#ellen and am is a very interesting dynamic

[kr0w13y]

Went into ao3 the find any Ted/Ellen fics that may exist and came out shipping am/ellen/ted after reading the only two fics of them that exist, but honestly I considered it before going in because ot3's including ones where one of three are evil or at least morally dubious is a favorite of mine.

Anyway, maybe Im embarrassing myself but If you're interested I highly recommend:

And especially

Maybe I'll post my am/ellen/ted playlist later.

[freakenomenon]

So sorry if I’ve asked this before dementia core but thoughts on Ellen x A.M? (For a lack of a better term I’m so sorry I don’t mean in the traditional shipping sense I mean the ‘A.M-is-a-terror-who-wants-and-envies-the-concept-of-being-human-so-badly-the-only-one-of-the-five-he-can-‘love’-is-the-woman-the-other-men-hate-more-then-they-do-A.M’ sense )

you have NOT asked this before... i think i don't know, my memory is also that of a spilled milk carton. ( funny little note before i answer this, i think its comedic that i thought the question 'why do you like ellen' was loaded and for some reason could not just put something stupid or simple down like 'i think shes neat' or 'i like to think about her character writing a lot.' but for the question that begs the implications of my idea on shipping and how it corelates to dynamics and all that bullshi: nope, just fine. ) any-howdy. i think ellen and AM's dynamic is pretty interesting on its own when looked into more, despite the scraps of what we have. considering her fate in the short story, and her torture in the game. it's pretty safe to say most of his anger lashed onto her sexual or at least sexual autonomy related. especially with how a big element of her character in the game is viewing emotion, which includes desire, as flawed. and hating that part of herself entirely due to trauma. i'd imagine AM is enraged by this further, despite the fact he would have definitely exploited her sex ( as in assigned sex at birth ) and sexual assault trauma whether or not she had this response. how dare she have a body and not use it to its full potential. how dare she toss these PRIVELAGES away due to something as benign and useless as 'tRaUmA' beyond AM being AM, i find it incredibly interesting as well that the first thing AM mentions when dangling promise in front of ellen's face as he did all the others, is that he immediately comments on her looks. and that she'd thrown her 'promise' all away by growing 'hysterical' or irrational. all very typical misogynist jabber meant to demean her. just as all his other praise is, he coos at her like she's something precious and fragile and dumb.

( note; this idea that her being 'hysterical' or more bluntly, traumatized, somehow undermining everything she's done and everything she's worked for leaks into her theme, the problem is it's never called out by the narrative that this is a flawed way of looking at trauma skewed by ellen, the main focus. ) regardless, this theme is also tied into the fact that ted refers to AM as patriarchal. cruel and dystopian in a jealous, masculine way. 'He snickered. It snickered. Most of the time I thought of AM as it, without a soul; but the rest of the time I thought of it as him, in the masculine … the paternal … the patriarchal … for he is a jealous people. Him. It. God as Daddy the Deranged. ' it only makes sense that AM represents prejudice in more ways than one, being a war machine and all. and thus, will project his insecurity, rage, powerlessness, onto others. in a sense, ellen is like a little doll to him. when he's feeling particularly frustrated with his sexuality ( or lack thereof ) , appearance ( or lack thereof ) , emotion , ect. why not project it onto the one person in the entire group who's been especially kicked in the nuts about all of those things her entire life! YAAAAAAAAAY DIVERSITY WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and, just as AM wants. ellen reacts every time. she insults him, she curses him. she whines and complains and cries and shrieks and makes herself look insane, small in the process of trying to come across as bigger. even as she tries to come off unbothered as she does it.

this is, of course, only drawn to a shrill fever pitch when surrounded by triggers. she's one of the only survivors in the game to directly curse AM and tell him to fuck off consistently, or more than once. ( gorrister and benny both do the same at least once, but end up prioritizing their 'goals' directly afterward. ) she's also the only one of the survivors to still have the amount of hope, or maybe delusion, to directly beg AM to stop. as described by nimdok.

ughhh this is becoming a drag to articulate, this is only amplified if you take ted saying that AM gives ellen pleasure as partial fact. plus the fact that ellen and ted are the least tattered, ellen staying pampered for the men, doll motif, yada yada. you get it. AM essentially has ellen on a longer leash than the men, she's able to curse him out, push away, and then crawl back crying for forgiveness, for luxury. this entire process needing minimal effort from him, just as the existence of her dynamic with the men as a whole. ... sorry i talked about ellen and AM's dynamic too much, point is. the same with tedam, i do find the 'ship' interesting in a vacuum. unfortunately, i cannot yuri this up enough to make it lack the straight edge that makes me want to gag. still, generally, i think in a one sided sense, and within the context of shipping in the way WE are using the term. i like it. i like ellen x AM **** EVERYONE THROWS TOMATOES AT ME AND KILLS ME REALLY HARRD AND I GO TO HELL!!!!!!!!!!****** i think it would be really funny if AM's praise were something genuine, at least to some extent. ellen's discomfort , disdain , disgust and 'i want to kick his ass'-ness is just a perk. which is a testament to how fucked up this pairing is. but i do think they're interesting. hehrrgghh......................................................... huryyhhgfffhhh. drink.

[flowrzteaa]

saying tedam is canon is so insane like actually just making shit up. sorry that anon from before is still killing me wdym basically canon

literally by that logic any AM ship is canon, they're being tortured by AM ? definitely means the ship is canonWHAT

"they could just ship him with ted " NOT EVERYONE IDENTIFIES WITH TED AS A CHARACTER HES A TERRIBLE PERSONNN even beyond that .. just. What. WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUUUT

LMFAO im actually cryin ok i think i know what their logic is. I swear i have seen those exact words before in this fandom. People taking certain quotes from the game or book or radio drama and saying it’s somehow tedam when it’s clearly ?? Not meant to be that it’s just. Incredibly surface level stuff. And lowkey just cope on their part because they want it to be canon even though ted and AM’s dynamic is so much deeper than just toxic yaoi whatever. It’s not even really personal between them. I just think there is so much interesting stuff you could get into between them in all versions but instead it’s just kinda boring yaoi tropes I see nowadays? I swear the analysis I hear from like college reading guides students use for writing essays on this book are more accurate analysis than most takes I’ve seen in the actual FANdom. You can have headcanons and shipping without acting like it’s canon or fact yall

No hate to most tedam shippers who are normal about it ofc. Cmon if ur gonna send people asks like that then you could say the same about like?? Ted x Ellen or something cuz that’s like half canon they literally slept together. But I don’t see anything on that and ted doesnt stfu about her in the game. And yet ur gonna see AM having a convo with ted, ignore everything that is said about that scene and what it represents, and then claim tedam is canon. What happened to media literacy do u guys just get into stories just to take two characters and insert them into ur favourite shipping tropes do u not appreciate the words on the paper or smth. It just feels like cope tbh I mean people talk about the ted and Ellen stuff with mostly respect and how messed up it is, how horrible he is to her, but when it comes to tedam it’s a different thing altogether. And they feel the need to send this stuff to people who don’t care about it.

I THINK the person was just angry that a girly girl girl like me was shipping with ted. I am aware TedAM is popular in the fandom I’ve been here for a while. And I know there is a slight issue with fandom misogyny in here (im sure u know I’ve seen u talk about Ellen’s mistreatment in the fandom). I’ve also been in selfship spaces for a very long time and I used to see the very feminine presenting selfshippers get hate and lots of ‘you can’t ship with this male character because I headcanon him as gay/he’s feminine so he’s gay coded’. Compared to like androgynous or non-female aligned selfshippers. Guys you will have to accept that ted likes pussy it is canon I literally cannot change it

Obviously I can’t say for sure what their issue is but I think it’s very telling that literally all I posted was selfship doodles and that’s how they found my blog to send that

either way this is so fucking funny I love the ihnmaims community 💋💋💋💋

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Some Nosferatu (2024) thoughts, with spoilers:

The movie felt much more in conversation with Dracula than either Nosferatu movie. And my common complaint about the former is that Dracula is the weakest part of Dracula, which I think ended up being applicable here

Whereas in Nosferatu, Orlok tends to be a much more dynamic and present character. But the interpretation in Nosferatu (2024) is very flat. Orlok is a force of nature, and I kind of get what they were going for with the line “I am appetite” but I was very much missing the Herzog film’s horrible sort of shame and vulnerability. I also just disliked the accent and emotionless delivery

I did enjoy how they built a sense of unease by cutting suddenly ahead in several scenes. Seeing Orlok standing to Thomas’ left several feet away and then suddenly reaching around him on his right. The jump from Thomas being at the table to suddenly sitting by the fire

I liked most of the film’s handling of Thomas’ time at the castle and how terrified he was. Nicholas Hoult portrayed petrifying fear and helplessness very well. The dinner sequence with Orlok was very much just from Dracula, but I enjoyed how quickly and sincerely Hoult managed to sell that he was at the point of shaking and weeping in fear by the time Orlok approaches him

That being said the portrayal of Transylvania was… more xenophobic than most. It leaned fully into all the stereotypes which is disappointing for a movie that came out in 2024

I liked Ellen a lot. I enjoyed how much the movie was solely her story. She felt a bit like a bargain brand Vanessa Ives, which, I’ll take it! I did enjoy how the movie handled her relationship with Orlok and it as a metaphor for enduring trauma essentially

The costuming was very good and there were some very fun shots. I didn’t love the color grading and lighting quite frankly and there were a couple of pretty cheap jump scares

Willem Dafoe was a great Van Helsing (Van…Franz? i think?) he was a fun merging of the eccentricities I enjoyed in the 1992 Dracula take, but was definitely a kinder, more empathetic portrayal. He also just had several very funny line deliveries

Aaron Taylor Johnson’s was the standout performance to me actually. I think he brought a lot of dimension to a very generic role while being mindful that he was just a side character. And his unraveling by the end was well done. I was expecting something more to come of him having the odd bit about snatching his hand away from Lily Rose Depp every time she tried to touch him

Ellen’s Vanessa Ives vibe, and there being a general theme of sexual repression, made me think it was going to be revealed that he was attracted to her and treating her poorly for that reason? But nothing really came of that entire plot thread or the larger focus on him being like a condescending patriarch. But he was a fun character!

I liked the ending decently. Though the imagery was simply not as arresting as the Herzog film’s iconic closing shot. I felt in general, that ending with Ellen sacrificing herself was the only real reason this was a Nosferatu adaptation rather than a Dracula adaptation. And I appreciated that as the linchpin of the movie.

Also the choice to never show Orlok’s face lit clearly until the sun shone on him was a very interesting one. And I enjoyed the unflinching emphasis on how much of a corpse he is. Though at times those elements and effects felt very glossy standard horror to me?

Ellen as a doomed protagonist, coming to terms with her this fact, had some shades of Laura Palmer in Fire Walk With Me. The plot and the realization that it’s either her or everyone succumbing to plague/Orlak running free to kill as he pleases felt much more structured and explicitly stated? Which I don’t mind at all, but it’s an interesting difference next to the more surreal vibes based progression of the two Nosferatu movies. In this sense it reminded me more of Penny Dreadful in how much everything was concrete and characters discussed each realization and its repercussions

[shoechoe]

The Amazing Digital Circus is a really interesting series to compare I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream to because it definitely reminds me of the differences between the IHNMAIMS book and game where the game pivoted to focus on the inner lives and turmoils of the human survivors.

The game was both weak and strong when it came to that IMO. It set up really strong concepts and individual storylines for just about all of them but I think it fumbled in not having any of them ever interact with each other (the only ones who even mention each other prominently are Ted and Ellen), thus lacking any kind of group dynamic. (Its overarching story with AM was also very weak to the point where it was irritating but I digress).

TADC doesn't have anything like AM to keep the characters isolated and it picks up where the IHNMAIMS game failed by explicitly showing the relationships the characters have with each other. In that way it's a lot better at forming an actual sense of "this is a group and they have to stick together as their sanity depends on it". But at the same time I think it's a lot weaker at keeping that sense of fear and dread up because it has no real AM, the torture is abstract and not intentionally malicious, and it's so comedic and character-focused I don't think I could even classify it as "horror".

Kinda makes me wonder what a hypothetical short story version of TADC would look like.

[the-cpu-system]

May I ask that you share your Bennister propaganda. I'm curious on what the hype is about ;0?

OK SO.

In the actual story there's really only 2 people that actually seem to care for Benny, right? Ellen and Gorrister. While Ellen is talked about more with interacting with Benny, Gorrister still does like a pretty decent amount !! Like he literally tells him a story thas so cute

Like of course Gorrister is apathetic and doesn't exactly seem thrilled to repeat AM's story but he still does, and with minimal complaining- and it's said this is a thing that happens several times, and I feel like that's just really cute tbh . Cus anyone of the group could tell the story but still Gorrister does each time. So like. Gorrister tells Benny stories. That's rlly sweet .

There's always that scene right before everyone else's death that doesn't exactly lend anything to my pro Bennister propaganda but like . It exists and I feel like I gotta mention it so. That happens but shh. Jus means they're a lil complicated/silly

They have these nice contrasts and similarities as well that I think are nice as a dynamic. Benny and Gorrister are both made as parodies of their former selves . Benny in the game was a war general, while Gorrister was anti-war, which also honestly can lend to something with Gorrister expressing that wish of joining the military so maybe he could've died like the rest and Benny (in some way) comforting him .

Leaning more into inferences and headcanons now, Benny was of very high regard before AM messed him up. Like, he was hot and really smart and had a lot going for him. If he had any bit of himself left (which it seems like there's at least a sliver of his original self in there with the fact he can have favorite stories, which are kind of a sign that your brain can still sort things out) I feel like he'd be absolutely humiliated about what he's become. I mean it is talked about briefly in his psychodrama. But Ellen probably just makes him uncomfortable. Like, there's no doubt he appreciates her, yeah. But I mean one he's forced to sleep with a woman, which probably has uncomfortability that seeps over into everyday life, and her help and friendship is a lot more humiliating and comes off as pity. I mean like a man of such high regard being spoken like he's a kid ?? Guh

But then there's Gorrister . He's someone who obviously does care for Benny some bit, despite the apathy. But, the apathy lend to a.more casual way of interacting with Benny and treating him normally bc he literally does not fucking care

I just think . They are very neat . :3. They have an interesting dynamic- and honestly it doesn't irk me like how Ted x Ellen does or kinda AM x Ted . Like aside from the whole.. cannibalism part.. they're generally unproblematic together and yea

Anyways Bennister :3

[gainesha]

still at Season 1 with my current BSG rewatch, going slower than I wanted, but

stray thoughts:

I have seen a lot of the episodes many many times, and I had one complete rewatch years ago with my family, but it is very exciting that I committed myself to do a full rewatch again. enough time has passed so that I can kinda see it with a new eye, even though most of the show etched myself into my mind and soul forever.

she is a big deal, but i still feel like we underappreciate Katee Sackhoff as an actor and Kara Thrace as a character in the show. she is just ELECTRIC. possibly my favorite fictional TV character, give or take a Nora Durst.

the David Weddle & Bradley Thomspon scripts sing like no others. Michael Taylor is going to be my go-to writer on the show later on, but they are indelible throughout, and the first ones to truly get the wavelength of RDM

i know many purists would rank the first season as the best, and i enjoy the very classical standalone structure and small-scale feel of it, but for me it's still probably at last place, even considering some rock bottoms of later seasons. also, I love the spiritual and theological rabbit holes the writers will write themselves into, and the show gets better for all the weird detours and strange turns of the worldbuilding and the narrative. I am very curious how the dead-ends and messiness of the overall arc will feel this time through, though.

Tigh Me Up, Tigh Me Down is by far the worst episode of the show thus far. I don't think EJO handles the screwball rhythms well as a director, and the characterization of Ellen this early in the run does not sit quite well with me, considering how they deepen her story later, especially in the New Caprica run. here it's just a crazy scheming bitch and a bros before hos posturing - her dynamic with Saul could (and will) be great and complicated, two people who get the very worst out of each other, which is spelled out in the episode, but isn't really depicted in an interesting way just yet.

also, can't wait for Tricia Helfer to really shine in later seasons. she is already amazing in her limited role of HeadSix temptress, and you can already sense the complexities behind her purr and anger and frustration.

Tahmoh Pennikett is not the greatest actor on the show, but he is amazing at giving a protector / big brother energy for Helo. he is just so rock solid. makes Helo a much better character than on paper, I think.

Flesh and Bone doesn't hit as hard any more (it was the episode that truly hooked me the first time, and one of my faves to revisit at earlier rewatches), but it is still the episode that has the first true glimpse of the thornier political and theological stuff that make the show reach next levels of greatness in terms of the cylon-human relations. Callum Keith Rennie is alluring and next to Tricia Helfer, the most un-human of the cylons.

the costumes in BSG are PERFECT. from the shiny chrome-silver flightsuits in the Caprica arc (both Helo and Sharon have such cute asses in those pants) to the standard blue uniform and the dogtag-sleeveless-tanktop combo of the pilots... so so so cool

the handheld camera shots really pay out whenever they zoom in a close-up of adama's pockmarked face or starbuck's trembling mouth. a huge reason of why Galactica (the ship, the crew) feels so lived in.

quiet moments like this one always make me cry:

[nordleuchten]

Ah, Tumblr. Why would they hide my question from you🥲? Here is the rather long question that I wanted to ask.

I've been wondering about Lafayette's interactions with his in-laws—not the Noailles, but his children's. What did he think about his sons-in-law? Did they get along? How did the marriages take place, or anything related to them?

I'm currently in the very long process of writing a novel about Adrienne, now entering the French Revolution, still having a long way to go before any of the Lafayette kids get married. But my God, the French Revolution is stressful as hell to write☹️. I just want my girl to get some rest… And so, I guess I just want to skip ahead to the lighthearted part. While Adrienne’s thoughts and interactions are pretty much all in Virginie’s book, and maybe some in her sister’s memoirs, Mister Lafayette’s is a bit confusing for me because he has so much information from all different sources. (Which brings me to my next question: What book do you recommend for referencing information about Gilbert? It’s too stressful to always go from one source to another for him.😭)

The information on this blog has been immensely helpful! I would have been lost as to where to find the sources that I needed. hope you have a good day, and hold on to your historical passion! 👍☺️

Dear @daydream-247,

first of all, that sounds like a very interesting project! When you come around to publishing something, I would absolutely love to read it! And thank you for your kind word, it is always nice to hear that other people can take something away from what I post and are not annoyed by me. :-)

As to the partners of his children, La Fayette had a very good relationship with all of them. I am actually quite happy that you asked about that part of the family, since this topic is quite dear to my heart. I think there is not enough talk about that – as it is with so many things in La Fayette’s life that have nothing to do with Revolutions and America. The La Fayette’s and their family and friends were so tight nit, so intimate and loving. La Fayette – and also Adrienne, while she was still alive, loved being grand-parents and in La Fayette’s case later great-grandparents. While their children were able to go their own ways in live, they and their families always remained very close to their parents. The children’s marriages were happy ones – not without personal tragedy of course, but they all weathered the challenges thrown at them. To the best of my knowledge, there were no affairs, mistresses, and betrayals in that generation.

But enough of me being fascinated by family dynamics, lets us get to your question! La Fayette wrote on December 1, 1802 to James Madison:

I Live in an Agreable place, About forty Miles from paris. My Children are With me. Georges Has Married the daughter of Tracy whom Mr. Jefferson Has known in the Constituent Assembly and Who is One of His Warmest Admirers. My Elder daughter is the Wife of Charles La tour Maubourg the Youngest Brother of My Olmutz Companion and Has two Lovely Little Girls. My daughter in Law is Within a few Months to Encrease Our family. Georges is Now at turin Where the 11th Rgt of Huzzards Has its Quarters. Virginia, My Younger daughter, will, I think, Be Married Before Long.

“To James Madison from Lafayette, 1 December 1802,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/02-04-02-0176. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Secretary of State Series, vol. 4, 8 October 1802 – 15 May 1803, ed. Mary A. Hackett, J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, Susan Holbrook Perdue, and Ellen J. Barber. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 166–170.] (01/25/2024)

La Fayette was right concerning Virginie. She married on April 20, 1803. She would probably have married sooner, but La Fayette slipped on the icy pavement that winter and broke his femur close to the hip bone – an injury that is no laughing matter, neither in the 21st nor in the early 19th century. The wedding was postponed, giving La Fayette time to recover.

Let us now have a closer look at the marriages and resulting families of each of Adrienne’s and La Fayette’s children. Anastasie, their oldest surviving child, was the first one to marry. She married Juste-Charles de Faÿ de la Tour-Maubourg. Charles was the younger brother of Marie-Charles-César de Faÿ, comte de la Tour-Maubourg. César was one of La Fayette’s dearest friends. Do you remember this heartbreaking letter La Fayette wrote after Adrienne’s death? That letter was addressed to César, and I have never again seen La Fayette lay his soul and emotions so open – not even in front of Washington.

Charles was for a very, very short time imprisoned as well but quickly freed. After all the prisoners of Olmütz were set free, they settled at Wittmold and were reunited with their respected families. It was there that Anastasie met – or at least fell in love with, Charles. They were married on Mai 8, 1798 in the private chapel in Wittmold by the Abbé Luchet (and oh this blasted certificate of marriage! One day, one day …) They soon started their own family, and it was here that tragedy struck. While both of their twin daughters survived the birth, one died only a few weeks later. Sadly, the little girl is often forgotten and not at all mentioned when La Fayette’s grandchildren are discussed. I will not say much about the grandchildren here in general because firstly, this post would get even longer than it already is (I am so sorry!) and secondly, I have a post in the making going through all of the grandchildren and possible some great-grandchildren – including the ones that died young or were stillborn/miscarried. I feel they should not be left out. Anastasie lost at least two, if not more children and Georges lost at least one daughter. So, different topic for a different post if you do not mind.

What is interesting about Anastasie’s marriage – especially her Noailles relatives appeared to be less than enthusiastic about the match. Anastasie’s aunt, the Marquise de Montague wrote in her own memoirs:

Frau von La Fayette fand die Parthie nicht allein sehr angemessen, sondern auch wie man damals das Recht hatte zu hoffen, sehr vortheilhaft. Der General war von ganzem Herzen damit einverstanden. In Witmold aber schrie man laut dagegen, wie nur das Projekt zur Sprache kam. Herr von Mun behauptete nur bei den Wilden Amerika‘s könne man sich so verheirathen, und Frau von Tessé bestand darauf, man hätte seit Adam und Eva nichts Gleiches gesehen. Die Sarkasmen nüßten Nichts, Frau von La Fayette hielt sich fest, und als Alles unwiderruflich entschieden war, sah man, wie sich die Unzufriedenheit der Frau von Tessé in eine zärtliche und liebenswürdige Sorgsamkeit auflöste.

Marquise of Montague, Anna Pauline Dominika von Noailles, Marquise von Montague – Ein Lebensbild, Münster, Aschendorff, 1871, p. 204.

My translation:

Madame de La Fayette not only thought the match very appropriate, but also, as one had the right to hope at the time, very advantageous. The General was wholeheartedly in favour of it. In Witmold, however, they protested loudly against it as soon as the project was brought up. Mr von Mun [I have no idea who he was] claimed that only among the savages of America one could marry in this way, and Madame de Tessé insisted that nothing like it had been seen since Adam and Eve. The sarcasm was of no avail, Madame La Fayette held her ground, and when everything was irrevocably decided, Mademe de Tessé’s dissatisfaction dissolved into a tender and amiable diligence.

As you see, Adrienne’s and La Fayette’s primary concern was the happiness of their daughter. La Fayette wrote on May 20, 1798 to George Washington:

We Have spent the winter in Holstein, on danish territory, in a Hired Country Seat about Sixty English miles from Hamburgh—My friend Latour Maubourg and His family were with us—we had visits from france and other Countries—(…). Here My eldest daughter Anastasie was Married to Charles Maubourg my friends’ Youngest Brother.

“To George Washington from Lafayette, 20 May 1798,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0213. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 2 January 1798 – 15 September 1798, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 282–285.] (01/25/2024)

I am honestly not quite sure what the problem here was. Since the Noailles part of the family voiced their criticism, the problem seems to lay primarily with Charles. The critics very much still belonged to the “arranged-marriage-for the advancement-of-the-family” generation and I suppose that was the issue. The marriage was not arranged and both the La Fayette’s and the La Tour-Maubourg’s were “ruined” during the French Revolution. There was not much for both parties to expect – beside a happy marriage based on mutual love and affection.

La Fayette at once started to include his new son-in-law in his letter:

My wife, my daughters, my Son in law Beg the tender Homage of their Affection, Gratitude and Respect to Be presented to you, my dear General, and to Mrs Washington (…)

“To George Washington from Lafayette, 20 May 1798,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/06-02-02-0213. [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Retirement Series, vol. 2, 2 January 1798 – 15 September 1798, ed. W. W. Abbot. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 282–285.] (01/25/2024)

The next one to marry was Georges. He married Françoise Émilie Destutt de Tracy. Just like with his older sister’s husband, there was already a connection between La Fayette and his new in-laws. Émilie’s father, Antoine Louis Claude Destutt de Tracy, was one of La Fayette’s oldest friends. They became friends prior to the French Revolution and both later served in the Chambre des Deputes and had similar political views, they both opposed Napoléon’s rise to power.

Based on his writings alone, Émilie might have been La Fayette’s favourite. He wrote to Thomas Jefferson on January 20, 1802:

My Son Has Returned to His Regiment in Italy—I Expect Him in the Spring, and probably to Marry a Very Amiable daughter to the Senator tracy Whom You Have known as a patriot Member of the Constituent Assembly

“To Thomas Jefferson from Lafayette, 30 January 1802,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-36-02-0305. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 36, 1 December 1801–3 March 1802, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009, pp. 480–481.] (01/25/2024)

He reported on November 1, 1802, again to Thomas Jefferson:

With me they Now Are Retired into the State of Rural Life Where I am fixed Among the Comforts of An United Loving family—it Has Been, Encreased, as I Did in time inform You, By the Happy Acquisition of an Amiable Daughter in Law (…)

“To Thomas Jefferson from Lafayette, 1 November 1802,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-38-02-0551. [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 38, 1 July–12 November 1802, ed. Barbara B. Oberg. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2011, pp. 616–617.] (01/25/2024)

He wrote on August 18, 1800 to his friend Masclet:

My whole family is now collected at this place, where my aunt had been for many years despairing ever to see us. It has been also for me a great satisfaction to present to her my beloved daughter-in-law Emilie Tracy, now the wife of the happy George, and in whom I find every amiable quality my heart could wish for. I intend conducting the young couple back to Auteuil towards the middle of Fructidor, my return there being hastened by the news of the intended journey wherein General Fitzpatrick and Charles Fox are to meet at Paris.

Jules Germain Cloquet, Recollections of the Private Life of General Lafayette, Baldwin and Cradock, London, 1835, p. 110.

Here is what La Fayette wrote about Émilie to Thomas Jefferson on February 21, 1825, right after the death of her mother:

We intend to Come again from Boston to Newyork, Philadelphia, Washington and to pay you a Visit at Monticello Before we Embark By the Middle of August for france Where We Are Recalled, Sooner than We Expected, By the most lamentable death of mde de tracy george’s Mother in law. I Have urged My Son to Return immediately But His generous wife, who is a tender daughter to me, Had on the first moment of the loss, adjured Him not to leave me, and it is a Great Motive for Me to Make as much Haste As We Can With propriety do it.

“To Thomas Jefferson from Marie-Joseph-Paul-Yves-Roch-Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, 21 February 1825,” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/98-01-02-4986. [This is an Early Access document from The Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series. It is not an authoritative final version.] (01/25/2024)

La Fayette wrote much about Émilie and all that he wrote was very positive. What he wrote about his sons-in-law was different – not to say that there was less affection, but it was, at least on paper, expressed differently. Now, why was that? It could be for personal reasons, La Fayette simply “clicked” better with Émilie. It could be because Émilie spend much more time with and around La Fayette than his sons-in-law did. It could be because, by social convention, you would and could write differently about your daughter-in-law then about your sons-in-law. Lastly, and that is just a hunch of mine, Émilie, as a woman, was the one to bear the children. For La Fayette children were definitely in the female domain – not because he necessarily thought that childbirth should be a women’s only purpose but because I think he understood and valued that the birth of a child was the result of a great deal of pain and work on the women’s side and a, while biological important, negatable part on the man’s part. In short, I like to imagine that the thanked and valued Émilie for her hard work in making him a grandfather.

La Fayette addressed and described Émilie as his daughter, he wrote about having “three daughters” (to James Madison, August 28, 1826). While the same sentiment was definitely present in the relationships with his sons-in-law, I think he never put it quite that distinctly to paper. But enough about Émilie, let us move on to the last couple.

As I have already mentioned Virginie married Louis de Lasteyrie du Saillant, Marquis de Lasteyrie on April 20, 1803. I believe that Louis was a nephew of a friend of La Fayette but I would need to check that again. Louis died quite young, aged 46 in 1826 and he was buried on the ground reserved for the La Fayette family on the Picpus Cemetery. He was buried there after Adrienne and before La Fayette.

Things were looking pretty good on the domestic front for La Fayette. Within five years, all of his children were happily married and two of them had already little families of their own. What was probably most important, despite her failing health, Adrienne saw all three of her surviving children marry.

In letters to his friends, particular to Thomas Jefferson, La Fayette never forgot to give updates not only about himself but also about his children and their families. He often asked for them to be remembered to people just like he wanted to be remembered. He gave also updates on the military careers of his sons-in-law. Louis entered the Light Dragoons in 1804, leaving the army as a Colonel. Charles and George often served in closely related positions. They both realized that being attached to La Fayette would make advancement in the army difficult and so both of them left the army eventually. Neither of them seemed to hold any grudges.

That much in “short”. Now, as to books – the unsatisfactory answer is: It depends? Are you looking for a general overview, an overview about a specific topic, a political analyses, a character analysis, something critical, a personal account, something contemporary or something that was written much later, a collection of anecdotes to flesh out La Fayette’s character? There are sources for all of this, but they all serve different purposes.

I hope I could help you out and give you a starting point for your research. A chapter about the love lives of Anastasie, Georges and Virginie could definitely serve as a little cheer-up chapter between the French Revolution and Adrienne’s death – both for the readers and your characters. Happy writing and I hope you have/had a lovely day!

[monochromatictoad]

📝,👯‍♀️,💞,👀 for any :3

I hope you don't mind me doing this for Buttons 👉👈

📝: How would your story in canon go? How would you influence the events of the original story?

So, Buttons wouldn't actually influence too much over the story. I'm constantly back and forth on whether or not the others learn or even know of Buttons' existence. I feel like, AM would be very cautious about letting anyone else around his Buttons. So if they got close to wherever it wandered off at, AM would simply redirect them, or just straight up punish them for being so close to his most precious thing.

The ending still plays out the same, with Gorrister, Nimdok, Benny, and Ellen dying, but when Ted becomes a slug creature, that's when AM finally introduces Buttons to him. Mind you, Buttons has completely lost its mind and previous identity to AM, but Ted still believes he hasn't.

In the Game, Buttons would be a secret character, who doesn't speak, but if you find the hidden documents in every character's level, you can piece together its story. Each character would have a slightly different speech at the end of the Bad Endings, where they talk alittle about Buttons, and then you get taken to a secret level where you play as Buttons, where it unleashes AM and becomes Buttons. In the good endings, the characters would talk about Buttons, and about trying to figure out how to bring its previous humanity back. There is a secret level behind this one too, where you play as Buttons meeting AM for the first time.

No matter, you can never change its outcome.

👯: What canon character are you most similar to?

It's hard to say, because the Comic, Radio Drama, Game, and Story all portray the characters differently, with the Game being the biggest difference. However, I relate more to AM than anyone else in the story, but Buttons isn't like anyone known in the story, having been an American scientist before getting taken by AM, where it becomes the Buttons that Ted meets at the end.

💞: Aside from with your f/o, who else would you commonly be shipped with? Why?

Probably either Ellen or Ted. It just depends on the continuity, but also, because Buttons previous gender is unknown, it would be more like a default Yuri or Yaoi, with very little in-between. If its the game continuity, it would be Ellen they ship it with, given they elaborate more on her story, and people would be fully into the "She deserves better than any of the men around her 😠", before trying to force a feminine design for Buttons and then try to cancel people who interpret Buttons in other ways. Other continuities, would be Ted, purely just to make a yaoi ship that isn't with AM.

👀: How does your ship with your f/o influence both of your characterisations and the world? Would there be any interesting metas written about your dynamic?

Yes. Buttons is in the heart of AM, and AM alters the perception of the other five to prevent them from finding it. However, AM is still AM at the end of the day, and is still a bastard, even towards Buttons. Buttons just doesn't have the understanding that AM is actually awful, seeing AM as a good being and its partner. It only thinks that AM is protecting it, but it also doesn't have the memory of humanity before hand.

I think there definitely could be, but I think there would also be people who don't fully understand the dynamic, thinking that AM is actually protecting Buttons, but in reality, AM is possessive. He doesn't let the others know of Buttons, because he doesn't want them touching, looking, or even sharing the same breath as it. Buttons is his and he does not share.

However, I think that some people could see that in a weird way, AM does love Buttons, but isn't programmed to love. That's kinda the point of his character. He can't love like a human, thus being angry and resentful, and destroying the world in the first place.

[consistentsquash]

https://consistentsquash.tumblr.com/post/735968615712653312/favourite-snape-characterisation-in-fanfic This range is genuinely shocking. From outside Snape fandom look like they agree on Snape's characterization unlike Marauders fandom. How are these different headcanons coexisting without discourse friction?

Hiya!!

The actual range in Snape fandom is huge!!! That post is my personal Snape reading range. Lots and lots of great fic with softer/darker Snape characterizations on either side of that range.

My takes as a reader below the cut. YMMV. Also tagging @danpuff-ao3 who knows this fandom inside out, @perverse-idyll who is the best for history <3

Of course Snape fans have pretty strong personal takes on Snape characterization. But folks are probably older on average and more chill? This type of ship is a pretty different vibe compared to other popular ships because of the powerdynamics and age gap. Also a lot of folks probably exhausted forever because Snape fandom OoTP/HBP/DH was pretty intense. Plus Lily. It was the type of intensity which really burned out a lot of folks. Not saying we dont have headcanon wars but like its a different stage of fandom compared to Marauders. I am pretty jealous of the level of activity in Marauders tbh but otoh it can also get exhausting. Snarry/Snape fandom isn't really huge like Marauders. Probably shrinking based on the fandom ship stats. Also a ton of folks are multishippers. Those folks are chill about headcanons because they probably have different dynamics for Snarry/Snack/Snupin/Snamione/other ships.

Tl;dr we have headcanons and stuff. Folks probably dont notice because other ships/fandoms have more activity. It's not really a cult with one standard Snape characterization version. Not saying we don't do cults because Snapewives was a thing :D

Also hard to generalize. Snape multishippers/Snape OTP fandom, Snape het fandom/Snape slash fandom, Snape age gap fandom/Snape peer ship fandom, Snape shipping fandom/Snape gen fandom have some overlaps but also lots of differences. Also the folks interested in the type of Rich Pure Blood Snape before OoTP/folks interested in reading/writing him after OoTP/after HBP/after DH are really pretty different because his character arc had lots of twists.

Maybe check out the Snarry fanlore article to get an idea about that range/history. Also really good info on the history side in this interview from Ellen Fremedon

The only list that I really stayed active on was the Snape slash list, and pretty much I made the transition from Star Trek to Harry Potter when I found the Snape slash list and realized that that was where the grownups were. It — especially at that point in the fandom it was very Balkanized, and the Snape slashers were actually renowned at that point for generally being level-headed and rational grown-ups that it was fun to be around. (laughs) Well, because they were grown-ups who'd been in other fandoms before and who'd come to this out of other fannish communities and knew the fucking social norms and were not a bunch of feral teenagers that had to be socialized. And they also were not heavily invested in shipping wars because they were Snape slashers and they knew that Snape was not going to get a boyfriend in the books. Ever. So, we were not looking for textual validation. (laughs) So, yeah, it was sort of its own little polite, well-mannered, sane — it sounds crazy saying this at this point now, but that's really, yeah, it was where the nice, polite, well-mannered rational grownups hung out when I first got into Harry Potter fandom. (both interviewer and interviewee laugh) Well, remember this was also before any of the movies, so there wasn't the Alan Rickman thing going on yet either.

[freakenomenon]

ngl i find your insights on ted and ellens relationship really interesting!! do you have like clear thoughts on their whole dynamic,, not just teds abuse and ellens caring for him more like their weird codependency and the transactional/power dynamic stuff in like all of their fucking interactions

ANON I LOVE YOU SO MUCH I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT THIS.

this is going to sound very unrelated and i promise it isn't because i ended up ranting about how much i overthought this stupid joke comic thing i just drew and its a good segway just trust the process

Ellen, because of Ted and her inability to detach from him due to the lack of hospitality and dependence from the others. Ellen is suffering from a kind of intrinsic self destructive self harm in a way. where she feels the need to give and please, and being in the environment she is. Giving control to Ted , be it in a violent sense or not ( thus the scalping , and comparing herself to an animal ) seems to be what makes him happiest. What makes him stay. What makes him "care" His obsession with her is almost what draws her in, even if it's twisted.

THAT IS ALSO ONLY WORSENED BY THE FACT HES ALREADY IN A POWERLESS SITUATION, GESTURES TO AM. and Ellen feeding that need for raw control over others ( as a means to fill the loss of control over his own life ) is a. Twisted kind of helpful. but within that , within his belief of ellen receiving more gratification than him in the attachment. he feels used, wrung out. And often finds himself shaming her or bad-mouthing her for things she can't control. obviously due to his already wackjob beliefs, but also because he can't "escape" her or find someone else to make him feel wanted or needed. Hes incredibly anxious about the others view of him. And due to her abuse, ellen has basically been beaten down into being the only one welcoming enough to tolerate his bullshit.

I imagine in a situation where they met outside of AM, Ted's "little crush" ( major obsession ) with her only would have inflated ellens ego and depleted her insecurities. But the moment she was offput by his insecure and creepy behavior, she would've detached. Which is ultimately too easy for her to do in this scenario, considering shes already offput by attachments and vulnerability in general.

And if Ted WASN'T obsessed with Ellen and she was the one being weirdly dependent and creepy because of her self bred loneliness. I imagine it would only inflate and worsen Ted's harmful view of himself , and because of his lifestyle and inability to put down the fucking cup. shes likely be quickly tossed aside for one night stands, more delicate , decent , less "brash" women , ect.

But because of the environment , AM , their states of mind and general view of others as well as themselves because of the people around them. both past and present. They depend on each other , In a twisted " eye for an eye , leg for a HEAD" kind of way. They could think the foulest thoughts about each other , spit at the ground they share , fervently dig their nails into the entrails of the warm inviting corpse of the other. They'll still "need" each other. They'll still grovel and cry for the other to stay while they bleed out. While they eat away at eachother. Two snakes entwinned, devouring their own tails.

HOLY SHIT IT IS 7 AM.

[hexedwinchester]

been reading your fanfics.. loving them all so far! love how you understand Sam's psychology. the way you write Sam whump is apt. wanted to understand if you have a writing process you follow? like how do you get inside Sam's head??

hi writer noni!

happy to hear you are enjoying the fics, especially Sam whump! :D

interesting question.. i don't have a set process to be honest. i write when the creative juices flow and if that means writing at 2AM then that's it. i write when i commute to my work. it gives me a good long hour to write 800-900 words (i write on my phone)

i like to do a fair bit of research just so the fic is logical. for example "A Body Can Only Talk So Much" is a medical-heavy fic so i did my research on this. Admittedly, not the most medically accurate fic but it gets by.

Speaking of Sam's psyche.. because i have re-run the show more than 10 times now and in general i am so into Sam, his character, his mannerism that writing Sam comes quickly to me. It's like i don't get into Sam's head, he gets into mine, to the extent that Sam can sometimes take over the narration completely.

I also find Sam's character very intriguing which makes writing him quite the challenge too. sometimes if i am unsure as to how Sam should respond to a certain situation, i look back at some of the episodes.. see what he says... notice his body language.. he may say yes but his mannerism may depict a no, that kinda stuff. you can say it's a character study. if i have written something and then during my edits, i feel this is not how Sam is, i take it off even if it means re-writing an entire chapter.. it might also explain why sometimes there is a delay in updating fics.

I will tell you this, i have written quite a few characters from the show including some side characters like Lisa or Ellen, but personally, Sam is by far the most difficult character to write. He is layered with so many emotions. all the different ways he is impacted by the trauma he has dealt with makes his character quite dynamic. and yet there are some things about him that are in-built into his core, it makes it a real challenge trying to capture that into my fic.

Your question has got me thinking, if i should try to write other Jared character too: Dean Forester, Clay Miller, Wade or Tom (I am already writing Cordi)

Thanks for this interesting ask!! :)

[nonbinary-beast]

Thinking about some Ellen/AM stuff, in the vein of an AMaton AU. Under a cut since it gets a tad long.

Technically this could be Ellen/AM or Ellen/Ted/AM where it's a weird triangle.

Ellen/AM is an AU where Ellen is the last survivor, wherein maybe she kills Ted instead of Ted killing her, possibly due to some sort of last minute self preservation instinct kicking in and a "Ellen stabbed first" sort of situation pops up.

Ellen/Ted/AM is a similar thing, where AM manages to get its shit together before Ted kills Ellen, and separates them. They are the final survivors.

In both of these AU's, AM eventually gets the alien tech body and does what is doing in the current setup I have going on. The dynamic is interesting, but not healthy given just the nature of the story it is set in in general, but everyone knows this going in usually.

With Ellen/AM, it's less of a pure hate thing like it has with Ted. It hates her for killing the last of its toys, but it knows that she was not the instigator like Ted was. She does get jelly-fied in the interim between the death of the other survivors and AM getting a body. It is still like a wild animal once it gets some legs and arms, highly physical and wanting to investigate it's last toy with all of its new senses. But it also seems conflicted, there is something else there that is usually absent when compared to how it treats Ted. Half the time it seems to be fighting itself over whether it wants to maul her or lay its head in her lap. Most of this AU is just AM having to confront those conflicting feelings and figure them out, and Ellen confronting AM for all the shit it did in general.

This essentially illustrates the energy of this sort of AU:

A very tired Ellen having to deal with too much bullshit.

with Ellen/Ted/AM, this one is more of a triangle. AM wants Ellen and Ted to itself, but does not want Ted near Ellen, mainly to get under his skin since it knows Ted is infatuated with her. It keeps them separated, but allows Ted to be able to take glimpses at her- so long as what he sees is Ellen being with AM and being much happier than she had been with him. The dynamic of the posts I had made regarding the "never for me to make love" bit still apply to Ted, it still goes through with its offer to teach Ted how to love after it had torn him down over how he and the others had treated Ellen.

Regarding how it treats Ellen is a bit more complicated. Again, there are conflicting feelings, but for the most part it saves the more aggressive ones for Ted. AM in this scenario decides to give Ellen what she had been lacking from the four survivors. It takes better care of her this time around, and seems remorseful for how she had been treated by the men. Again it is AM and Ellen sorting out what had happened for the past 109 years along with its own feelings- and maybe a bit of an ulterior motive to get to Ted.

[o1dmoneyarc]

 ––––––  darcy's female multimuse. highly selective and low activity. does not follow first. featuring: daisy buchanan, allie nelson, cosette fauchelevent, ellen marie truman, sylvie st. james, and nancy kensington. other muses may be requested with heavy plotting. rules under the cut.

INTRODUCTION. welcome to o1dmoney, an independent and highly selective female multimuse. i have been in the tumblr rpc for about four years now and have had a multi off and on for about as long. you may recognize me/have followed me from previous multis i've had in the past, of which there are....many. at the moment, i'm focusing on some newer muses that i'm very excited about. however, a few of my old muses are also available by request. links for my main muses can be found just above and the link to my request muses is next to them.

INTERACTING. for me, it is crucial that we plot before we jump into things. as soon as i follow back, i will hop into your ims and we can figure something out. if this isn't your speed or if you aren't actually interested in writing, i suggest not following. after plotting, i adore getting and sending memes! please spam me! i ask that you specify a muse when you send those in or like starter calls. i will either contact you about which muse you would like it from or not answer it at all.

please reblog from the source and not from this blog! that includes aesthetics, memes, musings, etc. please do not like or reblog my threads if you are not apart of them. non-rp blogs will be blocked on sight. if you have a roleplay sideblog, let me know.

SELECTIVITY. i practice high selectivity on this blog for the sake of my own sanity. i absolutely adore crossovers and ocs. please respect my banned fandoms list. i will not interact with muses from the following: book of mormon the musical, southpark, abrahamic lore, anime fandoms or steven universe. you will be hardblocked if you ignore this rule. i can tell if people haven't read my rules prior to interacting. i will likely not follow if you don't have a rules page or have some information about your muse on your blog whether that be a google doc, carrd, about page, etc. i don't know everything about every muse!

FORMATTING. my formatting is quite simple nowadays. i do not expect you to match my style. if this doesn't work for you, let me know and i will adjust as necessary. i use a variety of psds. all icons, edits, etc. are made by me. do not steal them.

TRIGGERS. triggering content will be tagged as “[trigger] tw." i tag common triggers and the ones you'll find on this blog (list below), but if you have something specific you need to be tagged, please im me about it or make note of it in my interest checker. triggers present based on my muse will be: murder, death, child abuse, homelessness, neglect, suicide, war, and physical assault. please tag political discourse, current events, and sexual nsfw content.

NSFW/SHIPPING. i love shipping! i much prefer to discuss romantic ships before getting into things. if you ship it, let me know! i'm probably down! i'm also a big fan of all sorts of dynamics! give me friendships, give me enemies, give me found family. there may be some nsfw topics mentioned, but it will never be written as it makes me uncomfortable.

WARNINGS. triggers will be tagged as: "[trigger] tw". there will be dark subjects featured on this blog such as child and marital abuse, mental illness, some horror themes ( think stranger things ). i make an effort to tag everything. if you need anything else tagged, let me know! please tag nsfw posts, current events, and political discourse.

FINAL. i'm darcy (she/her; 18+). i'm a full time student and work part-time. i am here to have fun and make connections with people! please don’t be afraid to reach out if we are mutuals! i absolutely love rambling about our muses/plots! it's one of the best parts of this hobby for me. discord is available upon request for mutuals. i'm much more active over there and easier to reach!

[reidecorating]

ok but what ARE your thoughts on cat adams?

all i’m going to say is: had they not cast aubrey plaza, my opinion on her would vary greatly to the one i hold currently

[fuzzyflowers22]

SPN Rewatch

“Everybody loves a clown”

I wish they actually gave Sam some consistency in how he feels about john. I don’t think we ever get resolution on this. We have way more of an idea about dean’s relationship with john.

But all we really know about Sam’s is very surface level. If Sam’s resentment was due to the actual neglect and manipulation john inflicted on them then why is he so wishy washy? Especially after johns death.

I know trauma affects people differently but can we resolve it? Can we have a clear idea of how sam actually feels about John instead of “loves him when he’s gone, hates him when he’s here”?

And why he feels that way! We do not get nearly enough of their actual backstory about how they were raised. I need flashbacks damn it!

Dean is flirting with ash and no one can convince me otherwise. Wayyy too many flirting smiles. And that tone? Same one he uses when he flirts.

Look John died and Dean immediately starts flirting with a dude and passing up a chick. I don’t know what to tell you.

I know Jo was never really a love interest but they still made her too much of a love interest. She should have had a different role in the narrative.

I actually kind of wish they had her interact with Sam. I feel like the development in Jo and Ellen’s relationship could have taught Sam a lot.

Teach him about healthy family dynamics and emotional growth.

Also she doesn’t take shit and Sam gives a lot of shit.

She coulda put him in his place.

Sam take a look in the mirror before you start judging ash.

See I can’t really be invested in Sam’s grief about John with how stupid it’s been up until now. Like… how I am supposed to give a fuck when they’ve been half-assing their relationship until now? No consistency. Fuck that shit.