōgĕe (hid) at a little distance (left) – at 4 18/.. in the bottom and ford little stream and ascend again – at 4 40/.. put on mackintosh cloak rain not heavy but likely to continue – 

at 4 55/.. stop at wicker hedge against field of Indian corn said to be the village of Djkālĭ tho’ I see no house at all – the old castle of Djĕgālĭ (prince Mantchar Dadian) he lives at some other village castle deserted and empty? beautiful groups o valleys and rounded hills – Mingrelia very beautiful and fine race of men – e.g. our David and several others whom we have seen – all our 3 men have left us to seek somebody or something – Adam came back in ½ hour – Ann had had an egg beaten up, and I had the things off my horse and done up my mackintosh – David does not know the road – get a man to go with us to the village – he now says it is 6 (instead of 3) hours from here to [blank] and 6 days from here to Muri – terrible – an hour lost here – off to the village Djkali at 6 5/.. and arrived at 6 ¾ – 2 sacles – arrange ourselves in the Indian corn barn (a little wicker place perhaps 4 ½ x 3 yards[)] – spread our burcas on straw and now 8 25/.. I have just [written] in it the last 19 lines – high hills north and within ridges of wooded hill rising every now and then into little wooded conical summits – the sides of the hills furrowed and little conical summits on the ridges of the sides – tea etc. now at 8 25/..

WYAS page:  SH:7/ML/E/24/0174

[iredreamer]

« Do you know, I don’t think one hour passed where I didn’t think of you? I tried not to, but… »

[iredreamer]

#yaaallllllll#do you remember this??????#this right here???????#look at Anne Lister literally being in love with Ann Walker#look at her thinking about Ann Walker in basically every single fucking moment#wasn’t season 2 supposed to show us Anne REALISING she’s in love?#and instead#you know#apparently now she’s CONFUSED#like the fuck#we literally watched her fall in love

sorry but I need to rebrog myself with my own tags because i still cant fathom how this brilliant piece of tv turned into whatever season two was

[natglee]

Really, really should’ve been a mini-series. And I had such high hopes for season two.

[annelistersgirlfriend]

DC Rachel Bailey

[natglee]

Hotness personified.

[wonderswitch]

Fueling the fixation

[natglee]

I liked this book. Covers 1834. I recommend it.

[iredreamer]

Who was Little Mary from Anne Lister diaries ?

I guess the little Mary you want to know about is Ann Walker's niece, Elizabeth’s daughter. Mary came to stay with the Ann(e)s at Shibden Hall in the summer of 1837. Both AW and AL called her "little Mary" in their journals.

Interesting reads with more info:

Ann Walker Booklet

“My dearest Elizabeth”

Anne's journal is vast and it's always hard to answer random questions like this one without context... and just fyi I really appreciate when people take the time to properly write an ask instead of writing to me as if I'm a search engine.

[natglee]

The Little Mary stuff will probably go in the same pile of “stuff I will be sad forever because we never got to see it on Gentleman Jack”, like the squeaky bed from their honeymoon. I mean, COME ON:

June 5, 1837: then sleepy and locked myself up in my room and slept half hour in my chair and then got out of the drawing room window to avoid little  she caught me however but I think I was in the garden first

June 6, 1837: coffee – romp with little Mary who will soon I think like my society as well as Ann‘s

June 16, 1837: hide and seek with little Mary till 9 ½

June 19, 1837: Dinner at 7 1/2 - coffee at 9 - Ann came upstairs at 9 1/2 with little Mary and did not return - on coming upstairs at 10 1/4 found her asleep on the bed, dressed, lying down by Mary also asleep

July 20, 1837: played a game at chess with Little Mary who hardly not quite, knows the moves 

July 20, 1837: gave little Mary Pinnocks improved 10th edition (1832) of Dr. Goldsmiths history of Greece, and ditto of ditto history of Rome 13th edition (1834) corrected and enlarged and Greece augmented and improved by W. C. Taylor M.A.T.C.D. of Trinity college Dublin 2 vols. bound in dark reddish leather 5/6 each [...] gave the volumes to the child... and told her to send aunt Walker a catalogue of all the books she had on her next birthday

I will forever mourn never seeing Anne playing hide and seek with an 8 year old little girl.

[iredreamer]

The diary entries are so interesting! I would've loved to see more of that in S2. I think M + the Annes together is such an interesting dynamic and would've been fascinating to watch + to see how they all settle together and iron out any tension, establishing Ann as her wife and not falling for M's tricks/attempts at seduction. It's a shame we didn't see all that and I don't know why! This season packed in too much instead of drawing out interesting moments like this

I suppose we'll see Mariana at Shibden with the Ann(e)s in the next season (if we'll have one). It would make sense looking at how Sally's using and pacing the diaries (even tho, seeing how she handled Xmas 1834 and the way she left Anne’s feelings ambiguous at best till the very end, I’m not sure what kind of twisted interpretation we could get of Mariana's visit).

I agree with you that this season packed in too much stuff. There was just so much going on at all times it was tiring – and not even because there was actually stuff going on, there were just people talking about the stuff that was going on. A lot of the scenes were literally just two people talking about what they did, what they were gonna do, what other people did or what they thought other people did, etc. etc.. A lot of very dry dialogues just to pack in as much as possible to keep us on track with what was going on.

[natglee]

(even tho, seeing how she handled Xmas 1834 and the way she left Anne’s feelings ambiguous at best till the very end, I’m not sure what kind of twisted interpretation we could get of Mariana’s visit).

This is exactly how I feel. I think an episode about that 1836 visit could be SO good, but after seeing what Sally did with Xmas 1834 who the hell knows what horrible mess we’d get. It’s so depressing.

not even because there was actually stuff going on, there were just people talking about the stuff that was going on. A lot of the scenes were literally just two people talking about what they did, what they were gonna do, what other people did or what they thought other people did, etc. etc..

The writing was so bad, even at this basic level. People vomiting facts about coal/inheritance law/canals/railroads/etc while they just stand there is NOT a story. To me this season failed at the most basic level of writing. I was quite shocked. 

[iredreamer]

Hi Irene, there's something I haven't seen anyone talk about yet: how do you think handing the snow over to male directors influenced the outcome? To me the lack of the female gaze was palpable in the new episodes before I found out that most of them were no longer directed by women. It feels like the eye of the viewer, this time around, was guided by someone who didn't even try to replicate the creative intent of the first season. What are your thoughts?

You know, I– I don’t think that was the problem actually, I don’t think we would have gotten a different looking season with more women directing.

Looking at the whole of season two, looking at how it ended and what kind of “message” was at the core of it – considering that it really is a sad, quite cynical season, the directing feels actully appropriete.

The creative intent was purposely different.

Season one wasn’t just a happy, light, idyllic and unrealistically romantic season (as I often see people claiming) – it had  BIG themes, visceral, gut wrenching, relatable themes – it dealt with abuse, homophobia, misogyny, depression – I’d say it was even heavier in some respects than season two, but it also had the capacity to intertwine all of that with love and compassion. The tone was very different, both in the way it was written and the directing. This time around (to me) it feels like they very much wanted this cold, distant, sad and hopeless tone – and the directing was perfectly in line with that.

So, point is, I think it was very much intentional and it would’ve ended up being the same even with all women directing.

[iredreamer]

Anne & Ann + wedding rings