#tdbm asks

[yesmadamepresident]

Tdbm asks! 1, 3, 7, 15, 22, 25

THANK YOU MY FRIEND

1. Favorite episode probably 5.2 sorrow songs. There's just so much goodness in it 😭 the cocoa kiss, the "....manliness" scene, the Nightdress of Sin, and the dancing at the end, it's all just *chef's kiss* perfect.

3. Favorite smaller/underrated character: Cec Drury! Such a good bean.

7. Do you have a favorite fic you've read? If not, list some that you love. THIS IS SO HARD but I quite literally did this to myself so. Here are some I love, in no particular order:

Forever in Your Arms and I Want You Back by you (ofc)

Salvation Song, A Messy Kind of Love, Under the Mistletoe (My Love Waits For Me) by @rahleeyah

Sparkling Silence of a Dream by @blossom--of--snow

I loved and guessed at you. by @gabolange (my secret santa fic and i LOVE IT SO MUCH)

I know that there are others but it's been a minute since I've read a whole lot of fic (I still haven't gone back and read all the fic exchange fics which I want to do) but anyway here is a sampling.

15. What is your unpopular opinion?

If Jean didn't exist I would ship Lucien with Alice but idk if the world is ready to hear that

22. Any pet peeve/little thing that bothers you about the show? THE FIGHT SCENES oh my gosh. The combat on this show is so bad and it always looks so fake to me.

Also, the way the timeline is so contradictory and just doesn't feel like they really thought it out kinda bugs me.

25. Which character would you like to see as a murder suspect (or even a murderer)? What a great question haha. I think my answer is Jean. I don't think she would ever murder anyone, but it would be very fun if she was suspected to. Like what if it had to do with Lucien's disappearance? He's still missing, they find someone they think was involved and then bam, that person is dead, and all the evidence points toward Jean. So then in addition to the mystery of Lucien's disappearance we have the mystery of who killed this person bc Jean knows she didn't do it and so she has to figure out who?? That could be fun

[mandalamarigold]

While I am working on your asks, here are some asks for you! #1, #5, #13 of TDBM asks. (If you have already answered these, just send me a link to that post.)

Thanks for these asks! Sorry it has taken me so long to get to them...

1. Favourite Episode: There aren't many that I don't like, but when I think of my favourite, I'd have to say 3.6 - "Women and Children". Right from the beginning it's packed with so many powerful scenes and as a nurse I love seeing that world explored, especially with period shows, the interplay between physicians and nurses, the idea of the "sweetie shop" and Lucien's reaction to it, Beaufort relegated to administration because he couldn't hack it in the OR, and then the way Dr. (DOCTOR!) Harvey's sexual harassment claim was handled - it's all so fascinating to watch play out. And then we get to learn so much about Alice (if she wasn't my favourite secondary character before this episode she certainly levelled up here!). The tension between Lucien and Jean, the tension between Lucien and Charlie, the tension between Lucien and Monroe, a granddaughter for Jean, Matthew comes back. It's all so good! And then the scene at the end, with the loan application, my heck! (but that's not my favourite scene)

5. Favourite Scene: With out a doubt the scene near the end of Family Portrait, when Matthew interrupts/startles Lucien and Jean in the kitchen. Such a gem and I laugh every.single.time!

13. What's your approach to Ghost Stories? To be honest friend, I haven't seen it. I am well aware of the storyline though and am avoiding it purely for self preservation reasons. So I suppose my approach is to ignore it, however I do really enjoy all the fix it stories I have read.

This was a lot of fun, thank you again @pumpkinspicelove

[theloversthedreamersandme82]

Your turn now. How about #2, #11, #15 of TDBM asks. (Sorry if you have already answered these and I missed it!)

Thank you!

TDBM asks

2. Favourite Character Alice :)

11. What happened in Adelaide? I think a lot of the groundwork for their relationship happened. I don't think they kissed, But they definitely cuddled, held hands, and talked about a future together. They went on lots of walks and picnics and enjoyed anonymity and less responsibilities.

15. What is your unpopular opinion? Matthew and Alice, obviously. lol

Christopher and Jack were wasted characters. I would have rather not have met them at all, than give them one rushed episode each. Especially Christopher, I didn't find his character consistent, and it really annoyed me that neither of them were at the wedding.

Thanks for asking 😊

[yesmadamepresident]

TDBM ASKS

What’s your favorite…

1. Episode

2. Character

3. Smaller/underrated character

4. Season

5. Scene

Fandom stuff/the show in general

6. When did you first watch TDBM, and when did you join the fandom? What got you into it?

7. Do you have a favorite fic you’ve read? If not, list some that you love.

8. If you’ve created anything tdbm-related, what is your favorite thing you’ve made?

9. What do you love about this fandom?

10. Is there anything you could ramble on about all day? If so, this is your space to do so.

Controversy lol

11. What happened in Adelaide?

12. Do you ship Malice?

13. What’s your approach to Ghost Stories? (accept it, ignore it, fix it, etc)

14. How do you feel about Rose?

15. What is your unpopular opinion?

Asker’s choice/fill-in-the-blank

16. What are your thoughts on [insert relationship]?

17. Fuck/marry/kill [insert three characters]

18. How do you feel about [episode/season/storyline]?

19. What was the inspiration for [thing that you made/wrote

20. [Whatever you want, go wild]

Random shit idk

21. You have all the show’s writers, producers, directors, etc. in front of you. What do you ask them?

22. Any pet peeve/little thing that bothers you about the show?

23. What would you say to convince someone to watch tdbm?

24. Do you watch City Homicide? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

25. Which character would you like to see as a murder suspect (or even a murderer)?

[yesmadamepresident]

2, 10 and 12 for your tdbm asks. Thanks for creating them 🤗

Thank YOU! I'm glad people like them!!

2. Favorite character. I know it's the obvious answer but Jean! Her heart and her story and her courage and her strength and her love her love her love.

10. Is there anything you could ramble on about all day? If so, this is your space to do so. (warning: i made myself sad with this rant so don't read if you don't feel like it) I am not the first person to say this but I cannot forgive what they did to Jean with Ghost Stories. Even just on the surface like, aww her husband disappeared/probably died, that sucks. But if I think about it for longer than that I get SO sad and mad because. She and Christopher had sex out of wedlock, conceived a child, and that child died. And in her mind, that was a punishment for her sin. Basically she (again, in her mind) chose the man she loved over god/the church and she was punished for it. And then she had a fight with Christopher and he went off to war and died. And she blames herself for that, too. If she had held her tongue, known her place, kept control of herself, maybe he would have still been alive. So then for her to lose Lucien? After choosing him, too, over the church? I cannot imagine that she doesn't blame herself for the loss of him. Yes she can heal and yes she can find joy after all that but at least at first, I cannot imagine that she doesn't see this as another in a long line of instances where she made a mistake and was punished for it. And they did that to Jean and it makes me so angry and that's why I pretend ghost stories doesn't exist in all contexts other than those in which Lucien is coming home.

12. Do you ship Malice? Yes! I knew that Malice was a ship before I finished watching the show and I was like, what? Because we really don't get to see them together that much and I had forgotten about some of their scenes together and of course hadn't yet gotten to a lot of them. After Family Potrait I was like, okay, I kind of get it. And then with Ghost Stories I officially shipped it. I wouldn't have been mad if they'd just been friends, but I would have been glad for them to get together. The fact that they just got to be sort-of-canon is a little unfortunate, but obviously I think the writers were setting up some things that never got to come to fruition because there were no more telemovies after ghost stories. But anyway yes I think Malice could be/is very cute and I'm happy for it to be a thing. Matthew and Alice both deserve some happiness, why shouldn't they find it in each other?

[yesmadamepresident]

6 for the tdbm ask?

Thank you for asking!

6. When did you first watch TDBM, and when did you join the fandom? What got you into it?

@love-letters-x-cardigan-sweaters was the one who got me into it! She and I were already mutuals because of Madam Secretary, and I saw her posting tdbm stuff - specifically, I remember seeing a video of the cocoa kiss and a gifset with the "we have both known loss like the sharp edge of a knife" quote and I thought it looked really good. So in like, September or October of 2020, I messaged her and asked where I could watch it. It was weeks or even months before I actually started watching it, I think, but by December I was really into it and messaging her every day with my thoughts and reactions. We had so much fun with that! I finished the show and the telemovies on like, January 6th or 7th 2021, and Jeanuary had just started, and I immediately got super into it. So that's when I joined the fandom. So it's been like a year exactly!

[theloversthedreamersandme82]

For the TDBM ask - 12, 20, and 22!

Thanks @funkybetsy 😁

TDBM asks

12. Do you ship Malice? Religiously :) I love them together and think they balance each other out. I didn't when I first watched the show, And was actually quite insistent that Alice did not need a man. And then I read one too many of @doctoraliceharvey's stories and it got me good :)

20. Whatever you want, Go wild I'm not sure what this question means... I guess i'll just talk about somethings about the show. My introduction to the show was the episode Mei Lin shows up in. I was SO confused. I happened to be at my parents place when they were watching it and i got sucked into watching the ep, and i remember turning to my mum at the end and her having to explain lots of back story. I then bought the dvds and watched from the start.

I haven't done a rewatch in a while. The last time I watched it was while introducing it to one of my best friends who has since chosen to move to New York and become a nun. It's been a tough road for me to learn to live without her (especially as my beliefs don't align with hers) and I'm not ready to dredge up the memories of us watching it together. Jean's line in Ghost Stories, about Lucien and about how you lose someone and everyone walks on eggshells around you and then suddenly they expect you to get over it, really resonated with me and I don't think I'll ever be able to watch that again. My feelings were so raw when I watched that, I felt like my heart was being doubly ripped apart, For Jean's pain, and my own. She was the one who introduced me to fanfic, to tumblr, and to fandom in general. I sometimes wonder what kind of awesome fics she would have written for this fandom 😢

Channel 7 really did them dirty. I hated the change, not because there was no Lucien, but the whole production quality changed. The choice and the acting of the extras was bad, The lighting was different and even the way it was filmed was different. I would have LOVED to see how ABC would have continued the story.

I kinda wish Mei Lin was a sinister character. I had moments where i thought she was in on Aldertons plan and I loved that. Maybe after Elaborate Lives i'll write it 😀

22. Any pet peeve/little thing that bothers you about the show? The usual. Them losing the ring, swapping it out with something that didn't even look vaguely similar and not addressing it, Did they honestly think no one was going to notice they were completely different? Timeline inconsistencies Rose and Charlie's forced romance that literally came out of nowhere Mattie not being at the wedding and Rose being a bridesmaid

[theloversthedreamersandme82]

For the TDBM asks: 5, 8 and 21 :)

Thankyou!

TDBM asks

5. Favourite Scene? Oh it's been such a long time since i've done a rewatch... I think one of my top favourites would be the scene at the end of 'A night to remember', Where Mattie has tried to make a cake and Jean and Lucien are happy and they sing for Jean's birthday.

8. If you've created anything tdbm-related, what is your favourite thing you've made? Hmm, hard one. I'm only counting completed fics here. Maybe The sigh of the weary

or my first fic, always is a huge part of me. The ones who love us never really leave us

21.You have all the show's writers, producers, directors, etc. in front of you. What do you ask them? Hmmm. Not sure. Nothing comes to mind.