#maurice mock

[anawkwardlady]

Maurice's secret shouldn't have been that he wore makeup because, obviously, it should've been that he got perms. I KNOW he was lying to everyone saying his curls were natural and they're not. Ciel caught him at a hair salon and that's why they're exes

JFNFKCNFNDND

Please be patient with him he is in a sensitive time of his curl journey (his natural hair can easily frizz like a lil sheep and he is ashamed… he is still trying to find the right routine) . Ciel doesn’t care tho, get out of there.

[reddesires]

Imagine being the adopted daughter of Maurice and you were basically raised alongside Blue eyes and Ash, and one day, you overhear Blue eyes being mocked and teased for being friends with a human by a group of young apes and he in a ditch effort of trying to stop the bullying he says something mean about you and later you confront him like "I thought we were friends 🥺" and he's so ashamed and he's like "we are..😥🥺"

AHHHH, BABIES GOING THRU ANGSTY FEELINGS

[jo-harrington]

Standard Operating Procedures 1.04 (Eddie Munson x Store Manager!Reader)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader

Summary: The summer is ending, school is about to start, the seasons are changing...and so are things between you and Eddie.

Previous Part: Corrective Action

Warnings/Themes: AU where the Upside Down doesn't terrorize Hawkins. Reader works at the Claire's at StarCourt. Eddie works at TapeWorld. Mutual Pining and Slow Burn, Fluff, Food/Eating, Talks about the Future, Romantic Tension/Sexual Tension

You can find my masterlist here for more featuring our resident Store Manager and all of my other writing.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

---

Eddie had always had a sweet tooth.

His mom swore, up and down, that her only craving had been for Zebra Cakes when she was pregnant with him.

His favorite food as a baby had been mashed peaches.

And now he was sure his body was chemically composed of more Dr. Pepper than water.

So it should have been no big surprise that he was so attracted to you.

Ahem.

So it should have been no big surprise that he would have planned a snack cake taste test extravaganza for your usual Sunday Not-a-Date Date.

You'd revealed early on that your grandparents were both "in the sugar business."

"My grandpa," you told him once as you walked through the mall window shopping on your lunch. "Worked the chocolate chip line at the Maurice Lenell bakery."

"Are those the fancy cookie tins--"

"That they sell at Christmas? Yes."

"Wayne always gets one with his holiday bonus," Eddie reminisced. "The pinwheel ones with the red sugar on the outside are my favorite."

"And my grandma worked at the Hostess factory," you continued. "She always always brought home boxes of rejects. I probably would have been too shy to make friends at school if they hadn't flocked to me for baked goods."

Because of this though, you had never fraternized with the enemy, as Eddie so dramatically put it: Little Debbie.

"And now," his gaze turned dark and mischievous as he threw open the doors to the van. "You shall feel the full power of the dark side."

He outdid himself, truly.

Piles of snack cakes from the gas station, sorted into two neat little stacks, a little notebook for scorekeeping, and a 6-pack of Mountain Dew as a palette cleanser.

“You keep saying,” he said as you settled in amongst the pillows and blankets he’d set up in the back so you’d both have a cozy spot to snack. The radio was softly playing in the background. It was nice. “That you wanted to drink the water in the mall fountains. Did you know that Mountain Dew is the closest you’re gonna get?”

You’d both run garbage late one Wednesday night and thrown coins into the fountain on your way back to your stores. And that’s when you’d revealed your deepest darkest secret.

“Because they’ll both probably kill me in the end?” You joked.

“No, because Bromine is in both.”

“Ok nerd.” You snorted.

“Not…a nerd,” he shoved you as he plopped down beside you. “But I did this project for chemistry class last year. On Mountain Dew. And how it gets that color. And it’s also how they keep the fountain water clean. Or pool water? I can’t remember exactly right now.”

“Ok nerd.”

“I’m sorry,” he clutched his hand over his heart. “My lady wanted to taste only the finest of fountain water. And I deliver her the closest thing and am openly mocked? Twice?”

You stuck your tongue out at him and slapped his shoulder, then asked what the rubric was for the taste test.

And then you snacked til you made yourselves sick and did what you always did, balanced conversation and companionable silence.

That was a new thing. The silence.

Not for the two of you, but for Eddie.

He wasn't used to silence, he was used to loud music, noises and raucous laughter and adventure--real or fantasy--with his friends, but since the two of you started hanging out, he was getting used to the silence a little more. Enjoying it. Savoring it. Looking forward to it.

The anticipation of waiting for something wonderful--thoughts or observations or confessions--coming of your mouth made him feel warm inside.

Eddie had pondered your friendship earlier in the day as you'd run in to let him know you couldn't take lunch together.

"There's this crazy long piercing line and I'm just running to get a slice of pizza and then going back up. I'm so sorry, I'll see you after work ok?"

Your energy was frantic and your words faster than lightspeed, but your eyes were filled with concern and care for him. The little hitch of your eyebrows and the extra pause you took so you made sure that he understood that you weren't ditching him you just...couldn't do lunch and didn't want to leave him hanging.

Even when everything was falling apart around you, you cared to make sure he understood.

It was nice.

And it wasn't just you. But it was nicer when it was you.

He didn't get a lot of understanding like that. Especially not in Hawkins where his last name and his appearance caused everyone's hackles to raise a little. And even the people who did want him around...well it was hit or miss if they decided to stick around.

But since working at StarCourt, things had been different. He had a boss and coworkers who liked him, inside jokes with people who worked at other stores. He had you. He wasn't Eddie The Freak Munson. He was Eddie from TapeWorld. And Eddie from TapeWorld seemed to help people warm up to Eddie Munson.

What a weird concept. People wanting him around. Coming to StarCourt and being around people who accepted him and valued him...understood him. He'd only felt that way with Hellfire...and with Corroded Coffin.

People were good and people liked him. A sweeter treat than all the Hostess in the world.

It had been a few months now; a few months of an actual job, a consistent crush friend, and everything seeming to look up for him. Give or take a few minor hiccups but...he was feeling good.

And school was starting soon, maybe this would be the year the tide turned? No more waiting for the future to finally happen for him; he was making things happen for himself.

It might finally be his year...

"So," he leaned over, into your personal space, and fished a folded piece of paper from his back pocket. "Kyle gave me this thing yesterday."

"Oh yeah?" Your eyebrows raised in curiosity as you happily munched on a sugary treat.

He'd spiraled a little bit when he'd been handed the sheet. Three little words at the top.

Schedule Change Request.

Way back at the beginning of summer, after the initial shock that he'd gotten the job at TapeWorld, he figured he was just counting his days until he was fired and that the start of the school year would have been the final nail in the coffin if he made it that far.

Instead Kyle was...asking him to stay.

"I’m probably not gonna be able to give you as many hours with school,” he sighed. “Which is a real bummer. But I’ll put you on as much as I can."

"You're not kicking me out?" Eddie asked, shocked.

"What? Are you nuts? Ed, you're like...my best guy! I need you here. Selling those guitars, getting those sales bonuses. And because you're my buddy. So make sure you put your for-sure days off on there...you know I'm gonna forget.”

He explained it all to you, which led to you cackling loudly.

"Oh my God," you laughed. "Eddie!"

"What? I know it's silly."

"No, I'm not laughing because of that," you began. "My first position at Claire's had been a summer job too and I seriously thought that I was gonna get fired once school was back in session."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. And it's a real thing because no one tells you that you're done when summer's over. You're gonna see come Christmas, Kyle will have to hire seasonal associates--and hey, ok...seriously if Gareth or Dave come asking for a job...it might seem fun...but don't--and he'll have to make sure they have end dates on their paperwork otherwise it's a whole thing."

You went on and on about helping your old manager with paperwork and you'd forgotten to put an end date as you were filling everything out. And then someone's mom came to complain at the end of the season when their kid was let go.

"And she kept screaming and screaming. And that's why I have a strict parent policy at work. Even though I'm the reason that got so fucked up; trial by fire. Jen was pissed."

Eddie reached out and unwrapped your hand from the Sno-Ball that you had crushed as you told the story. He adored it when you got so animated, but the poor little pastry was now just a mess of crumbs and frosting and marshmallow goo on your fingers and now his as he plucked the half-destroyed treat from your grasp.

And the thing was...

The thing was, Eddie wasn't...he was decidedly not smooth. He was gross. He was a gross boy. He hacked loogies and did spit handshakes with the guys all the time. He had no five second rule when it came to food dropped on the floor; it was an optical inspection and then usually straight down the gullet.

He could be romantic and seductive if he wanted to be; he could charm the...ahem...pants off some people if the need arose. And he had.

But that wasn't this.

This was a caught up in the moment of having a good time with his friend and doing what he would have done if one of his buddies crushed a snack cake. He'd be his usual gross self and expect them to groan and screech and laugh at him. Boys will be boys and all.

This was a too little too late moment of realization as he, Eddie Munson, lacking the foresight of having napkins in the van for this little snack cake taste test since he usually wiped his honey-bun-icing slick hands on his jeans after he unhinged his jaw and shoved it in on mornings when he was running late, saw no other way to clean sweet frosting off your hand except to lick it off your thumb.

The van suddenly got smaller and hotter as his tongue traveled up the pad of your finger, over the ridge of each joint and to the center of your palm. His eyes traveled up to meet yours as he flicked the sweetness off of you, and his breath hitched when he saw the way your eyes widened.

How was he supposed to deal with this? How was he supposed to handle this epic potential fuck up right here? How was he supposed to stop his brain--and maybe some other parts of him--from wanting to take the hand that gently held your wrist and pull you closer so he could kiss the sugar from your lips and not just...

Lick it off your hand.

Jesus, he was an idiot.

Caught between a rock and a hard dick.

Hard place. Fuck.

But that was the conundrum right? Because Eddie did want to kiss you; he enjoyed kissing...a lot actually, and it would be...nice if all of these dates were actual dates so that he could just kiss you and squeeze you and all of the nice things that came with...having someone who liked you back. So he didn't have to shoot Kyle a dirty look every time he teased "have a nice lunch with your girlfriend" knowing fully well that it was exactly what Eddie wanted.

He'd heard the spiel many times when Kyle had come back from his own lunch and then stood over Eddie as the younger man unpacked shipments, and told him, flat out, hands on his hips "you just need to ask her out man I'm getting sick of this."

And the guys had teased him a bunch.

And Wayne kept asking when you were coming around again.

Well this could be it.

A horrible start to asking a girl out on a date but wouldn't that be a funny story, and Eddie really did like a funny story.

This is. This is the moment.

Eddie opened his mouth to say something and so did you. You both backed down from actually saying anything. Eddie's hand tightened on your wrist and he was sure he could feel your heart beating faster. And was that you leaning a little closer to him? And did your eyes look at his mouth as he licked over the seam of his lips really quickly for courage.

He opened his mouth again...

Courage. He could do it. This was gonna be his year, and you were gonna be his girl.

...and then slammed the broken remains of the SnoBall in.

Quite literally slammed, shoved, fingers flailing as he tried to smoosh the chocolate cake and pink-coated marshmallow and remnants of frosting inside.

He let go of your wrist and then backed away from you as far as he could.

Idiot.

You let out a nervous laugh and looked down at your messy hand. You tried to use a discarded wrapper to clean yourself up when Eddie just...pulled off the flannel that he'd layered on to help wipe you off instead.

Like he probably should have done in the first place.

You didn't say anything, just smiled gently at him, like you always did. Always patient. Always forgiving of his mistakes.

What had you even been talking about before?

Oh...right.

"Note to self," he muttered around the SnoBall. "Never becoming a manager."

Your eyes crinkled a little as your smile got bigger and you grabbed onto the front of his shirt and shook him a little.

"Save yourself!"

The rest of your evening went by unremarkably.

You both got too hyped up on sweets and Mountain Dew, ran a few circles around the van in the StarCourt parking lot, headbanging and screaming, after Eddie threw on a tape he said the two of you could dance to. Then to Dairy Queen where you soaked up all the sugar with chili cheese dogs.

An otherwise normal Sunday for the two of you.

Mishap forgotten.

Nerves forgotten.

Misplaced feelings...forgotten.

For now.

---

Next Part: Standard Operating Procedures 1.05

[ellebakers]

Pray for me. (+18)

Maurice theriault x reader.

Summary : you are a teacher at the girls' school where Maurice works and very quickly a routine will settle in between you, a pretty hot routine.

Warnings : Possession, Smut, Language

You were walking in the school corridors when you saw Maurice with Sophie, the little girl gave him a bracelet.

"It's a friendship bracelet. Each bead represents a quality of a good friend." she said to him, smiling.

“It’s beautiful, thank you Sophie.”

Then that a young girl grabbed the bracelet and in a mocking tone she said

"Are you proposing to your boyfriend, little Sophie ?" The girl and her friends started laughing.

“Give it back.” Maurice asked politely.

“You are not a teacher, just a servant” The girl said to him with a superior tone.

It was then that you decided to appear behind the group of girls. "Mr. Theriault may not be a teacher, but he is an adult, you have to listen to him." You told them in a cold tone.

“I think an apology to Sophie and Mr Theriault is in order.” The girls apologized and left.

You smiled at Sophie. “Don’t pay them any attention. Your bracelet is very pretty, and I think Mr. Theriault is really lucky to have one.”

Sophie smiled at you with a bit of a blush on her cheeks. "Thank you Miss Y/l/n."

You felt Maurice's gaze on you and you shivered.

"I think it's time to go back to class Sophie don't you ?" The little girl nodded and left.

Maurice couldn't help but smile.

"What ?" You smirked.

“Oh nothing, I just think you’re extremely sexy when you get angry.” he teased.

“Shhhh” you chuckled “Someone might hear you.”

He smiled even more "Oh sorry, I forgot we're not supposed to be together."

You rolled your eyes, smiling. "I'm supposed to set an example for these girls. If they ever learn what you and I are doing.."

He looked around to make sure no one was there then he grabbed your hips. “And I really like what you and I are doing.”

You bit your lip and he groaned. "Don't do that, you know I can't control myself when you look at me like that."

You giggled and whispered to him. “See you tonight.” He smiled at you and let you go.

◇

The evening arrived and you were impatiently waiting for Maurice, the desire was becoming unbearable.

that's when someone knocked on your door, you rushed to open and couldn't help but smile when you saw him.

he entered quickly and before you could even say anything, he pushed you against the door closing it and he kissed you passionately.

You moaned against his mouth, your hands making their way to unzip his pants. His lips attached to your neck to bite and suck it gently.

You turned your head slightly to give him more access. you felt his hands moving all over your body, he suddenly grabbed your breast, making you arch your back.

He licked his lip and looked into your eyes mischievously. Maintaining eye contact, he knelt down and lifted your dress. You were quivering in anticipation.

you let out a moan as he started to suck and lick your clit. “oh my” he continued and your moans became louder and louder.

He stopped abruptly and you huffed in annoyance.“Why did you stop ?”

He grabbed your face smiling and kissed you. "I can't wait any longer." he said against your mouth.

You smiled and pushed him onto the bed. He lay back, letting you take control, you removed his pants completely, freeing his hard member.

He grabbed your hips and helped you thrust onto him. You moan together as he penetrates you.

“God” you groaned. He bit his lip to keep from making any noise and threw his head back.

You started moving your hips slowly, driving him crazy. “Fuck, Y/n.”

You tried to hold back your moans too and he noticed, he slipped a hand between your thigh and caressed your clit, making it almost impossible for you to stay silent, the moans escaped your mouth without you controlling them.

“I like to hear you.” He confessed

You took off your dress completely, leaving your breasts exposed and he lunged at them, devouring them. You arched your back and moved faster and faster on him.

He moved his hips in turn then he slid a hand to your throat and squeezed gently, eliciting a moan from you.

“I’m going to-” you couldn’t finish and reached your climax.

"That's it baby, cum for me."

He started to moan louder and louder and his breathing quickened, he then groaned and turned you onto your back. He grabbed your hips and you wrapped your legs around his waist.

“Maurice, I’m sensitive.” you moaned still recovering from your orgasm.

His movements became more and more frank and violent and you were ashamed to love his dominant side.

He played with your clit making you cum a second time then he pulled out and let out a bestial growl as he cum on your stomach.

You were both out of breath.

He rested his head on your chest and gently kissed your breast. “Y/n, that was…”

"I know." You laughed, then stopped talking and fell asleep together.

◇

Later in the night you were woken up by the coldness of the room, you reached out to look for Maurice but he wasn't there. You slowly opened your eyes and scanned the dark room with your eyes, that's when you saw him standing at the end of the bed, he was looking at you, but his eyes weren't normal, they were... yellow.

You pulled up the blanket to warm yourself but above all to reassure yourself as a shiver of fear ran through you. “Maurice..” You called with a trembling voice. As your voice brought him out of his trance, he groaned in pain and fell to his knees on the ground.

You stood frozen in place as he looked up at you. "Y/N..... pray for me"

[technically-a-kiwi]

Universally pathetic (🌌true cosmic AU🌌)

Somewhere above our realm, above our sight

Two beings of unmatched brightness watch over an endless collection of universes

The first being is in the shape of a chef, harboring the colors of the dark night sky and the warm colors of the sunset.

Next to him is another entity, with the look of a TV host painted in the rays of the sun , wearing a flaming cape with the deepest of purples.

The entities laboriously watch over all of the universes, making sure no anomalies were to happen to any of them

"Phew! Watching over countless worlds sure takes a toll on ya doesn't it italian man ?" Says the host while stretching

" It's not even-a been a minute Noise" Says the chef with a visible tired expression, rubbing his eyes

" Maybe for YOU it's only been a minute, but for me it's almost Noise 'o' clock!" Says the host after pulling a comically large pocket watch, pointing towards it.

" Explain-a me how you measure time again?" Says the chef while raising an eyebrow

" Oh I'd love to explain it to ya ! But then it wouldn't confuse you anymore haha !" Says the host with a mocking grin

The chef rolls his eyes, it's not the first time the host takes the chance to throw some spikes on him

" Minutes feels like forever when the silence is as heavy as here ya know..." The host says in a sigh of boredom

" Uh-hum..." The chef answers, pretending to pay attention.

As time went on... The silence grew heavier...

And heavier

The host's eye started twitching, his colors shifted to become darker and darker... Until finally

" NAAAAAA I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!! IT'S TOO QUIET!!!" The host bombardedly yelled with his body shinning a blinding light

" THE ATMOSPHERE IS WAY TO THICK FOR A PLACE WITH NO ATMOSPHERE, WE NEED TO BREAK THE ICE NOW !!!" The host says as he holds the chef by the shoulders and frantically shakes him around

" hey, HEY STOP YOU MAD-A MAN", the chef frees himself and rearranges his attire " if you want a conversation, I'm-a the worst-a person you could think of "

" Oh come on ! We can try some ice breakers ! I hate to hear the none existing sound of the void!"

The chef stops, and ponders...

" If you try anything funny, the ice won't-a be the only thing to break" he says, not downing his guard

" Noted !" Says the host, lighten up by the chefs answer " Now... What could we talk about...

Oh I know ! You ever wondered if it's possible for someone to act the same in every universe they appear in ?"

The chef stares at the host, all puzzled "... What ? "

" Is it possible for someone to act exactly the same in every universe? "

" What kind of ice-a breaker is that ? " Says the chef, even more puzzled

" It's just a thought that's been in my mind... Been discussing about it with the others and we can't come to an agreement... " says the host

The chef looks confused... "Uh... Well..."

Suddenly , his eyes grow wide,

"Oh sure, that's-a totally possible" He says as if the answer was obvious

" You sure? I mean, there's an infinite amount of universes, with infinite amount of people with infinite-"

" Yeah yeah yeah, infinite-a this, infinite-a that, infinite whatever. Trust me when I tell you it's-a possible..." the chef looks upset, saying that somehow triggered him

The host looks interested, whatever's bothering him could be a great new addition to his prank arsenal! " Hehe, Do you have someone in mind ?" He says in a grin

" Of course I do, my big jerk of a brother, Maurice " the chef starts flamming up, just saying his name seemed to have really triggered him

The host looks confused " ...Who ?"

" Green tank top, mets cap "

The host ponders... " AH YEAH ! RIGHT! The racist guy ! Hehe, that took me back..." He says in a smug laughter.

The chef continues "In every universe I ever encountered him, he was a pathetic-a man, I'm-a not surprised you don't remember him... Who would want to ? " The chef takes a deep breath, the flames of anger are slowly disappearing.

The host is interested " ya SUUUUURE there's not a different version of him in any universe?"

"Noise, I MADE each and every single Maurice in-a the multiverse, I see them every time, I know what I'm talking about" says the chef

"hum... I don't think that's true" says the host

" then what am I supposed to do uh ? Take every Maurice that ever existed and show-a them to you ?"

The host ponders... " hum... Not necessarily..."

"OH I GOT IT !" He yells, hitting his fist against his palm in accomplishment "Let's makes this... A bet hehehe" he says while rubbing his hands in a mischievous way

The chef stares at him, completely unimpressed... "... A bet "

" A bet"

"... You really think I'm-a some kind of sucker, don't you ?" Says the chef, holding back his anger

The host looks confused... " what do you mean?"

"I know better than to take a bet with-a you Noise" says the chef, arms crossed

The host puts his arm on the chef's shoulder, holding him close" Oh come, Peppino, buddy, that was the OLD me, I changed, I'm an honest man now !" He says with his trademark grin

" Honest my ass, get your- GET AWAY FROM ME YOU-" the chef's dark blues shifts into bright purples

As the chef was about to punch him out of this realm, the host gets of promptly

"WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT, aren't you curious tho ?" He says holding his hands up to protect himself from the chef's wrath

The chef looks confused...

" Don't ya want to know if that Maurice guy is REALLY the same in every universe?" The host continues

The chef calms down, he seems to consider what the host is saying...

" here, let's say that you have to go through at least 100 234 999 different universes, if in ALL those universes that Maurice guy acts the same, you win ! But if he doesn't, you'll have to give me 10 universes all for me. Easy right?"

The chef still seems to consider, but stays on his guards... " and what do I-a win exactly?"

" The greatest honor one could ever receive..."

As he says this, the host starts to light up fireworks in the air, confettis fly everywhere

"Get a spot in my SHOW !!!" A giant glowing NNS sign appears above the host, with even more confettis and fireworks, with the words " yippee!" And " wow !" Appearing out of nowhere.

The chef looks unimpressed

The host's grin slowly fades... The words shifts into "what ?" And "huh ?" And the sign and confettis disappears...

" ... You're joking right... THAT DOESN'T INTEREST YOU ???! NOT EVEN A LITTLE?" Says the host, absolutely flabbergasted

The chef's shakes his head in disagreement

The host mumbles, very angry whispers " ... Okay... Hum... Your own weight in gemstones maybe? It might be interesting considering your... Bulk, hehehe"

" no " says the chef

The host just about had it " THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT DANG IT !? NEW CLOTHES? COOKIES? A GOLF COURSE AT YOUR NAME ? MY HAT MAYBE?!" He says, flinging his arms

The chef points at his head, inviting the host to read his mind.

The host looks...

" ... Oooooh, uuuh your no fun... Fine, I'll try to reduce blowing up your pizzeria to ONLY twice a week... Happy?"

" far more better " says the chef, happily smiling

The chef and the host both shake hands, the power emanating from that contract was so strong it shook the realm to it's furthest corners, it bended space and time across the mortal realm... everyone felt it, a bet between to cosmic entities has just been sealed...

" then it's a deal Italian man..."

And so a new adventure begins, the cosmic chef is on his way to prove his point. Is there such a thing as a being who's always the same in every universe? And if that's the case, is Maurice the perfect example? This we'll find out on the next story, until then...

==TO BE CONTINUED===>

[wisteria-lodge]

Sorting Gaston

Up until now, all the Disney villains in my little project been criminals, loners, weirdos, or some combination of all three. Gaston is notable for being none of those things. He is a popular community leader, extremely Establishment, always surrounded by people. He’s also our first explicitly sexist villain (“It’s not right for a woman to read. Soon she’ll start getting ideas and… thinking.”) Belle is, of course, disgusted by this. And that’s the problem. The question here is why has Belle specifically gotten under Gaston’s skin so badly that he has to marry her… when he probably could’ve married all three of his blonde groupies at the same time. Like... Belle isn’t THAT much more beautiful. 

At first I thought it could be an insecurity thing… but... Gaston isn’t insecure. So I think it’s more ideological than that. Belle is a rebel who mocks and rejects Gaston's idea of an ideal community, and that is incredibly disturbing, and threatening to him. In kind of a twisted way, the best way to deal with this is to marry Belle and you know - slot her into the established system. Bring her in line. Gaston handles “crazy old Maurice” the same way, by getting corrupt authority to throw him in the insane asylum. 

I separated this out from my other, goofier Disney villain sorting, because when talking about Gaston I really wanted to bring up Howard Ashman, the creative force behind the film, who died of AIDS before it was finished. And it’s easy to see some of his experience in the ‘monstrous,’ ‘unlovable,’ shunned Beast, and the rule-breaking “peculiar” Belle who just wants out. Ashman drops lyrics like “We don't like / What we don't understand / In fact it scares us” during Gaston’s villain song, and that’s some pretty real stuff. Andreas Deja, who designed and animated Gaston, is also gay, and I think it’s so interesting that Gaston’s design went from REALLY queer coded at the beginning of production.

To the much *straighter* macho outdoorsman we have today. 

(also I want to throw in this amazing drawing I found on Andreas Deja’s website, where he’s shipping Gaston with another character he designed/animated.) 

But I’m still slotting Gaston into my system here, and for all those reasons - the community, the Establishment - I want to say that he is a Badger primary villain, and goes hard with Badger primary dehumanization in the way he interacts with Maurice and the Beast. He’s also a Lion secondary. Round up the troops, give them a rousing speech, charge in at the head of the forces. “Surprise Wedding” is also a comically Lion secondary beat. It’s actually kind of fun that he is a Badger Lion, since that is typically the Hero sorting. That’s the point of Gaston. He looks good. He looks like the hero at first… and then you think about him for five seconds.  

[viesantewrites]

𝑨 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝒊𝒇𝒆 | 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝟏

[Robert Fischer (Inception) x Reader]

next chapter

summary: Robert and the reader have nothing in common. He's the son of a multi millionaire and future heir to a massive energy company, she is a "nobody" and doesn't really stand out in the big city Paris. But then Robert catches her trying to steal from him. No longer able to stand the pressure from his father and his company, Robert offers her a deal.

note: this is actually a reupload, i‘ve written this story last year in September I think.

warnings: swearing, family problems

word count: 2.5k+

note: you don’t have to watch inception to understand this story

masterlist

Today was such a success, wasn't it, Clarke?"

The older man at the wheel sighed and tried to look away from the passenger. Clarke knew he was being sarcastic.

"I'm sorry for you, Sir," he replied. "But days like this happen. Even as the future CEO of Fischer Morrow."

The younger, dark-haired man in the back just rolled his eyes in frustration. "Don't call me that. I've spent my whole life in his shadow. He mocked me for every little thing, always saying I wasn't a worthy heir. And now that the old man is on his deathbed, he's suddenly changed his mind."

Clarke slammed on the brakes in shock. He was so distracted by the conversation that he almost missed the red light directly in front of him.

"But Mr Fischer... He is your father," he answered, his hands still shaking a little.

Fischer didn't seem to care that his driver had almost had an accident. Lost in thought, he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned his head against the cold car window. The heavy rain pelted down loudly, leaving thick streaks. "He was never really a father to me," he finally said quietly.

Clarke remained silent, avoiding Fischer's gaze in the rear-view mirror. The light turned green again and he stepped on the accelerator so hard that Fischer's face almost hit the front seat.

"Hey, pay attention, okay? I've had enough shit happen to me today, I don't want to end up in hospital tonight."

"I’m sorry, Sir," the driver muttered, a bit intimidated.

Fischer snorted angrily and tugged at his shirt. It was a beautiful white piece from an exclusive luxury fashion brand of which he was particularly proud. Only now it was covered in a large brown coffee stain. Fischer was seething with rage at the thought of what had happened.

He had an important meeting in Paris today to present The Fischer Morrow, his father's leading energy company, to potential clients.

Fischer had prepared for everything, practiced the presentation several times, rehearsed every word to perfection and checked his appearance in the mirror at least five times. He had got up early in the morning to make sure he had enough time to get ready, so that every hair was in place, the tie neatly tied and the shirt without the slightest crease. An immaculate appearance was essential to him. He was vain in every way.

But everything changed when the secretary balanced a tray of coffee in the meeting room. Fischer had only noticed her out of the corner of his eye, turned around to the audience and ended up bumping into her.

Luckily the coffee was no longer boiling hot, otherwise he would have spent the rest of the day in hospital with serious burns. But it was enough to knock Fischer off his game.

Angry and embarrassed at the same time, he could hardly concentrate on the content of his presentation. So much so that by the end he could barely form a complete sentence.

In other words: The Fischer Morrow had no new clients.

Had Robert Fisher's father Maurice not been terminally ill, he would certainly have given him hell and accused him of being an unworthy heir.

As always. As he had done for many years, ever since Robert was a little boy. Maurice had never thought of him as a son. He only ever spoke of him as the heir to his business.

God, how Robert hated the job. But he couldn't give it up while his father was still alive. Maurice Fischer seemed to want to give his company to a man he couldn't stand, but to whom he was related by blood, rather than to a complete stranger.

Robert didn't know how long he'd been sitting in the back seat, lost in thought, when Clarke finally parked the car safely outside the hotel where he was staying for a few days.

The man hurried out of the car to open the door for his passenger, staring at Robert's dirty shirt. Fischer fumbled in his pocket for the key to the hotel room.

"Good night, see you tomorrow," he murmured, waving a quick goodbye to his driver. Finally, he turned around on the heel of his shiny black shoes to enter the luxury hotel.

A wave of tiredness suddenly hit him, and all he wanted to do was take a shower and fall into a warm, soft bed.

When he finally opened the door, the light in the suite was on. Roberts heart began to beat faster and he frowned in confusion. He was pretty sure he had turned it off earlier. Had the room service forgotten to turn it off after they had left the room?

But when he suddenly noticed movement from the rear room, followed by strange scratching and tapping noises, he froze.

What the hell was that?

Quietly, still clutching the key, he entered the room and was almost scared to death when he saw the person in his hotel suite. They were fiddling with his wall safe, apparently trying to break it open.

***

She turned around as she heard someone open the door to the hotel room. Damn it! Why would he be back from his meeting so early?

The woman held her breath. She knew her plan was completely insane and dangerous, and that she would certainly end up in prison. But at this moment, she really didn't know any other way to help herself. Her mountain of debt seemed to grow every month. Her low salary as a hotel employee and the fact that even the smallest apartments in Paris cost a fortune didn't help. After months of stress and sleepless nights, she couldn't take it any more.

She finally saw her chance when she found out that the son of a multi-millionaire was staying at the hotel.

"I asked you, what the hell are you doing here?" The deep, threatening voice instantly made her shiver. Then she began to examine the man carefully.

He was dark-haired, slim and wearing a classic black suit. The only thing that disturbed this elegant image was a large brown stain on his shirt.

Her eyes wandered up and she caught a glimpse of his face. The man's features were sharp, he had a prominent jaw, but the most striking thing was his bright blue eyes that were staring at her angrily.

Silence fell over the room like a big blanket. Only her fast breathing and the ticking of a clock could be heard.

"Room service..." she finally managed to say in a hoarse voice. "Mr Fischer I ..."

Robert noticed her strong French accent.

"I'm sorry." She tried to avoid the man's angry gaze but he kept on staring at her with his icy blue eyes as she pressed her back even harder against the wall.

"Are you kidding me? You broke into my room and tried to steal my money. Room service my ass. I'm calling the police."

"Wait!" she interrupted him in panic, "I didn't steal anything, I..."

She knew that it was over for her. But she alone was responsible for this mess by allowing her emotions succeed against her mind. And now she had to face the consequences.

The woman put her trembling hands on her face and tried to hold back the tears. Suddenly another shock went through her body as a phone started to ring loudly.

Fischer pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered in an energetic voice: "Uncle Peter, now is not the time to call!" Then suddenly there was silence. Much too quiet for her taste.

Glancing through her fingers, she saw the man in front of her hold his forehead and then rub his eyes with his thumb and index finger.

"I'm sorry, Uncle Peter...How does Dad know what happened today, he's in hospital in Sydney...Who told him that?"

His voice, which had just been deafeningly loud, had now dropped to a low whisper. He finally said goodbye to the caller. Again the room was completely silent. Fischer just stood there with his hands in his pockets, his head slightly bowed.

For a moment she considered taking the opportunity to make her escape but then she dismissed the idea. Her legs were paralysed by fear, he also was half a head taller and probably faster than her and would catch her immediately. Fischer slowly raised his eyes and stared at the young woman in front of him.

Desperation was written all over her face.

***

He couldn't call the police now. That would draw even more attention to him, and for weeks the press had been writing one false article after another about him.

If the press found out, they would twist everything around trying to destroy his image, as they often did.

So he would not only be the spoiled and lazy millionaire's son who took money from his dying father, but also the man who lured beautiful young women into his hotel room and locked them up in there.

Robert sighed and sat down in one of the red velvet armchairs.

"Alright, go ahead. Report me. Call the police. I was just trying to get money to buy food and pay my rent. You probably don't know anything about money problems."

He lifted his head as he heard her voice. Robert didn't know why, but somehow he felt compassion.

But he didn't answer, because he was too busy thinking about his own problems. "I can't take it anymore, I have to get away from here. Away from my father. Away from Fischer Morrow. Somewhere where I won't get any more attention..."

The young woman finally sat down beside him and smoothed her blouse for a moment. "It's really not nice to be almost invisible and not be noticed by anyone." She shrugged briefly.

"I'd trade my life for yours in a heartbeat, I'm not kidding," Robert said.

Why had he just said that?

The woman just laughed. "Believe me monsieur, you really don't want to do that."

In a very strange way, he felt sorry for her. He couldn't really explain it, after all she had almost robbed his hotel room. But somehow he felt attracted to her.

And at that moment, the last rational thought after this nerve-wracking day left his head. He suggested something to her that he would never have done in his right mind.

How about... you get me out of the hotel unnoticed and take me somewhere where I can stay for a few days. In return, no one will know about your robbery of my hotel room. Deal?"

One of her eyebrows moved up as he said those words. "You want me to take you to my flat?" She stared at him in disbelief.

Robert put on his charming smile that usually worked on every lady. "Come on, a lot of women would kill for what I just offered you. Some ladies scream when they see me walking down the street like I was a movie star or something. They've even told me I'm the most beautiful man they've ever seen.

She studied him quickly. He was undeniably handsome, but also incredibly arrogant.

"And how do I know you're not dangerous?" She gave Robert a disparaging look.

"Yes, maybe I‘m a serial killer, who knows", Robert joked.

"You must know that I am very suspicious. But I can't lose my job or go to jail." He could see her struggling to make the right decision.

"All right," she said finally, after half an eternity. "I'll help you. On the condition that no one ever finds out that I tried to steal from you."

Fischer smiled again. "You can take my word for it, Madmoiselle..." He held out his hand, noticing her cautious gaze. "Come on, you can tell me your name now."

"Call me YN."

"Okay, YN. Now let's get out of here."Finally she took his hand. Her fingers felt cold.

A/N: Like i said this story is a bit older, if you’re interested in a part 2, please let me know 🤍

I was thinking she takes Robert to her apartment and lets him stay there a few days, till her parents visits her and she convinces them that he’s her new boyfriend. They invite him to a family gathering to get to know their daughters "new boyfriend." The press recognizes Robert immediately and write new articles about his "affair with a poor maid" and their pictures are soon everywhere until even Robert‘s father finds out.

[rrcenic]

lotf script info!!

i’m really enjoying reading this play :) there are some major differences from the book though

-jack HATES simon. hates him more than anyone else

-roger is NOT from the choir, samneric are

-piggy is mostly made fun of not for his size, specs, or “assma” (not ass-mar), but for his cockney accent

-piggy’s actually kinda stupid. simons the nerdy one, once called professor cambourne by jack

-simon genuinely thinks he’s from another planet

-simon canonically has fits where he hallucinates

-maurice’s last name is walsh?!??

-when simon meets roger, he asks what school he goes to. roger says “a nowhere school” and simon flirtatiously replies “i thought i’d seen you before”. jack then mocks simon for his prophetic dreams??

-ralph plays the flute!

-maurice and bill and ralph play rugby. simon doesn’t like it

-piggy goes to barnabas high, ralph goes to upton, and jack + the choir go to godstone

btw i got the script for like 10 bucks on amazon. it’s by nigel williams and was the only lotf play officially approved by william golding

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

The best moments in the revolution (in your opinion)?

Desmoulins and Robespierre basically breaking up because the former used Rousseau against the latter in public after just having been mocked for his journal by him:

Robespierre: …I end by asking that [Desmoulins’] numbers be treated like the aristocrats who buy them, with the contempt that profanity deserves. I propose to the Society to burn them in the middle of the room (There is applause several times; Robespierre's speech was interrupted by applause and bursts of laughter).

Desmoulins: That's very well said, Robespierre, but I'll answer you like Rousseau: "To burn is not to answer."

Robespierre: How dare you still want to justify works that delight the aristocracy? Learn, Camille, that if you were not Camille, one could not have so much indulgence for you. 

Pétion spending an excessive amount of ink insisting he did not get hard from sleeping in the same room as two stranger women while on the run from the authorities after the Insurrection of May 31 in his memoirs. Like, thanks for specifying Jérôme, but I never really thought that was a climate where such feelings grow in the first place…

There were two beds without curtains, two very dark little closets serving as wardrobes, a window overlooking the street, a small fireplace, and two or three chairs. So here I am, alone in a room with two young persons of interesting countenance, undressing myself, going to bed before them; then they get undressed and go to bed before me. I felt, I confess, these embarrassments of decency, which they no doubt felt even more than I did. But it was easy to see how much the generous action which they knew removed from their souls those ideas which might have troubled them. They did not even make any of those reflections which bring out the delicacy of the circumstance. I need not say that I did not allow myself any of these remarks, any of these jokes which could frighten the most severe modesty. I even confess that I experienced none of these sensations, none of these desires so natural that they are involuntary in the man whom nature has made truly man. I would have shamed myself if I had been tempted to abuse this touching hospitality. I was a brother with sisters.

Charlotte Robespierre arranging a meeting between Maurice Gaillard and Couthon so the former can plead for clemency for some people, eavesdropping to their entire conversation, throwing herself upon Couthon and holding him still once he (supposedly) makes a move to call for his body guards to arrest Gaillard, gets Gaillard to escape, makes Couthon ashamed over having attempted to ”immolate a friend that I had brought to his house,” goes and finds Gaillard and remains completely cool when he loudly asks her what the f she thought she was doing, answering that he would have been executed had she not intervened, that Couthon was only trying to deceive him and finally that he ought to flee Paris, something which Gaillard also agrees to do. Then years after the fact Gaillard recounts and records this anecdote for his BFF Fouché, only in this version, Charlotte’s identity is for some reason kept a secret and she’s only described as ”a lady.” Coincidence much…?

Camille getting smacked in the face with his latest number of Révolutions de France et de Brabant by a bookstore clerk, responding by saying he has a gun and could blow his offenders brain’s out, but simply opting for hitting him once with his cane.

Saint-Just playing with a rifle, accidentally firing a shot that almost kills his fellow representative on mission and then throwing himself in the guy’s arms in shock.

Robespierre being hypocrite 101 by expelling a member from the jacobins with the motivation: ”Brichet talks to you about this faction, but he does not name the individuals, he does not designate the traitors who must be punished. When revenge is demanded against representatives who are not named, the whole Convention believes itself threatened and exposed to great misfortunes. So the real traitors are those who put forward such motions.” Should have really taken your own advice there four months later, Max…

Louise de Kéralio-Robert exclaiming she will stab Danton if her husband doesn’t survive the Insurrection of August 10, alarming Lucile Desmoulins to the extent she keeps an eye on her for the entire rest of the night, a reaction that becomes much more understandable once you realize Louise had actually threatened three men harassing her with a knife just a week earlier…  

The fact that a pamphlet with the name ”Conspiracy formed from 5 préréal [sic] by nine representatives of the people against Maximilien Robespierre, to stab him in the middle of the senate”exists.

Camille and Marat spending several pages of their public newspapers arguing because Camille got a word misprinted (”apostate” instead of ”apostolate”)

Not really the revolution, but all the times Napoleon is recorded to have lamented the fact he did not have Fouché executed.

The fact both Fouché and Robespierre seemingly each courted a girl and then contributed to getting two of her family members executed.

Françoise Hébert telling her accusers that she ”has never known her husband to be a conspirator, if he was he would have died by her hand,” during her trial.

Collot d’Herbois trying to defenestrate Robespierre, failing, and immediately trying to hug him as an apology.

[girlwonder-writes]

？？？💥💥💥

？？？ For Could It Be You?

Buck was well aware that Tommy was previously a part of the 118 and had an intrinsic tie to his work family, but watching the older man interact with Hen, Chimney, and even Bobby, it became clear to him where the connections were. But even the way he interacted with Christopher and Eddie, complete strangers to him, seemed to suggest confidence and charisma. And Buck could not take his eyes off of the man. As he travelled towards a conversation between Bobby, Hen and Eddie, he eased his way into the conversation.

“I still can’t believe that actually happened,” Buck commented casually, “And Maurice had blades tied to him?”

“Yes, he was armed and dangerous!” Tommy interjected in mock terror. With a chuckle, he added, “Honestly, at that point, I was just glad that things were changing. You were instrumental in that, Bobby.”

“If you guys hadn’t gotten Gerrard out, I wouldn’t have had the chance to work at the 118,” Bobby commented, “It was just a shame about the timing of it all.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow at that comment. “What do you mean, Cap?”

“Harbor Station finally had an opening at Air Ops for a pilot. It was the opportunity Tommy had been waiting for. And when Captain Chambers gave me a call about it, I knew it was the right opportunity for him, even if we were losing a great firefighter...and you were the one who replaced him.” Bobby looked to Buck as he said the last part.

💥💥💥 For Crash

It was hard to get answers from the hospital, but once it was worked out that Tommy was the emergency contact they needed to contact, it made things slightly easier. He was told the doctor would update him as soon as she could. But the fact that before he could get any answers, the first thing he heard was the sound of a familiar voice, angry, frustrated, agitated. Before anyone could stop him, Tommy followed the sound of the voice to a trauma bay, where a doctor was tending to Eddie.

“Hey,” he greeted his friend gently, “Let them take care of you, Ed.”

Eddie was not in good shape, the bruising from a seatbelt, signs of bruising near his ribs visible on his exposed chest, while a doctor was trying to tend to him.

“Tommy...” There was pain and exhaustion in Eddie’s voice as he tried to speak, having finally exhausted himself from all the agitated yelling earlier.

“They won’t tell me anything about Evan yet, they told me to wait for the doctor,” Tommy explained quietly.

“I just...” Eddie let out a groan, before closing his eyes. “I wish the world would stop spinning.”

A female voice behind Tommy declared, “You have a concussion, Eddie. You need to stay put.”

Both Tommy and Eddie looked to Olivia as she continued talking.

“Those are some nasty bruises,” she commented quietly, then she turned to Tommy and added, “There’s a doctor out there looking for Evan’s Emergency Contact. You better go see what that’s about.”

Tommy gave Olivia a quick nod before telling Eddie, “Please just cooperate with the doctor. I’ll be back once I know more about Evan’s situation.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep him company for a bit,” Olivia assured both men.

[its-been-rose]

I have been making my way through another run and something that stood out to me as really interesting.

So if you’re in the Maurice puzzle, you get to choose what you’ll say when Maurice turns his radio on up to full blast. The intuitive option is to impersonate Maurice, as chicken nugget clearly knows who he is there for (a plan as detailed as theirs would be very specific). Theres two other options, one of which is to just call Henry a jackass. I don’t remember the third.

For some reason I chose this option, even tho I wasn’t sure if it would succeed. However, it did. I called that barely-an-adult child a jackass and he came running.

I was like “oh of course it works. I don’t think you could get Maurice killed after succeeding to wait until he hides. That would be poor game design.”

But then I gave it three more seconds of thought and realized that choosing the jackass option was a fantastic way to reinforce (or enforce I guess, because the Maurice puzzle is in the early game) Henry’s character. He knows that Maurice is an older man, and maybe even heard him talking when he broke in (Maurice called Forrest). He knows who he is there to kill. But he just couldn’t resist going to confront someone calling him names and risk the target getting away because it’s that important to him. We see this happen AGAIN with the Murphy call- Murphy mocks him and asks him to prove his might, and Henry CANNOT resist going over there and showing him what’s what, even though it was not in the plan at all. In fact he could’ve even done this a THIRD time with the teens, since Jimmy made a mockery out of the whistling man moniker and was generally an annoying brat pretending to be the real thing (which, for all intents and purposes, is actually Henry). I personally think this one was Marie and it just happened to strike a very personal chord with her which is why she deviated from her plan, but I mean it’s not confirmed it’s her so.

In short: Choosing the jackass option is actually a great way to demonstrate that Henry takes himself very seriously and will not hesitate to cut a bitch if they disrespect him. And the best thing is that I’m not reading into it- Marie spells out that the game characterizing him as a hot-head who will go out of his way to fight people if he thinks they challenged him is ENTIRELY ON PURPOSE because Marie RAISED HIM TO BE THAT WAY.

Just another way this game’s writing is genius

I guess it could also be interpreted as curiosity, as he is also a very curious character (evidenced by him going to the window to investigate the police sirens instead of just booking it out of KFAM), but both work.

[histoireettralala]

Victor Hugo on Talleyrand's death

For @empirearchives who was interested, here's a translation of Victor Hugo's text about Talleyrand's death. My thanks to @microcosme11 for her help <33

Choses Vues, Victor Hugo

1838

Talleyrand

19th of May

In the Rue St-Florentin, there is a palace and a sewer.

The palace, with its noble, rich, and dull architecture, was long called "Hôtel de l'Infuntado"; today, we read on its front door: Hôtel Talleyrand. During the fourty years he lived on this street, the last host of this palace might never have set eyes on this sewer.

He was a stranged, feared, and considerable character: his name was Charles-Maurice de Périgord; he was noble as Machiavel, a priest like Gondi, defrocked like Fouché, witty as Voltaire, and lame as the devil. One could say that everything limped with him: the nobility which he had put to the service of the republic, the priesthood he had dragged on the Champ-de-Mars then threw down the drain, the marriage he had broken by twenty scandals and by a voluntary separation, the wit he dishonoured through vileness. This man, nevertheless, had grandeur.

The splendours of both regimes were mixed together inside of him: he was prince of the old kingdom of France, and prince of the French Empire.

For thirty years, from the depth of his palace, from the depth of his mind, he had just about led Europe. He had let the revolution call him "tu", and had smiled at it, ironically of course; but it had not noticed. He had approached, known, observed, pierced, stirred, upturned, delved into, mocked, intellectually fertilized all the men of his era, all the ideas of his century, and there had been a few minutes in his life when, holding in his hand the four or five fearsome threads that moved the civilized universe, he had had for a puppet Napoleon the First, Emperor of the French, King of Italy, Protector of the Confederation of the Rhine, Mediator of the Swiss Confederation. Such was the game this man played.

After the Revolution of July, that old race, whose grand chambellan he was, having fallen, he found himself standing on one foot and told the people of 1830, sitting, bare-armed, on a pile of cobbles: Make me your ambassador.

He had received Mirabeau's last confession and Thiers' first confidence. He had said himself he was a great poet and had made a trilogy in three dynasties: Act I, Buonaparte's Empire; Act 2, The House of Bourbon; Act 3, The House of Orleans.

He had done all of this in his palace, and, in this palace, like a spider in its web, he had attracted into it and taken successively heroes, thinkers, great men, conquerors, kings, princes, emperors, Bonaparte, Sieyès, Mme de Staël, Chateaubriand, Benjamin Constant, Alexander of Russia, Wilhelm of Prussia, Francis of Austria, Louis XVIII, Louis-Philippe, all the golden, shiny flies who buzzed in the history of those last fourty years. The whole sparkling swarm, fascinated by this man's deep eye, had successively passed under the dark door that bore, written on its architrave: Hôtel Talleyrand.

Well, the day before yesterday, 17 March, 1838, that man died. Doctors came and embalmed the corpse. For this, like the Egyptians, they first withdrew the bowels from the belly and the brain from the skull. Once done, after they had transformed the prince de Talleyrand into a mummy, and nailed this mummy in a white satin-lined coffin, they withdrew, leaving upon a table the brain, that brain which thought so many things, inspired so many men, built so many edifices, led two revolutions, fooled twenty kings, contained the world.

Once the doctors were gone, a valet entered, he saw what they had left. Hold on! they forgot this. What to do ? He remembered that there was a sewer in the street, he went there, and threw that brain into this sewer.

Finis rerum.

[princesssarisa]

What are the differences between the movie and the Beauty and the Beast story?

@ariel-seagull-wings, @themousefromfantasyland, @the-blue-fairie, @thealmightyemprex, @comma-after-dearest

By "the movie," I assume you mean Disney's animated classic.

This comparison is much, much longer than the one I wrote for Cinderella, because Disney's Beauty and the Beast is much more dramatically different than traditional versions of the story. I'm sharing most of it under a cut, because it's very long...

*In the traditional story, we don't meet the Beast until Beauty's father meets him, and we don't learn that he's really an enchanted prince until the very end. The Disney version has a prologue telling the story of how the Prince was turned into a Beast and how the spell can be broken, so we know all along, even though Belle doesn't.

*In the traditional story, the heroine is nicknamed "Beauty" (or "la Belle" in French) because she's so beautiful. In the Disney version, her name is Belle.

*In the story, Beauty's father is a merchant who starts out very wealthy and living in a city, but through a series of disasters he loses his fortune, forcing the family to move to a poor cottage in the country. In the Disney version, Belle's father Maurice is an inventor, and they're peasants from the beginning.

*Beauty has older sisters in the story: five sisters in some earlier versions, but usually just two in modern retellings. In earlier versions she usually has brothers too, who love her in contrast to her sisters' jealousy and spite, but most modern retellings cut them. In the Disney version, Belle is an only child.

*In most versions of the story, Beauty has no particular passion for reading, although she does enjoy it; the Beast's library is just one of her "amusements" at the castle. Only Madame de Beaumont's retelling makes her a constant bookworm. In the Disney version, obviously drawing on Beaumont's version, Belle's love for books is a defining aspect of her character.

*Beauty also loves music in most of the early versions of the story, and is a talented musician. In addition to the library, the Beast's castle delights her with a room full of musical instruments, or at least with her own harpsichord (Beautmont's version). Disney's Belle never plays an instrument and is never associated with music (although she does sing, of course), just with books.

*In some versions of the story, like Beaumont's, Beauty becomes almost a Cinderella figure in poverty, doing all the housework and cooking for her family because her sisters are too lazy to do anything. Disney's Belle is never in Cinderella circumstances.

*In the story, Beauty and her family's cottage is at the edge of the forest, and we never learn if they have any neighbors or not. At any rate, their relationship with their neighbors is never shown, just the interactions within the family. In the Disney version, Belle and Maurice live in a small village, some distance from the forest, and the other villagers play an important role. They effectively replace Beauty's sisters, as the people whom Belle doesn't fit in among and who serve as a negative contrast to her.

*The story's main villains are Beauty's sisters, though exactly how villainous they are depends on the version. The Disney version on the other hand, has a new villain: Gaston, a handsome and wildly popular yet arrogant and boorish man who wants Belle as his trophy wife, but whose proposal she rejects near the beginning. Gaston's sidekick Lefou and the three "Bimbettes" who adore him obviously don't exist in the original story either.

(Beaumont's version of the story does feature a few men who serve a similar purpose to Gaston, though. First, Beauty has several suitors who propose to her near the beginning, but she turns them down, in this case because she can't bear to leave her father in his poverty. Later. Beauty's two sisters marry, and one husband is a handsome yet arrogant man, while the other a witty man who cruelly mocks everyone, in contrast to the ugly and unsophisticated yet kind-hearted Beast. They don't take an active role in the plot, though, but just make the sisters more jealous of Beauty.)

*Beauty and Belle are very different characters in some ways. Beauty resolves to make the best of life as a peasant, and learns to be content with her simple life of housework, books, music, and caring for her family. This makes her a misfit among her bored, unhappy sisters, who long for their old life of wealth and glamor. Belle, on the other hand, is bored and discontented with her provincial life, and longs to have adventures rather than just reading about them. This is what makes her a misfit among the villagers, who are content with their practical workaday world. These different qualities foreshadow each heroine's ability to love the Beast in different ways: for Beauty, it's her ability to make the best of bad situations and find happiness in unlikely places, while for Belle it's her "outside the box" personality and desires, and her ability to relate to a fellow outcast.

*In the story, the father's journey away from home is to reclaim one of his cargo ships, which was thought to have sunk but which has come back to port. In the Disney version, Maurice's journey is to show off his latest invention, a wood-chopping machine, at a fair.

*In the story, before the father sets out on his journey, his older daughters beg him to bring back all sorts of expensive presents, but selfless Beauty asks for only a rose. Later, at the Beast's castle, just as the father is about to leave, he picks a rose from the garden for Beauty, and this theft is what earns the Beast's anger. None of this happens in the Disney version; the Beast just gets angry that Maurice trespasses into his castle.

*In the story, the father reaches the city only to find that his former partners have already seized the ship's cargo, and then gets lost in the woods on the way home. In the Disney version, Maurice never reaches the fair, but gets lost in the woods on the way there.

*In the story, the father is driven to seek shelter in the castle by a snowstorm. In the Disney version, Maurice is first attacked by wolves, then caught in a rainstorm.

*In the story, the Prince was changed into a Beast by a wicked fairy: in the original novella by Madame de Villeneuve because he refused to marry her, but for no specific reason in most other versions. At any rate, it was through no fault of his own. In the Disney version, he was transformed by an "Enchantress" as punishment for his own selfishness and cruelty – she came to the castle on a winter's night, disguised as an ugly old beggar woman seeking shelter, and he turned her away.

*In the story, the Beast's curse will be broken when a beautiful maiden consents to marry him. In the Disney version, it will be broken when he learns to love another and earns their love in return.

*Both the story and the Disney version include an important rose. In the story, it's the rose the father steals. In the Disney version, the Enchantress left the Beast with an enchanted rose, which will bloom until he turns twenty-one, then wilt. The Beast has only until the last petal falls to break the spell, and if he fails, he'll be a Beast forever.

*In most versions of the story, the Beast is alone in his castle, with no need for servants due to the castle's magic. Some versions feature mute, non-sapient monkeys and birds who act as servants to Beauty, though, while other retellings imply that the Beast does have servants but that they're invisible. In the Disney version, the Beast has a staff of servants, who have been changed into moving, talking household objects by the Enchantress: chief among them are Lumiere, the maître'd-turned-candelabrum, Cogsworth, the majordomo-turned-clock, Mrs. Potts, the housekeeper-turned-teapot, and her little teacup son Chip. They serve as constant companions to both the Beast and Belle at the castle, provide gentle comic relief, and give the Beast advice on how to win Belle's heart.

*In traditional versions of the story, the castle is brightly lit, sumptuously beautiful, and cheerful in appearance. In the Disney version, the castle was once "shining," but the Enchantress's spell makes it look gloomy, Gothic and forbidding, especially by night when Maurice and later Belle first arrive. Its beauties are gradually revealed as Belle learns to be happy there, though, and in the end, when the spell is broken, it's fully restored to its former glory.

*Related to the above, in several versions of the story, the weather surrounding the castle is always spring-like, even when the forest beyond is filled with snow. But in the Disney version, it rains and snows at the castle like anywhere else. (In fact the 2017 live-action remake – which otherwise I'm not mentioning here – goes in the opposite direction of the traditional tale, and has the castle grounds always covered in snow, even in summer, until the spell breaks.)

*In the story, the father spends a comfortable night in the castle, with the magic providing him good food, a bed, and new clothes. The Beast later implies that all this generosity was his doing, though he doesn't show himself to the father until the latter steals the rose the next morning. In the Disney version, Lumiere and Mrs. Potts welcome Maurice into the castle and serve him tea, despite Cogsworth's objections that the Beast will disapprove, and sure enough, no sooner is Maurice comfortable than the angry Beast appears.

*In the story, the Beast threatens to kill the father for stealing his rose, but when the father explains why he took it, the Beast agrees to spare him on one condition: that one of his daughters willingly comes to the castle and takes his place. The father ride home, planning to say goodbye to his children and then go back to the castle alone. But when he tells them what happened, Beauty resolves to sacrifice herself for her father. She finally persuades her reluctant father to take her to the castle, where the Beast welcomes her and sends her father home again. In the Disney version, the Beast locks Maurice in the castle dungeon. But Maurice's horse Philippe runs home to Belle, and she has him take her to the castle. There she finds her father in prison, and when the Beast arrives on the scene, Belle offers to take his place. The Beast agrees and forcibly sends Maurice home.

(To reiterate: In the story, the father/daughter exchange is the Beast's idea and the father reluctantly agrees to it when Beauty insists. In the Disney version, the exchange is Belle's idea, and the deal is entirely between Belle and the Beast, giving Maurice no choice.)

*In traditional versions of the story, the father's horse comes with him to the castle, comes home again with him, takes both him and Beauty back to the castle, and then takes the father home. In the Disney version, Philippe runs away in fear in the woods, but then brings Belle to the castle, and stays there with Belle from then on. The Beast sends Maurice home in a strange magical carriage.

*In the story, both the first and second times the Beast sends the father home, he provides him with trunks full of gold and valuable gifts for his children. This restores the family to wealth and lets them move back to the city during Beauty's time at the castle. He provides similar gifts for Beauty to take to her family when she visits them too. In the Disney version, the Beast never gives Maurice or Belle any riches to take home.

*Apart from his threat to kill the father, the traditional Beast is kind, gentle, and polite from the start, is always respectful to Beauty, and always behaves like a human man. The chief character arc is Beauty's, as she loses her fear of him and learns to love him. In the Disney version, the Beast is initially selfish, rude, and ferocious-tempered, as well as semi-feral due to the spell, and at first he tries to control Belle. The chief character arc is his, as he learns to be kind, gentle, and caring, and as he re-learns human behavior and manners.

*Beauty fears the Beast at first, but never hates him, and is quick to realize that he isn't as terrible as he seems. Belle, with just cause, both fears and loathes the Beast at first, and it takes a very dramatic gesture on his part (see below) to change her mind.

*In the story, on Beauty's first night in the castle after her father leaves, Beauty is sitting down to dinner alone when the Beast enters, and very politely and deferentially asks to join her. She accepts, and they share a long, pleasant conversation that makes her realize his good nature. In the Disney version, the Beast orders Belle to join him for dinner, but she refuses. In a rage, he declares that if she doesn't eat with him, then she won't eat at all – though his servants ignore this command and serve her a magnificent private dinner – and friendship between them seems more impossible than ever.

*In the story, Beauty and the Beast's first dinner conversation is all she needs to start to view him as a friend. But Disney has a more dramatic turning point. Out of curiosity, Belle sneaks into the castle's west wing, the Beast's private lair, against his orders. There she finds the enchanted rose and almost touches it, but the Beast catches her, and he flies into such a terrifying rage that Belle runs away from the castle. Then in the forest, a pack of wolves attack her, but the Beast arrives just in time to rescue her, and is injured in doing so. In return, Belle helps him home and tends his wound, and after a last argument about whose fault the whole incident was, it's here that they start to become friends.

*In the story, every night after dinner, before the Beast leaves the table, he asks Beauty to marry him. Every night she refuses, which he sadly but graciously accepts. This is cut from the Disney version.

*The original Beast seems to love Beauty from the start; only she needs to learn to love him. Disney's Belle and Beast both need to learn to love each other: she for the obvious reasons, he because he's never loved anyone before. It's a more mutual process.

*In traditional versions of the story, Beauty dreams at night of a stately lady, who assures her that her future will be happy as long as she doesn't trust too much in appearances. At the end, this lady finally appears in person and is revealed to be a good fairy. (Except in Arthur Quiller-Couch's retelling, where she turns out to be the Prince's mother the Queen.) The Disney version cuts her.

*In some versions of the story, every night at the castle, Beauty dreams of a handsome Prince – the Beast's true form, unbeknownst to her – who declares that he loves her and that she must find him wherever he's hidden. While awake, she finds a bracelet containing the Prince's miniature portrait, and then his full-sized portrait in the castle gallery, and in the garden she finds the place where she always sees him in her dreams. This Disney version cuts this entire plot line (as did Beaumont's version of the story and many other retellings), although it does have Belle find a portrait of the Prince that's been slashed by the Beast's claws.

*In the story, the castle magically grants Beauty her every material desire, much like Cupid's house does for Psyche in their myth. The castle in the Disney version doesn't do this – Belle's needs are provided for by the enchanted object servants.

*In the story, Beauty spends most of her time at the castle alone, amusing herself in the castle's many luxurious rooms (e.g. the library, the music room, a sewing room, menageries, and in some versions, a magical room where each window shows her visions of theatre, parties, and fairs). She only sees the Beast at supper every night. In the Disney film, Belle spends her days with the Beast: they eat together, read together, feed the birds and play in the snow, and eventually share a dance in the ballroom.

*In the story, as I mentioned, the library is just one of the many pleasures that Beauty finds as she explores the castle. In the Disney version, the Beast reveals the library to Belle, and then tells her that from now on it belongs to her, in a meaningful scene that serves as another turning point in their bond.

*The magic mirror comes from Beaumont's version of the story: there it's in Beauty's room, and lets her see her father and siblings back at home every day. In the Disney version, the mirror belongs to the Beast, who doesn't show it to Belle until late in the action.

*Beauty's father accepts that the Beast is too strong and powerful to try to fight, and resigns himself to losing his daughter. Disney's Maurice spends Belle's entire time at the castle trying to go back and rescue her, first trying to rally the villagers, who only laugh at him, and then setting off alone.

*In some versions of the story, Beauty just asks permission to go home for a visit because she misses her family, while in others (e.g. Beaumont's) she goes back because she sees in the magic mirror that her father is sick with grief for her. In the Disney version, Belle sees in the mirror that Maurice is lost in the woods in a snowstorm and is sick from the cold, so the Beast lets her go to rescue him.

*In the story, Beauty's trip home is only meant to be temporary. She promises to come back after either a week (Beaumont's version) or two months (others), and the Beast warns her that if she doesn't, he'll die of grief. In Beaumont's version, he offers to let her go permanently, but she declines. In the Disney version, Belle's departure is meant to be permanent. The Beast's choice to let her go, even though he thinks it means he'll be trapped as a Beast forever, is the culmination of his growth from selfish to selfless and loving.

*Beauty is magically transported home: she just goes to sleep at the castle, then wakes up in her father's house. Later, she's transported back to the castle by a magic ring that the Beast gave her. Disney's Belle just rides home and back on her horse Philippe.

*The ways in which the Beast nearly dies are completely different. In the story, Beauty puts off her return to the castle, either because she can't bear to pain her father and brothers by leaving, or (in Beaumont's version) because her sisters shower her with fake affection and manipulate her into staying, in hope that the Beast will be so angry that he'll kill her when she comes back late. But eventually, she has a nightmare where she finds the Beast on the ground in the castle garden, dying of grief because he thinks she abandoned him. This drives her to finally go back. She spends the day amusing herself as usual, although too anxious to enjoy anything, but at dinner time, the Beast doesn't appear. She searches for him, and finds him dying on the ground in the garden, as in her dream. In the Disney version, Belle takes the sick Maurice home, only to find Gaston and the other villagers waiting to lock Maurice in an insane asylum because of his talk about the Beast. Gaston has arranged this to blackmail Belle into marrying him. In desperation to prove her father's sanity, Belle uses the magic mirror, which the Beast gave her as a parting gift, to show the Beast to the villagers. The villagers are terrified, and when Belle tries to assure them of his goodness, Gaston realizes that she's in love with the Beast. Out of jealousy, he whips the villagers into a frenzy of fear, and they form a mob to storm the castle and kill the Beast, using the magic mirror to find him. Belle and Maurice are locked in their cellar, but little Chip, who stowed away with Belle, uses Maurice's wood-chopping machine to free them, and they ride back to the castle to warn the Beast. But the mob gets there first, and while the servants fight off the other men, Gaston attacks the Beast on the castle rooftop. In his despair over losing Belle, the Beast doesn't fight back at first, but when Belle finally arrives, he gains the will to defend himself. When he has the chance to kill Gaston, however, he mercifully lets him go, and as he climbs to the balcony where Belle is to reunite with her, Gaston stabs him from behind.

*In most older versions of the story, Beauty finds the Beast unconscious and weeps over him, thinking he's dead, but then realizes he's still breathing and pours water on him, reviving him. Then they converse (and in some versions go into the castle and have dinner as usual, the Beast having recovered from near-death with remarkable speed), and once again, the Beast asks Beauty to marry him; this time, she says yes. In the Disney version, the mortally wounded Beast and Belle exchange a few last words, and then he apparently dies in her arms. Belle weeps over him and whispers "I love you" just as the last petal falls from the enchanted rose.

*In traditional versions the story, when the spell breaks, fireworks, cannons, and music resound, taking Beauty's attention from the Beast for a moment, and when she turns back to him, she finds him transformed into the Prince. The Disney version also includes fireworks, but the Beast magically rises into the air, where he slowly transforms and emits glowing light before Belle's eyes.

*In traditional versions of the story, the good fairy and/or the Prince's mother the Queen arrives at this point to explain everything and bless the young couple. In the Disney version, there is no fairy and the Prince's parents are never mentioned.

*Madame de Villeneuve's original novella provides elaborate backstories for both Beauty and the Beast, which I'll sum up briefly. The Prince's widowed mother is a warrior queen, who for years left him in a fairy's care while she went to war, but the fairy turned out to be wicked, and when the Prince grew up to be handsome she resolved to marry him and cursed him when he refused. Meanwhile, Beauty is really a fairy princess, the niece of the fairy who's been watching over the castle, who as a baby was given to a mortal family to protect her from enemies, which makes her a suitable bride for the Prince after all. Most retellings cut these backstories, however, and make Beauty a genuine commoner, as does the Disney version.

*In most versions of the story, Beauty's sisters go unpunished for their selfishness and jealousy, but in Beaumont's, the good fairy turns them into statues outside Beauty and the Prince's castle, forcing them to observe Beauty's happiness and only become human again when they recognize their own faults. In the Disney version, Gaston's "punishment" is to fall to his death from the castle balcony immediately after he stabs the Beast.

*In some versions of the story (e.g. Beaumont's), the enchanted castle isn't the Prince's own castle, but just a place where he stays until the spell is broken. Afterwards, the good fairy transports the Prince and Beauty back to the Prince's homeland, where they'll live from then on. In the Disney version, the castle is the Prince's own and they stay there.

*In most versions of the story, Beauty and the Prince are explicitly married in the end. In the Disney version, while they presumably will eventually get married, the final scene is a ball celebrating the end of the spell – not a wedding yet, since Belle is wearing the golden ballgown she wore earlier, not a wedding gown.

[redrobin-detective]

Dear Sherlock Holmes expert, what's your opinion on detective stories from thr same period as the original original publications that flagrantly put Holmes in their works to piss Doyle off?

For example, the Maurice Leblanc Arsene Lupin story where Holmes turns up and it caused a continental lawyerly seat?

You come to me - the woman who had Arsene Lupin as my icon for months and months until some anon told me they thought it was the monopoly man and I laughed myself silly and couldn't take it seriously and changed it - how I feel about my lil meow meow gentleman thief?

Is Herlock Sholmes vs Arsene Lupin great literature? Not really. Is it even remotely accurate to the actual Sherlock and Watson? Not even close. Was I in tears reading it on an airplane from holding back explosive giggles? Absolutely. It's incredibly silly and loving, if very mocking look at Holmes and his sterotypes. My old lady sherlock is quite against Lupin for "making fun of Holmes" but it's all in good fun. Leblanc clearly loves Sherlock and his world and shows it through pastiche.

Also ACD being so against Holmes he told people to do whatever they wanted with him and then getting pissy when they did just that is hilarious. Weird grumpy fairy believing man.

[rockislandadultreads]

Read-Alike Friday: African Europeans by Olivette Otele

African Europeans by Olivette Otélé

Africans or African Europeans are widely believed to be only a recent presence in Europe, a feature of our ‘modern’ society. But as early as the third century, St Maurice—an Egyptian— became the leader of a legendary Roman legion. Ever since, there have been richly varied encounters between those defined as ‘Africans’ and those called ‘Europeans’, right up to the stories of present-day migrants to European cities. Though at times a privileged group that facilitated exchanges between continents, African Europeans have also had to navigate the hardships of slavery, colonialism and their legacies.

Olivette Otele uncovers the long history of Europeans of African descent, tracing an old and diverse African heritage in Europe through the lives of individuals both ordinary and extraordinary. This hidden history explores a number of questions very much alive today. How much have Afro-European identities been shaped by life in Europe, or in Africa? How are African Europeans’ stories marked by the economics, politics and culture of the societies they live in? And how have race and gender affected those born in Europe, but always seen as Africans?

Caste by Isabel Wilkerson

In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings.

Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day. She documents how the Nazis studied the racial systems in America to plan their out-cast of the Jews; she discusses why the cruel logic of caste requires that there be a bottom rung for those in the middle to measure themselves against; she writes about the surprising health costs of caste, in depression and life expectancy, and the effects of this hierarchy on our culture and politics. Finally, she points forward to ways America can move beyond the artificial and destructive separations of human divisions, toward hope in our common humanity.

On Savage Shores by Caroline Dodds Pennock

We have long been taught to presume that modern global history began when the "Old World" encountered the "New", when Christopher Columbus “discovered” America in 1492. But, as Caroline Dodds Pennock conclusively shows in this groundbreaking book, for tens of thousands of Aztecs, Maya, Totonacs, Inuit and others —enslaved people, diplomats, explorers, servants, traders—the reverse was true: they discovered Europe.

For them, Europe comprised savage shores, a land of riches and marvels, yet perplexing for its brutal disparities of wealth and quality of life, and its baffling beliefs. The story of these Indigenous Americans abroad is a story of abduction, loss, cultural appropriation, and, as they saw it, of apocalypse—a story that has largely been absent from our collective imagination of the times.

From the Brazilian king who met Henry VIII to the Aztecs who mocked up human sacrifice at the court of Charles V; from the Inuk baby who was put on show in a London pub to the mestizo children of Spaniards who returned “home” with their fathers; from the Inuit who harpooned ducks on the Avon river to the many servants employed by Europeans of every rank: here are a people who were rendered exotic, demeaned, and marginalized, but whose worldviews and cultures had a profound impact on European civilization.

The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber

For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike—either free and equal innocents, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts. David Graeber and David Wengrow show how such theories first emerged in the eighteenth century as a conservative reaction to powerful critiques of European society posed by Indigenous observers and intellectuals. Revisiting this encounter has startling implications for how we make sense of human history today, including the origins of farming, property, cities, democracy, slavery, and civilization itself.

Drawing on pathbreaking research in archaeology and anthropology, the authors show how history becomes a far more interesting place once we learn to throw off our conceptual shackles and perceive what’s really there. If humans did not spend 95 percent of their evolutionary past in tiny bands of hunter-gatherers, what were they doing all that time? If agriculture, and cities, did not mean a plunge into hierarchy and domination, then what kinds of social and economic organization did they lead to? The answers are often unexpected, and suggest that the course of human history may be less set in stone, and more full of playful, hopeful possibilities, than we tend to assume.

[stellarred]

ONE MORE TIME, PLEASE

In STP S2's Monsters episode, I thought it was Bashir that Picard was in the therapy session with.

Surprise! It wasn't Alexander Siddig (?), but actor James Callas of Battlestar Galactica fame.

Anyways, I looked him up, and in his filmography on different websites and in Memory Alpha Star Trek, his credit is not Julian Bashir, but Maurice Picard/ "illusory" psychiatrist!

This then raises the question again, Was it actually Q disguised and playing the psychiatrist? 😳

If Q was involved, either actively or passively, it's either one of two choices:

A. It WAS Q because he was trying to help Picard figure out that his father wasn't a monster, thus guiding Picard to * suddenly* realize that Q wasn't one either and that Picard should "know" Q (love him). And that by the psychiatrist literally handing him the Sun model and drawing, it reminded Picard of something he loves, which is Q.

Picard said that the therapy session was antagonistic. Sounds like a certain desperate and in love omnipotent entity scrambling to help his beloved capitaine confront and overcome long-standing CPTSD, so that he could open his heart to love before said entity died. Q was literally running out of time before his death. He would've HAD more time if the writers hadn't been farting around so much with all of the other characters' dramas. But, I digress.

The psychiatrist practically needles Picard throughout the therapy session about him being closed off from his heart and slams his decision to engage in a suicide mission just so that he didn't have to face his feelings. Sounds like Q is trying to save Picard AGAIN! This "psychiatrist" was really pushing pushing Picard during the therapy session.

It makes me think of what JDL had said about Q in Season 2:

"The intentions (towards Picard) are the same. I'm still Picard's main squeeze. And I'm pushing."

Or...

B. Picard's own mind came up with this psychiatrist because he desperately wants to heal, not hide away his feelings.

Therefore, if Picard's own mind is being so emotional about hiding AND inserting Q's Sun representation twice, which then makes Picard wake up and tell Talinn all that Qcard stuff about the lesson being about *knowing* him, then Picard is internally struggling to overcome his resistance towards his feelings--of love--for Q. 😭😭😭

When I first watched this episode, I couldn't figure out why Bashir was the mysterious psychiatrist because he kept vascillating between mocking and deriding Picard's call to duty, and then showing deep concern that had an almost personal pain to it for Picard's closed off heart.

Siddig and Callis do look practically alike.

But for this Qcard lover, knowing that it's definitely not Bashir changes that whole episode for me.