#LadWy

[queer-ragnelle]

On the topic of misogyny in retellings, do you have any thoughts on the male characters’ misogyny in Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord Chronicles series? I feel like it could fall under “gritty realism” but sometimes it leaves a bad taste for me?

Yeah I think we're in agreement. The Winter King wasn't the worst but it certainly wasn't the greatest either. Look no further than how Ladwys was treated by Owain while everyone just listened to her scream and ignored it. Oh but she's "deserving" of rape bc Gundleus is evil so punishing her is punishing him. Or something. And matters worsened in the sequels Enemy of God and Excalibur.

Like the thing is, it felt to me as if Bernard Cornwell wrote a grimdark story, and attempted to include compelling women who go through hell, but missed the mark in a big way. All the rapist murdering shithead men die terribly (rest in piss Owain, Gundelus, Tanaburs, Lancelot etc) so they're all punished narratively for their actions sooner or later. But at the same time, I don't recall that any characters voice criticism of Merlin's sexual relationship with young Nimue or 30yo Tristan's sexual relationship with 15yo Isolde. That's where you can see the author's disturbing view of women and girls seeping through. Even if Ceinwyn was written well, what does that matter against Arthur and Derfel allowing Mark to burn Isolde at the stake bc Tristan couldn't control himself around a teenager? And then Arthur goes and marries Isolde's sister Argante in Excalibur. "She's too young for Arthur," says Derfel and Ceinwyn. That's what writers call "a sign post," which is supposed to signal to the reader that the author doesn't agree with the actions of the character by having other character's call attention to it. Okay, fine, that is there. But why is young Olwen also sexualized? Then how was Derfel persuaded to believe that Isolde/Tristan was somehow less inappropriate than Isolde/Mark? Oh right, bc Mark is fat so he's "gross," as Arthur called him, while Tristan is such a good, handsome guy. Therefore morally pure. Riiiiight. Cringe. It's deeply uncomfortable to contemplate.

My hope was the show that came out in 2023 would address a lot of this but somehow it's legit worse if you can believe it. They made Owain a decent guy. (Which actually makes his death stupid especially bc Arthur mourns his "friend?" That was his rapist thieving coworker with a good sword arm at best but okay.) And showrunners cut Tanaburs and Lancelot entirely. None of that actually benefitted the show whatsoever.

For example, in The Winter King book, Derfel returns from Ynys Trebes and Bishop Bedwin tells him Nimue has been sent to the Isle of the Dead by the local law enforcement bc she was butting heads with Christians and she ultimately killed some people in a church. Not great but I see how the narrative ended up there and Derfel went to retrieve her immediately. She had only been there so long bc Derfel wasn't even in the country. While Derfel is escaping with Nimue, Galahad comes to meet them and help.

But in the show, Derfel never goes to Ynys Trebes. He's just....around, as a side character. Meanwhile Sansum is trying to establish a church in Nimue's front yard or whatever and then his men get sick and die. They blame Nimue for "cursing" them. Arthur himself then sends Nimue to the Isle of the Dead, only for Derfel to play detective and discover the place where Sansum's men retrieved water from had a dead animal in it. They were unknowingly poisoning themselves. Nimue didn't do anything but spit on Sansum (which was deserved), she didn't kill anyone. Derfel then goes to the Isle of the Dead to retrieve Nimue. Alone. Only later does Arthur and Sagramore meet them to escape so Arthur can be like "Haha oopsie! My mistake! Will you help me talk the Druids into being my subjects--I mean working with me to get the kingdom in order for evil baby Prince--I mean normal baby Prince Mordred?" It's obscene.

So all around, The Warlord Chronicles isn't the pinnacle of literature if one is seeking an author who drinks respect women juice. Look elsewhere. But for all its faults, I don't think it's unreadable either. I don't regret reading it. There are beautiful passages and fascinating characters and I did enjoy it as a whole. But certainly there are really rough aspects that I could have done without.

[95jezzica]

My Hetalia Ships

I’ll start this off with saying that I’m very flexible when it comes to ships and you might see them change back and forth a bit over time, but as long as they’re 2 consenting adults I usually don’t have a problem with any pairing. (Though I might avoid interacting with a few ships for personal reasons, because they kind of ick(?) me personally.) 

.

With that said, I DO have a few ships which has sneaked past my defenses over the years, which I hold a little extra dear at heart. Those pairings would be: 

- SuFin/ Sweden x Finland. I’ve also been in a fairly big SuFin mood lately, so you can probably expect to see a few works with these two loveable idiots from me, at least for a while. 

- FraSwe/ France x Sweden. A long story, but they also have some canon material and a lot of real history between them. 

- “SSF”/ Scotland (oc) x Sweden x France. An even longer story... ^J^;   - MexSwe/ Mexico (oc) x Sweden: Yeah... It’s a long story. (Rare-pair hell, whoo-hoo!) xD  - FrUk/ France x England. 

- PrUk/ Prussia x England.  - EngSwe/ England x Sweden. - Though I usually hc them as good friends who sometimes have to pretend they’re divorced parents when humans get a bit too nosy about Sealand. xD 

- Engmano/ England x Romano.   - HunViet/ Hungary x Vietnam. ♥ WOMEN! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ They’re so pretty and cute, but I also think these two would work really well together! ♥ 

- PruHun / Prussia x Hungary. 

- UkrSwe/ Ukraine x Sweden. Tbh a bit of a guilty pleasure, I suppose? Because I love them & their soft potential, but I also love Sweden as gay since he’s basically our only ACTUALLY 100% confirmed gay character. I don’t want to take that from him. At the same time though, these two would be so SOFT together. They have so much potential. ♥ (... So yeah, I’m a bit conflicted, but at the very least they would be amazing friends). 

- LadWy/ Ladonia x Wy. - Usually I only see them as friends, but sometimes I can see them being adorable cute and having an innocent crush on each other.

. . 

I think that’s about it? Have probably forgotten one or two I like, but I could just add that/those later if that’s the case and I feel the need for it. Again though, these are just my personal ships and/or favorites. ♥ 

[circlique]

Btw, you know how I mentioned I kind of ship Ladonia x Wy? Well, now I can't stop imaging the hilarious situation of Ladonia being nervous about having to tell his dads and the rest of the family that he's *STRAIGHT*. Because gay is Ladonia's normal, and then he realizes: *"Crap, I might be the only straight person I know."* x'D

Lmao yeah that’s certainly a different family dynamic but pretty interesting.

[pizzaapplecheese]

You know what confuses me in the micronations side of the fandom? the shipping. Seriously you guys are missing out some good content if you just keep shipping the same duos. like for example KugSea, it is such a good ship if you think about it. These 2 would definitely be those type of people who are extremely dense on the fact that they act like a couple, it would be cute and funny. Plus when the realization hits moment would be even more hilarious. We can also talk about LadWy, these 2 are the embodiment of those middle school kids who in which one have a crush on the other, but is very bad at showing it, so instead they “try” annoy the hell out of their crush and fails because their crush is practically just “???????okay and???????”. You guys are really missing out on some pretty good dynamics. (I want to get this clear, i don’t really like shipping children, but I see a problem when there is a problem)

[nclkafilms]

Longing for a home

(Review of ‘Lion’ seen at an early screening in Bio City Aalborg Kennedy, 1st of February 2017) Garth Davis’ debut film Lion is truly stranger than fiction. Often you have to remind yourself that this seemingly beyond impossible story is actually rooted in reality and the story about Indian orphan child Saroo who was adopted by an Australian family. It was exactly the nature of the story that prior to watching it had me fearing an over-sentimental forced tear-jerker. However, I was happily surprised. While the film still is a tear-jerker instead of superficial sentimentality, it is a patient and often ‘little’ film about our desire to have a family, to protect our loved ones and to know our heritage. 

Considering the story, it would have been a somewhat obvious choice for Davis to tell the story using flashbacks as our main character Saroo continues to remember more and more situations from his childhood. This would have given him a classic tale and not least placed star Dev Patel in a much more pivotal position as the film’s unquestionable leading actor. However, Davis decides to devide the film into two very distinct parts: one centred around the fateful days of Saroo’s childhood where he disappears from home and one centred around his gradual realisation of his origins and desire to return as a grown man.

This is the decision that gives the film that extra dimension that prevents it from being too sentimental and allows us - the audience - to dwell on Saroo’s character and his journey giving the story an emotional impact that exceeds regular sentimentality. Also, it gives us Sunny Pawar! The boy who charmed everyone at the Golden Globes when he appeared on stage with Patel. The young actor is not only the sweetest child on the screen since Jacob Tremblay in last year’s Room, he also controls the first half of the film with such strength and charm that you question if this really is his first film! 

It is also in the first half, that the film’s cinematographer, Greig Fraser (Rogue One, Zero Dark Thirty) really earns his Oscar nomination. All scenes are cleverly angled from young Saroo’s perspective making his horrifying fate in the dark corners of India way more scary and thought-provoking than it was the case in a film like Slumdog Millionaire. The way Fraser uses lighting and a mix of grandiose nature shots and extreme close-ups places us right there on the train, in the dark alleys and in the orphanage. This first half is film making of the highest calibre.  

The second half, centred around adult Saroo (Patel), is not as good and flirts more with sentimentality rather than emotional power. However, it is kept on the right side mainly thanks to very good performances from the actors and another refreshing choice from Davis. While Saroo’s Google Earth fuelled hunt for his childhood home is the main plot device here, Davis takes time to tell an equally important story about a man struggling to come to terms with himself and his desires in life. Saroo refuses to include his Australian mother, Sue (Kidman), in the process fearing that he would hurt her like his adopted brother has. However, he also states in a particular strong scene that his main motivation behind searching for his home is the fact that he feels he owe it to his mother and brother, who screams his name every day. Saroo is caught in the middle, searching for a home away from home, distancing himself from his current home in the process - all because he wants to show consideration for the people he loves. A feeling many will recognise - myself included.

Dev Patel rises from the pile of almost forgotten actors with a performance that shows great promise and shows that he has much more going on for himself than just being the charming chai-wallah Jamal (Slumdog Millionaire) - a part that almost cost him the role of Saroo out of fear of him seeming too obvious. As Saroo he encapsulates the struggles of a man who is slowly losing his place in life while going on a digital journey that seems more impossible than anything. His physicality and his emotions are spot on and has earned him a well-deserved Oscar nomination for supporting actor. Especially his interplay with Rooney Mara as his girlfriend is impeccable as they strike a very natural, believable chemistry. I would actually have liked to see more scenes between the two of them, but considering Mara’s part was a mix of several of Saroo’s real life girlfriends, I guess the it would be a struggle to create this while staying true to the source material.

Always brilliant Nicole Kidman also secured herself a place on the Academy Awards ballot with a role that does not have much more screen time than Michelle Williams’ also Oscar-nominated performance in Manchester by the Sea. Neither of them needed more time to deserve the nomination, as Kidman hits a very natural nerve as the mother to Saroo facing the uncertainty of the growing alienation towards both of her adopted children. Her part adds an extra layer to the story; the layer about adoption and how it can be not only difficult for the adopted child but also the parents. An interesting topic that could make for an entire film on its own. David Wenham and especially Divian Ladwy as the father and brother respectively also delivers very good performances with Ladwy’s Mantosh adding yet another side story to the plot: mental illness. 

The script and the film does try to cover a lot of stories while also telling the main story of a man searching for his family and it succeeds in most of it. For once, I actually feel 30 extra minutes to the 118 minutes running time could have pushed the film the final way towards being beyond great. Then we could have discovered more sides to Saroo’s struggle and dwelled more on its implications for himself, his family and his girlfriend. However, Lion is still a very pleasant surprised perfected by top-class acting, patient directing, mesmerising visuals and a powerful, atmospheric score by Dustin O'Halloran and Hauschka. We all need a home, we all long for a home - whether it is right in front of us or far away... or both!

4.5/5

[treflev-old]

mhmmmm ice/aged up wy, ladwy, liechwy and monaviet -w-

IceWy: N/A, my brain totally refuses the ship, I have no idea (I don’t ship it tho)

LadWy: 6/10, cute but I can’t really imagine them as more than friends

LiechWy: 3/10, I see no reason for this ship but I don’t hate it

MonaViet: 8/10, rare and unknown but I like it!

[oscar-crawford-fan]

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For the 12 Days of Christmas, meet The 12 Pearls of Christmas, an OCM Production of Special Edition's of the Ladwy in the Spotlight from 2013.. After this video, the first Pearl, Dr. Denise Lewis. and perhaps an appearance of the​ Pearl Queen if I can work it out with her agent. #Lady #spotlight #pearl #christmas #partridge #peartree #queensland #queen #istanbul #norway #holland #unitedkingdom #wales #trinidad #instadaily #instalove #video #igwriters #poetsoninstagram #india #australia #canada (at Suites of America)