Mad Madam M

lizard brain

questions: do i have food, water, and safe shelter? 

solutions: drink more water. drink things with electrolytes. make and stick to a food schedule that works for you. clean your room. if you are in an unsafe situation, talk to someone trusted about creating a plan to get out 

toddler brain 

questions: have i had enough rest? am i been getting what i need to be healthy? am i cared for? am i frustrated? 

solutions: make sure you’re getting enough sleep on a schedule that works for you (people naturally sleep better at different times and need different amounts of sleep. if youre young you will need to sleep more than 7 or 8 hours). make sure you have varied nutrition in your diet. make sure your medications and supplements are working for you and take them on schedule. work on developing a support system that meets your needs. take breaks from things if you feel burned out, even if it’s only for a day 

monkey brain 

questions: have i had enrichment in my life? am i stuck in a rut? have i had socialization, entertainment, and creativity? has anything challenged me lately? 

solutions: limit your time on social media. make an effort to be in new environments - even if its another room in your house or backyard. examine what is or isn’t working in your routine. pick up a new hobby (if you’re more physically active, consider a hobby like writing or coding. if you’re more mentally active, consider a hobby like woodworking, bookbinding, or a sport). write stories, make art, and write analyses (if you haven’t tried original work - focus on that for a little while). try new music. try a new food. build something with legos. consume a new type of media even if you’re not sure you’ll like it (like graphic novels, radio plays, or watching ballet). take on a long term project and set aside time to work on it on a schedule (whether its every day, every few days, or specific days each week) 

human brain 

questions: do i feel loved? do i feel understood? am i existentially fulfilled? do i have a sense of purpose? do i have a sense of meaning? am i contributing to the lives of the people i care about and are they doing the same for me in return? 

solutions: reach out to friends and loved ones, and do activities together, like play a game online or walk in the park. talk to safe people about things that upset you, such as a trusted friend or a therapist, and find steps to improve your mental health. interrogate whether your religious beliefs are working for you, and if they are, make an effort to practice your faith, whether that is attending services (including digitally if they have them), reading and discussing your religious texts, or following holidays. read self help books or blogs from trusted professionals. read about philosophy and interrogate your own understanding of things. learn how to communicate your needs, thoughts, and desires to people who will listen. be active in your community (whether in community service, activism, or getting involved in local politics). adopt a rescue animal. give money to causes you care about. make an effort to learn about points of view and lived experiences that are different than your own. challenge assumptions about how you are expected to live your life and decide whether you want those things or not. express love for the people you care about - through kind words, good acts, crafts, or otherwise. if there are steps in your life you have been afraid of taking, make a plan to take them 

All the episodes of Galavant are on the Internet Archive!

And like there was no permanent cast, all these celebrities seem to have gotten a scene or part of a scene to do (i’m not sure exactly, I did not ever watch Quibi and thus haven’t seen this yet), and then they just… recreated it as best they could. At home. Under quarantine.

So like, you had Jennifer Garner in a blanket cape playing Princess Buttercup AND the Booing Old Woman with a crowd comprised entirely of stuffed animals:

Or Taika Waititi paying Westley off a badly-drawn Inigo on a piece of cardboard held in front of someone’s face:

And it’s all just delightful.

But my absolute favorite part of this thing that I’ve sadly never seen but assume is probably absolutely hilarious and a treasure and I want to find it some day and watch the whole thing… is that Carey Elwes is in it.

As Prince Fucking Humperdink.

Here ya go

Finding the 1980s classic The A-Team available for download the other day has got me in a sharing mood, so if you're interested in checking out the first fandom I wrote m/m romance for over 20 years ago (christ on a bike), the first season is available for download here and the second season should be uploaded in the next couple of hours. After that, I'll have to rotate through the other seasons but I'll reblog when I have 3/4 up (and 5 if I can get it in).

What is the A-Team? Well, there's a thorough breakdown of the premise and main characters here if you like, but long story short there was a spate of one-hour action shows in the mid-Eighties that tried to make the American Vietnam War vet into a hero. Yeah, I know. If you can get past that (and fair play if you can't), this one always struck me a little differently.

When I was watching it in its original run at fourteen (and perving over George Peppard), I didn't pick up on just how much the show was aware of its own OTT-ness. In a lot of ways, it's a cartoon - but everyone involved knew it was a cartoon, and played to that in a hundred different ways. There were a lot of jokes and laughs and nods and winks. As an example, here's George in drag showing the baddies who's the boss ass bitch:

Not only that, it was surprisingly anti-establishment and left-wing for an American action show during the Reagan years. The enemies weren't 'street scum' as was standard at that time, but evil capitalists and rednecks. In one ep, for example, the Team goes to the aid of protesting migrant farm workers by robbing the rich landowner's banquet, pelting his minions with cabbages, and helping the workers all over the valley organize a union. The show was utterly ridiculous, but it wasn't without merit, and it was definitely smarter than it looked on the surface.

And then there are these two. Templeton "Faceman" Peck (Dirk Benedict) and HM "Howlin' Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz). The stars of the show were definitely Peppard and Mr. T, but as the show went on and it became clear they hated one another's guts, the writing featured Face and Murdock more than I think it would have otherwise. This worked out well for some fans, because these two had chemistry up the wazoo. When I first watched it, I couldn't quite figure out why I loved watching them so much, but when I stumbled across some fic nearly 20 years later, I finally got it. And then I wrote some of my own.

Poster from the July 2022 issue of Pash.

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