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“The great day has come” “Milan rises up against nazi-fascists”

While the city was being freed from the regime, the CLN (National Liberation Committee) broke into the newspaper office to print these first antifascist pages.

April 25th 1945 - Italian Liberation Day

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“Il ventennio fascista non fu, come oggi qualche sciagurato immemore figura di credere, un ventennio di ordine e di grandezza nazionale: fu un ventennio di sconcio illegalismo, di umiliazione, di corrosione morale, di soffocazione quotidiana, di sorda e sotterranea disgregazione civile. Non si combatteva più sulle piazze, dove gli squadristi avevano ormai bruciato ogni simbolo di libertà, ma si resisteva in segreto, nelle tipografie clandestine dalle quali fino dal 1925 cominciarono a uscire i primi foglietti alla macchia, nelle prigioni, tra i confinati, tra i reclusi, tra i fuorusciti. Venti anni di Resistenza sorda, ma era resistenza anche quella: e forse la più difficile, la più dura e la più sconsolata. Vent’anni: e alla fine la guerra partigiana scoppiò come una miracolosa esplosione. E il 25 aprile finalmente i vecchi conti col fascismo furono saldati: e la partita conclusa per sempre. Vittoria contro noi stessi: aver ritrovato dentro noi stessi la dignità dell’uomo. Questo fu il significato morale della Resistenza: questa fu la fiamma miracolosa della Resistenza.””

— Piero Calamandrei

#oddio #“per sempre” #idk about that #buon 25 aprile

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#let's be honest: the first thing Lymond would do if he found a family not involved in armed conflict #would be to involve them in armed conflict #<- prev lmao #lymond chronicles

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let's talk about the fish/water/christ symbolism in the game of kings. with spoilers

fish (as ιχθυς) is an acronym for christ, and it's the first food jesus eats after being resurrected, right? it symbolizes rebirth, life, and christ himself. i personally think fish are slippery and cold-blooded too, but that's neither here nor there.

now look at how the game of kings starts: "lymond is back". we immediately know this book is about returning, it's about rebirth. in fact, the first thing we see is the man himself submerged in a body of water and coming out on the other side, after a baptism of sorts, as the character he will play for most of the book: lymond the outlaw, lymond the traitor.

the first words out of his mouth are "i am a narwhal": he identifies himself as a fish right away, and not just any fish but the unicorn fish; the unicorn of course being scotland's national animal. in perspective, he tells us everything we need to know about him: his status as a christ figure, his destiny to be reborn, his complicated relationship with his country.

the next time he's in a body of water, it's the second chapter and he's dying from a head injury in a bog. he's washed clean, this time, too: from his own identity. he's free to inhabit another character from the lymond constellation. it's also pretty funny that he's found by sym while he's going fishing ("you’ve hooked a twenty-pounder this time, my lad"), and he's nursed back to health by someone named Christian. not subtle.

lymond seems to be pretty into this whole fish and rebirth thing, does he not? he wouldn't lie to us. he wouldn't pretend to embrace life while actively seeking death, right? anyway, no relation at all, when the baby queen mary tries feeding him a fish he pretends to eat it and secretly throws it away. the fish is described as struggling and barely alive, which again i am sure is a coincidence.

then some stuff happens, and the next time lymond is offered fish he doesn't have it in him to keep pretending. he doesn't want the damn fish. newsflash, asshole (richard): he really, really wants to die. this is my favorite scene for many reasons, and one of them is the perfect juxtaposition of its literal and symbolic meanings: richard says he wants to see lymond hanged, but what he does is to drag him away from the tomb-like dovecote and towards running water, makes him eat the damn fish again and again until the miracle is complete. he's holding on to his brother with both hands and teeth before he even realizes he's doing it.

when it comes to an end the fish is off the hook, christ is off the cross and for once he's not sacrificed for the sins of others, and we close on him in his mother's arms in a beautiful literary pietà.

there's so much stuff i purposefully didn't mention and probably didn't notice, this is just a tiny example of the gorgeous figurative and thematic cohesion in this novel. i love it. thank you dorothy dunnett.

#lymond chronicles #the game of kings #the amount of symbolism in 4.3 knight adversary makes it almost look like a tarot card #something between the star and the knight/king of cups #i have a lot to say about tarot too #probably for a later post #i seems like you can't run out of things to say about the game of kings it's sooo well done #dorothy “three meanings at least per line” dunnett #if you think i'm annoying just know i've been talking like this on discord with the book club for the last two months and a half #thank you book club #anyway this is a rambling mess but you get it. you get it #ughhh lymond my brain will never be the same

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T.H. White, in his 1958 retelling of the Arthurian legend in Once and Future King

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i know dorothy dunnett did not invent the "fuck or die" trope, but she sure did elevate and add some pretty extreme nuance to it.

#i said it on twitter and ill say it on here too!! #WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT #lymond chronicles #amok time lymond edition #idkkk

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I’m bored and nosy. Please reblog this with the book you’re currently reading.

#queen's play in the lymond chronicles #HIGHLY RECOMMEND

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Tramp stamp idea

#was on the verge of tears and this instantly made me laugh #lymond chronicles

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the vampires got it right. life is about being bisexual and a little bit pathetic. and going through different levels of depressive episodes

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no, oh, damn you, no 

#lymond chronicles

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me: do you guys like my evil thorned plate armour and bloodred cloak? is the ominous glow of my visor slit too much?

my manserpent minion: it'ssss sssslaying absssolute penisssss, ssssire

my shambling zombie: uuuu 👍

captured gnome i keep in a birdcage: golly gee willikers it's sure some scary!!!

my straight manserpent minion: looks pretty good boss

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me, thinking i'm safe after spending a month getting used to all the characters in the game of kings:

queen's play, about to hit me with AN ENDLESS FUCKING LIST OF DRAMATIS PERSONAE ALL OF THEM STRANGERS:

#were there even this many people in europe in the 1500s? doubtful #ALL THIS AND NO SOMERVILLES THO #WHERE ARE GIDEON AND KATE ARE THEY OK ARE THEY EATING WELL #picture me like spongebob holding come back gary posters #COME BACK SOMERVILLES DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE WITH THE FRENCH COURT #im half joking i like getting to know new characters but ;A; #lymond chronicles #lymond spoilers

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IT'S TIME

i'm done reading the game of kings and i can't start reading queen's play until sunday evening (self imposed) ughhhdhfjjfjf im hanging on by a thread (the book club social contract)

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If i dont [experience pathologically concerning sex act] within the next [arbitrary time period] im going to [federal agency watchphrase]

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the douglas family urge to put a collar on that boy

#the foreshadowing game is crazy #lymond chronicles #lymond spoilers #so what you're telling me is that he did have a collar and chain with douglas in fine gothic letters on the neck? #shocking

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They really should teach people how to cook in school.

#tears in my eyes #every time i see this