Likely Radiant

Do you mean to tell me Mary has four (4!) Married sisters and no one of them has ever invited her to spend time with them outside the neighbourhood of longbourn?

Sure, Lydia is thoughtless and cruel and would only extend such an invitation to lord her position over Mary. Who knows who Kitty married and if she could afford to offer her sister an introduction to society. But Lizzie and Jane!! Both would be in a position (financially and socially) to take Mary to London for the season. Or at least host her in the country and introduce her to people there. It is neglectful and cruel that they have not!

Mrs Gardner would he better placed to teach the children herself.

In Episode 2 I am not sure I like how the story is shaping up with mr Collins, as I am surprised Mrs Bennet would not be equally happy with Lizzie or Mary married to him. And surely she has sufficient sense to see what Mary sees - the risk of Lizzie refusing him.

But i guess the alternative is to have Mary not present as an actual viable rival for Mr Collin's attention and that would undermine the narrative of Mary being unappreciated and undervalued.

Happy holidays! I have some Emily and Wendell drawings to share to spread winter joy and holiday cheer!

The first is a redraw of The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, I really like this painting and I immediately thought of Wendell and Emily after reading the third book (if you know you know)

The second was my attempt at doing the Apple core trend I’ve seen floating around the internet; I’m not 100% satisfied with it because profiles are hard!

The third are some memes I thought would be fun to put Emily and Wendell in

Firstly I reject the argument that beauty and monstrosity are mutually exclusive but furthermore I think this man's (miss)reading of the story encapsulates the essence of why a "male loneliness epidemic" exists.

He said the creature had no reason to ask Victor Frankenstein to make him a companion because Elizabeth was not afraid of him. He described the creature as 'involuntarily celibate' and suggested he just 'ask Elizabeth out for drinks'. In doing so he makes two mistakes; firstly he reduces the creature's longing for companionship to lust and secondly interprets Elizabeth's acceptance as sexual interst.

The creature asks for a companion like him. In interpreting this as a request only for a sexual partner it ignors the grief the creature feels at the death of the blind grandfather and his loss of belonging as the family's benefactor. The creature longs not only for acceptance but also freedom from grief. He wants a companion he will not have to watch die and has needs other than sexual from companionship.

I honestly think it's wild to interoperate Elizabeth as open to a sexual relationship with the creature based on their early interaction. She is kind and gentle with him, but her actions seem to me more motherly than anything. It would be deeply predatory and ick for her to be interested in him in any other way at that time, he is mentally like a new born child. An innocent in an adult body. Interpreting the kindness Elizabeth shows as sexual interest reminds me of men interpreting politeness from service workers as flirting. Such an interpretation reduces what women have to offer to the physical.

This interpretation of Frankenstein reduces the needs of the creature (and all men) to the sexual. It denys women satus as full humans with more to offer the world than their bodies.

Did you know the original Wizard of Oz book was, like, satirical commentary on US economic policy?!

But! Every time the story is retold it's about something new. And now! it's about so much more. It's become a metaphor for xenophobia and a warning against the power of propaganda. It's about race and queerness and the pressure society exerts on you to change yourself, inorder to gain acceptance. It's about the bravery needed to refuse, and how the people who really matter will love you how you are.

"I know what it's about." My dad insisted as my SIL and I discussed Gelphie. "I've seen the Wizard of Oz."