#and Siegfried talking about Evelyn

[owlsie-hoot]

04.04

[cherish--these--times]

“In this series, Siegfried is a widower, a detail not in the Herriot novels but echoing the life of the real man who inspired the character, Donald Sinclair, whose first wife, Evelyn, died of tuberculosis. He was married to his second wife for 53 years. She was called Audrey, which just happens to be the lesser heard name of Anna Madeley’s character, Mrs Hall.”

That anyone might think we’re not heading there, based on that alone, is beyond me…

[autumnillustration]

Her Father’s Favourite

Another silly AU idea for this charming little show. It was that discussion between Tris and Siegfried about him and Evelyn not having children (as well as Alderson and Siegfried talking about daughters) that spurred this on.

“It was love at first sight. Never seen a man as smitten as our Siegfried was when he held Elouise for the first time. Evelyn and I didn’t get a look in… I genuinely think she was the only thing that kept him going after Evelyn died.

Well, El and the wonderful Mrs H.”

[below-average-fangirl]

The two scenes where James and Siegfried talk about Evelyn are of course important in showing how their relationship has grown. However, I think there is another scene that quietly sets up how their relationship has shifted.

It's from Episode 2 where Siegfried asks James for money, because Miss Hardbottle has put all their petty cash in a box. James is asking Siegfried if his plan is working as well as he'd hoped and just as Siegfried turns to leave James makes a little, "Uh hum" noise and gives Siegfried some money.

The reason I think it's important is that James is teasing Siegfried and Siegfried doesn't react with a stern stare, like he would have previously when he saw himself as primarily James boss. It's more a look of, "Why you little," with a smile that shows how comfortable he is and how much like a family they've become.

[mirai-desu]

Siegfried and Audrey Moments » Series 3, Episode 1

“Handsome creature.” “Ah... well, I was younger then, you see. Still, the years haven't been completely unki-- you're talking about the horse, aren't you? [...] Evelyn boxed it all up before she died... she was very practical. She knew that I was perhaps a bit lacking in that respect.” “There's a lot more boxes up there.” “Oh! Yes, I had to get a day's extension to my leave so we could marry.” “We didn't even have time to buy a ring. I tied a knot in a length of twine.” “Very practical. Evelyn would approve.”

[lilyy432]

What started out as a 5 minute google search ended up as an 11 hour intense research project (yes it is 2am, I’m aware) - must be the scientist in me.

I present the definitive Siegfried and Audrey timeline!!!

Hope this can be of use to some fellow fic writers out there or any general Shippers/fans of the show.

I have the research docs still if anyone needs more proof/how I came to certain dates.

Enjoy my loves 😘

Please share if you liked it ❤️

PS: All the SxA dates are based off Donald and Audrey’s marriage in real life: he was married to Evelyn for 6 years, widowed for 7, then married Audrey and had their first child the next year. The birth dates were calculated using their time in military service - Audrey must have been 21 in 1919 due to holding ‘Stripes’ in the WRNS - a promotion to officer not granted below that age, and we know that Siegfried must have been 22 in 1917 because he was that age when he graduated from Veterinary College and enlisted in the AVC. We know in S3 he talks about his time in Ypres - most likely in the Battle of Passchendale (also 1917). Edward must have been 14 in 1933 to be of age to have been sent to Borstal, plus it makes sense for Audrey to leave the WRNS and go into service if she’s having to care for a young child. Tris must have been 23 in 1938 as he took an extra year to pass his exams, placing his birthdate in 1915.

There’s more of course but that is the main gist of it 😊

[jesuisgourde]

The Libertines queer media influences/references

I’ve sort of forgotten about compiling this so I figure I’ll just post it now. If anyone knows of other references feel free to let me know and I’ll add it or reblog and add your own.

I’ve put the works by the authors in parenthesis. First the works referenced by the band, then general well-known or popular works by the person. These are things they’ve mentioned in interviews or journals, or referenced musically, or have otherwise quoted or talked about.

Oscar Wilde (The Picture Of Dorian Gray, The Ballad Of Reading Gaol, The Duchess of Padua, Salome) Jean Genet (The Thief’s Journal, Our Lady Of The Flowers, Miracle Of The Rose, The Balcony) Saki / H.H. Munro (The Interlopers, The Open Window, Sredni Vashtar) Love And Death On Long Island (1997 film) E.M. Forster (Maurice, A Room With A View, Howard’s End) Evelyn Waugh (Brideshead Revisited, Decline And Fall) Truman Capote (A Diamond Guitar, Breakfast At Tiffany’s) Arthur Rimbaud (A Season In Hell, The Drunken Boat) Paul Verlaine (Poems Under Saturn) Hedi Slimane (fashion designer, collaborator) Un Chant D’Amour (1950 film by Jean Genet) Siegfried Sassoon (Suicide In The Trenches) Wilfred Owen (Anthem For Doomed Youth, Dulce Et Decorum Est) Tennessee Williams (Suddenly, Last Summer, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof) D.H. Lawrence (Lady Chatterly’s Lover, The State Of Funk, Women In Love) Liquid Sky (1982 film) Allen Ginsberg (Howl) David Bowie (Wild Eyed Boy From Freecloud, Jean Genie, Station To Station) Jean Cocteau (Opium, Les Enfants Terribles, illustrations for Genet’s Querelle) Dirk Bogarde (actor: Victim, Darling, Death In Venice) Quentin Crisp (actor/writer: The Naked Civil Servant) Lord Byron (She Walks In Beauty, Don Juan, The Corsair) Jeremy Reed (The Lipstick Boys, Jean Genet: Born To Lose, Saints And Psychotics) William S Burroughs (Junky, Naked Lunch, Queer, The Soft Machine) Morrissey (Every Day Is Like Sunday, Suedehead, A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours) The Boys In The Band (1970 film) Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, My Own Private Idaho, Milk) Tutti Frutti by Little Richard Women In Love (1969 film) Queen (mentioned as a guilty pleasure of Carl’s; I Want To Break Free, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, The Prophet’s Song) The Others (associated band; Johan, Stan Bowles, This Is For The Poor) Lindsay Anderson (if..., O Lucky Man!) Bright Young Things (1920′s socialite group, 2003 film) Robert Graves (In Her Praise, 1915, I, Claudius) A.E. Housman (A Shropshire Lad, De Amicitia) Buzzcocks (Ever Fallen In Love With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve) Pet Shop Boys (Rent, It’s A Sin, Go West) Velvet Underground/Lou Reed (Venus In Furs, Sister Ray, Walk On The Wild Side) Eclogues by Virgil (poem) W.H. Auden (The Age Of Anxiety, The Shield Of Achilles, For The Time Being) Noel Coward (Blithe Spirit, Words And Music) Edward Lear (The Owl And The Pussycat, The Book Of Nonsense) Jeanette Winterson (Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Written On The Body) Joe Orton (Loot, What The Butler Saw, Entertaining Mr Sloane)

[smallpotato80]

I recall an interview Sam did once talking about how Skeldale house was decorated by Evelyn, and the photos of her displayed.  Sam said that, for Siegfried, finding anyone to share his life with would be a serious matter because he thinks Siegfried would want to take it seriously to honor Evelyn’s memory and what they had.   Sam said it would be interesting to see Siegfried allow someone to change the decorations, or to refresh photos because it would signal a new era, and a big step forward for Siegfried.  Moving on does mean letting go, but not necessarily forgetting.   Siegfried has come a long way from S1 and, by the end of S2, I think he is ready to embrace sharing his life again and having someone to care for him, and caring for someone else.   He framed it as “learning to love again” to Tristan in S1E5 but, I think, maybe he never really thought of falling in love again.  I like to think Siegfried has had a love for Mrs. Hall and what she means to Skeldale and, by extension, his world. Deeply admires her.   However, I think he fell for her when he saw her in that dress in S2E7. I don’t think that it is entirely shallow, either.  I think he saw Audrey in that moment.  I don’t know if he ever thought that would happen again. 

In S3, if we learn Siegfried asked Mrs. Hall to refresh the bedsitter space James and Helen are moving into, I think that will be a significant sign.  Can you imagine if we get a scene of Siegfried replacing a photo of Evelyn with a photo of his gallant crew from James/Helen’s wedding or some other event?  

[vaktynan1]

Dorothy x Siegfried, Audrey × Siegfried

I like Dorothy and totally see why her and Audrey are friends. They worked in Wrens together, Audrey from the comment "I turned my stripes in years ago" is telling. Dorothy served under her, maybe as a lower rank officer but they used that time and became friends. Dorothy seems slightly younger then Audrey.

I see the attraction that Siegfried has to Dorothy, probably looks a lot like her Evelyn. I want to see him and see Dorothy get together but only for a bit.

Siegfried and Dorothy date for a little while but as in Siegfried terms "courting". I see Dorothy getting a little antsy.

So the scenario goes like this:

Audrey husband dies in brawl or something tragic but being a "Brute" as Dorothy put it, that he's not the nicest person and very much changed after the war, looking for whatever trouble he could find. (Hence Mrs. Hall leaving for a couple of days to put affairs in order and turning Siegfried life upside down and comical turns)

Skip ahead, Tristan hears things from pub he goes to visit in a different area. He debates to tell Siegfried, but decides to do it because he has no one else to share it with. They are in the surgery on a routine matter with a pet and as Tristan tells him more details about Mr. Hall, Siegfried gets more and more agitated, Tris says he needs something from the medicine closet, Siegfried is like "No, No, I'll get it", he goes out of surgery down the hall, James is on the run again, bumps into Siegfried of course since Siegfried is already annoyed, it's compound, Herriot swings around again, Siegfried knocks some medicine of his hand an d a quarter of the shelve. Now beyond annoyed , screams clean it up, takes off the lab coat dumps it on the floor, takes his keys and his hat, goes out the door and drives off. Just getting in the front door sees James, the mess and hears Tristan yelling for Siegfried. No one knows really what's happening.

Siegfried drives to see Dorothy (they been dating for a few months but slowly taking steps). Siegfried shows up at Dorothy door and she is very surprised to see him. She dressed up and on her way out. Saying "I thought we weren't seeing each other to tonight". "No I just thought I would take a chance *pause* humm, spontaneous, yes, Yes , my mistake" backing off . Dorothy "no wait, I'm helping my sister with the dance tonight" "would you like to join me". Siegfried "I'm really not dressed". Dorothy "you'll be fine". Siegfried "well I do enjoying dancing". They head off to the dance at the local hall. While there Siegfried of course can dance very well and knows all the dances - the waltz, the foxtrot, the polka and even a little Charleston. On all the main dances he happy to lead Dorothy around the dance floor until it comes from to the newer jitter bug/swing. He hesitates, a local says "Hey Dot a spin" she looks at Siegfried and he is one way releaved to let her go, her sisters starts talk to him. Something she says about Audrey brings it all back up. He asks casually as he can, about the subject, she says the best thing she did was leave him, to bad about her boy, such a sweet little thing when her and Dorothy's boy were little. Mr. Hall was very different after the war, knew them all before the war.

The night ends, Siegfried walks Dorothy back into the house, they start to kiss, she leads him up the stairs, he stops, hesitates, they kiss, but he pulls back. She says she's going to Paris for a couple of days at the end of the week why doesn't he join. He hesitates. He gets flush and flustered. "I have my practice, I can't go running off to Paris" with a chuckle. Well, she leans in for another he's there but not there.

He hesitates more, Dorothy stops "she's lucky to find someone that finally deserves her, tell her goodbye for me and I'll get in touch when I'm back". Siegfried's head is spinning. He decides to leave, slowly backing up and heading out the door.

Come in late at night through the back door through the kitchen. Jess starts growling, he yells at her, she rips his jacket, Mrs. Hall hearing the commotion grabbing her trusty cricket bat, he scares her but she realizes that it's him, says "oh Jess", "welcome home, You can leave that, I'll fix it in the morning" she turns to leave her back to him/ at the same time Siegfried says "I went to see Dorothy", "Oh", "Nice time, went to local dance her sister was running " she starts to turn back "yes she's always running something", "yes, it was nice", "I'm sure it was". She turns to start leaving again "She asked me to go to Paris at the end of the week with her and some friends", "Oh *pause*, I'll pack your things". Siegfried "I told her I couldn't" Audrey turns back, Siegfried moves in closer touching the table, "Yes, *pause *, what do they say, Paris is for young lovers and romance", "they do", he moves closer to her. "You see, I was there twice, once on a holiday with my parents when I was younger just before Tristan was born, before I went off to University and once the end of the war, they say it's still beautiful, but I would rather be home". "Oh, well yes we agree". He still moves closer. "Dorothy wasn't too upset that you declined her offer?" "No, on the contrary, in a indescribable way, I have the inclination that we both where releaved". "Well, as long as you are content with your decision". "Yes, you see the people I love and *pause, hearts beating* want to be with are already under this roof, you see". They move closer, "It took me someone else to finally see what has been right there and I've been a fool to not realize it", Audrey takes a deep slow breath "I wouldn't say a fool" Siegfried is standing right in front of her, he takes her hand, He leans, she leans in, they kiss. They both take a breath, they smile at one another holding hands, Siegfried "this might get complicated", Audrey "yes, but it might be worth it".

The next morning, she's making breakfast, he comes in happy and asks her if she needs any help, he puts his arm around her waist while she's at the stove and he kisses her on the forehead ,"that smells delicious" "Well go sit down" , her hands are cooking, he pulls up her chin, kisses her and whispers "thank you". Just as Siegfried is pulling away Tristan walks in and starts "where did you get off to yesterday?" They, of course, start arguing and Audrey "you can continue this later, now eat while it's hot" " "Morning James", James " look I'm sorry about yesterday". Siegfried "No need, now let's eat" and they go on about their day.

Ok, so that's my very long winded version of what should happen. Enjoy.

[beckmessering]

1-14 on the opera asks!

ahhhh you absolute trickster, i love you...

(tagging @sweatershowgirl @coloraturadiva and @vera-dauriac because you also asked questions. answers are below because...um, i like to talk.)

1. favourite performance you ever attended

met parsifal, the revival in 2018. or the current bayreuth meistersinger.

2. a performance you would’ve wanted to attend (present or past)

one of the historic bayreuth rings, chereau or kupfer. for the visuals alone, maybe kupfer.

3. a piece perfect for your commute

baroque music without drastic volume changes works really well, so either soprano handel arias or the opening chorus to st. matthew passion, which is also the length of my walk to the station.

4. do you have a go-to opera (and version)?

currently a 2017 live recording of st. matthew passion on youtube. 

5. an opera you loved only on the second listening

people i regularly talk to about operas probably know this story, but i’ll gladly expand. i saw die walküre shortly after one of the worst days of my life, and i was mentally really out of it. i couldn’t remember anything about the music or understand any of the characters. it just felt overdramatic and too long and distant. in lockdown in march i started streaming a ring and thought “ugh, i’ll just have to watch walküre to get to siegfried, but it has some singers i like so maybe it won’t be that boring”. and boom, i watched it at my grandpas’ kitchen table and was blown away.

5. a composer you have tried and failed to like

mozart. sorry. i tried and failed. me and wolfgang amadeus do not emotionally vibe with each other. i would’ve been in a uni production of zauberflöte though, so maybe it’s more fun to perform than to listen on my own time. 

6. a character you love and definitely never want to meet in real life

wotan. lord, he’s good at fucking with people’s lives. or scarpia. i’m not tosca, so i’m too scared for murder. 

7. following up on that: your guilty problematic favourite character

alberich, in a way. problematic, but probably he’s cleverer with more emotional nuance than he’s sometimes allowed. 

8. forget anatomy/physiology. which voice category/fach would you choose?

in case it’s not very obvious, a baritone please. or if i stay a soprano, a dramatic soprano.

9. a casting/singer’s voice you’ll defend to the death. (now tell us why)

okay, rant time. 

evelyn herlitzius as brünnhilde is absolutely smashing. no, her voice really isn’t beautiful. some people say it sounds screechy, but i think it’s extremely metallic and definitely an acquired taste. her sound limits the amount of fitting roles, but there are some she absolutely kills because she radiates intensity. her kundry is unhinged and very human, and she’s one of the rare brünnhildes who convincingly portray youth. she’s impulsive, fidgety, tomboyish, clearly her father’s favourite and attached to his hip without realising how sinister this is. she also has absolutely zero understanding of what mortality means to humans and her father’s rotten scheming dawns on her only slowly when she meets siegmund. she visibly grows from this teenage girl persona with too much childish bravado and stands up to her father in the end, but she still loves him more than is good for her (same goes for him) and together, they play loosing each other too well. 

she’s also a very intense physical actress. she carries herself different for every character, and even when she’s silent, she never slips up, and she has great in-character stare-offs with other characters. i live for those. 

10. and a production you’ll defend to the death

“hngffgf the bayreuth meistersinger are too regie and we can stop talking about wagner’s antisemitism now-” BLAH BLAH CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE SOUND OF SACHS AND BECKMESSER FINALLY BEING COMPLEX CHARACTERS AND HAVING AN ACTUAL RELATIONSHIP (and beckmesser finally being in the focus of the production)

11. something you’re a rigid traditionalist (or revolutionary) about?

can the grail in parsifal just please be an actual grail? not like, a symbolic brain or what (looking at you, vienna state opera). and i agree with @dichterfuerstin in that the ultra-strict definition of vocal categories is annoying and prevents some great variety in character interpretations.

12. an opera that made you have an ~*awakening*~ of sorts (any sort)

i thought there was great acting in act one of chereau’s walküre. then i read peter hofmann’s obituary and realised that other people categorised what i saw as “just great acting” as “sexual electricity” and then i wondered if i’m either really fucking oblivious to sexual tension in straight couples or if i should overthink if i am straight. 

13. an opera/music debate do you know so much about that people will suspiciously ask “why...do you know this?”

i know a suspicious amount of things about boys’ unbroken voices. bear with me. originally it was a research topic for a piece of writing, and then i realised i liked the sound of it. now i can vocally distinguish a rather large amount of choirs and boy soloists by sound, name, recording, repertoire, and year, and i have opinions about boys’ vocal technique. 

14. rant about a topic/an opera you love but haven’t found a good time to do so on your blog.

building on the last question, some baroque music purists on youtube are really annoying. either they ridicule female sopranos for having natural vibrato because “bAcH oNlY wRoTe fOr bOyS!!!” or they relentlessly attack 13 or 14 year olds for having tiny flaws in their otherwise very advanced vocal technique. i love hearing passions and cantatas performed by young voices, but only if it’s up to a good qualitative standard. if not, female sopranos/altos are wonderful and brilliant and don’t have to prove their quality, no question! just choose the singers that will give it the best quality and unique sound, it’s that easy. 

[owlsie-hoot]

"We'll look after her, James. And the baby too. I promise you." (04.05)

[unmeiverse-nextadventures]

I decided to answer no. 7 as a ‘both of them’ sort of thing since essentially/technically they share the one major scandal that anyone who knows of their family knows about.

Enid

5. What is a secret that they have?

Enid isn’t the type to keep secrets for long unless she really feels the need to keep it secret. The one she did keep for a long time that troubled her a lot was the fact that, despite being dead in her verse, she couldn’t help but feel complicated towards her extended family, particularly Tristan. At some point in her teens she was able to piece together that she was meant to replace her deceased cousin, and this just really made her uneasy and insecure. She knows its dumb and its not like Ingo or Emmet ever compare her to him so she just kept those feelings to herself for the most part. It helps that neither of her dads try to bring up the subject of their dead family members to her much.

(This finally comes up once she meets Tristan and his universe’s version of her dads. Awkward times ahoy)  

14. What is something that never fails to make them excited?

Traveling! She likes going to new places especially, meeting new people and pokemon and seeing new sights! It probably started around the first time she visited her “aunt” Evelyn and her family in Kalos. While she loves the Battle Subway and Nimbasa City as a whole, she’s always up for the chance to visit another city or even region.

24. What do they think they’re good at, but aren’t? 

Hiding her feelings. 

Specifically, when she’s at work and faced with very rude or difficult to handle people she tries to keep on the “Friendly and Helpful” image even when she’s clearly agitated / frustrated / uncomfortable. Her smile becomes more stiff and forced and there’s a change in her tone of voice. Its not that it looks like she could cry or snap in a few more seconds, it just looks like she’s become more ‘robotic’ to most onlookers. Its clearly obvious to her co-workers though that she is Not Handling It Well and they would step in, but she herself doesn’t realize any of this.

28. When left to their own devices, how would they spend a free day?

Enid likes to go out around the city and visit shops, maybe find some new ones, and buy at least one thing from each one. Going around for some casual trainer battles or even trying out a new sport or activity are also good.

Generally though she doesn’t really mind what to do on a free day so much as getting to spend it with the people she likes. Those people being her dads, her close friend Rinne, and possibly some other acquaintances or friends she might have (that I haven’t developed at this point). Scarlet is at the bottom of the list of people she would willingly spend a free day with though. Alone at least, she would probably not mind as much if Briar or An or even Denis were there since then Scarlet would have others to annoy tease pay attention to.

Tristan

28. When left to their own devices, how would they spend a free day?

Tristan is the type of person you have to force to take a break because otherwise he’d just use the free day to get “other work” done. Though he does have some activities he prefers to do once he gets barred from working. 

He likes going to crowded areas, places where a lot of activity goes on, and just doing his own thing while life goes on around him. Would spend hours on one of the tables of the outdoor dining area of a cafe or small restaurant in a busy area, heck even just sitting at a public bench would do as well. He likes the feeling of many people just going about doing their own thing while still in the same space for a relatively brief period of time (just like in the subway). 

If for some reason he can’t go out he’d either try drawing the inner workings and machinery of some trains or try sketching out a new design that would come to mind. He isn’t the type to go and work on a new idea on his own but he would show it to Rinne if she asks and she would try to build a small scale version of it when she has her own free day.

And now the fun part

7. Any family scandals? Does your character know about them?

Well the most obvious one is Ingo and Emmet’s relationship. No matter the verse those two are way closer than is normal for twin brothers, and people will notice and will talk. 

Enid deals with more of it though, being their daughter and all. Even though biologically she’s not an actual incest baby, the fact she’s being raised by twin brothers who are both alphas and who are mated to each other just makes things equally scandalous. She definitely had some trouble in school because of the whole situation, but for the most part she tried to not let it get to her and Rinne was there to curb most instances of bullying. 

There’s also the whole drama that lead up to her being born in the first place, but the public doesn’t know that and neither does she at first. It’s more of a scandal for the families involved (the SubMas twins and the Chatelaine sisters) and absolutely no one wants to bring it up to any of the kids. She does eventually figure out some of it on her own though and keeps it to herself.

Tristan only has to deal with the rumors since his uncles aren’t together like that, really. His main way of dealing with it is just ignoring what the people say, unless someone tries to actually publish something on it then you can bet he’ll desperately try to stop them. Later on its one of the few reasons he’s grateful for meeting Scarlet; she’s not afraid to take more extreme and probably illegal measures if needed. His personal feelings on the matter, though? He’s in denial, but he knows deep down his uncles are really dangerously toeing the line with their relationship. He would still accept and love them, if they ever do cross it, but they don’t.

Besides that, anything that Alvert (Tristan’s dad) might have done that might have been considered scandalous were all Dealt With and unlikely to ever come up. Tristan’s...heritage...from his other parent might also be big deal if people found out but like, none of them even knew anything about that for most of Tristan’s life. Said parent is long gone by the time they do find out (plus genuinely didn’t know at the time either because of deliberate, self-inflicted amnesia and all that). They only find out because Siegfried ends up befriending and later dating Tristan, and while he didn’t mind how “off” Tristan’s aura was everyone else he knew that had something to do with the supernatural Very Much Minded. They all agree to keep it just within their circle though so it doesn’t become too big of a deal.

Also both Tristan and Enid have to deal with a Scarlet that keeps doing things to try and start drama, especially flirting with people older than her, which include them. 

[aconissa]

seeing you talk about the burying party made me want to watch some period dramas, do you know any that are similar to that?

Absolutely! These are all films, but I’ve got longer lists including some tv series under my ‘recs’ tag.

Regeneration (1997) is essentially about the same people and period, although it focuses on their time at Craiglockhart Hospital. It’s based on one of my favourite novels (written by Pat Barker) and follows Siegfried Sassoon, Dr Rivers, Wilfred Owen, and Billy Prior (another of Rivers’ patients).

Maurice (1987) is set just before the war and thus has a much sunnier outlook, based on the novel by E. M. Forster (who was himself a friend of Siegfried Sassoon). Follows a young gay man through his adolescence, his time at Cambridge and beyond

Another Country (1984) is inspired by the life of notorious Cambridge spy Guy Burgess. It’s set while the Burgess character in his final year at school, and explores his sexuality and early conversion to communism

A Month in the Country (1987) is set just after WWI, and deals with the lingering trauma and pointlessness experienced by soldiers returning to civilian life

All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) is the seminal WWI film in my opinion, just as the original book is the seminal WWI novel. Beautiful but so very, very sad

Journey’s End (2018) is based on the wonderful 1928 play by R.C. Sherriff, who served as an officer during the war. Deals with many of the same themes and experiences as The Burying Party, although all the characters are fictionalised 

The Night Watch (2011) is set during and after the Second World War, and follows several characters during that period, none of whom are soldiers but all of whom were deeply effected by the war (the London Blitz particularly)

Dunkirk (2017) is one of the best war films ever made, in my opinion. Much more sweeping and dramatic than The Burying Party, but a stunning film and deeply affecting. Set, as the name suggests, during the evacuation of Dunkirk in 1940

The History Boys (2006) is technically set in the 1980s and has a very different tone to the other films on this list, but it has a similar relationship with poetry to The Burying Party and includes some discussion of WWI poetry

Wilde (1997) follows the story of Oscar Wilde, as you can guess. Another interesting film to watch for its exploration of the literature of its subject, all the more fascinating when you do watch The Burying Party because there are many references to Wilde and all the gay characters are clearly still living under the black cloud of Wilde’s trial over a decade before

Atonement (2007) is another one of my favourite war films, and deals with the same events as Dunkirk although covering a much longer period and a more varied group of characters

Bright Young Things (2003) is based on the satirical novel Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh, although is overall much more serious. This explores the world of the ‘Bright Young Things’, a social group of young hedonists who emerged in the post-war period. Although all the characters are fictional, a major member of the real group was Stephent Tennant, a lover of Siegfried Sassoon.

Creation (2009) doesn’t deal with war, unlike most of the films on this list, but is a similarly intimate and heartbreaking portrayal of one famous historical figure and the tragic events of their life (in this case, Charles Darwin).

[smallpotato80]

I saw an interview where Sam talked about how Siegfried is still in love with his wife and how difficult it is for him to let go/move on.  He mentioned how the House was decorated by Evelyn and so she is everywhere.  Sam said he would like to see that issue dealt with....redecorating or refreshing would signify something for him.   I recall Dorothy telling Mrs. Hall that he struck her as someone still in love w/his wife, and Mrs. Hall saying she could understand that, and indeed she can with her own past.  Siegfried was honest with Dorothy and told her he would like to try and move forward.   It strikes me that he would have to trust whomever he chose to move forward with with Evelyn’s legacy.  I could see him questioning if he has enough love to give, and I think it would take someone very, very special to make him make promises....to honor the past while looking forward toward a future. In Anna’s interviews, she talks about Mrs. Hall having to be very careful about crossing lines between employee/employer relationships.... I think she found a place where she was needed, and those people came to mean a great deal to her. However, will that be enough? For how long?   I almost feel Mrs. Hall making a decision to move forward out of her comfort zone, and what that may really look like and mean, may force Siegfried to move out of his as well.   I think they healed together when both were very, very vulnerable.  To make any changes to that dynamic is scary, but nothing is gained if not.   I know it is a gentle, simple show.  But we care so much about all these characters, you just will them to be happy.   

[aconissa]

Hello! I was just wondering if you could tell us a little about some of your favorite lgbt+ historical figures? Or just give names of some from any period of history because I'd really like to read up on my lgbt+ history! A lot of what I know is very America/Britain centric and I'd just like to expand my knowledge a bit. Thank you!!

Honestly I’m in the same boat, partially because there’s way more visibility for LGBT people in American and British history (although really, we’re talking LGB here because there’s so little visibility for trans people in history) and because the history and literature I’ve studied at university has been very European. So instead I’ll give you a mixed list of my faves, with POC & non-British Europeans in italics (links are to their tag on my blog or info about them)

Audre Lorde

Mary Renault 

James Baldwin

Alexander the Great

Evelyn Waugh

Frida Kahlo

Wu Tsao

Sappho

Virginia Woolf

Alan Turing

Siegfried Sassoon

Josphine Baker

Stephen Tennant

Marsha P. Johnson

Christopher Isherwood

Lord Byron

Arthur Rimbaud

Hadrian