in solitude

Symmetry. Or is it Sammetry?

Is this anything.

I've just remembered The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and how confused I was about the popularity of the Midge x that Lenny guy ship. I just stared at my screen when I saw how many people were into it. I mean, Lenny was barely a supporting character, how many episodes did he appear in? I kept forgetting who he was. I found their sex scene very awkward, and not like it meant anything, when Midge literally fucked a guy (whose name she didn't even know) in a previous episode. I'd have thought more people would be into Midge x Susie, this being the site that claims to care about the gays so much. But what do I know. Ftr I didn't ship Midge with anyone, I'm not usually a shipper, and I expected the show would have her reunite with Joel at the end, bc that's what it was looking like, so I didn't bother with shipping. But I liked the way it ended.

What I mean to say is. With Daisy Jones and the Six, I experienced the same type of confusion. The popularity of Billy and Daisy as a ship, more than anything, confused me. I literally was like "what?", much like my profile picture. And the way everyone kept going on about "kemmystri" made me feel like I stepped into another dimension. It still remains one of the most baffling things I've ever experienced in a fandom.

Do the above two things have anything in common? Both were on Amazon (which is just a coincidence), both take place in 20th century in an entertainment industry. So the lesson learned is: never ever watch another TV series set in performing arts.

I picked up Alice Munro's collection Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage; I had no prior knowledge of the author or her work (the book was on my Goodreads to-read list, but, typically, I don't remember where I learned of it or why I added it), and my heart leapt right at the beginning, when I saw Saskatchewan mentioned--another Canadian author who wrote short stories, just like L.M. Montgomery. Of course, it's an entirely different type of fiction, more modern for a start. But, the funny thing is, that the titular story has a similar premise to LMM's short story A Jest That Failed. A hoax that ends up going a completely different way that what its orchestrators planned. I suppose there must be many such works, but I still think it's interesting.

What a story, though! Easily became a fave.

Okay, I've just rewatched Twilight and I think bc I have been rewatching Gilmore Girls, also bc I am nothing if not a strange-parallel-maker, the first sight of Charlie brought to mind Luke Danes. The way he couldn't find words to say when Bella arrived, when he showed her the room, it strongly reminded me of Luke and Jess. Similar type of guy, I'd say, not big on words, outdoorsy type, even dresses similarly. Billy Burke even appeared on Gilmore Girls, he played Lorelai's short lived love interest, while Luke is her true love interest. So idk if it's anything.

I'm thinking of The Count of Monte Cristo, as I do often these days (it seems to have become one of my things) and I'm also thinking of Murder on the Orient Express, as I've just been to see the stage play. ***spoilers from now on***

Both are revenge stories and also, the passengers on the train are all, some in smaller ways, some in bigger, playing a role, similar to Edmond adopting his various disguises. I never thought of it before, despite having read the book a few times (and having watched the adaptations with Albert Finney, David Suchet and Kenneth Branagh). I think it became noticeable to me bc stage acting is more exaggerated. I just thought it was interesting.

It's kinda like that Sherlock Holmes telegram to Watson: "Come at once, if convenient. If inconvenient, come all the same." Van Helsing is coming at once, convenient or not.

I'm not doing the Emily book club, but I've seen people talking about whether Dean is like Rochester of Jane Eyre, and then some say he isn't, so I thought I'd contribute this.

Excerpts from LMM's journals that name drop any of the Brontes (well, Charlotte and Emily, LMM doesn't mention Anne), scroll down to 22 October 1924.

She was no fan of his--and I'm right there with her!

Spoken By Hazel Marr, Anne of Windy Poplars. A shallow, over-dramatic, frivolous, silly goose of a character. Blabs incoherently acting as if she talks poetry. But, see what she says here? That's pretty much the plot of Me Before You (with the one big exception being that Hazel at least wants to be a nurse, while Louisa's job was not that). And Louisa Clark is as shallow as Hazel. While Me Before You is contemporary, it strikes me as something that should be set in the past, 1990s at the latest.

Hazel Marr 🤝 Louisa Clark. Two stupid cows.

The major difference is that Hazel is not only not the protagonist, she is a minor character that is never presented by the author as someone to be liked, although the actual protagonist, Anne, initially likes her. (Not Rebecca Dew, though, that woman got it right!) But of course, you cannot compare L.M. Montgomery with Jojo Moyes.

Found a connection between the two latest The Count of Monte Cristo adaptations: Pierfrancesco Favino! He plays abbe Faria in the French film and had the role of Rainaldi in My Cousin Rachel which starred Sam Claflin, who is the the other Edmond Dantes, the one in the upcoming limited series.

This means Pierfrancesco is tri-lingual: he's Italian, can speak English (he's had several English speaking roles) and also French.

I know Vigilante Shit is not a Count of Monte Cristo revenge type of song, but I think Edmond Dantes could relate to "I don't dress for women, I don't dress for men, lately I've been dressing for revenge".

I said it before, but the one author who could do love triangles well was Agatha Christie. Two women/one man type of triangles, I mean. Bc she always made them the centre of a murder. As someone whose husband left her for another woman, she knew what she was writing about. When I think of Daisy Jones and the Six, and I think of Agatha Christie, I know she'd be on team Camila. Make no mistake about that.

Anyway, read Five Little Pigs.