Helena Landless from The Mystery of Edwin Drood
ISFP
by Rebecca
requested by @maraeuders
Note: As the musical production commonly uses brownface for the character of Helena, I have chosen to instead use an image from a different adaptation of Drood in the graphic. This typing is based on the revival.
Introverted Feeling (Fi)
"Not under any circumstances!"
Helena's primary trait is her loyalty to others, as she protects her brother and then Rosa at all costs. Her dedication to keeping Neville safe is the clearest, as protecting him ends up being part of her motivation if she is voted as the murderer. She has built up a strong sense of self, and refuses to bend to others even if it would be more advantageous to her. Helena's emotions tend to stay rather internal, and she is able to handle them rather well as a whole instead of letting them get the better of her. When speaking of her past, it is mentioned that she was stoic even when her stepfather was beating her, not showing whatever emotions she was feeling within while demonstrating her personal control.
Extroverted Sensing (Se)
"Before you utter that word again, you laughable man, perhaps you will be good enough to supply a body, a victim, a corpse...something more tangible than an errant nephew, a timorous uncle, and a ludicrous city official who has no backing for his charges other than pure pomp and sheer circumstance."
Helena is attached to what she can sense, allowing her to act in the moment without getting too caught up in thought. From her first appearance, she is tuned into her environment and able to jump quickly enough to catch Rosa as she swoons. She is able to take in a vast amount of detail and then synthesize it to gain deeper meaning (Ni). She wants concrete evidence surrounding the murder, which is shown on a deeper scale if she is chosen as Datchery and searches for Rosa's clasp. She tends to be sensible, not getting caught up in abstract plans or ideas when she can act and get things done.
Introverted Intuition (Ni)
"Fate waits near! I feel it, I fear it. We are friends, and yet, they'll not soon forget hearing Neville's threat, every epithet!"
Remarkably perceptive, Helena is able to see past outward appearances and understand deeper implications. While many others seem blind to Jasper's affections for Rosa, Helena realizes that he is in love with her immediately. During "No Good Can Come From Bad," Helena is able to tell that something is boiling under the surface, realizing that Neville's words will not go unheard and may have disastrous consequences. But, underneath the surface, she still has her own worries for the future. In a new place with more enemies with friends, the future can seem rather unclear and frightening.
Extroverted Thinking (Te)
"I took my veil off, and lost my mind! My veil did sail off, I tossed it blind."
Helena is not lacking in intelligence by any means, but she does not feel as if she can change the world on a larger scale. In "A British Subject," she and Neville discuss the idea that they will not be able to cast aside their appearances in order to be taken seriously. There is a sense of powerlessness in this, as they believe no matter what they do the world will not treat them well. If Helena is chosen as the murderer, it is revealed that she did not mean to kill Edwin, but things got out of control and she was powerless to stop it. But Helena still shows her ability to plan and reason throughout the show, making certain that emotion doesn't always override logic.
For my dad there’s this song called All The Right Reasons by the Jayhawks. He used to play the cd it was on for me every night so I’d be able to sleep and that was my favorite song.
For my mom If There Was No You by Brandi Carlile. It’s like our best friends song it’s nice.
My brother would be Regretless by Richard Walters. I was a featured dancer in a dance to this song this past year and we were supposed to think about things we regret in life when we dance to it and then let it go. I would think about my relationship with my older brother.
My boyfriend’s would be I’ll Be Seeing You by Billie Holiday. Such a lovely song. I want to slow dance in my pajamas with him when I hear that song.
For betsywolf I’d have to say Johanna from Sweeney Todd, because when we were in Grease together we decided that Sweeney Todd would be even better if Anthony was a girl. I don’t know why that’s stuck with me but it has. Probably one of my earliest memories of our friendship!
For you, my dear maraeuders I’m gonna go with Shake It Off. Because you’re like a positive little light in my life and we love T-Swift.
For walkintowhoredor it’s Paper Planes by M.I.A because we’re badass bitches.
And finally for myself: Again Today by Brandi Carlile, which I’m blessed to be dancing as a solo this year. I just connect a lot to the lyrics and the message of the song.
my beautiful cinnamon roll too good for this world fave: john
my trash-shit fave: sherlock
my I love to hate them fave: moriarty
my I hate to love them fave: mary?
my I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire non-fave: magnussen
my I didn’t care about them either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about them now I can’t stand them non-fave: irene but i don’t dislike her /that/ much
my I could take them or leave them kinda non-fave: mycroft
my I will go down with this ship and I won’t put my hands up and surrender, there will be no white flag above my door. I’m in love and always will be fave ship: i know this sounds weird but i don’t have one
my dirtybadwrong fave ship: mary/john
my they’re cute together and I dig them but I’m not all that terribly invested kinda fave ship: idk
my I didn’t care about this ship either way at first but the fandom makes such a big deal about it now I can’t stand it non-fave ship: none
i don't know whether you've already answered this, but what do you think about the headcanon that puck knew all along about santana's homosexuality and was a willing beard??? im really into the pucktana friendship haha
Hey, Aditi!
So while I can certainly see how “Puck as Santana’s knowingand willing beard” could potentially work as a scenario in fanfic—and howPucktana broship could be really appealing, if written the right way—I don’tthink there is really much to suggest that Puck was ever a knowing and willingbeard to Santana in canon.
In fact, as I’ve written elsewhere,I think a lot of the Season One and Season Two Pucktana dynamic has its basisin just how oblivious Puck is to what’s going on with Santana, in terms of herorientation, feelings, relationship with Brittany, etc.:
To start out, Puck buys theBrittana party line: i.e., that they are hot cheerleaders who will sleep withhim, no strings attached.
During Season One, he commences apurely sexual relationship with Santana, happy to give Santana what shewants—i.e., the social cred sleeping with the most popular boy in schoolaffords her—as long as she’s happy to give him what he wants—i.e., sex with ahot girl on the regular.
There is one brief moment inepisode 1x18 “Laryngitis” when Puck tries to turn to Santana for emotionalsupport in a moment of distress, suggesting that he perhaps views her assomeone he could share a more meaningful relationship with. However, Santanaquickly and ruthlessly shuts him down, and from then on he remains aloof.
The truth is, despite talking a biggame about being a sex shark, Puck always craves emotional intimacy and asecure bond with someone—it’s just that he senses that someone would never beSantana. He never really opens up to her because he knows she doesn’t want himto do that. That’s not who they are to each other. So after that one ill-fatedattempt to establish some intimacy, he gives up trying to treat Santana like areal partner.
Once he started actively pursuingthat intimacy and secure bond elsewhere—first, with Lauren Zizes, later withShelby Corcoran, and finally with Quinn Fabray—he has no further need foranything that Santana is willing to offer him, which is why he so emphaticallytells her that their thing is over come episode 2x12 “Silly Love Songs.”
From then on, he and Santana don’thave much to do with each other. In Season Three, when he learns that Santanais a lesbian, he thanks her for the past sex and says that he understands thatsleeping with him was just “a phase” for her. Thereafter, Santana may as wellbe invisible to him, and they have no significant interactions throughoutSeasons Four, Five, and Six.
To me, the Puck of early seasons is a boy looking for lovein all the wrong places. He legitimately craves stable romantic and familialbonds, but he doesn’t have the social tools at his disposal necessary to createthem. He wants someone who wants him equally in return—who will support andcomfort and even nurture him.
Unfortunately for him, he has no idea how to getsomeone to be with him in that way. He doesn’t know how to make himselfemotionally vulnerable to a person or to offer those things to others that hewants for himself (i.e., support, comfort, nurturing).
Because he doesn’t know how to get what he needs, he settlesfor getting something he wants: i.e., he sleeps with any appealing girl who will havehim. Of course, his relationships with these girls remain purelysuperficial, as he doesn’t exactly treat these girls well or establishintimate interpersonal connections with them. His relationships, for the mostpart, exist solely in the realm of the physical.
And here’s where Santana comes in.
For Puck, sleeping with Santana is mostly a thing ofconvenience. She is hot, and she is willing, so he’ll go for it, as long as sheallows him to. She fills many of his baser needs, providing him with hot sexAND allowing—and even encouraging him—to broadcast the fact that she provideshim with hot sex to their peers at WMHS, thereby boosting his “alpha male”status at school.
From what we see in canon, Pucktana’s relationship is mostlytransactional; Santana gets the social benefits she wants out of it, while Puck gets the no-strings-attached hot sex with a hot girl that he wants out of it. As Santana asserts in episode 1x13 “Sectionals,” they don’t somuch date as they do just bang. And as we see in episodes 1x03 “Acafellas” and1x18 “Laryngitis,” they aren’t even particularly friendly with each otheroutside of their banging.
Of course, Santana likes her relationship with Puck thisway, as it suits her needs.
Making her “private business” with Puck public knowledge affordsher some cover. After all, if she’s having sex with the most popular boy inschool, and everybody knows that she is doing so, then most people won’t give asecond thought to her exceedingly close relationship with Brittany. So the morePuck brags about sleeping with her to his buddies? The more secure she feels inher life.
And in terms of her and Puck barely being friends outside oftheir sexual encounters? That works for her, too, as, frankly, she has no realinterest in Puck as a person—he’s just a means to an end for her. Constantlyberating Puck, keeping him at arm’s length emotionally, and making himperfectly aware that her relationship with him is entirely contingent upon hisability to service her social needs are all tactics that she uses to keep Puckfrom getting all needy on her.
In fact, as we see in episode 1x18 “Laryngitis,” when Puckmakes an ill-advised attempt to form a deeper emotional bond with Santana,looking to her for comfort in his time of emotional vulnerability, he getshimself burned in so doing—and badly (see episode 1x18 “Laryngitis”).
Not onlyis Santana totally unsympathetic to his plight, but she cuts off his access toher sexually because he no longer appeals to her, having lost his alpha malestatus.
Santana’s interest in Puck being entirelydependent upon his ability to boost her social status and to effectivelycontribute to her “hypersexual, heterosexual” public image points to the factthat Santana would never willingly reveal her sexual orientation to Puck.
He isnot someone she confides in, despite their sexual relationship. He is alsosomeone whom she needs in order to maintain her carefully crafted public “bitch”persona. She needs him to think that she’s all about—pardon my crassness—his dick,so that he can in turn tell the world that she’s all about his dick. Heperforms her a valuable “service” by making sure the world knows that she hasall sorts of game when it comes to pleasing men. She wouldn’t jeopardize thearrangement she and Puck have by purposefully spilling her most sensitivesecret to him—and especially not when she won’t even admit that secret toherself most of the time, let alone to Brittany.
Still.
Might Puck have ascertained that Santana is gay simply byher behavior with him?
Again, I tend to think not.
Not only does the show never give us any indication thatPuck suspects that Santana is a lesbian prior to Season Three, but it also showsus instances in which Santana’s hot-and-cold behavior with Puck legitimatelyconfuses him.
He can’t figure out why sometimes she’s all about having sex withhim, and other times she’s dressing him down in the hallway for having a badcredit score. He doesn’t understand why sometimes she acts insanely jealouswhen he sings duets with other girls—like Rachel and Mercedes—and other timesshe doesn’t actually give a damn when he’s actively cheating on her—such aswhen he impregnates her supposed “best friend” Quinn Fabray.
When she confrontshim about “cheating on her” with Lauren Zizes in Season Two, he is genuinelybaffled that she thinks they’re still an item, after not having paid anyattention to each other for months. They don’t even really like each other, after all. So why does she suddenly want him to buy her jewelry and take her out toBreadStix? That’s never been the nature of their relationship. What is shegoing on about?
All of this being the case? It’s my impression that Puck istotally clueless concerning Santana’s “secret” during Seasons One and Two. Hemight know that she occasionally gets it on with Brittany, but that doesn’tnecessarily translate to him understanding that she’s gay—as opposed to her being more “sexuallyfluid” or “easy,” as he might view it—or that she’s in love with Brittany.
Really, I think Puck takes from Santana only what she’s willing to give (i.e.,no-strings-attached sex), and he doesn’t bother to look “below the surface”with her. He’s not knowingly bearding for her. He’s just scoring because she’sdown with it.
Truth be told, Puck has so much going on in his own life—with Babygate, his pool cleaning business, his relationships with various other women, football, maintaining his bully rep despite being in glee club, troubles with his father, troubles at school, etc.—that it’s unsurprising he doesn’t really “notice” Santana, and particularly given her efforts to actively conceal the truth about her sexuality from him and everyone else at school.
Like, he probably realizes that there’s something “weird” with her, in terms of how emotionally volatile she is regarding him, but he doesn’t have the time, energy, wherewithal, or insight to figure it out.
Of course, to Puck’s credit, he’s very chill about things once he finally does learn the truth about Santana’s sexual orientation and her relationship with Brittany in Season Three.
As I say elsewhere, I think her outing actually puts a lot of things into perspective for him retrospectively, as “Santana is tightly wound during their sophomore and junior years, and the fact that she is so somewhat confuses him. But once he learns her big secret come senior year? Well, all the stuff from before suddenly makes sense. Like, that’s why she wasn’t ever that into him.”
Anyway, all of this is to say that I think that Pucktana broship is more a thing of fanon than it is a thing in canon, but that’s okay.
i just followed you a second ago because i didn't know you had a tumblr! i follow you on twitter - i'm @noahandquinn - and because of you i fell straight into kurtbastian hell
Yes I remember you from Twitter! I think we interacted a few times ^^
Oh my god, welcome to hell, do you need fic recs? mahauauhua Thank you honey!
Lavender, because black, but regardless, teal. (P.S. Please white because pink and it's taking up all my time)
translation:
Give me your mortal soul/skype, because I hate you, but regardless, I’d date you. (P.S. Please delete your tumblr because I could stay on your tumblr all day and it’s taking up all my time.)
THIS WAS AN ADVENTURE. Bless you, son, all of it: back @ u. Visit Illinois and perform ShakESPEARE for me. Scratch that, it’s boring here, I’m coming over.
PS Follow maraeuders, because they’re a gigantic nerd.
Grantaire: List one of your greatest vices and a talent that makes up for it. - Ay, that is a loaded question. Uhh, well i suppose my greatest vice is running my mouth. i always say what i think no matter if it's wrong or hurtful. i don't think of the consequences. and i'm stubborn, so i always then stick that statement, even after i've upset someone
a talent that makes up for that?? fuck. uh. the fact that when things have subsided, i always make sure that i make it up to the person i hurt. tbh, i don't even think i'm that nice of a human being that i have a redeeming quality... shit. this is appearing to be a bad question for the way i'm feeling. oh well.
