(no subject)

[lls_mutant]

Dear AIL Sirius and Remus,

Hi guys. I was trying to make this chapter somewhat cheerful. So could you please stop fighting so I can move on and write the fun kind of fighting? Really. The two of you in a snarky, sulky fit at each other is no fun to write. Stop grousing and let's go kick some Death Eater butt.

Thanks.
Love,
Lissa

***

Speaking of AIL, question for you Brits. I know as of 1977, fathers were not allowed in the delivery room in America. By 1979 they were, at least in some places. Were men allowed in the delivery room in 1981 in London? What if it was a C-section? I realize I have some leeway because it's St. Mungo's, but I don't think I have THAT much. Thanks!

***

So musesfool posted the link to Joss Whedon's 25 favorite TV characters. I was going to do the same, but didn't get around to it last night. Also, I don't watch much TV, so I shortened it to 15 anyway. :P

Anyway.

1.) Kaylee Frye from Firefly. Because how can you not love Kaylee? She's just so cute, one of the few true optimists that's not remotely a ditz that I've seen on TV. If I could be a female TV character, it would be her.

2.) Toby Ziegler from West Wing. Just for the ball. And should I ever write that West Wing/Harry Potter crackfic crossover that's been lurking in my mind, you know that's how it will start. With Toby throwing the ball at Snape's office.

3.) Philip J. Frye from Futurama. So often I don't like the main character. Futurama is one of the few shows where I really honestly do.

4.) Charlie from Lost. We've still only seen the first season, but I love Charlie. How could I not? Charismatic guy trying to overcome his own demons. And as expected from the above, I don't like Jack. He's very dull.

5.) The Janitor from Scrubs. Aside from the fact that I swear he's the love child of my stepfather and Mel Gibson, The Janitor has to be one of the funniest characters ever.

6.) Ned Flanders from the first seven or so seasons of The Simpsons. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Simpsons family. But Ned just always cracked me up because he was so over the top... and yet, not really.

7.) Statler and Waldorf from The Muppet Show. They count as one character. Even as an adult, those two crack me up consistantly.

8.) Jed Barlett from The West Wing. I'm registered Republican, but I would have voted for him, I think. Although I'm all for Alan Alda's character.

9.) Lucius from Rome. Tortured soul trying to do write and frequently failing. God, I love that.

10.) Titus Pullo from Rome. Because they really kind of go together.

11.) Jayne Cobb from Firefly. I love comic relief, and Jayne manages to be that and not all fluffy (although I love Wash. And Simon. And... look, I just love the whole crew, okay?) But Jayne gets his own entry for Jaynestown, because it was undeniably funny.

12.) Jeremy from Sports Night. The only problem I had with Jeremy was that, aside from the sports obsession (and just the sports part), he WAS a guy I dated. (Hi, Kelse. Seriously. Has anyone ever told you that someone plays you on TV? It's really scary.) I mean, I like the guy still, but it's very wierd to see someone you know on screen without it being him.

13.) Bender from Futurama. Best sidekick ever.

14 and 15.) Pinky and the Brain from Animaniacs. Because they rule. Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

Comments

[jlarinda.livejournal.com]

We're getting babies in AIL soon?! :D ♥

*agrees intensely with the Janitor from Scrubs comment* I actually love Dr. Cox the best, but the Janitor is at second place, he's awesome.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I like babies, and it's about that time! :)

I love Dr. Cox too, but his rants get a bit predictable at times. But the Janitor... I'm never sure what he's going to do. (We did check IMDb- Neil Flynn was actually in The Fugitive. hehe.)

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

Were men allowed in the delivery room in 1981 in London?

I would think so if it was a straightforward birth, but maybe not for a C-section, as these would still have been more likely to be performed under general anaeasthetic back then. My father was in the delivery room when my sister was born in 1979 and I know my best friend's Dad was in the room when she was born in 1974. That wasn't unusual.

Mind you, there's no mention of a maternity ward at St Mungo's in OotP, so I assumed witches had home births. I don't suppose they'd have C-sections or stitches either. And magic probably provides much better pain relief...

[snorkackcatcher]

Yeah -- C-section sounds odd in a St Mungos context (given Ron's comments about cutting people up). You'd imagine something akin to Apparition of Portkeying, like the 'transporter birth' they invented for an episode of ST Voyager. (Let's assume that this closes up blood vessels and what have you.)

I don't think a father being present was especially common back then in RL but in a HP context there doesn't seem like any reason why it wouldn't be allowed (presumably this is Frank or James?).

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Um, thank you EVER so much for that image of inserting a portkey in a laboring woman and having the baby RIP out through her stomach a la Alien. Probably not quite what you intended, but.... (Now I'm getting ideas of the doctor inserting the portkey and the baby suddenly appearing in a nurse's arms. Might not be the best method of delivery, but...)

Yeah, Frank and James, actually, are both in question. Although I'm being mean to Lily and giving her a C-section, just because I had to have one :P I love inflicting pain on fictional characters! (Of course, hers will probably be quite different, but still.)

[snorkackcatcher]

Um, thank you EVER so much for that image of inserting a portkey in a laboring woman and having the baby RIP out through her stomach a la Alien. Probably not quite what you intended, but....

*snerk* That wasn't the image I had in mind, no. What I meant was a transport spell like the aforementioned STV beam-out that moves the baby from womb to nurse's arms (or magical incubator, whatever) practically instantaneously, ignoring intervening matter. (Yes, I know there are other considerations regarding sudden shock to the mother and so on, but that's the advantage of HP: if you invent something for this situation you can handwave them away as being something the spell takes care of if you want, or not if you want to prolong the agony for the characters.) The main point being that a C-section just sounds off in a HPverse context.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

You know, that's a good point about the maternity ward. And when the healer type (or whoever) can just Apparate to the witch...

Hmmm. That might change a few minor details.

I can see them having c-sections- I can just see it being far less painful. I can envision that a modified version of septem-hootchimawatchie could be used (eek, now I have a vision of Eileen Prince-Snape being a midwife, and that's how Snape originally started learning the spell)- something that could be controlled. Open up the witch, take out the baby, and close her up seemlessly, with no stitches.

I wonder what the magical version of an episiotomy is? And how witches deal with tearing?

Damn, why wasn't I a witch? I'm seeing all sorts of things that could be circumvented by magic here....

[shaggydogstail.livejournal.com]

Hm, I'm not so sure about the magical c-section. Ron refers to doctors as 'those muggle nutters who cut people up' and there doesn't appear to be any invasive medicine in the books--it's all done by potions or charms that go through the skin.

For me, it seems more likely that magic would be used to ease vaginal deliveries. They could use a Charm to dilate the cervix quickly and painlessly and another to manage contractions. It would probably be possible to magically relax the skin around the vagina, making it more flexible so that tears don't happen and there's no need for an episiotomy. Or pregnant women might learn specialist transfiguration techniques to help them dilate more easily. I imagine the whole thing would be much quicker than a Muggle birth and fairly painless.

[mitzy7.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I completely agree- due to Ron's comment I can't see there being C-sections in the HP world. I also can't really see there being some kind of baby-portkey either- the point in the vagina and womb being connected would be....? It sounds too unnatural. I think they'd just have some kind of magic to work as a painkiller and make the cervix dilate quicker.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

How to take over the WORLD!

I totally typed "word" the first time.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

The "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?"s were the best. I miss Pinky and the Brain (although we did get the DVD- whoohoo!)

Hmmm. Must make a Pinky and the Brain icon or two.

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

Kaylee is love. They all are in some way, but Kaylee has a very special place in my heart. I love that she's performing a traditionally male function, but there's nothing masculine about her. She's such a girl.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

I do too! I really, really like the way that Joss writes women. I was starting writing something at one point about how Zoe and Kaylee are such opposite ends of the emotional spectrum- Zoe keeps everything very controlled, whereas Kaylee wears her heart on her sleeve- but they're both still such strong female characters. And I love that they can bond over dresses and girl talk at times, even though their taste is completely different.

I wish more writers wrote characters like those two!

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

Joss writes some of the best women on tv. I know that people have problems with Inara, but I like the idea of a woman who's sexually unrepressed, but who has high standards.

One of the things that attracted me to Buffy (both the series and the character) was that we had an action heroine who was sexy, but not overly sexualized like a number of comic book heroines.

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

My dad was present for my birth in 1974, but my mum was a maternity/infant nurse, so I don't know if she had to pull strings to have him allowed there for the whole thing. By 1981, when my youngest brother was born, it was expected that the father would be there.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Cool, thanks! My dad wasn't able to be in the delivery room for me, but I know he was for my brother, who was born in 1979. But after the graduation fiasco (I honestly had no idea Brits don't graduate from high school!), I figured I'd ask before I wrote Frank at Neville's birth and then found out that's so not the way it's done or something!

[crownroyal-51.livejournal.com]

I was born in 1970 in Michigan and my father was in the delivery room for the birth according to my mother. She said that he almost passed out.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Hehe. Yeah, see there's part of it- I know it varied from area to area, depending on local (or even hospital) rules.

I am very proud to say my husband didn't pass out during our son's birth- I don't think he even came close. Then again, neither of us saw the actual delivery because it was a c-section. (And neither of us wanted to!)