In Case Anyone Is Having A Bad Night

For All Mankind (4.01 "Glasnost")

Wrenn Schmidt as Margo Madison

Gediminas Adomaitis as Kirill Semenov

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe I've been watching For All Mankind and into space stuff generally for this long and have only just discovered that the real life Thomas Paine designed a flag for Mars. I had to work it into a fic especially since him telling Ellen about his love of the stars is one of my favourite moments in s2.

‘What was that you were working on?’ 

‘Oh that’s, it’s nothing really, a flight of fancy,’ Tom tried to pass it off casually, but secretly he was a little pleased when Ellen said, ‘Go on.’ 

‘It’s a flag for Mars, a proper flag. A true symbol for exploration, something for the whole world to rally around.’ 

Ellen was taken aback a little; she had always assumed he had been the one who demanded NASA use the Stars and Stripes back in ’69.

Tom retrieved the legal pad from where he had haphazardly hidden it. Ellen furrowed her eyebrows in an attempt to decipher the scribblings but Tom handily narrated.

‘If you notice, it goes diagonally upwards to represent progress, from the sliver of Earth, where we’re came to where we’re going. Mars is in the middle but the arrow to the star in the far corner is to show that it’s part of the journey not the final destination. I’m not much of an artist…’

‘I like it, it’s a beautiful vision. So how is the Mars program coming along?’

‘I’ve got time to daydream up flag ideas, I’ll let you figure it out.’

beautiful work, op. My favorite Goya. 😍

Greg-ified classic paintings vol. 3:

“Taskmaster Smooching His Assistant”

>> [Margo] seems to be such a tightly wound individual. So I was wondering if you could talk to us a little bit about the roots of her tension. Because she seems like there’s so much repression, she’s holding so much in, but she expresses it through little moments that mean volumes when they come from her.

In season 1, there is this really kind of dynamite scene between Molly Cobb and Margo. And it’s right after a sim goes wrong, and Molly storms out, and Margo says, ‘What are you doing in there?’ And essentially, Margo says, ‘No no no, you have to be perfect.’ There is no room for air because, you know, a guy can mess up and he’s gonna get ten more tries. A woman messes up once, and that’s, you know, you’re done. So I think to a certain degree what you are seeing is that [...] Margo has to play things close to the vest. Because she knows […] she can’t make a mistake. So I think in some ways what you are seeing is her tracking something, or maybe something flickering across her eyes where there’s a little bit of reaction, but then she’s gotta cover that. And I think what’s been kind of interesting is that you see for three seasons how that evolves, as she becomes more and more powerful, and also more and more seasoned. I think sometimes, too, another interesting thing is as you become more experienced, there are certain things that maybe you show a little bit more about what you think, because you’ve seen so much and there really isn’t someone that is above you anymore. But then, in season 4, because Margo’s kind of thrown back to the bottom of the pecking order, she really has to keep everything buttoned up. And I also think that’s because Margo’s playing the most intense game of chess. Literally her life is at stake. And I think once she’s been interrogated and then becomes part of Roscosmos, she just never knows how  the tectonic plates beneath her feet are shifting. I think that’s part of it, too – she doesn’t know how much of it is safe to share. She’s always been a very private person, but I think in season 4 it’s really– now I’m working for a woman who if you really cross her once, you’re gone. […] And that’s one of the reasons that I felt like it was so fun to play all of the scenes in episode 6, in the storage room. You get to see this picture of her, up close, where she’s not having to kind of mask what she thinks.

The real OTP commits to all four. (insp)

This is exactly how I feel about the fic writers I follow here. 😘

Do you ever binge read someone's work on ao3 and get the urge to serenade them, like, hello my fair fic author you have wooed me with your excessive flowery metaphors and complete lack of plot, even your messy 3am fics with very visible flaws are gorgeous, your self indulgent dynamics have enchanted me, please accept my kudos

I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. You first.

This is for @burritoagain , whose ask I accidentally deleted while flailing on mobile 😅

Happy new year! Your card is the Queen of Wands.

Wands are the suit of passion and creativity, and the Queen represents the feminine side of those things. She takes the perspective of a mature, wise woman, looking inward at the thoughts and feelings that come with this fiery, spirited energy. This year brings opportunities to deepen your creativity - not in terms of output, but in how you experience the process. Let yourself embody her good-natured, enthusiastic approach to all your endeavors.

Honestly I don't know which theory is cuter - (1.)that Sergei is indeed a total lightweight or (2.)that he goes along with it because it spares him from admitting it only took like 2 hours of her undivided attention to get him from this:

to this: