faintingheroine - Tumblr blog

[faintingheroine]

He is an upstart politician who was born elsewhere from the country he wants to rule. He marries into a rich family. He courts through letters and eventually marries the younger naive sister, but the older ambitious smart sister is also in love with him. He has a homoerotic relationship with one of his male friends. During his marriage he has an affair with a lowly seemingly cunning woman and this affair almost kills his career. His wife is angry but forgives him after a while, but he dies a short time after that in his forties. His quick tongue, impulsivity and ambition are his tragic flaws. He often pities himself by reminding himself of his tragic past in a monologue.

Am I talking about Alexander Hamilton from “Hamilton the Musical” or Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha from “Magnificent Century”?

[faintingheroine]

Ibrahim is an idiot

[faintingheroine]

Jessica Harrison. Karen, 2013, found ceramic, epoxy resin putty, enamel paint

[faintingheroine]

I am gonna tell my children that these were Alicent and Rhaenyra from the hit HBO show Hotd

[faintingheroine]

The most random simping of Nigar is undoubtedly this:

And this right after Nigar victim-blamed Victoria for the rape attempt on her too.

This praise is so random and undeserved that Nigar got sneered at and insulted for the rest of the show to make up for it.

[faintingheroine]

💜💜💜

People in real life question me because of my Aşk-ı Memnu obsession. They ask me why I am not obsessing over a better novel. And I can’t say anything.

The thing about this obsession of mine is that it sits uncomfortably between a guilty pleasure and a legitimate respectable interest. It is too good and canonical to be just a guilty pleasure that I too can make fun of, I can pursue (and am pursuing) this interest academically. But it is also too frivolous and not quite “high” enough that people can be a bit baffled about my interest in it. The problem is that I don’t want to be apologetic about my interest in it, I think it is legitimately a good novel, and a novel about which I can make valuable contributions to the literature.

But of course my interest in it is fannish and it is incredibly intense. And most people probably hide their intense fandom interests in their real lives. But in this case I am both an obsessed fan in every sense of the word and a person who wants to study this. Do you see the problem? I made my guilty pleasure hobby and what I want to write about academically the same thing. I put all my eggs in one basket. I confused work and play.

Edit: And there is also the dumbness of writing my observations that I want to write academically about on social media.

[faintingheroine]

This is the last substantial discussion on Nigar in the show (she is mentioned a couple more times but those are casual plot mentions, this is the last meaningful mention of her). (I also discussed it here).

(Yes, Hatice looks a bit sad here. The only one besides Matrakçı who seems mildly sad about this all).

I hate Lütfi, but I must admit that he chose the perfect way to annoy Hatice in this conversation:

1- He associates Nigar with Ibrahim.

2- He implies that Ibrahim too was a sinner.

3- He reminds her that Ibrahim doesn’t have a grave.

Like, How To Annoy Hatice Sultan In Two Sentences.

As a Nibrahim shipper, am I finding it romantic that the last thing mentioned about her is neither her nor Ibrahim having a grave site? Eh, a bit.

But also not really because Ibrahim does have a nameless grave site that multiple characters visit. Nigar fell from that cliff and her body was probably eaten by wildlife. She is not the only character whose dead body is left in an unfortunate state (think of Victoria or Isabella who are at the sea) but since the show goes out of its way to mention her being graveless, I can’t help but think that this is a moral condemnation of her. And this is so so unfair. She is really not any worse than any other prominent character and she is far more powerless than any of them. Yet she is the only one being condemned this thoroughly.

I hate this sexist classist ugly ugly show.

[faintingheroine]

I am a bit unsure as to whether the authorial voice itself is condemning her here (unlike in this conversation where the authorial voice is clearly talking through Matrakçı) because this is the same episode where Lütfi burns that prostitute. For a moment I want to give the benefit of the doubt to the writers and think that this line might just be here to remind us of Lütfi’s misogynistic slut-shaming tendencies.

But then Hatice tells this line in response to Lütfi:

So who knows? Maybe it is a condemnation. Then it is ridiculous because Nigar wasn’t more sinful than any other main character lol.

One of the last things said on Nigar Kalfa in “Magnificent Century”

[faintingheroine]

People in real life question me because of my Aşk-ı Memnu obsession. They ask me why I am not obsessing over a better novel. And I can’t say anything.

The thing about this obsession of mine is that it sits uncomfortably between a guilty pleasure and a legitimate respectable interest. It is too good and canonical to be just a guilty pleasure that I too can make fun of, I can pursue (and am pursuing) this interest academically. But it is also too frivolous and not quite “high” enough that people can be a bit baffled about my interest in it. The problem is that I don’t want to be apologetic about my interest in it, I think it is legitimately a good novel, and a novel about which I can make valuable contributions to the literature.

But of course my interest in it is fannish and it is incredibly intense. And most people probably hide their intense fandom interests in their real lives. But in this case I am both an obsessed fan in every sense of the word and a person who wants to study this. Do you see the problem? I made my guilty pleasure hobby and what I want to write about academically the same thing. I put all my eggs in one basket. I confused work and play.

Edit: And there is also the dumbness of writing my observations that I want to write academically about on social media.

[faintingheroine]

While no other category of people can beat “the women Süleyman had sex with” in terms of sheer diversity of personality, phenotype and motivations, Ibrahim’s little Harem trio (Hatice, Nigar, Şah) is a pretty diverse bunch in terms of personality as well.

[faintingheroine]

Gülfem is appointed as the head of the Harem once every 60 episodes and becomes relevant to the plot.

[faintingheroine]

There’s no such thing as work-life balance for neurodivergent & chronically ill people.

This is because everything in my life requires work:

maintaining friendships

keeping up with my hygiene

managing bills

making money

remembering my basic needs

sleeping regularly

outputting creatively

All requires some aspect of work for me.

And when everything in your life requires work, your balance goes out the window.

If you're neurodivergent and overwhelmed — I see you.

If you're chronically ill and overwhelmed — I see you.

You're not dysfunctional.

You're not incapable.

You're doing your best.

[faintingheroine]

People in real life question me because of my Aşk-ı Memnu obsession. They ask me why I am not obsessing over a better novel. And I can’t say anything.

The thing about this obsession of mine is that it sits uncomfortably between a guilty pleasure and a legitimate respectable interest. It is too good and canonical to be just a guilty pleasure that I too can make fun of, I can pursue (and am pursuing) this interest academically. But it is also too frivolous and not quite “high” enough that people can be a bit baffled about my interest in it. The problem is that I don’t want to be apologetic about my interest in it, I think it is legitimately a good novel, and a novel about which I can make valuable contributions to the literature.

But of course my interest in it is fannish and it is incredibly intense. And most people probably hide their intense fandom interests in their real lives. But in this case I am both an obsessed fan in every sense of the word and a person who wants to study this. Do you see the problem? I made my guilty pleasure hobby and what I want to write about academically the same thing. I put all my eggs in one basket. I confused work and play.

Edit: And there is also the dumbness of writing my observations that I want to write academically about on social media.

[faintingheroine]

The header image of @incorrectwutheringheightsquotes

Context

[faintingheroine]

This same friend is now rereading Aşk-ı Memnu for a course, and told me that Adnan Bey too can be read as neurodivergent.

I have been headcanoning Nihal as autistic for some years now and thought that she took after her “introverted” father, and now I have someone agreeing with me.

[faintingheroine]

i think heathcliff is only problematic for being a landlord

[faintingheroine]

From Minae Mizumura’s A True Novel

This. This is how you do a retelling. Characters aren’t one on one, there is plenty of new stuff due to the very different setting and wider cast of characters, but it is still very recognizably Wuthering Heights AND it is written by someone who understands Wuthering Heights. Western critics who said it is like Gatsby were fooled by the partial New York setting, this is Heathcliff. I was worried that it wouldn’t be much like WH outside of a couple of ghosts but no, it is WH through and through, and Mizumura knew what she was doing with it.

I absolutely am loving this and do recommend it to all fans of Wuthering Heights.

Yes, true, it has been a year since I have started A True Novel and I am only a quarter of a way through it, but I was very busy with school last year (I mean, I wrote a thesis and graduated) and the book is very long and I want to savor and enjoy it to its every word.