#poldark meta

[wistfulcynic]

idk why there are suddenly Poldark posts on my dash in the year 2024 but i’m not mad about it. Somewhere in my head lurks a meta about how decisions made in season one of the show led to diversions from the books that became catastrophic and another on the utter absurdity of Ross Poldark: Man of the People. They likely won’t be written. But they’re there.

[wildwren]

ranking george warleggan's blood feuds

1. george vs. aunt agatha - absolutely iconic, nothing will ever top this, frankly this IS the high point of all 5 seasons of poldark. george said "i refuse to be out-cunted in my own house" and agatha was like "this is LITERALLY my house" and then they fought to the death. "that old woman will have no party" is THEE george warleggan quote of all time

2. george vs. ross - this is high on the list for george vs. ross because we all know how much of a ross hater i am, but actually im a george x ross truther, like they DO have chemistry, gay sex would nOT help, it DEFInITELY would make things worse, but i think they should try it anyway!!!! also remember that time george wept when ross' daughter died and told ross that some of the light had gone out of the world with her, and ross responded by telling george he would step over george's uncle if he saw him drowning in a puddle? because i think about that a lot. i might be paraphrasing

3. george vs. drake - i find george vs. drake tiresome sometimes because drake is simply *too* hapless, but at the same time, it's very funny that over the years, george has accused drake of: theft over forty shillings, intent to riot, grain stealing, trespassing, child grooming, bride-stealing, home invasion, and murder; has gotten drake kicked out of church, arrested, beaten and left in a ditch, imprisoned, nearly hanged; burned down his blacksmith shop not once but twice; had a pack of dogs sent after morwenna because she agreed to marry him, and probably other things i'm forgetting. meanwhile, in every sense of the idea, drake is just kicking a stone down the road.

4. george vs. geoffrey charles - i wish george vs. geoffrey charles was more fun but it's just sort of basic like oh no, george, do you hate your stepson who your beloved wife had with another man who you also hated??? how original that's incredibly creative of you!!! george almost marrying cecily was sort of an unhinged touch but by that point i did not really care. i'm a geoffrey charles hater though so maybe it's a personal problem :/

[belle-keys]

Saltburn: The Reign of British Bourgeois (Meta)

I recently had an interesting conversation with a close friend of mine who said, "I don't think Saltburn is really about class." She said she thought it was mainly about obsession, in the most individualist and interpersonal way possible. I naturally disagreed, and we argued about it for an hour. But I think the reason she didn't think it was really about class was because the film had a categorically anti-Marxist conclusion. That is, a very British conclusion. In many ways, Saltburn is a Thatcherite's wet dream. Let's discuss.

Saltburn isn’t an “Eat The Rich” narrative. It’s an “Absorb The Rich” narrative. I disagree that Saltburn is merely about an individual’s obsession with a particular guy or family. Saltburn is about the bourgeoisie’s obsession with the old English aristocracy.

Let’s establish the establishment: the modern English aristocracy whose family seats litter the shires. Saltburn aims to satirize the English Country House family drama, and then some. This is made evident when Felix informs Ollie that, whoa, the Evelyn Waugh himself based Brideshead Revisited and other works on Saltburn, on Felix’s family. The film, in my opinion, was kinda ballsy to go there and to do it so bluntly. So yeah, Saltburn wants to poke fun at the long-established English tradition of aristocratic family dramas such as Downton Abbey, Brideshead Revisited, Bridgerton, Poldark, Rebecca, etc. It’s no coincidence that the movie begins with an egregiously stereotypical sketch of Ollie struggling to fit in at Oxford, à la Charles Ryder. Felix Catton is Sebastian Flyte, and then some. And Ollie is obsessed with him, because look at him. Except… I believe Ollie’s obsession with Felix is less of an interpersonal homoerotic deranged clusterfuck than it is the bourgeois boy’s perennial fixation with the unreachable closed-door English aristocracy, the national pinnacle of inherited class and status in a nation founded on inherited class and status.

Saltburn, butler and all, is a perfect symbol of English aristocratic privilege (seconded by none other than Oxford, but the film didn’t care to explore the hierarchies present in British education and instead chose to focus on family in lieu of academia). Saltburn is grand, medieval, kitchy, isolated in the middle of whereverthefuckshire. One would think that Ollie was intending to infiltrate Saltburn to possess Felix, but I rather think he was intending to infiltrate Felix in order to possess Saltburn. To possess Saltburn is to possess the rank and place of the Catton’s in the world, to be the world. And Ollie doesn’t want to destroy the Cattons nearly as much as he wants to embody them.

I suppose Ollie’s need to absorb, to consume, to possess and to incarnate is obvious through his actions—drinking Felix’s semen in the bathtub, the period blood bit, the grave-fucking debacle. He worms his way through every aspect of the family members’ lives with the intent to become them, to suck them dry (see: “I’m a vampire”, how gothic). By the end when the Cattons are all dead, Ollie celebrates the privilege he has grasped, and in turn, the film applauds his feat rather than condemns him. Saltburn is a film that congratulates Ollie’s usurping of wealth and privilege, rooting for him from beginning to end. And the film never tries to interrogate itself and ask why Ollie is our hero. Ollie, who does not want to break the wheel as much as he wants to be in the room where it happens, even if that means destroying everyone else in his path. Ollie’s obsession, generally speaking, arises from the desire for status and rank rather than an inoccuous maniacal insanity. This is symbolized by his possession and control of Saltburn. If Saltburn were a gothic ghost story, then Ollie is our specter. And Saltburn is definitely rooting for the specter, full stop.

Britain is a nation of ranks and hierarchies, naturally averse to watering down pristine intergenerational blue blood with filthy postmodern capitalist dollars. “Stay in your place”, that is the Tory way. Even in a “modern, democratic” nation nonetheless governed by an antiquated Tory hegemony and quite opposed to both radicalism and revolution. Ollie, however, wants to be in the room where it happens in a world where only those who are born in that room ever get to enter it. It is why he faces this overwhelming yearning for Felix’s world and Saltburn’s beauty – it is, by default, off-limits to him no matter how hard he tries to reach it. In my opinion, Ollie’s fascination with Saltburn isn’t due to a homoerotic fixation on Felix. It’s due to an outsider’s bourgeois fixation on the romantic world of inherited English rank, status, and wealth. The romance of Saltburn, our need to romanticize the privileged upper class, is evident in the stunning cinematography and costuming. Farleigh is the first person in the family to notice Ollie’s insecurities and see it for what it is – he’s begging to be let in. Farleigh likewise takes the opportunity to constantly, antagonistically remind Ollie that Saltburn isn’t his world, that he will never fit in and will never be accepted as one of them: the tux will never perfectly fit. It is the tragedy of the almost-theres. So Ollie decides to just get rid of everyone in his way and prance about naked since the tux refuses to bloody fit.

It’s just so English, culturally speaking. To claw your way to the top to sit with the big boys rather than to criticize the system that bred the arduous, back-breaking, fatal climb in the first place. This is Tory meritocracy, founded on decades of policies to reduce taxes on properties such as Saltburn in Britain, to keep old peers in the Lords. Felix Catton is Sebastian Flyte is Margaret Thatcher. Thatcher who, despite brandishing her “common” background as a selling point during her political career, painstakingly perfected the Received Pronunciation of her Eton parliamentary peers and successfully died with the coveted title of Baroness added to her name. Thatcher, an Oxford scholarship kid like Ollie, who wormed her way into a title and country house and was yet forever plagued by her average, middle-class upbringing.

Ollie is obsessed with much more than a mere man. If Saltburn were a Marxist class story, truly dedicated to class critcism or subverting the English Country House drama, Ollie would have burned the whole damn place down. But Saltburn is rather a Tory class story about the insane lengths the British bouregoisie, obsessed with ascending class hierarchies and disillusioned by the lies of meritocracy, will go to possess the near-unpossessable ranks at the peak of English-textured privilege. The film is a performance in English upper-class tomfoolery and a celebration of its infiltration by the almost-theres.

And yet, the cycle perpetuates itself. Saltburn is ruled by a new lord. Nothing, really, has changed.

[andreabaideas]

about me

Hi, everyone/ Hola a todos / Salut!

i like many things, that i usually like to discuss with other people.

90's bitch (born in 1995).

• Nothing is sacred (except my family) that means that i can laugh at, criticize and enjoy things all at the same time.

• Many fandoms : The Hunger Games, Twilight (renaissance), True Blood, Daisy Jones and the Six,Poldark , Drácula (book) , Vampire Chronicles (Anne Rice), Darren Shan saga, Hannibal (Bryan Fuller), The Walking Dead, Agatha Christie. Edgar Allan Poe. Guy de Maupassant. Stephen King. Lost Girl, Les revenants, Vampire Mascarade, Vampire Diaries universe, Guillermo del Toro's universe. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV). American Horror Story . Old french movies (Nouvelle Vague). Animated movies too.

There are plenty more, but those are the main ones.

• "Bonjour Tristesse", "Les enfants de la pluie" and "Portrait de la jeune fille en feu" own my heart.

• Anything with witchy vives ❤️.

• Feminist ♀️(everyone should be TBH).

• I love art and photography.

• I LOVE indie, folk, rock, pop and classic music.

• I love horror movies, mainly gothic tales, but i've watched a lot of different things really, many old and weird ones too. One of my faves its Carnival of souls (1962), that no one i know has watched (besides me).

• Indie movies ❤️ too

• Vampire obsessed. If It has vampires i've probably watched It TBH.

• I speak three languages fluently , though English isn't my first language. Je parle français très bien. My native language IS spanish (i'm from Madrid, Spain). ¡Hola gente!

• I like many actors and actresses.

My faves are :

Men : Sam Claflin (my fave ❤️❤️❤️) Aidan Turner, Richard Armitage, Robert Pattinson (❤️), Josh Whitehouse, Blake Ritson, Joseph Morgan, Sam Reid, Sam Heughan, Kiowa Gordon, Peter Facinelli, Lee Pace, Joe Anderson, Rami Malek, Alexander Skarsgård, Stephen Moyer, Michael Fassbender, Ben Barnes, Paul Amos, Gregg Sulkin (❤️).

Women : Kristen Stewart (❤️❤️❤️), Riley Keough (❤️❤️❤️), Noémie Merlant/Adele Haenel/Jean Seberg (those three❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️...Too many hearts to fit here), Sarah Michelle Gellar, Eva Green, Jena Malone, Jennifer Lawrence, Lorenza Izzo, Suki Waterhouse (❤️❤️), Camila Morrone (❤️❤️), Gemma Arterton, Vanessa Kirby, Katherine Waterstone, Amanda Seyfried, Zoe Kravitz, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Phoebe Tonkin, Lupita Nyong'o, Krysta Rodríguez, Lily Donoghue.

Also American Horror Story cast. And Les revenants cast ...and most of the french and francophone actors and actresses too.

And theres much more, but i think this is enough.

Welcome to my blog! Bienvenus! ¡Bienvenidos!

Feel free to ask me things, i like to make theories and metas too.

Also feel free to ask in spanish and french!!! (trolling and hate wont be answered, obviously)

Ciao!

[genderenvyelimination]

First Round Masterlist

3/12/2023:

Zuko | Avatar: The Last Airbender vs. Red | Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Asmodeus | Obey Me! vs Garry | Ib

Spencer Reid | Criminal Minds vs. ENA | ENA

John Doe | Malevolent vs Lyfrassir Edda | The Bifrost Incident

Blackbeard | Our Flag Means Death vs. Percy Jackson | Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Otachi | Pacific Rim vs. Kurama | Naruto

Thanatos | Hades vs. Obito | Naruto

Lydia Deetz | Beetlejuice vs. John Mitchell | Being Human UK

Milo Thatch | Atlantis vs. Hiccup | How to Train Your Dragon

Loki | Norse Mythology vs. Kaworu | Neon Genesis Evangelion

Chat Noir | Miraculous Ladybug vs. Stevonnie | Steven Universe

3/14/2023:

Byleth | Fire Emblem vs. Fiver | Watership Down

Toruk Makto | Avatar: Way of Water vs. Aragorn | LOTR

Alma Winograd-Diaz | Undone vs. Jennifer Check | Jennifer's Body

Meta Knight | Kirby vs. Anakin Skywalker | Star Wars

Sylvester Ashling | Epithet Erased vs. Emmet | Pokemon

Thursday Plurbonym Boyporridge | Strange Aeons vs. Wizard | wizardisananimal

Bears in Trees | Band vs. 4th Phase Ghouls | Ghost BC

Electra | Starlight Express vs. Gerard Way | MCR

Hare | Tales from EarthSea vs. Sonic | Sonic the Hedgehg

Hero Killer Stain vs. Hawks | BNHA

Ekko | Arcane vs. Papa Emeritus IV/Copia | Ghost Band

Will Wood | Will Wood and the Tapeworms vs. The Toy Soldier | The Mechanisms

3/15/2023:

Lewis Pepper | Mystery Skulls vs. The Curious | Creeped Out

Raine Whispers | The Owl House vs. El-Ahrairah | Watership Down

Kris Dreemur | Deltarune vs. Doug Eiffel | Wolf 359

Elias | Ancient Magnus Bride vs. Ash Crimson | King of Fighters

Testament | Guilty Gear vs. Megamind | Megamind

Undertaker | Black Butler vs. Cure Chocolat | Kira Kira Precure a la Mode

Young Tim Curry Characters | Clue vs. Rumi | Just Roll With It

Richard III | Requiem of the Rose King vs. Simon Petrikov |Adventure Time

Denji | Chainsaw Man vs. Sasori | Naruto

Hunter | Rain World vs. Sam Winchester | Supernatural

Eddie Munson | Stranger Things vs. Magnus Chase | Magnus Chase

3/16/2023:

Hiei | Yu Yu Hakusho vs. Kaname Date | Ai: the Somnium Files

Bold and Brash | Spongebob Squarepants vs. Lucienne | Sandman (THEY BOTH WON?)

E-boy Wojak | Meme culture vs. Cal Kestis | Jedi: Fallen Order

Team Rocket | Pokemon vs. Nico de Angelo | Percy Jackson/ Riordanverse

Ludwig Von Drake | Disney vs. Red Lizard | Rain World

Julian Devorak | Arcana vs. Professor Venomous | OKKO

Giovanni Potage | Epithet Erased vs. Ryuko | Kill La Kill

Mr. Fox | Fantastic Mr. Fox vs. Zim | Invader Zim

Dio Brando | Jojo's Bizarre Adventure vs. Sasuke Uchiha | Naruto

Yamato | One Piece vs. Roy Mustang | Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood

Lemon Grab | Adventure Time vs. Fujimoto | Ponyo

Mizuki | Project Sekai vs. Gomez Addams | Addams Family

3/17/2023:

Arven | Pokemon Scarlet and Violet vs. Reigen | Mob Psycho 100

Pure Vessel | Hollow Knight vs. Lord Shen | Kung Fu Panda 2

Trunks | Dragon Ball vs. Dr. Robotnik | Sonic

Five Pebbles | Rain World vs. The Goblin King | Labyrinth

Turrican OST | Turrican Game vs. Ganon's Corpse | Breath of the Wild 2

Edgar Allen Poe | Bungo Stray Dogs vs. Mollymauk Tealeaf | Critical Role

Dwight Enys | Poldark vs. Will Graham | Hannibal

Scrooge McDuck | Ducktales 2017 vs. Dr. Emmett Brown | Back to the Future

Rohan Kishibe | Jojo's Bizarre Adventure vs. Bilbo Baggins | Hobbit

Micheal Afton | Five Nights At Freddy's vs. Cecil Palmer | Welcome To Nightvale

Carla | Dumbing of Age vs. Larry | Pokemon

Tragedians | Pathologic vs. Zagreus | Hades

Alucard | Castlevania vs. Robin | One Piece

[oetravia]

In defence of Caroline in 4x04

 First of all, posts like this shouldn’t need to exist. There shouldn’t be any of this ‘I’ll never forgive Caroline for leaving Dwight’ mentality. I get it, we all love Dwight, but to criticise Caroline for leaving him is wrong for so many reasons;

She doesn’t need forgiveness. She doesn’t need Dwight’s forgiveness. Even if she did, she already has it;

“There had been no hint of criticism in his tones when he gave them the news...”

- The Angry Tide, Book Two, Chapter Three, pp 196

I think it’s very easy to forget that Caroline genuinely loved her daughter, despite her flippancy (which we all know is at least 90% an act). Caroline made a decision to come to terms and cope with her grief at losing her child. 

We all know that Caroline is a wonderfully complex creature, and she’s a member of the aristocracy. Aristocratic women are supposed to be little more than beautiful stoic ornaments (Elizabeth is a brilliant example of this; when we see her in public she is always the polite hostess, flirting a little, dancing with the right people. Only in private, in particular with regards to Geoffrey Charles, do we ever see any true emotion). And children, even rich children, died all the time. In 1800 the chance of a child dying before they reached the age of five was almost fifty percent. It was just a sad fact of life. 

Caroline is probably the character we’ve seen most ingratiated with this culture; in 4x04 we heard her say that they are taking their grief out of proportion simply because Sarah was their own child. A cold sentiment by today’s standard, but a fairly common one in the 18th century.

I think it’s easy to understand Caroline’s desire to escape Cornwall for a while; of she stayed at Killewarren, with Dwight tending to his patients at all hours, she would often have been left alone for hours at a time; perhaps with Demelza for company - and who’s to say that Demelza’s form of comfort would not be to offer advice based on how she dealt with the loss of Julia. Advice coming from a good place (we all know Demelza’s heart is in the right place), but, as previously mentioned, not the behaviour someone of Caroline’s standing wants to engage in. Is it so wrong for Caroline to want some space from the memories that Killewarren will always hold? 

Since the deaths of Sarah and Julia are so tragically paralleled, I think we can here compare Ross and Demelza’s reactions and coping mechanisms for dealing with Julia’s death. Ross threw himself head first into everything; in 1x08 that was mostly to do with the wrecking, in 2x01/02 it was about the mine (which doubled to distract him from trial too - Ross is an expert at not dealing with things very well). Demelza was left coping in much the same way as Caroline would’ve been left to do had she stayed at Killewarren; a lot of lonely wallowing.

If we don’t judge Ross or Demelza for their coping mechanisms (in particular Ross, who’s very much like Caroline in many way; they are very much kindred spirits).

Not to mention that Dwight’s refusal to tell Caroline, whilst coming from a place of love has definitely worsened the situation. If you want to look at it in terms of the Five Stages of Grief, they are in two very different places;

By the time Dwight told Caroline that Sarah was going to die, he was already at acceptance. We’d seen him go through the other stages, in particular anger (his interactions with Osborne in particular are where this is very apparent) and depression. So whilst Dwight’s in the fifth, and final stage of grief, Caroline remains in denial, the very first (a stage that Dwight, as a doctor, and the doctor who diagnosed the problem in the first place, couldn’t really go through). 

Whilst they are, of course, both grieving their loss, they are two very different people in two very different places mentally. Again, to draw a comparison to the loss of Julia; by the time Demelza was well enough to be told of Julia’s death, I’d say Ross was at anger.

Another impact of Dwight not telling Caroline about the reality of Sarah’s condition was the fact that it not only robbed Caroline of a chance to come to terms with what would happen, but it meant that Caroline continued to be flippant about her daughter, and I think, beneath the act, that is something she will always struggle with much in the same way that I think Demelza still struggles with the fact that had she not gone to Trenwith, Julia would probably have lived. Had Caroline known that that cold would kill Sarah you know that she wouldn’t have been making a joke of it - we saw little moments that showed how much she adored that little girl, and you know she would’ve made sure her last days (yes, Dwight robbed her of days to get used to the idea and to say goodbye) were filled with love. 

To be honest, I personally think the separation will be good for Dwight too. He needs time to deal with his own grief (and guilt for not telling Caroline). And not having to worry about Caroline every time he goes out to a patient, or every time he comes back. Not to mention I’m sure there would’ve been arguments between them because Dwight really struggles to turn off his ‘doctor mode’ and he would definitely have been trying too hard to take care of her when he was home. 

So, yeah. Let’s stop with the hate on Caroline. She’s done what she has to do for herself. It’s not out of a lack of love for Dwight. 

[moviestorian]

Elizabeth Poldark Appreciation Week: 

Day 1: Favourite scenes

It was a really difficult choice to make. I was hesitating between Elizabeth's scenes with Demelza and/or George, when she is being strong in difficult times or when she is playing with her son with wooden swords. Eventually I decided to go for her scenes in episode 7 of season 1, those concerning her involvement of the conflict between Ross and Francis about Verity’s escape from Trenwith.

I feel that these are particularly underappreciated. Also, some of these don't appear in the books, so I sometimes get this feeling that a part of book fans (especially those who dislike Elizabeth) tend to ignore/forget about them.

I love that Elizabeth is actively involved in the conflict, bravely speaks up her mind and doesn’t simply watch it from the distance. She doesn’t condemn Verity for her action, and strongly refuses to blame Demelza and Ross for it - and tries to reasonably dissuade Francis from doing so. This moment when she firmly says “I stand up for no one, but it is the merest justice not to condemn people unheard” is one of my all-time favourite quotes from Lizzie ever.

And then there comes the scene in which Ross and Francis argue with each other in Trenwith. Elizabeth is trying to calm down both of them, trying to reconcile them. She’s a mediator in this scene, but neither of the two men is listening to what she says - their butthurtpride and prejudice are more important. It was being frequently emphasized that Elizabeth is fragile, especially physically, and yet when Ross and Francis start fighting she literally PHYSICALLY splits them apart. She’s trying to the very end to reconcile her husband and his cousin, saying “Have you forgotten that we are a family?”, and encouraging Francis to call Ross back when he was approaching the door. She did her best to improve the situation, but both Poldarks’ stubborness led to results that left Elizabeth clearly upset and disappointed.

I think this scene is (just one of many) a perfect example of Elizabeth’s courage, empathy and of how far she is from being a passive female character and a stereotypical “lady”.

[blu-b]

Maybe it is just me, but I've been turned off by the Poldark fandom lately. It is discouraging to me to see Demelza's affair being treated like some heroic act of feminism. It isn't, it really isn't, and frankly to me it makes her look petty and small.

I have never cared enough for Demelza to actually think too much of any of her antics tbh, or where the screenwriters are going with her character. I liked her in season 1 when she was this fresh and rather blue-eyed young girl, but by the middle of season 2 all she seemed to do was making nasty or annoyed faces at either Ross or Elizabeth, and letting out spiteful comments that were apparently meant to be “funny”, “strong”, “independent” or whatever. I have a general problem with the way this show tried to stick a 21st century personality on this 18th century female character; moreover that this one particular character was singled out to act totally different from all the other female characters/from the usual 18th century woman behaviour. In regard to Demelza, it often results in rather crass breaks in the characterization and in the storyline as well; breaks that have to be mended by inventing some other plot devices that have neither place nor sense in the original story. 

Anyhow, her affair with Hugh, as much as I can be bothered to follow it, was a rather petty thing indeed. I had hoped that at least it wouldn’t be about getting some revenge on Ross, but in the end it turned out to be just that. I know Ross is not a saint either, but most of the problems in their marriage actually arise not from Ross keeping anything a secret, but from Demelza never saying what her fucking problem is. The way season 3 starts, everything seems fine in the Poldark household: considering it’s Ross Poldark we’re talking about, he seems tame like a little kitten, attentive, cuddly, and in love with his wife. The Elizabeth affair seems to have been forgiven, if not forgotten, but that’s understandable. At least both Ross and Demelza are trying to come to terms with it, and trying to get their life together back on track. Ross seems truly interested in keeping his promise to be less reckless. They’re also doing well financially, their son is healthy - though not a day older - and all in all it looks like they’re finally out of the stormy times of their relationship….

…when all of a sudden Demelza decides she’s not getting enough attention from her husband. Without ever specifying what kind of attention she’s missing, of course. I mean, if it were hinted that they don’t sleep with each other anymore, or that Ross is spending more time with his business affairs again. However, both is not the case, so Demelza’s constant bitching at Ross comes quite out of the blue and for no real reason as far as I can see. Whatever he says, does, thinks, looks at, it’s always cause for suspicion.

Yes, there’s still the Elizabeth thing smouldering in the background, but why the fuck does Demelza never say what bothers her? She’s not so shy with others, so why does she never sit Ross down and actually talk to him? Instead, she rather picks up on hints and rumours and whispered secrets, constantly misinterpreting everything Ross does. Ok, so he’s not a poet, and he never wrote her a song or drew a sketch of her (did she ever make it clear she’d like him to?), but doesn’t she by now know what type of man she has married? As I said, Ross is certainly not a saint, but having Demelza roll her eyes at everything he does and adding a nasty comment to it makes me wanna go “Just throw her out, Ross, you deserve someone better!”. 

This constant portrayal of Demelza as the poor, wronged one who has no faults has seriously ruined a great character for me, but that’s another topic altogether.

Back to Hugh, I think this affair is neither particularly romantic, nor a heroic act, nor anything remotely feminist both on the character’s part or the show’s part. To sleep with someone out of a combination of pity, frustration, and to take revenge on your husband is really rather petty and small. 

But there’s a general problem I’m having with the way this “romance” is treated in the show as opposed to the book, as it never really comes across as being mutual, or passionate, or the kind of desperate the show wants us to believe. Hugh, although he’s really cute (and definitely doesn't deserve all of the gross character hate that is raining down on him), doesn’t strike me as being particularly sorry for flirting with the wife of his saviour. I mean, yeah, he’s constantly giving these little speeches about how it’s terrible that he fell in love with the woman who is married to man who, etc., but - you know, it’d be on him to actually stop flirting if he really thought it so terrible. Demelza is not particularly responsive, and he’s also actually putting her in danger by his behaviour, so why doesn’t he just stop. Yeah ok, he’s too much in love, but honestly to me it’s rather some sort of “Oh haha you’re married to the man I owe my life to, isn’t that terrible, LOL!” I know it’s probably not intended that way, but to me it seems like he’s trying to see how far he can get in seducing this country bumpkin.

That’s partly due to the show’s incapacity to create real depth where needed while focusing too much on unnecessary stuff (Poldark/Warleggan feud, toads). I’m having the same problem with Drake and Morwenna; their romance is so awkwardly and clumsily portrayed and only picks up some dynamic towards the end, while Hugh and Demelza have had 10 episodes to have their drama unfold, but were reduced to a roll in the dunes in the final moments of the last episode.

That said, I have been turned off by the Poldark fandom a long time ago and I don’t generally venture into the “Poldark” tag because of that. Thanks for sending in your opinion though, it’s always interesting to hear other people’s thoughts.

[moon-yean]

So, I think I’m going to stop watching Poldark and you can listen to my reasons here (the file was too big for an audio post, I went on a major rant lol).

My main problems with the show:

The aftermath of the “rape” (dub con, whatever you want to call it) between Ross and Elizabeth and the discrepancy between what happened and how it’s treated plus the character assassination of Elizabeth, essentially (00:45-02:56)

Lack of overall character development; static / regressing characters with flat emotional landscapes (02:57-03:39)

Old-fashioned storytelling (and the issue of nostalgia and classism, in regards to which I also shortly discuss Downton Abbey) (03:40-05:50)

Soap opera approach -> lack of proper drama, lack of internal conflicts, lack of complex emotional inner lives (05:51-07:13)

∟Demelza and the sad role that she’s assigned to in the show (07:14-08:35)

∟Ross... lol (08:36-09:28)

∟Hero vs. villain: Ross and George and how the drama in the show is driven and how complexities are removed (09:50-11:31)

Again, the Ross/Elizabeth scene and why they dropped the ball there... or rather jumped the shark... basically, why it ruined the show (11:32-13:33)

The show has become tedious to watch (13:34-15:13)

THE REDUCTION OF COMPLEXITIES + a small rant about the beatification of Francis lol (15:14-16:43)

The comparison with recent period dramas set in a similar time frame like Harlots or Turn: Washington’s Spies really highlights how weak the storytelling on Poldark is (18:12-19:21)

Can’t watch it on a soap opera level after they introduced a serious topic like consent issues without addressing it properly (19:24-20:27)

I’ll maybe continue to make scenery gif sets or something but yeah, I’m done. Not posting this in the main tag because I don’t want to be a hater but it’s disappointing seeing the show turn to shit because of its adherence to seemingly increasingly lackluster source material that squanders all the potential of its premise.

[romelza-poldark]

What was Ross thinking when he was at Dwight's home after he heard Elizabeth delayed the marriage? After the night with Elizabeth, if Ross had money to support Demelza and Elizabeth would he have left Demelza? What was Elizabeth thinking while she was waiting for Ross to return? I think these have been asked but would like your opinion. Tanya

I don’t remember this scene, will have to rewatch; but I think his general thoughts after the affair were pretty conflicted - he loves Demelza but he had betrayed her, he used to have feelings for Elizabeth at one time but he’s not sure what he feels now, he’s incredibly upset about George Warleggan x Elizabeth - he knows Demelza is angry and upset and he knows he loves her, which means he can’t leave her for Elizabeth. I don’t think he had thought of the consequences of his actions (when has he ever?). He intended to stop the GxE marriage but he hadn’t thought of how to go about it, he doesn’t know how The Incident will affect it. He expects Elizabeth to refuse George, but he’s also said “soon” when Elizabeth had been about to ask when they would talk next - he doesn’t know how to deal with it, what he would say to her, etc. Idk which specific scene you’re talking about, but I’m guessing he felt part relief because maybe George wouldn’t take over Trenwith, but maybe part confusion?

Nope. I firmly believe that while he did have feelings for Elizabeth (first love, no proper closure, etc.) he had also fallen completely in love with Demelza. His hatred for George Warleggan and the thought that Elizabeth had agreed to marry his worst enemy, the man he loathes, and that George would also soon be living in Trenwith, all of this combined makes Ross really angry and he is not thinking of Demelza at all at this point (in fact when Demelza tries to stop him saying he should wait till the morning, I believe if he had listened to her, what happened next might not have happened).He might have been confused about what to do, but if he had the money he might have offered to take care of Elizabeth and GC while married to Demelza? (idk, i might be talking out of ass, lol). Basically I don’t think he would have left Demelza.

As for what Elizabeth was thinking, I believe she was waiting for some sort of message from Ross - either an indication for her to let go of George, or to go ahead and marry him, preferably the former. She had waited for Ross before and ended up marrying Francis - which had some pretty bad moments and which she’d had second thoughts about later on. This was something she couldn’t talk to anyone about and she was probably hoping for a word from Ross - as he had said he would. I don’t think she expected Ross to leave her hanging the way he did.

Thanks for the question, Tanya! 

[upstartpoodle]

so according to stills from next week's episode George is gonna remarry ??? do you think the writers will just suddenly gloss over George's grief and act as if he's all better now??

Hi, thanks for the ask! I would like to think that George’s grief won’t be glossed over, but my faith in Debbie’s ability to a) handle storylines consistently, and b) handle George as a character consistently diminished some time around s3. To be honest, I suspect that the issues that George has been struggling with this series will be dismissed as having been “fixed” in the same way that Dwight was never really affected by his PTSD after that one episode. I hope this won’t happen, but I’m keeping my expectations low, so if it turns out not to be the case that those issues are just forgotten about, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

If they are, however, I don’t think it would really make much sense, both from a character and storytelling perspective. George’s grief has clearly affected him deeply, and a couple of conversations with Dwight isn’t really going to be enough to just make that disappear. Not to mention that she wrote an entire episode in which he was essentially tortured by the doctor Cary employed to “cure” him--an experience which, compounded with everything else he was going through, was horrifying enough that he tried to jump off a cliff--and if his grief isn’t something that can be magically fixed, that certainly isn’t either. I would expect anyone, not just George, to be changed in some way by an experience like that, and to have some real, lasting trauma from which they would need to recover, but, in all honesty, I’m not sure if Debbie is interested in properly exploring the ramifications of the plot she herself wrote.

Honestly, I really have no idea what Debbie is even trying to do with George’s overall arc. If she wanted to explore how his mental state had deteriorated in the wake of Elizabeth’s death, why not focus on his recovery over the whole of the series? If she just wants him to be a one dimension villain for her slavery plotline, then why bother drumming up sympathy for him over about half the series only to change direction so abruptly we all get whiplash? Why bother having him horribly abused for a whole episode if she doesn’t acknowledge that it might have had a lasting effect on him? In the end, she tried to do both, but the execution leaves a little to be desired, and so it comes across as stilted and unnatural.

Ultimately, I think it comes down to Debbie trying to use him to facilitate other characters’ storylines. Having him as the villain of the slavery plotline allows the Poldarks and Ned to look better by comparison, whereas his experience with Dr Penrose helps move on Dwight’s storyline about treating mental health (not complaining on that count--though I hate what happened to George in 5x03, their scenes together were pretty good, and quite frankly, I would preferred for there to be more of them over the course of the series). In some ways, I think the (pretty weird) Geoffrey Charles/Cecily/George saga is a result of this as well, in this case to give Geoffrey Charles Drawenna-style angst over the prospect of Cecily marrying his stepfather. I don’t really know how Debbie’s going to write herself out of this whole plot, though don’t think the marriage is actually going to go ahead (I suspect it’ll be stopped at the last possible minute for the sake of drama or something like that), since if she wants to stay true to the later books, George shouldn’t be remarrying until much later, and to someone who isn’t Cecily. I mean, he did seem very unenthusiastic about the match back in 5x04, so it’s possible that he might have a last minute change of heart and call it off, but, to be honest, I feel like the fact that he’s going along with it in the first place is a little strange considering Debbie’s taken such pains to emphasise his love for and grief over Elizabeth in the early part of the series.

Anyway, I’ve rambled enough now so I’d better stop before I go on for paragraphs and paragraphs as if I haven’t done that already ha. I’m prepared to reserve judgement on the whole thing until the series is over--like I said, I might be pleasantly surprised--but if not, at least we’ll always have fic.

[ubdrama]

The angry gay man in the show Poldark.

George Warleggan is acting like a scorned lover and nothing will convince me of otherwise. It’s one thing to be humiliated by the rich aristocrat who never wanted to be your friend, but his obsession with taking what specifically belongs to Ross goes beyond pride. George is gay and (was?) in love with Ross Poldark and that is that. 

Also the comment made by his uncle in s3, about him being surprised that George managed to get married to a woman and produce an heir just made it canon. Not to mention George showed NO INTEREST in women who weren’t involved with Ross.  

Fight me on this. Go on. I’ll be waiting. 

[terrainofheartfelt]

Author Self-Interview

Beloveds @rainathorpe & @strideofpride & @mysteriesofloves mentioned me when they did it and I was flattered & inspired (I’m a Leo I love talking about myself)

Fandoms: gossip girl is the only fandom I’ve ever written for...but I have been an avid fic reader in: a song of ice and fire/game of thrones; harry potter; once upon a time; the shadowhunter chronicles; grey’s anatomy; the lizzie bennet diaries; gilmore girls; poldark; and downton abbey (there’s probs more, I’m just going off my faved tags on ao3).

Most popular multi-chapter fic: gladly beyond any experience in my series Mouthful of Forevers, which still mockingly has “? chapters”...

Favorite story you’ve written so far: ohhhh all of them but that’s a cheat answer so I’ll say: Little Women AU my beloved. It came together so quickly and marvelously, and it was the first sort of thing I shared that I was writing for more than just myself? If that makes sense? Like I was working on it and thinking “ohohohoho my mutuals are gonna love this!” and while I am still of the I Write for Me philosophy, that is a pretty fun feeling.

Fic you were nervous to post: I’m gonna go with “And this is why my eyes are closed” because it’s a fluffy s4 au...but I really wanted to do justice to what Jenny & Blair went through at the hands of chip whiskers and not minimize that damage, but also have the story still be about them reconciling and about Nate and Dan being adorable supportive boyfriends.

How do you choose your titles: mostly song lyrics, and mostly of songs that I listen to that I think are relevant to the characters. I also like finding a relevant line of poetry if I’m searching for a particular vibe, or I write some things with a line of poetry in mind, like Mouthful of Forevers, for instance, or Point B.

Do you outline: oh yeah. I usually start a fic with like, a long continuous stream of consciousness bullet pointing, which snowballs into writing dialogue, which morphs into a scene, and then I end up with this ungodly mish mash of outline & draft. It’s sheer chaos in these google docs friends.

Complete: Love how we all just. have zero idea what this is asking. It’s a free form question! Here’s my answer: no story world I post is ever complete. The fics? Sure. The universe? Never. Even series that I say are complete on ao3: I’m lying. I still have ideas for those aus, they’re just not a writing priority.

Do you accept prompts: no. I got too many unhinged prompts rattling round in my brain. And I don’t - I don’t think I’d be very good at prompt writing? Maybe one day that’ll change and I’ll give it a try, but for now, nah.

Upcoming story you’re most excited to write about: I just dipped back into my big Milo au today, and it feels good! I’ve been sort of...unofficially holding myself to be a consistent poster, and try to post something once a week-ish, and I think I’ve hit a wall with that. But I still want to write! I think I may take an ao3 posting hiatus, and hold myself to it, so that I give myself time to actually write the stories I want to write on even if I can’t churn ‘em out as quickly as I have been (like I have 33 works on ao3??? I’m insane!!!) So, back to the question: yes, Dair & Milo au (the blouis meta I think actually helped me get in the zone for that so ty tumblr!); continuing MoF; I have sketched the beginnings of a Jenny-pov at Dan & Nate’s wedding weekend (does she hook up with a certain someone? maybeso.gif), and a Dan/Nate kidfic based off those headcanons I wrote up a couple weeks ago.

Stories you’re most excited to read: SO MANY BOOKMARKED okay here goes: The River in Egypt by bookglue who wrote one of my all time favorite Dair fics years ago and just posted this new gem and I’m so excited! that love and am beloved by @vanderwoodlings bc Milofic. Duh. I’ve just been putting off reading bc I know that it shall wreck me. And speaking of fics that I know will wreck me upon reading: i'd know yesterday (was over) by @rainathorpe

No pressure tags: if anyone is so inspired, please do!

[mcrwenna-blog]

( I think I’m going to need a moment to write a drabble about just how MUCH Wenna feels, like how much love she has in her heart and how much hope she has and how much she has hope at the beginning of her marriage ––– and then night after night comes abuse and horrific pain and she’s so scared and months later she has only a flicker of hope left that will REFUSE to go out, but the rest of her is so numb and unfeeling that she has no love to give and she has no love for her son and she just sits at the window and sews and it’s so traumatising that she is damaged for the rest of her life –––– and she also makes threats, serious threats about murdering her own son, just so her husband won’t sexually abuse her. I am very sad about my little bluebell being broken and torn apart from the inside-out. She was only EIGHTEEN when she was married to Osborne and it’s such a traumatising thing that the rest of her LIFE is spent trying to recover from it. )

[nitewrighter]

Do you have a top 5 of period drama series? I'm really want to get into that kind of genre but don't know where to start. If you have any rcomnendations I would appreciate it a lot! :3

1. Poldark--- Ohhhh Mr. Poldark....This one takes place in Cornwall, England shortly after the American Revolutionary war. It’s about Ross Poldark (Aidan Turner) returning to his home after fighting for Britain to find his lands in total disarray and his childhood sweetheart married. So it’s this ongoing uphill battle of this really short-tempered dude trying to restore his family legacy while staying true to his very progressive (and aggressive) ideals. It is such a soap opera but that lends itself to its bingeability.

yeah i... uh... i watch it for the plot.

2. Gentleman Jack---Based on the diaries of Anne Lister (once described as “the dead sea scrolls of lesbian narrative”). Anne Lister (Suranne Jones) is a power-walking firebrand butch lesbian living in 1832, and she is determined to restore her family home of Shibden Hall, open up a whole damn mine, and woo the lovely and delicate Ann Walker. Since it’s based on her diaries it gets really fun and meta sometimes. Also the soundtrack slaps.

3. North and South--I stress: The British Serial, not the American Miniseries. It’s about this woman Margaret Hale (Daniela Denby-Ashe) who moves to this hardcore industrial mill town around the 1850′s. She wants to help improve conditions for the mill workers, but she also finds herself falling for the mill’s steely owner, John Thornton (Played by 2004 Richard Armitage oh my god)

4. Sanditon-- Okay admittedly I hesitate to recommend this one because it never got confirmed on a second season but I really enjoyed it and maybe I hope if I get enough people into it I will get a second season. But anyway, this one’s based off of an unfinished Jane Austen novel (...so maybe it will never get completed..) and it’s about this girl who comes to this seaside town that’s trying to establish itself as a resort town. It’s got a surprising amount of intrigue for something based on Austen’s work! 

5. The Durrells in Corfu--- I got into this one solely because I noticed people kept putting it on hold at the library, so I’m kind of proud of myself for that. It takes place in the early 1930′s and it’s about this funky family that moves from England to this beautiful greek island. It’s based on a trilogy of autobiographical books by this zoologist, best known as “My Family and Other Animals,” so the youngest of the family is obsessed with animals and it’s really cute. The family’s dysfunctional but they really do care about each other so it’s really fun to watch.

[carterhaughs]

tea thing + elizabeth warleggan is a good person

I’ve gone on about this in detail covering her entire character arc, but short answer: yes. The conclusion any viewer with a basic understanding of human liberty ought to come to at the end of series 2 is that it was not Ross who idealized Elizabeth, but Elizabeth who idealized Ross - Elizabeth was every inch the gracious, kind lady she’s thought by everyone to be, but Ross turned out to be a man with no respect for her autonomy and the viewer. She did not “rouse a passion in Ross he could not withstand” - he did that himself and no one, Demelza included, can blame Elizabeth for that. I mention this because it is the main scene on which the entire axis of popular opinion for this character lies. There are myriad other issues, selectively ignored by fandom - her efforts with Francis coming to naught for years, her years of social seclusion and eventual financial ruin due to no fault of her own, her all too human and forgivable lapse of selfishness in voicing her feelings for Ross one time, and how that somehow leads to her being the sacrificial cow on the altar of unstudied misogyny for many viewers on this website who can be classified as nothing other than rape apologists and victim-blamers.

I discuss a lot of that in the first post I linked, along with some of the things about her that go unmentioned - for example, Elizabeth is one of the few characters who has never discriminated against others for their class background - against neither Demelza nor George, and has actively defended Demelza as a lady several times when she could not benefit from it and befriends her into the bargain. She refers to Trenwith’s tenants as her “neighbors and friends.” Elizabeth cares deeply about Verity’s happiness and never took her help or friendship for granted. Elizabeth never once blames Margaret for Francis’ bad behavior, even when she has the opportunity to do so right in front of all of society. Elizabeth raises Geoffrey-Charles largely on her own for years while being barely able to leave the house because of Francis’ neglect and bad habits. Elizabeth manages an estate on her own for two years with huge debts and little income and only marries out of necessity and trust in George when it becomes clear that her mother’s death will make things unmanageable. Elizabeth managed the feud between her husband and Ross for years and even broke up a fistfight between them once, as well as George’s difficulties with both of them, and did it all utterly alone. Elizabeth strives to be happy and accepting of her family’s loss of station and security after Francis’ financial ruin, and again, endures all of this largely alone because of how Francis needs to stay home and farm and can’t afford to entertain - up until he starts finally making changes for the better. She gets credit for none of these things but she deserves it and more. She deserves the world and I’ll fight anyone who thinks she doesn’t. 

send me a ☕️ and an opinion (popular or unpopular) and i’ll say whether i agree or disagree