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nyx-is-missing · 5 months

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Could u write one for clarisse where she's impressed with femR bc of how good she is at fighting and all and clarisse finds her incredibly attractive bc no one has challenged her the way R does?

And like a bit of pining until the two confess

Thank you!!

Breathtaking or taken

Clarisse la rue x fem!reader

Summary: when Clarisse finds a opponent worth of her, she is breathtaken.

Warnings: none really, just fluff, not a descriptive fight scene on sight cause mama dont know how to write that, so just fluff fluff, and mutual pining fluff

(Do i need to say its not proofread? No? Thank you)

Here is one of the main benefits of being a daughter of Athena, you'll know.

DIfferent from other gods, Athena will let your parent know it is her who they are talking to.

And if letting them know beforehand isnt enough, she will let them know when the baby is brought to them, and if your parent is smart enough to live up to her choice, you'll have time to learn a thing or two before being thrown into this world.

If your parent cares enough about you, you'll have time.

And sure as hell my mom cared.

Always the intelectual woman, historian, researcher, writter, my mom knew many things about ancient greece, she knew all the stories by heart, and she, of all people, knew what she needed to do, to preserve her only daughter, her sacred gift.

She teached me all i needed to learn without compromising myself, stories, languages, art...and fight.

Little girls my age were doing dance classes, were trying to be good enough for drama club, were playing tea party with their dolls or making a mess with their mom's make up.

Well...i.. i was doing martial arts, i was fencing, i had my face in a book every free time i got.

I always asked her about it, why was she so strict about never missing a fight leasson, her answer always made sense, there and now.

"The world is cruel, especially for little girls, someday i might not be all the time with you, someday, you'll fight your own battles, you need to be ready"

Every word, every single word is true.

And that is how i ended up here, in a arena of camp half blood, sparring with Clarisse, and winnig, by two points, yes, but winning.

It is clear nobody expected that from me, neither did she actually, i can see in her eyes.

Understandable, they expect Athena kids to be calm, find a solution, not fight her way out.

Honestly their looks dont bother me, i dont even think much of it, but Clarisse's looks, they got something more to them, like a kid who finally got the dog she really wanted.

"Aaand break time Clarrise, we'll continue this tomorrow, id like to enjoy the rest of my afternoon thank you"

I dropped the sword down and started to undo my armor while walking close to the exit.

"Wait wait wait, now? Already? C'mon i didnt even had time to figure out how do you do that... all of that"

She stood next to me, still holding her sword and honestly.. she was beautiful, yes she was sweaty now and yes she was mean to everyone but.. now...right now, she was beautiful, shining, in her element really, flushed cheeks and a smile she only had when with a sword in hand.

"I practice, ever since i was a kid, everyday, well expect in weekends but yeah, almost everyday... how do you do all that? You are good...-want some water?"

I offered her my bottle also motioning for her to walk with me, both wich she gladly accepted.

"I practice too...and i never said this to anyone but, you are good, great even, and look breathtaking"

We stop walking, we stop all actually.

"I look what, Clarisse?"

"Breathtaken- you look out of breath, do you want the water back?"

Ah.

Weeks later i found myself in the same scenario, sparring with Clarisse again, actually that is all i do when it comes to training, be with Clarisse

"C'mon curls, thats the best you've got? No need to go easy on me"

"Im not going easy, i already told you, you caught me distracted thats all- GIRL WIll YOU SUSH?"

She tried to block you with her sword, thankfully for her, a succeded attempt.

"How could i? You're so fun to mess with, gets all red n all"

"Oh you want to talk about getting red?"

In a moment i was on the floor, Clarisse on top of me, and i couldnt speak, all i could do was stare into her big brown eyes, who looked right into my soul.

"Cant speak anymore huh? Oh if you could see the red im seeing-"

Now this my ladies and gentlemen, this is what i call a shot of faith.

I raised my head a little and just..i kissed her, it was quick but I did it, and her face went blank.

"Now you are breathtaken Curls, how about that?"

"And you are still breathtaking"

Still?

Oh.

"You...like me Clarisse?"

"You didnt knew?"

Oh.

"....no..?"

"Would you walk away if i kissed you this time?"

"....no."

#fanfic #lesbian #clarisse pjo #pjo tv show #pjo series #clarisse la rue x reader #clarisse x reader #clarisse la rue

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tardis-technician · 2 months

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Doctor Who Ghost!AU

The absolutely mortifying ordeal of being known (<-- has never written fanfiction before). This is inspired by the talented @g1ngerbeer's wonderful doctor who ghost au, specifically the aquarium comic from this post. Donna and ghost ten going on little outings means the world to me. It’s not actually a full fic, just a drabble that sort of got away from me. Hope you enjoy!

In the past week, Donna had gone to a natural history museum, a science museum, and the zoo. She hadn’t been to any of them since she was a kid, and hadn’t had any desire to go to them since. However, the two of them had recently discovered that the Doctor could leave the house as long as he was tagging along with Donna. Ever since, he’d been begging her to take him to all sorts of places she’d never go on her own. She’d made a fuss about it, but the poor sod was dead (probably) and good company (when he wasn’t getting her into trouble.) It seemed like the least she could do.

She had to admit, it was slightly more interesting than the school trips she’d gone on as a kid. For reasons neither of them knew, the Doctor had a vast and random collection of knowledge, some of which Donna knew to be true, some of which sounded like it was probably true, and some of which was completely bonkers.

“They don’t mention the witches.”

“What?” replied Donna.

It was the first museum they’d gone to. The discovery that he had a strange amount of trivia in his brain, and then the information itself, had been interesting at first. However, they were getting close to hour three of walking around (or floating for him.) She’d been zoning out a bit, considering offering to get him something at the gift shop in an effort to get him closer to the exit.

“Nothing in here,” said the Doctor, gesturing around the Shakespeare exhibit they’d found themselves in, “says anything about the witches.”

“What do you mean witches?”

“Well they gave him some trouble, didn’t they?” he said, looking perplexed.

What ensued was a ten minute debate in which the Doctor absolutely insisted that he remembered hearing somewhere or reading somewhere that Shakespeare had a spot of trouble with witches, but that it was all resolved in the end except for the fact he never did get a chance to finish that play. Donna, convinced he was messing with her, allowed the argument to reach a volume at which people started staring. She sometimes got weird looks while she surreptitiously tried to whisper responses to the Doctor, but she’d forgotten herself to the point it looked like she was gesturing angrily at thin air.

In an effort to avoid getting kicked out, they decided to agree to disagree. Or the Doctor had decided that, and Donna had decided it was a lost cause. She was able to persuade him out of the museum by letting him pick out a snow globe. At that point, he had a working theory that he used to be some sort of historian. But then everywhere they ended up going he seemed to be an expert in some sort of field, barring some outrageous historical claims and his seeming inability to separate whatever sci-fi he’d watched on telly from actual facts. He’d given up the theory, but seemed pleased by the fact that whoever he was had been very clever, and even more pleased about being able to show off.

A few days later they’d gone to a planetarium, and the Doctor started spouting off facts as soon as they walked in the door. Donna had mostly stopped reading information where they went, just listening to the Doctor ramble instead. He went on about the formation of the moon and the planets, relative ages of things and what compounds they were made of. They’d made their way to the theater, where you could sit back and they’d put on a projector to make it look like you were in space. Donna had actually been the one to suggest the idea for their latest outing. Her grandad loved stargazing, and he’d taken her to the planetarium all the time as a kid. It’d been a while, and it looked like the technology had gotten a bit of an upgrade since the 70s.

The Doctor had been grinning madly, still going on about supernovas, but when the projector turned on he stopped mid-sentence. Donna looked over to see him unnaturally still, gazing at the stars.

He looked absolutely lost.

She tried to whisper his name, get his attention, but it was like he was somewhere else. She suddenly wanted nothing more than to be able to reach out and hold his hand. When the lights finally came back on, he flinched like someone had hit him, but still didn’t break his gaze from the ceiling. She waited for the theater to clear out before trying to talk to him.

“Doctor?” she asked. “Are you ok?”

“I don’t know, I-”

He still wasn’t looking at her, just staring up at where the stars had disappeared. Eventually, he turned to face her again. She couldn’t be sure with the soft glow coming off of him, but she thought there might’ve been tears in his eyes.

“Donna,” he said quietly. “I think I lost something.”

#tenth doctor #donna noble #dr who ghost au #god I literally haven't written narrative fiction in years (it shows) and I've never published fanfic #the power of doctor who #idk if I formatted stuff right #paradox posts #fanfic #doctor who fanfiction

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fatskwirrel · 24 days

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Ramble to me about your favorite WIP >:}

ok omg so my gavourite writing WIP is set in a fantasy world and most of what I’ve been doing is scrambled workdbuilding and character writing so hereeee :))

the main cast are all failures and inevitable become the villsins of the story i decided that this was because of the quest which aims to destroy the questers spirits, gain powerful allies, gain weak enemies and eventually create an extinction level event that will destroy every race on the planet!!!

I thiught humans in fantasy were kind of boring to write because we already know so much about them so every person existing on the world in that current day is some kind of humanoid creature. Humans do technically exist there but they exist as souls: orblike beings that look a bit like this

they are harmless and just kinda float around - some of them do “speak” but in shattered words and only truly ‘united’ souls can actively communicate in full sentences.

Worldbuilding wise, the workd is set many years in the future and if i actually write this and people want to read this may spoil a bit if a plot point but,, many years ago - or slightly in the future for us, astronomers had found that a big space thing was coming to destroy the earth :0000 but they also remembered that a couple years ago they captured a meteor to extract a weird energy coming off it and they believed that if they used it to layer the earth in some way (this is do not accurate im dorry 😭😭) they could save the planet. This energy can be kinda referred to as ‘magic’ and after they did their plan thing it turned out that it was actually quite harmful to every living creature,, but it was too late now soo yeah

but magic is actually a conscious creature and in short it kinda collected a bunch if creatures and shoved them in “souls” tjen recreated earth using their ideas and what was REALLY trending atm in the human workd was fantasy so thats a fantasy world - or tbh it could be just one collected orbs idea idkkk.

anyways, in the current (fantasy world story time) an elf had been excessively researching humans. I think in this world, history is different to ours and that’s because magic is a hive mind creature and every creatire that lived in THAT world was connected through that hyper intelligent being (magic) who also had the fractured memories of every living being on earth so everyone in that workd has vague ideas of what human life was like but no idea how they know and wgenever we have no idea how we know smth we usually push it away and accept it as a simple fact of life. They do that too unless they’re historians like my elf guy Ester.

Anyways,, in his studies he first tried replicating hunans through Nymphs. He kept messing up but it’s natural tjat he did since he was trying to do what no one has ever done before. In his research he went to go stufy souls and this ended up distracting him from his original goal. He found a soul that spoke in fractured words and he was infatuated since he never found one that could speak before. He studied it endlessly until he ‘figured out’ what they were trying to tell him: Magic destroyed them and to bring them back, magic must be destroyed.

He did more research and bla bla bla found out that the best way he could destroy magic with no intereference was to make a quest!!!

So, main cast. I’m not sure who my main character is yet but I got the main cast so far: Siege, nicknamed “the traveller” is a giant. He grew up in a predominantly alchemist society (Alchemy is a religion that believes the world and all creatures came from the first alchemist: a human who betrayed everyone he knew by collecting all the magic seals and setting magic free, destroying every human but bringing the new fantastical races of mankind (alchemy is believed by the majority of individuals especially giants as alchemy can be used to reduce their height)). When he was young he used to be explorative and every day he would visit the entrance of the castle to see the visitors from other kingdoms. One day, he saw a Ninja being walked into the castle for presumably an execution. He thought it was the coolest thing he had ever seen and since that day he had been researching and training himself to become one. But all the stories and documents describing them were never accurate or detailed and so as he grew he shaped more into the innacurate image of what he thought was a ninja but bever actually became one (also hes a giant who is he kidding).

Next up is his bestie Wine. Wine is an orc raised by elves. In this world femininity is seen as preferable and therefore orcs and other naturally burly creatures are demonised. Elves are often respected and revered. At the time Wine was born, a war was ongoing between the elves and orcs however the elves had more allies. His whole city was destroyed and his family with it (according to his parents) his parents were sent to heal those who could be recovered and when they saw him they took him in. He was raised to reject and hate his naturally orcish appearance. Quick story but his parents are LOADED and so when they moved, they took him to a posh alchemist school. He liked it there at first because he was very religious and so were all his friends who resoected alchemy but ome night they jumped him and he had to go to the hospital. When he was there he saw a kid getting a prosthetic and got a very self destructive idea. Before he enacted this idea ge met seige in the alchemy club (there was a kingdomwide shortage of what was needed to reduce Seiges height so he went to the alchemy club to get help) and they became friends. Then he got leg prosphetics by breaking his legs and boom thats his story.

I tried to associate each character with a sin bc i always do and Wine’s sin is envy, Siege’s is pride.

Another character is Caedy (he dies in the first chapter)

Next up is Alin. Alin is a Dwarf who grew up in a Dwarf community. She is a very business oriented person who is constantly calculating her next move. Her Dwarf community was quite poor so she worked her way up to get out and promised her villiage chief that if she becomes successful her money will go to the village. As I mentioned earlier, femininity is preffered and do it was hard for Alin to work her way up since anything she could ever apply for would be rejected. One way to become successful is to join a ‘socialite circle’. It’s a form of education developed to home people’s skills to help them eventually get a high class job in the court, in the majesties, etc. She was rejected from that as well. However, through tavern work she had eventually finally started making more than she needed and had enough to start her own business. She had a stall and shevwas hoping to use her earnings to build her own tavern that would hopefully even host a guild. But one day she list everything and had no choice but to go on quests for wuick money.

I have to go but I’ll finish later with a reblog!!

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing #female writers

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atonalginger · 5 months

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I didn’t know you wrote for da! so I want messy meeting please!?

Oh yes Dragon age is the only other fandom I've shared a work in, but never posted it on ao3. I think it's tucked away somewhere maybe I'll dig it up sometime (that's off topic it's not the AU sorry)... so some world building for the AU before sharing a snippet of Messy meeting: This is an AU where the elven empire was torn down but the elven people did not fall the way canon sets up. They still control major chunks of Southern Thedas. Some are more reclusive while others exist as proud nations. The biggest elven "Gods" are killed but others are alive and simply living in seclusion, obscured and mostly forgotten.

One such nation is The Dales, which on the map looks like the whole southern chunk of what is Orlais in the game and the forest that extends beyond where we can go.

One of the main characters in this AU is an arcane warrior form the Dales: Ser Tavish Virfalenal. He is the oldest child and scion to the most powerful family in the Dales and also a good friend of Alistair. Mamie Holloway is a historian/research from the College of Ostwick. Also has experience as a Bard. This scene is set in Ozammar. They are there to get help with fighting off the coming Blight. okay under the cut to save everyone's dashboards are the snip(s)

Pt. 1 “I’m going to warn you now, they won’t listen to you.” Warden Commander Matildis said as she adjusted her sword belt. “They will tell you no decision can be made until a new King is named. And at this rate the Thaig will be overrun before that happens.”

“They have to honor the treaties,” Tavish sounded devoid of any emotion. He detested politics and negotiations. He did not want to be here but it was not safe for Velavera and so he was here instead.”

“We tried that,” Agustin said with a hoarse laugh, “the young one agrees emphatically and the old one yells about traditions and the other six nod and shake their heads in line with their chosen nug.”

“The situation is currently messier than The Game and more volatile than a barrel of Gatlok on fire,” Matildis sighed, “I left Val Royaux because of shit like this. I was assured I’d get away from it in the Deep Roads. No time for politics when you’re clearing mindless infected from the roads.”

“And it usually isn’t,” Zali said. She was leaning against her massive hammer, looking up at the humans and elves in her company,

“usually everything is as predictable as the day’s bell. But then someone went and offed Trian and broke the King’s heart. Literally.” “Yeah about that,” Mamie glanced over to Tavish before leaning in toward Zali, “we’ve been hearing a lot of wild stories about that. What’s going on?”

“Depends on who you ask,” Agustin answered before Zali could speak, “those siding with Lord Harrowmont say Bhelen killed Trian and framed his sister to get his competition out of the way and didn’t anticipate the heartbreak his father would suffer. Those siding with the Prince stand by his story that he found Sereda standing over Trian with a bloody dagger in hand and would have killed him as well had others not shown up.”

“What he said,” Zali nodded her chin up at the tan warden. Mamie’s shoulders slumped, “okay, and what do you believe? You’re from Orzammar, you know more about this situation than the wardens do.”

Zali smiled as she bit the corner of her lower lip, “That I do, I also left my home to get away from politics. What do I think? I think Bhelen’s a liar and also the best shot this place has at surviving this mess. Ol’ Endrin may have given lip service to House Theiren and and the Elven Great Houses of the Dales but they weren’t friends. He was using the surface nations while talking big about how the Great Thaig didn’t need the surface’s farms and hunters. How we could manage on our own. He listened to isolationists like Harrowmont and had begun withdrawing from surface politics. Don’t ask me why or where buffoons like Harrowmont got these ideas, I just know what I saw and heard. Trian and Sereda both looked to the Lord as a mentor and held onto his every word. Trian would speak openly about stricter enforcement of castes and Sereda called for the audits of the shaperate records to ‘fix’ errors. Meanwhile Bhelen would try in vain to get his father to see reason; The Thaig will starve without trade from the surface. What would we honestly do with all our ore and smithing? To not destroy generations of goodwill with our surface allies. I also think Bhelen has his eye on some lass in the commons and knows his family would disown him for it. and pt 2

“We cannot break such an agreement,” Bhelen argued, “to do so would be catastrophic. My father would never have turned his back on allies!”

“He wouldn’t have but you killed him!” the Dwarf shouted back. The room erupted into shouting and the clattering of chairs being knocked back. Harrowmont stood smug on his side of the chamber, watching as Bhelen looked on in growing panic.

The group watched the chaos. The wardens and Zali were resigned while Tavish and Mamie looked on in disbelief. Tavish opened his mouth on occasion to try and reclaim the room but each time decided against it and sighed. Once the shock wore off, Mamie set about digging in her side satchel. Tavish and Zali turned to watch as she dug around, her brow furrowed in concentration.

Then her expression flashed and she pulled a small wooden flute from her bag. She smiled impishly at Tavish and brought the flute to her lips. Zali slapped at the wardens and motioned to plug their ears just in time as Mamie unleashed a shrill, ear piercing note from her flute. The shouting turned to anguished cries and the dwarves in the chamber all plugged their ears. Satisfied, Mamie lowered the flute to her chin and said, “The Blight is a threat to us all right now. Warden Commander Bouthillier’s scouts have reported Emissary sightings on several routes and darkspawn numbers are growing exponentially. If These Emissaries were to link up with the Alpha Emissary leading the Blighted Host it would spell the end of not just Ferelden but Orzammar as well. We sympathize with your current strife but must ask for you to put aside your differences to protect your people. Many, many lives are at stake.”

“Do not lecture us on duty, girl!” one of the council members shouted. Another shouted across the room to chide them. Mamie simply raised her flute, “I’ll do it again. I’ll do it every time you interrupt needlessly or attempt to derail the discussion.” “I’ll send for a member of the Shaperate to bring the treaty documentation as well as representatives of the various Castes to begin negotiations.” Bhelen motioned for someone near the door to go.

Harrowmont shouted, “oh what authority boy?”

Mamie let out a short burst from her flute while staring at Harrowmont.

Tavish looked between Lord Harrowmont and the Prince, “I suppose I’m confused as to what exactly is the hang up here? My understanding is that this Great Thaig is ruled by House Aeducan. Which would mean the Prince, being the sole surviving member, would be King.”

“He was never named heir, which means it is up to the council to determine whether he or another is crowned,” Lord Harrowmont said with a calculated smile.

“And is there anyone else being considered?” Tavish asked.

“Lord Harrowmont was King Endrin’s second and close personal friend. He knew the King better than most and has experience in assisting with Thaig management and leadership.” One of Harrowmont’s council members said proudly. Bhelen sighed and frowned at Tavish, “we’ve held votes but each ends in a stalemate. After the last one there were…attempts on various councilmembers and we’ve called off future votes until that can be hashed out.”

“Andraste’s smallclothes,” Mamie exclaimed.

Tavish glanced at his companion before addressing Lord Harrowmont directly, “If a resolution cannot be found and treaty negotiations cannot be continued I will be forced to recall the Wardens from the Deep Roads, on Warden Commander Duncan’s behalf. Without Orzammar’s aid, those Warden’s will be needed on the surface to hold the Alpha Emissary from continuing North. I would also be forced to notify King Maric and The Keepers of the Dales of Orzammar’s inability to honor their word and treaties.”

A tense mumur rippled through the chamber. Lord Harrowmont’s smug expression dropped, “You can’t do that.”

“I can and I will,” Tavish said without emotion.

Mamie added, “Ferelden and the Dales have generously aided Orzmmar in lean times without hesitation. They have famously asked for nothing in return. All that is being asked now is for old treaties to be honored.”

“Negotiations cannot be held until a King is crowned.” The council member insisted.

Tavish shugged and looked to Matildis, “then I will recall the Wardens and we will depart in as soon as we are able.”

“Wait, there has to be something?” Bhelen pleaded.

“There is someone who could serve as the tie breaker, though she currently not in the Thaig.” Harrowmont conceded.

“You’d trust the vote to her? She’s batshit insane!” Zali shouted.

A flurry of ‘how dare you’ and ‘silence, deadwoman’ filled the chamber. Mamie took a breath but before she could blow the chamber went silent again.

“Paragon Branka could break the tie,” Harrowmont continued, “she took her House to a lost minor thaig said to contain ancient dwarven technology. She believes it could aid our continuous fight against the darkspawn.”

“And how do you propose we get her vote?” Agustin asked.

“Find her and you will get your aid. Refuse and leave and all is lost,” Harrowmont turned Mamie’s words against them, “Many, many lives are at stake.”

“Do you know where exactly she went?” Tavish asked, “I will not wander blindly into a blight infested cave.”

“There is information and maps in the Shaperate,” a scribe piped up from her desk, “I know Scribe Beomar worked with members of House Branka before they all left.”

“We could look into the Paragon’s whereabouts,” Matildis conceded, “but understand if the roads are overrun we will not push forward.”

“If we cannot locate the Paragon you will either need to come to an agreement or the Commander will march her Wardens to the surface.” Tavish said plainly.

“I have faith you will find her alive and well,” Harrowmont said, “before you leave I ask you pay my office a visit. We can discuss support for the expedition.”

“My doors are always open for you, Sir Virfalenal. I have not forgotten our families long standing alliance and will provide any aid you need.” Bhelen added.

Matildis looked to Tavish and mouthed the word ‘boom.’

#dragon age au #this is an older wip #I had an altered map at one point I don't know where it is

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manuscripts-dontburn · 2 months

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The Morning Gift

Author: Eva Ibbotson

First published: 1993

Rating: ★★★★☆

I adored this story! A romance born on the eve of WW2, that holds the foreboding but still shows you that people still lived their lives and had their hopes. I was happy to note that for once the main female character of Ibbotson´s is not a sheer perfection (this girl has actually some issues to go through), though I admit I could still do without the comically evil rival (it would have been so much more interesting if there actually at least appeared a possibility the other girl might succeed). But all in all, especially because of the last third of the book, I thought this was a well-crafted romance with some, perhaps cheesy, but well-used tropes. Just, for the love of god, DO NOT listen to this as an audiobook recorded by Kate Lock, who insisted on using a fake German accent and squeaky voice for the main character, making her sound like a stupid child of 10. (And that is not the only horrible thing she does to the selected characters).

Jane, the Fox & Me

Author: Fanny Britt

First published: 2012

Rating: ★★★★☆

A beautifully executed graphic novel in which the story somewhat fizzles out and feels unfinished, definitely could have been longer and yet I rate it quite high simply because it hit me like a train. I was not a fat kid but all my life I felt I was, even if in my case there was no bullying. I felt this little girl´s pain deeply.

The Witches: Salem, 1692

Author: Stacy Schiff

First published: 2015

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I think Stacy Schiff is an excellent historian and has an extremely readable style of writing. I also think she has done a stupendous job putting this mammoth project together, but I need to agree with those who complain about the density and slowness of the text. It is next to impossible to keep track of the names and the accusations/descriptions of the alleged witchcraft are so similar (or completely the same) that it is very taxing to keep up. I am not sure whether I should be complaining though, because, after all, I DID want a book about these events and I got it. I would recommend an audiobook though, makes it easier to get through.

The Clockmaker's Daughter

Author: Kate Morton

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★☆

This is a story of a house and people connected to it in an intriguing web of connections. It spans from the 1860s to the modern day, not always in chronological order, and I must say that Kate Morton managed to jump through the timelines quite effortlessly. There is a great number of characters but I had no problems following who was who, though admittedly some of the timelines were less interesting than the others (notably and predictably for me I enjoyed the modern one the least). I also had trouble when some things, already revealed to the reader, were "revealed" again. The main voice is that of a ghost (trust me, this is not a spoiler), and while I did not mind it, I also believe the book would have been stronger had that been completely committed and we only got to know that particular character from the other stories it touches. Even after all that I have to say I was surprised at how easy this was to read (it IS a chunker) and how much I enjoyed it.

A Face Like Glass

Author: Frances Hardinge

First published: 2012

Rating: ★★★☆☆

I adore the fact that Frances Hardinge does not talk down to children, because this is undeniably a middle-grade book, but does not shy from some pretty heavy stuff. However perhaps I have read too much Frances Hardinge at this point because I tend to really like/be intrigued by the start of her books, her world-building and her unique ideas, but then it all became too much with this one and I was impatient for the story to be over.

Brigid of Kildare

Author: Heather Terrell

First published: 2009

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I am sad to report that this book was kind of a mess. The historical bits would have been just fine on their own, even if I had wanted a little more depth, many a time I felt like we were merely dipping our toes into the fascinating story of Brigid. But then the author decided to weave in a "mystery" set in modern times and those chapters, apart from being unnecessary to the story, felt just tedious to the point I was considering skipping them altogether. A bummer.

When Women Were Dragons

Author: Kelly Barnhill

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★★☆☆

As long as it was a family tragedy infused with the elusive and unexplained, I was enjoying this book quite a lot. But then, in its second half, it becomes too wordy, too idealistic, too uninteresting.

The Silent Unseen

Author: Amanda McCrina

First published: 2022

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

The good thing: the topic, even if you have read loads of WW2 books, is an unusual one. The bad thing: the story is extremely weak (walking and talking do not an intriguing narrative make), the characters shallow, the motivations extremely basic, the romance needless and not particularly well done. No matter how many betrayals posing as shocking twists you cram into the last third, you cannot make me invested in this.

Charlotte's Web

Author: E.B.White

First published: 1952

Rating: ★★★★☆

As a non-UK and non-US child, I have never read this book when I was its target audience. I picked it up now more for the super cute edition than anything else. And indeed throughout I kept thinking: sure, it´s cute. But is it that great? And then I got kicked in the guts by that friggin ending.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

Author: Heather Fawcett

First published: 2024

Rating: ★★★★★

Just as enjoyable and delightful as the first volume! I love the tone, the language, and the romance (I am SHIPPING Emily and Wendell so hard), it can be both touching and humorous at the same time. Cannot wait for the conclusion of this series which so far I find to be one of the most joyous literary events in years.

The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time

Author: John Kelly

First published: 2005

Rating: ★★★★☆

The Black Death epidemic of the 14th century remains one of the most gruesomely fascinating events in European history and I dare say this book is a very accessible, informative and well-organized study of it. It is strictly chronological, leading you in the steps of the disease, and adding stories and explanations that make it all less clinical and more humanly tragic. Just perhaps the ending sounds way too much like "but in the end it was a good thing" felt like a very, very weird conclusion.

Psyche and Eros

Author: Luna McNamara

First published: 2023

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

I finished this book out of spite more than anything else. The myth of Psyche and Reos may just be my favourite of all the Greek myths, unfortunately instead of crafting it into something fresh and memorable Luna McNamara tried her hand at mixing every Greek myth you have ever heard of and made Psyche insufferable during the process for good measure. It is not even subtle mixing, instead, she goes full Marvel Universe of Greek gods on you, twisting the story to incredible lengths just to cram more of the mythology into her book. I would also say that the original myth takes quite a beating in this reimagining, being stripped of much that made it so appealing to me as a reader. Sometimes less is more.

A Middle-Earth Traveller: Sketches from Bag End to Mordor

Author: John Howe

First published: 2018

Rating: ★★★★★

Beautifully executed "sketchbook". It would seem that while Alan Lee was more concerned with the Elven stuff, John Howe focused on Dwarves, Orcs and the more gritty parts we saw in the movies. There are, however, also illustrations from the Silmarillion included. I would imagine this is a perfect book to take with you outside, where you can sit under a tree and just leaf through, dreaming of Middle-Earth.

#booklr #wrap up #March 2024

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booksandabeer · 1 year

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Hi. First of all, you’re amazing and you’re doing God’s work for us. Second, could you please recommend me some time-travel fics? I think I already read a few well known ones, and was wondering if there’s more? Also, it’s usually both or Bucky who time-travels, is there fics where Steve goes alone instead?

Hello Stranger!

Thanks for the ask and your very kind words. I live to serve! 😉

Now. The first thing I need to do here, is to point you towards this excellent rec list by @voylitscope There are a lot of very good fics on it and I strongly recommend you check it out.

I also want to apologize again for the long wait. I had a busy week and when I finally sat down to put together this list, I realized fairly quickly that almost 90% of it was comprised of some sort of EG-Fix-It fics. Just the idea of writing up my thoughts on all of them felt exhausting and saddening to me, so I scrapped the whole thing and started over. So without further ado, here are 7 fics featuring timey-wimey stuff that I have read and very much enjoyed and 3 more that I've yet to read, but can't wait to get to because they look amazing:

sun peeking through the sky series by dontcallmebree | M, 16K (2 Parts)

Author's summary: Steve clears his throat, curling his hands into fists to hide them. “Alright, say I believe you. Hell, you’re here. So what?”

Scott pins him with an unshakable stare, alive and unyielding. He never realized Scott could be so intense. Sam was the one who knew Scott better, but then again, Sam was always the better one of the two of them. “Look, the place I was in—the quantum realm—it messes with time, it lets you go back.”

Steve wants to throw him out.

A post-IW, twice-over canon divergent series. In the first part, Scott and the Ant Fam (or what's left of it post-Snap) burst into a heavily depressed Steve's existence and slowly turn it into something resembling a life again, and together they hatch a plan to save the world. What that plan entails? I'm not going to spoil it here, but let's just say it's much more clever and original, not to mention more logical and emotionally satisfying than anything that happened in EG. It's a quietly humorous, suspenseful, heartbreaking, and at times brutally tender series about finding and accepting second chances when you least expect them.

To Live It Again Is Past All Endeavor by trinityofone | T, 21 K

Author's summary: Time travel bodyswap! Present-day Steve and Bucky wake up back in their old bodies in 1938, while past Steve and Bucky wake in a future where they're both built like comic book heroes and Bucky's got what he thinks is a swell future robot arm. Adventures are had, and the ethics of time travel are debated. Also, everyone trash talks Willem de Kooning.

A story that really drives home some hard emotional truths while never entirely losing its light touch. Accompany Steve and Bucky as they travel into the future AND the past, and discover their once and future selves. I call this fic "the clairvoyant one" because it features Steve and Bucky contemplating staying in the past and a subsequent discussion of the ethics and purpose of time travel that had me frantically scroll back up and check that, yes, this fic was indeed written all the way back in 2014. I then proceeded to lose my mind a little bit because it is such an eerily specific and accurate rebuttal to Steve's EG ending that I'm more than half convinced the author has clairvoyant abilities.

Where All Roads Lead by DrowningByDegrees | E, 46K

Author's summary: When Steve Rogers inadvertently touches a relic in the course of a mission gone sideways during WWII, he’s catapulted seventy years into the future. Before he's even sure where he's ended up, his search for help puts him in contact with Bucky Barnes, a historian and college professor who has built a career around studying Captain America. With Bucky's help, Steve means to find out how exactly he ended up in 2017, and solve the bigger mystery of how to get home. There's just one problem. The closer they get to their goal, the less certain Steve is that he wants to go home.

A Shrunkyclunks AU where Steve accidentally time travels straight from WW2 to the 21st Century. It's funny and heartbreaking, well-written and cleverly plotted. Also features beautiful art by alby_mangroves that not only beautifully augments the story, but actually is a part of it, too.

The Restoration Artist by superheroresin | E, 109K

Author's summary: As a conservator of rare oil paintings for The Met, Steve Rogers thinks of himself part scientist, part archaeologist, but hardly an artist in his own right. Only when he’s faced with the daunting task of restoring a frozen painting from a recently unearthed Nazi art hoard does he start to feel his passion for the craft return. Before he has a chance to understand what that means, Steve is transported to the 1940’s, where he meets both The Winter Soldier himself, and his own destiny.

A Shrinkyclinks AU in which art conservator Steve travels through time to save Bucky... who has been trapped in a painting...? Mystery! Romance! Art Talk! I practically inhaled this thing in one go, despite the length. This is a really lovely story, full of clever ideas and twist and turns that will keep you guessing. And on top of that you'll learn a whole lot about art restoration! What's not to love?

the world on fire by burlesquecomposer | M, 62K

Author’s summary: Steve loves old vinyl records, doodles on his files, and cannot remember a time that he didn't serve the TVA. And that suits him just fine—that is, until stray variant Bucky Barnes, fresh out of HYDRA's grasp, drops into his time theater and makes Steve question everything he believes in.

A really well written fic that has time travel and variants and alternate timelines and parallel universes and... you get it. A whole lot of timey wimey stuff, but the author keeps track of it all and ties up everything beautifully in the end. A super fun premise, clever plotting, wonderful characterizations, and a firm grasp on the SteveBucky dynamic in every incarnation/iteration/variation. It's a really lovely fic and I think it deserves a lot more love and attention.

On the Cover of Dawn by adeepeningdig | T, 6K

Author's summary: “Listen,” Bucky says again, and pads to Steve, book still in hand. “I’d sell my soul for that/fawn/of a boy night walker/to sound of the ‘ud & flute playing/who saw the glass in my hand said/“drink the wine from between my lips.” He kisses Steve then, insistent, tongue sweeping into his mouth, body to body. Steve buckles beneath it. Two stories. One poem.

I'm cheating a little with this one... maybe. To be perfectly honest, I don't really know what's going on here even after I read this several times. Is it time travel? An alternate universe? Reincarnation? None of it at all? The thing is, I'm not sure the reader is meant to definitively know or understand what exactly is happening, and ultimately, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is the poignancy, the beautiful, at times lyrical language, and the reassurance that Steve and Bucky will find and love each other in every possible universe and incarnation. Also features one of my favorite George Barnes scenes ever.

From Tralfamadore, With Love by newsbypostcard | E, 106K | Part 1 in From Tralfamadore series

Author's summary: In 2018, Steve, Sam, and Bucky embark on a mission to explore a Hydra-owned warehouse when a kid with mutant powers sends Steve 18 years into the future. Steve's just as in love with Bucky as he was when he left, but for Bucky it's been a long 18 years. As he gets used to life in 2036 and the flaws in Bucky's idyllic life expose themselves, Steve also has to manage a suspiciously ubiquitous security force, a Brotherhood of Mutants, and old competing loyalties among his aged friends. There's a Bucky in 2018 waiting for him to come home, but if he does that, it means leaving this Bucky behind for a third, unforgivable time. How can he choose?

Yes yes, I recced this not too long ago, I know. But there is simply no way in hell that I'm going to put together a time travel rec list and NOT include this fic. The summary is pretty self-explanatory, and I really don't want to reveal anymore than that. Much of the tension and emotional drama in this fic comes from not knowing what's going to happen, and from desperately guessing at how on earth the author is going to solve Steve's impossible dilemma. I loved the way the author explored the relationship of a Steve and a Bucky who have been separated for two seconds and 18 years, respectively. Also, possibly the best use of a Fleetwood Mac song in fanfic ever.

🕰 +3 To Reads:

Savage God by PottersPink | M, 36K

Author's summary: Past, present, future, Steve knows Bucky Barnes. It’s why he recognized him when he found him in that alley in April of 1942, even though Bucky was older, stronger, wearier; he called himself The Asset, and had a metal fucking arm. The Asset was only with Steve in 1942 for a few days, but it’s enough to change the course of Steve’s life forever.

Seventy years later, Steve wakes up in the twenty-first century, and he doesn’t know whether to be heartbroken or hopeful when some of the things Bucky revealed to him in 1942 start falling into place.

Every You, Every Me by Starshot | E, 48K

Author's summary: Desperate to follow when Bucky ships out to war in 1943, Steve volunteers for Project Rebirth, an experimental program meant to turn him into the world’s first super-soldier. Instead it fails, leaving him with a condition dubbed “Chrono-Impairment” which sees him travelling uncontrollably through time, to random points in both his and Bucky’s lives.

But with Bucky brainwashed into working for HYDRA, and Steve living life on the run, torn between his own time and Bucky’s, will they ever find the happy ending they so desperately desire? (AKA the Stucky AU based on the book, "The Time Traveler’s Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger)

a day in the life by powerfulowl (StuckyFlangst) E, 20K

Author's summary: Steve wakes to the sound of someone moving about in the kitchen below him. He lies for a few moments, trying to recall—a dream?

He looks over at the nightstand and there is a piece of card propped up there. He reaches out to take it.

You are Captain America. You are Steve Rogers. It is 1956. You are married to Peggy Rogers, nee Carter. You live in New Jersey. Sometimes you have trouble remembering.

Steve Rogers wakes up on Tuesday October 30 1956, and doesn't seem to remember his life that well. Why does every day feel so familiar? And why does he keep getting visited by tall, dark, handsome men who remind him of Bucky?

____________

You can always send more asks for fic recs if you want. I love inflicting my taste on everybody else!

#stucky #stucky fic recs #stevebucky fic recs #stucky fic rec #stevebucky fic rec #steve x bucky fic recs #steve x bucky fic rec #rec list #fic rec #stevebucky #steve x bucky #asks #stucky fic #stucky fanfic #my recs

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wuxiaphoenix · 2 years

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Worldbuilding: What Everybody Knows That Isn’t So

Sometimes everyone in a setting “knows” something that turns out to be flat-out wrong. The world is flat, disease is caused only by evil spirits, sacrificing hearts on an obsidian altar keeps the sun in the sky. And sometimes... everyone knows what’s actually true, but upholds a polite fiction in public so no one has to officially notice and do something about it. No one really wants to do all the paperwork to haul in someone going three miles over the speed limit on the highway,

and - very often - no one wants to go to war when trade is much more profitable.

In the 1600s, given trade between China, Japan, the Ryukyu Kingdom, and Korea, this led to the invention of an imaginary country, Tokara.

The Tokara Islands actually exist; twelve small islands in a larger archipelago. Only seven are inhabited today. They have a native pony, and, on two islands, a native pit viper. What they don’t have are a lot of people. But... they existed, and were closer to Japan than Okinawa, which made them convenient for a diplomatic sleight of hand.

Long story short, the Ryukyu Kingdom had been a tributary state of the Ming Dynasty up until about 1609, when the Tokugawa Shogunate invaded and took over. The Tokugawa were not a tributary state of the Ming, very pointedly not. Which made things unexpectedly sticky. First, if the Ming had it rubbed in their faces that a tributary kingdom had been attacked, they’d have to do something about it. Ships, cannons, grand sea battles; very, very expensive to both sides. Second, and maybe worse - if the Ryukyus weren’t a Chinese tributary state anymore, the Ming might cut off trade.

Nobody wanted that.

Obviously face-saving deception had to be the order of the day. Officially, the Ming were not to know the Ryukyu Kingdom didn’t belong to them anymore. Officially, there were no Japanese on the islands. Nope, none, not ever. (They were actually supposed to hide on days the Chinese officials showed up - there were manuals written for it and everything.) And if by some accident someone turned up anyway with a Japanese hairstyle, other odd items, or speaking Japanese? Oh, silly us, that’s a traveler from Tokara! You know, that nation right next door that does a lot of trade with the Japanese, much more than we do? But they’re not Japanese, ha ha, of course not, what would Japanese be doing in the Ryukyus?

(Chinese officials in public: Solemn nod, because Of Course Not. No member of that barbarian nation that didn’t pay tribute to the Heavenly Emperor would dare. Of course not.

(Chinese officials back on the boat: Whew, crisis averted, I really don’t want to lose my head by hinting to the court that we lost control of a tributary kingdom... if the courtiers didn’t get me, the merchants would!)

This apparently kept Europeans believing there actually was a Tokara state until at least the mid-1800s.

I have to admit I find this all amusing in part because I am very bad at tuning in to what “everybody knows”. So this just strikes me as the usual social ridiculousness writ very, very large.

But also in part because this gives me a potentially interesting bit for the isekai, when Jason has to explain where he’s from to anyone who doesn’t know the whole story. He’s a historian with a focus on Early Modern Japan. He would know about Tokara.

So if he goes with “I’m from Tokara”, then anyone in trade or court-associated in Japan, China, or Korea can pigeonhole it into, “Oh, that mess No One Wants To Talk About. Got it. Moving on....”

(Info from various web searches and a very neat bit in Sea Rovers, Silver, and Samurai, edited by Tonio Andrade and Xing Hang.)

#creative writing #worldbuilding #ancient history #japanese history #chinese history #diplomacy #can be tricky indeed

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pheita · 2 years

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AU Tag Game

So, a long time ago @catharticallysarcastic tagged my and now @whimsyqueen and since my Lyran/Ari brainrot starts to create AU worlds.. here we are Tagging @ashen-crest and @stormbrightwriter, you know why ^^

AU Title: The Crystal Queen Setting: Semi-modern fantasy country ruled by a queen. Aesthetic: old halls filled with modern things, tradition vs modern, wind softly blowing, whispers in the sun, light in dark old halls, murmurs of water, faint melodies of times long gone Concept: Arritit is the heiress to the crystal throne and would rather be someone else. A country stuck between the old traditions and the modern technology her urge to learn is stronger than her sense of duty to her country, so she does the only sensible thing a young woman could think of: she ran away from home and became a student at the best university her country has to offer and study alchemy under the guise of a different name. Everything goes well until the family finds her and makes her come home to take the throne and marry the young nobleman she had been betrothed to as a toddler. Her surprise is huge when she meets him the first time and realizes it’s Lyran, the young history student she had been dating. Together they tackle the live as married couple, ruling a country and the schemes of the old folks who try to manipulate her into keeping traditions alive and ban the modern technology. Tiny Scene: “These motherfuckers of idiots!” Arritit entered the room with banging doors. Lyran looked up from his research with an aloof smirk. “Which one this time?” “All of them. I want to strangle them.” She growled frustrated. “Oh no, better, hang them from the main tower, head first. This would be fun.” Agitated, she ran around and gestured with her hands, emphasizing how much she would like to get physical. When she stopped, Lyran had a bad feeling. The big smile and the light up gaze told him, she had an idea that will bring both of them into trouble. He got up and went to take her hands in his, guiding her fingertips to his mouth. “Talk to me, my love.” The wicked smile didn’t falter under the shiver his breath in her fingertips caused in her. Arritit leaned in and kissed him. “What do you think, how long will an elderly man survive to be nailed on a wall, just dangling on his wrinkly little dick?” He chuckled softly. A soft kiss in her lips followed to calm her. “I am afraid, this will count as torture.” “Fuck, I was already planning how to get it done.” Her snicker gave away, it was just a theoretical thing, for now, but she was still furious. “So, what got you worked up in the not so sexy, steamy and loveable way?” A sigh from the deepest depths of her being was the answer. “The same old. Bring back the old traditions. Make the kingdom great again. Old man bullshit who didn’t learn they are way past their time.” “Well, I have an idea.” “So?” She quirked an eyebrow at him, while he lead her to the reclaimer and sat her down softly. The moment both sat, Arritit sneaked in his lap and curled herself around him. “There was once the tradition for the queen to have a harem. If they want the old ways back, why not have some fun with it?” The silent laughter went through her whole body. “You are unbelievable.” “Am I?” “Well, maybe a bit. I like the idea.” “Yeah, never mess with a historian.” She leaned her head back with a smile on her face, the anger gone now and replaced by amusement. “I’ll keep this in mind. You know what is also a tradition?” “No?”, Lyran laughed softly. “Making babies.” “Ah, yeah. I think we need to train for this, don’t you think?” “A lot”, Arritit whispered against his neck as she moved in to place kisses on the little skin, that laid exposed. “An awful lot. What a burden.” His whisper only a little louder than hers. Knowing her for years now, Lyran knew he would better let her lead and just held her, waiting for her actions. “Why don’t you shut up and put your mouth to use?” She changed her position and sat down properly on his lap, straddling him with minimal moves of her hips. “As my queen wishes.” “Oh, I wish a lot, my love.”

#writblr #writing #au tag game #lyran and ari #this is getting out of hand

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misscrawfords · 1 year

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Do you have a list of your favorite K Dramas? We have similar taste and I want to get into K Drama.

Oooh thank you for letting me talk about kdramas! :D

So you can find my MyDramaList list here so you can get an idea of my favourites. I love MyDramaList for finding dramas to watch, seeing what people post in the forums and keeping a track of my own watching. (I really like lists and having things neatly categorised!)

Here are some of my top favourites by genre.

Romantic Comedy (the genre I watch the most of)

Romance is a Bonus Book (Netflix)

Friends to lovers, older woman/younger man, very gentle and all about books. One of the first I watched, but it's left an impression. Has some really lyrical language even in translation.

2. What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (Viki)/Her Private Life (Netflix)

Putting these together because they both star Park Min Young and they're kind of similar. Often very funny, opposites attract, workplace romcoms, childhood backstory. Secretary Kim is about a 29 year old secretary who quits working for a demanding boss in order to have a life and date and he realises he can't do without her. Her Private Life is about a competent art gallery director with a secret life as a kpop fangirl. The male lead in this is probably the best of any drama.

3. Dali and the Cocky Prince (Netflix)

A bit up and down because terrible things just keep happening to the heroine so it gets you down a bit but also very funny and an absolutely winning main couple. About a woman who inherits a debt ridden art gallery and the unsophisticated, money-obsessed man she is in debt to. Top soundtrack alert!

4. Because This Is My First Life (Netflix)

Down on her luck woman and solitary man get married in order to share a flat. You won't believe what happens next! I loved it because it was very gentle and a really interesting exploration of three very different women dealing with being youngish adults in the modern world. Really touched me behind the tropes it uses as a springboard.

5. A Business Proposal (Netflix)

Absolutely hilarious and brilliant and somehow still heartwarming but I'm putting it last because it sort of satirises and deconstructs all the tropes in a loving way so watch a few other dramas first to appreciate it! Fake dating to the max.

Fantasy/Historical

Alchemy of Souls Part 1 and 2 (Netflix)

Magical, beautiful, epic, romantic... I love this show so much. In a fictional historical Korea, mages have the ability to shift their souls into a different body, a forbidden art. A magical assassin bent on revenge finds herself in the weak body of the servant of a magic student who has been banned from training. It gets much more complicated. IDK why anyone would bother with things like RoP and HotD when this is out there. Top soundtrack alert!

2. Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung (Netflix)

About the historians at the Joseon court who have to record everything that takes place neutrally. Takes the idea that the court decides to admit female historians and what happens then. A sweet romance between a naive prince and a feisty female historian but tbh the interest is in the historical dilemmas and political intrigue here, at least for me.

3. The King: Eternal Monarch (Netflix)

A hot mess of a show but also really cool and I looked forward to it every week and got really invested. All about parallel universes in which there is still a Kingdom of Corea. Romance between a cop in "our" Korea and the King of Corea. Lots of plotting and scheming and things that don't really make much sense but it's beautiful and epic and I really loved the world building. Top soundtrack alert!

4. My Roommate is a Gumiho (Netflix)

Really a romcom in which a history student has a meet-cute with a gumiho (legendary nine tailed fox) and have to share a house together because Reasons and also he's posing as her very cute history professor. It's honestly just fun and an easy watch and I really enjoyed it.

Thriller/Spy

Vincenzo (Netflix)

The best of the best. Genre-busting comedy-thriller-crime-romance-slapstick-found family emotional journey of a show. About a Korean mafioso returned from Italy to get his hidden gold back, except it's buried under a block of flats under threat from evil developers. He butts heads with the lawyer working for the residents of the block. It's crazy good fun that doesn't always make 100% sense but who cares when something is as entertaining as this is?! Good for those moments when you wish you could literally murder capitalists and get away with it. Top soundtrack alert!

2. Healer (Netflix)

Part romance part thriller about a genius hacker/mercenary who runs across a girl trying to make it as a reporter and who ends up investigating the same thing as him and it all turns out to be more personal than expected. Love the lead actors and it's a really good mix of spy/thriller and romance. Plot makes sense too!

3. Terius Behind Me/My Secret Terius (Viki)

A spy in hiding from the government takes a cover as the babysitter to a single mum's twins and she ends up getting roped into the spy capers along with her local "mum's network". Perfect for light-hearted adventuresome frolics with gadgets. The only drawback is you really want a S02 at the end and they never made one. :(

Shout-out to some really fun Chinese and Taiwanese dramas that I enjoyed. They have a different flavour but you can see what my top rated ones are on MyDramaList.

Happy watching! :)

#kdrama #kdrama recommendations

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bookwyrminspiration · 2 years

Note

What jobs do you think Sophie & co will have/want to have when they grow up? Shannon has talked about how they want to fix society but like. then what. What are they doing after that?

Oo interesting question! I'm not sure all of them will have "jobs" in the sense that they do something and are paid for it given elven society provides money, but I do think they'll have more specific/elevated hobbies that they focus on.

Sophie: Whatever the situation turns out to be with humans, Sophie is at the forefront of it all. She wants to make sure humans are considered and represented fairly, and who better to do that than someone who lived with them for over a decade? Whether she's an ambassador, part of a new human assistance program, etc., she's working with humans

Fitz: Either working for the council as an emissary because he wants to stay involved and have access to information, or working as a mentor because he loves the kids and wants to help guide them through the scary world of having such a valued and challenging ability. He wants to help people be better and grow into the best version of themselves they can be, and being in their lives like that seems like the perfect way to do it! He may invest a lot more in his baking as well and truly master a bunch

Keefe: He's taking his artistry to the next level. I don't think he'd sell his work or really let other people see it--unless they were close to him, but even that's rare. His art is something he hasn't truly done recreationally in a while, and i think once everything calms down he'd find himself going back to it for himself

Biana: An ambassador/representative/diplomat to the other species. She's good at fitting in with traditional elven lives while also asserting her mind and being unafraid to snap back. She's unafraid to explore new things. I think she'd do well in a situation where she's working things out with other species and reporting back to make life better for everyone involved and would enjoy making that kind of difference.

Dex: He's probably going to be stuck helping his dad at Slurps and Burps for the rest of his life, but I don't think he minds. Aside from that I think he'll be tinkering around with various gadgets, contraptions, and machines for the rest of time. Some of them radicalize elven life and become part of their world as if they've always been there, but that was never his goal. He's just messing around and enjoying himself and sometimes makes something revolutionary on accident

Marella: Possibly a healer. Getting a greater understanding of medicine could help her take care of her mother with more nuance and involvement, and from there she could help people who were in positions like hers with family's misunderstood by the rest of the world.

Linh: Either working at the sanctuary/some rehabilitation center where she can let her love of animals shine through or as an Exillium coach. She knows the exact feelings all those kids are going through and knows what Exillium was like at once of its worst times, who better to guide them through what's probably the lowest point in their lives?

Tam: Okay hear me out but. A historian with a healthy dose of activism. He doesn't want any part of the mistakes elves--or other species for that matter--have made to be swept away and forgotten the way he and his sister were mistreated and forgotten. He wants everyone to face what they've done and be accountable for their choices, ensuring nothing is lost to history. But of course he can't do everything from the shadows, so when it truly matters you can find him fighting and arguing against others for what's right.

Stina: She's sticking around her childhood home to work with the unicorns. She's been training for it since she was a kid and now that she's an empath her connection can be even deeper, and it seems like something she's good at. She's got the knowledge and will only become better at what she's already doing

Maruca: I'm thinking she'd either be an emissary or a councillor. She's the most connected to the usual ways of elven life, so that path would be more open to her and her connections with the rest of the crew would be an opportunity to make a lot of change. And I don't think she's above using her position to sway things for her friends to make the changes they want to see

Wylie: I don't think he would go for a typical job, he instead wants to spend time with his family. He has no respect or need for the rest of the elven world, not as it is right now, I just don't know what hobbies he has that he might turn to instead. Perhaps he hasn't had time to explore them and would spend his time finding himself in the future, exploring the limits of his ability and taking time to himself. If his friends call on him though, he'll be there, whatever it is

those are just some ideas though! they may go completely different directions, but they're what I first thought of :)

#kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #the kotlcrew #quil's queries #nonsie #some of this still talks about like fixing the world but. I think in a lesser capacity that still works #gotta say tam and maruca gave me trouble #tam might also be an exillium coach. but I feel like it better suits linh #who knows! they could both be coaches #but I don't want to lump them together

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the-firebird69 · 8 months

Text

The Who - Baba O'Reily -- In [High Definition] HD! -1979 - The Kids Are ...

And they're a bunch of jerks this is proof and the guy in Price is Right is one of them those beer a****** is the buzz beer a****** and we took his beer company and we're actually producing it and he started making it again and he can't find us. Recently we released a special edition buzz beer Drew Carey edition and it's a bottle it's a little larger than normal it's like 20 oz. It was released a couple weeks ago and most people I didn't see it yet but it has Drew carry on it with a buzz cut so Trump went got a buzz cut by him and it was astonished at the attitude. He said Trump didn't matter that he's like this wacky of a boy and Trump got very mad and started to almost fight him right there in the chair just waiting outside and said I'm out of here and the clothes were gathering all around that area so he escaped and he said they're taking it seriously. But with everybody ripping them all at the same time and it's really ribbing not ripping it's working. But he found out that the buzz beer company was Drew Carey's and he's doing it the same with Jay Leno they're calling him the historian. The clothes are going to steal all these cars tons of them about half are probably going to be made with titanium aloe unless framework. Only about 1 millionth to be made professionally first. You'll start doing it and we are going to produce our own and beat them. Brian is a fly car version that's bad Brad and it goes about three times as fast as most about 28,000 miles an hour and nobody believes it and it's not a gasoline engine it is like a turbine but it's very fast couple of line cars for $25,000 this one goes 80,000 our version will go 100,000 my secret stuff will go faster mostly none of you can handle the speed or the g-force how is it'll be a bit larger after a Time

Thor Freya

Orders are increasing dramatically yes there's a lot of people on earth but that number is huge it represents like New England is probably $5,000 trillion including DC the whole world is pretty big his massive cloning facility is just outside but there to be counted now these are being ordered like madness or bringing troops everywhere and I was seeing where they're going they are going to essentially located factories and definitely not they're going to individuals of all types. I'm getting it going now and it's gigantic very huge

Thor Freya

Olympus it's far too large for us to mention but the huge armies that go up North every day only for the past week have been about the size of the orders for this first round they know that's gigantic

I'm so proud of my husband it's incredible. He doesn't know what to say but he's going to be for real famous and people are going to start messing with people who are bothering him

Hera

We do see it starting and it's all over the world it's a growing trend and Biden is starting to soften saying we need him around and he's saying I can't make any allies everyone is against me so he's playing a different game he says and he's very smart and he says we have to help him and it's going on now that people are doing that and it's starting to change how people are treating him it's a little bit it's not that much it will be pretty big soon enough

Nuada Arrianna

This lady will pay she's exposed Tommy f in a very bad way and she thinks it's a game or something says it's not true then tells him what the line and the law is and he's going gunning for her and she does die we know where and when

Olympus

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rayne-storm · 10 months

Text

Mr. E and Lizzy Grimm

AUgust 9 - YouTube

Fandom: original work haha….

Summary: Chalemaux x Elizabeth

She's wasting her PhD discussing fairy tales and folklore for internet strangers.

He's an ancient being… who likes to talk about history for internet strangers.

They get requests for a collab.

A/N: yes these are entirely original characters from a story I've been working off and on for the past 3ish years. Is it written down at all? Hahaha hahaha no. Do I love them anyways? Absolutely.

***********

"-And that will do it for our history lesson today. This concludes our tour of Bram Stoker's London. Please do let me know what period of history that we should explore next. This is Monsieur E, goodnight."

***

The comments section was wild, always, but something new caught Chalemeaux's eye:

"Beautifully done as always, Mr. E!! Have you ever thought of doing a collab with Lizzy Grimm?"

He'd never heard of that person before, but the commenter helpfully left him a link to her most recent video. Amusingly, it was about tracing the origins of the Victorian Vampire. Well, he would see how accurate she was.

Intrigued, he pressed play.

***

"-And that's all for today's journey through the bloody, sexy world of Europe's Vampires. Thank you, as always, for your love, support, and suggestions! If you have a favorite fairy tale, folk tale or other piece of past mythology you want me to cover, please leave that in the comments below. This is Lizzy Grimm, signing off!"

***

Elizabeth looked through the comments on her latest video - a really fun look at the origins of vampires as they were presented in Victorian and Romantic-Era literature: Carmilla, Varney, Dracula, the like.

The few people that followed her and left comments were always delighted by this sort of thing, it seemed, but one in particular sparked her interest:

"I loved this, Ms. Grimm! Would you ever do some kind of collaboration with another channel? It would be so much fun to see you and Monsieur E work together!"

Oh, she knew of him. The beautiful history youtuber that she'd followed since practically day one of his work. His deep dive into the Jack the Ripper case had inspired her to start her own channel, using somewhat similar methodology (in addition to what skills she was currently "wasting" from her time getting her PhD). She would love to work with him on literally anything, but there was no way he'd notice a nobody like her. She had just enough followers and sponsor money to keep the lights on, and that was fine for her.

She replied to the sweet comment (as she tried to do to all of her non-troll comments), a thank-you and self-deprecating something-or-other about how he was definitely too busy doing his work and far too popular to notice her. It read fine. She tried to put the whole thing out of her mind and went to bed.

***

Well, this channel was positively lovely. The host - one Lizzy Grimm - was also rather lovely, as well, he thought idly. She had a way with words that was magical, and he could tell that there was a passion here for her work. He remembered a time, eons before, when he felt the same way about history, and research, and the mess of it all. Fond days running around with the poets and historians, trying to make beautiful the ugly universe.

He spotted the comment on her channel asking about working with him (it was one of only a handful on the video), and the response broke his heart a little, honestly. That she didn't seem to feel worthy, but did seem to know him? Interesting.

He looked up her username in his own followers, and was shocked, perhaps a little humbled even, to see that she was there… and she was his first. He remembered, blearily, just starting out. Every follower was a miracle, it seemed.

Looking further, she had commented something encouraging on every one of his videos. Admittedly, he had been blessed with quick success (a perk of being conventionally attractive and niche), and they soon got lost in a sea, but there they were…

Well, now, of course he would have to reach out. Even if nothing came of it, he simply had to let her know how grateful he was for her support.

***

She couldn't believe it when the email popped up in her notifications. It had to be a prank. Or someone pretending to be him. But no.

"Dear Ms. Lizzy Grimm," it began, proper and eloquent like he was, "I'm Monsieur E, as you may know. I am actually him, even, and not some kind of hacker or other ne'er-do-well playing with your time. I am unsure how else to prove this, so please see the attached screenshot of you, my very first follower."

She looked, and indeed, the screenshot was there, on his channel, and… yes, it did appear she was his first follower. It felt like some kind of sacred honor, now, honestly. She hurriedly read on.

"I was approached by a commenter, who seems to have also reached out to you, requesting we collaborate. I would like you to know that I would be extremely honored to do so. I would like to meet up, if possible, to go over these details, and perhaps just talk with a fellow history and literature lover. I understand this is very unusual, and perhaps feels unsafe, so do feel free to tell me to shove right off, and I will do just that.

Thank you, so much, for your support. It means the entire world to me.

Yours Truly,

M.E."

Well, that… happened. He wanted to meet her. The impossibly handsome history king wanted her, wasting her life, average nobody, to work with him. He wanted to meet her in person. It felt like some kind of dream. Of course she'd do it. That he even bothered to mention that it could be sketchy to meet in person was very considerate. She quickly shot off a response and tried not to hyperventilate.

***

He hadn't been expecting a response so quickly, but there it was, shiny and unread in his inbox. He immediately opened it.

"Monsieur E,

I was surprised and, admittedly, thrown off when I saw your email. You were indeed correct that I didn't believe it was actually you at first. The screenshot has me mostly convinced.

"I would love to work with you, yes. And to meet up. A café or something similar would be perfect, a neutral, populated place where we could both feel comfortable that neither is going to murder the other. I live right near Galway, though I'm not native, as you may guess by the conflicting accent, and I believe in videos you have mentioned that you live more North? I don't mind taking a train to meet up somewhere in the middle, if that is convenient? I have friends in England and Scotland as well, that I can stay with if needed, if we want to do in-person collaboration.

I am very excited by the potential of working together. Thank you for everything.

Yours truly,

Elizabeth G. Bennet."

Oh. She had used… well that certainly appeared to be an actual name. He felt his heart warm and speed up, and re-read the missive several times. She actually wanted to meet up! And she really wasn't that far away! Hell, he thought he had a place in Killarney or Cork, and that wouldn’t' be too far of a drive… Oh, he had plans to make.

And a future collaborator, perhaps… even a lover? To meet.

#my writing #rayne writes #august 2023 #original characters #original work #Chalemeaux E. Hannibal #Elizabeth Grimm Bennett

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7r0773r · 1 year

Text

A Children’s Bible by Lydia Millet

At that time in my personal life, I was coming to grips with the end of the world. The familiar world, anyway. Many of us were.

Scientists said it was ending now, philosophers said it had always been ending.

Historians said there'd been dark ages before. It all came out in the wash, because eventually, if you were patient, enlightenment arrived and then a wide array of Apple devices.

Politicians claimed everything would be fine. Adjustments were being made. Much as our human ingenuity had got us into this fine mess, so would it neatly get us out. Maybe more cars would switch to electric.

That was how we could tell it was serious. Because they were obviously lying.

We knew who was responsible, of course: it had been a done deal before we were born.

I wasn't sure how to break it to Jack. He was a sensitive little guy, sweet-natured. Brimming with hope and fear. He often had nightmares, and I would comfort him when he woke up from them—dreams of hurt bunnies or friends being mean. He woke up whimpering "Bunny Bunny!" Or "Donny! Sam!”

The end of the world, I didn't think he'd take it so well. But it was a Santa Claus situation. One day he'd find out the truth. And if it didn't come from me, I'd end up looking like a politician. (p. 27)

***

If you could be nothing, you could also be everything. Once my molecules had dispersed, I would be here forever. Free.

Part of the timeless. The sky and the ocean would also be me.

Molecules never die, I thought.

Hadn't they told us that in chemistry? Hadn't they said a molecule of Julius Caesar's dying breath was, statistically speaking, in every breath we took? Same with Lincoln. Or our grandparents.

Molecules exchanging and mingling, on and on. Particles that had once been others and now moved through us.

"Evie!" said Jack. "Look! I found a sand dollar!"

That was the sad thing about my molecules: they wouldn't remember him. (pp. 36-37)

***

On the second day it was discovered that the twins were missing. Their parents hadn't noticed before, figuring they were with us. The mother's bottom lip was so chewed up from the Ecstasy it had swollen halfway down her chin.

Jack and Shel went looking and found Kay. She was sleeping in the fishing shed, surrounded by small rodent skeletons and junk-food wrappers. It was curious, Jack said: the skeletons were fresh.

As far as we knew, she was a picky eater who usually insisted on white bread with cold cuts. On the other hand, her mouth was smeared with what looked a lot like dried blood. She smelled rancid.

Don't ask, was our approach. We marched her back to her parents.

There was no sign of her sister. (pp. 80-81)

***

"They say God in the book, said Jack. "But me and Shel figured it out. God's a code word. We figured it out!"

"Do tell, said Jen.

"They say God but they mean nature."

Shel signed.

"And we believe in nature," Jack interpreted.

"OK,” said Terry. "How about Isaac and Abraham? Was it nature that told a guy he had to knife his son to death?" Shel signed a bunch more. He stood up, agitated.

"Nature gets misinterpreted," said Jen. "Shel says."

"Plus it's a story," added Jack. "Things are symbols." (p. 87)

***

The headlight shut off and the front doors of the van opened. Burl and Luca got out. David flicked on a flashlight. Duffels and sleeping bags were unloaded. I was relieved and not sure why—maybe because that was all.

Just the four of them. No parents had come along.

I felt a new rush of dizziness, looking at the ones who'd returned. Behind them, hazy, I thought I could see the absent parents when I squinted. The night blurred. Or maybe just the shapes of them, their effigies. Or no, it wasn't them, I realized—was it?

It was them and not them, maybe the ones they'd never been. I could almost see those others standing in the garden where the pea plants were, feet planted between the rows. They stood without moving, their faces glowing with some shine a long time gone. A time before I lived. Their arms hung at their sides.

They’d always been there, I thought blearily, and they'd always wanted to be more than they were. They should always be thought of as invalids, I saw. Each person, fully grown, was sick or sad, with problems attached to them like broken limbs. Each one had special needs.

If you could remember that, it made you less angry.

They'd been carried along on their hopes, held up by the chance of a windfall. But instead of a windfall there was only time passing. And all they ever were was themselves.

Still they had wanted to be different. I would assume that from now on, I told myself, wandering back into the barn. What people wanted to be, but never could, traveled along beside them. Company. (pp. 139-40)

***

"So if God stands for nature, then Jesus stands for science. That's why they call Jesus God's son. It doesn't mean actual son. God doesn't have sperm."

"Goodness! You know the birds and bees!"

"Darla. He's not in kindergarten," I said.

"It just means science comes from nature. See?" (p. 142)

***

"What happens at the end?" Jack asked me.

He was sick by then, but I was going to make sure he got better. Whenever I wasn’t at his bedside, I was researching symptoms and diagnoses. How to repurpose the medicines we had. Home remedies.

I wished the angels were still with us. Luca. And Mattie.

Or even the owner. Descending in her black chariot. Where was the owner when we needed her most?

Still I was dedicated. If it was the only fine thing I ever did, the single worthwhile thing, one day he'd be all right again.

"The end of what, Jack?"

"You know. The story. After the chaos time? It wasn't in my book. But all books should have a real ending."

"They should."

"She said the real end wasn't even in the kids' version. She said it wasn't nice. Too violent. She said that children couldn't handle relevation."

"I think she said Revelation."

"So what happens after the end?"

"Let me think. Hold on a minute. I'm thinking."

"Think better, Evie."

"OK. Slowness, I bet. New kinds of animals evolve. Some other creatures come and live here, like we did. And all the old beautiful things will still be in the air. Invisible but there. Like, I don't know. An expectation that sort of hovers. Even when we're all gone."

"But we won't be there to see them. We won't be here. It hurts not to know. We won't be here to see!"

He was agitated.

I held his hot hand.

"Others will, honey. Think of them. Maybe the ants. The trees and plants. Maybe the flowers will be our eyes."

"Flowers don't have eyes. That's like something Darla would say. It's not science, Evie."

"You're right. It's more like art. Poetry. But it still comes from what they used to call God, doesn't it?"

"What they used to call God, he murmured.

He was happiest when I was there talking to him, but he was getting so tired in those days. So very tired.

"You had it in your notebook, right? You wrote it down yourself, didn't you."

"I wrote it down."

"I think you solved it, Jack. In your notebook. Jesus was science. Knowing stuff. Right? And the Holy Ghost was all the things that people make. You remember? Your diagram said making stuff.'

"Yes. It did."

"So maybe art is the Holy Ghost. Maybe art is the ghost in the machine."

"Art is the ghost."

"The comets and the stars will be our eyes," I told him.

And I went on. The clouds the moon. The dirt the rocks the water and the wind. We call that hope, you see. (pp. 222-24)

#lydia millet #book quotes

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hamletteprinceofdenmark · 2 years

Text

I’ve seen some folk have a little trouble parsing out Jack Seward’s entry so let’s go through it together.

First thing’s first, Jack Seward is not meant to be creepy.

But to get to the meat of the entry, I’ll go through line by line, and for easy reading my commentary/annotations will be inside square brackets and purple in colour ☺️

Dr. Seward's Diary.

(Kept in phonograph) [Jack keeps his diary on a phonograph, a very early recording device similar to what would become our modern dictaphone. This is the very latest in technology at the time.]

25 May. —Ebb tide in appetite to-day. Cannot eat, cannot rest, so diary instead. Since my rebuff of yesterday I have a sort of empty feeling; nothing in the world seems of sufficient importance to be worth the doing.... As I knew that the only cure for this sort of thing was work, I went down amongst the patients. [Still feeling miserable and depressed from being rejected by Lucy, Seward finds he cannot sleep or eat as he normally would, he makes his diary instead, about to recall what he did that day. As a way to battle the empty emotional mess he’s in, he decided to throw himself completely into his work as a way to build up momentum and energy again. He goes to observe, study, and help his patients.] I picked out one who has afforded me a study of much interest. He is so quaint that I am determined to understand him as well as I can. To-day I seemed to get nearer than ever before to the heart of his mystery. [He picks as his focus a patient that he finds interesting and intriguing. The patient seems “quaint”, something we might interpret as “almost sane” or “not dangerous”. We might also interpret this as Seward seeing the patient as one he could “cure” more easily than others who he might deem “less sane”. Seward is determined to understand his patient better, and thinks today he has got closer to that understanding than he ever had before.]

I questioned him more fully than I had ever done, with a view to making myself master of the facts of his hallucination. [He studies the patient by asking them a series of questions, like an interview or modern therapy session, aiming to understand both what his patient believes and what the cause (and therefore cure) to those beliefs might be] In my manner of doing it there was, I now see, something of cruelty. [Upon reflection he thinks that he took things too far, to the point of cruelty] I seemed to wish to keep him to the point of his madness—a thing which I avoid with the patients as I would the mouth of hell. [He thinks he may have encouraged or even worsened his patient’s condition on purpose in order to study it further, something he regrets, and states that, under normal circumstances, is something he would never do, with this or any other patient under his care]

(Mem., under what circumstances would I not avoid the pit of hell?) [A quick aside as Seward questions the nature of hyperbole] Omnia Romæ venalia sunt. Hell has its price! verb. sap. [Quite literally “In Rome, everything is for sale." Seward is quoting Gaius Sallustius Crispus, generally known as Sallust. He is the earliest known Latin-language Roman historian with surviving works to his name and worked alongside Julius Caesar. The document from which this quote was taken talks about the corruption and bad governance in the Roman Army at the time. Sallust was making a point that if people were willing to pay the right price, anything was permissible, for better or for worse. Seward also notes “verb. sap." This is short for verbum sapientiae or 'a word of wisdom'. Like a ‘quote of the day’ to keep in mind, Seward is making a comment to note that if he continues down this path, he may have to pay in more than gold.] If there be anything behind this instinct it will be valuable to trace it afterwards accurately, so I had better commence to do so, therefore— [Having gone on this tangent, and noting that even if the methods of getting that day’s information were dubious, there might be something useful to be gained from it, he starts his formal notes on the patient immediately so as to be the most accurate he can.]

R. M. Renfield, ætat 59. [The patient’s name is R.M. Renfield. The patient is 59 years old.] —Sanguine temperament; great physical strength; morbidly excitable; periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I cannot make out. [Sanguine refers to one of the four humours, a medical theory that has since been disproven. The Ancient Greek physician Hippocrates is often credited with coming up with the idea. He theorised that the body contained four liquids or “humours” that needed to be kept in balance for ultimate health. These humours affected everything from personality to physical and mental health, and were also associated with the four elements. Each person tended towards one of the four humours so each person’s balance was slightly different. The four humours were yellow bile (choleric temperament, fire element) black bile (melancholic temperament, earth element), phlegm (phlegmatic temperament, water element), and … blood (sanguine temperament, air element). Renfield has a sanguine temperament, meaning he is outgoing, passionate, sociable, and generally cheerful. Seward also notes that he is in great physical shape, can get over-excited or over-passionate, but can have periods of gloom or depression. He also notes that today Renfield seemed fixed on a certain idea but he couldn’t make it clear to Seward what that idea was] I presume that the sanguine temperament itself and the disturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish; [Seward theorises that the combination of Renfield’s base personality (being cheerful and easygoing) and his madness (a disruptive and upsetting influence) disturbs the natural order of his mind. Once Seward understands it better, he will be able to aid Renfield in setting it right.] a possibly dangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish. In selfish men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves. [Seward states Renfield is probably dangerous, but not selfish. He reflects further that selfish men are as much a danger to themselves as to the people around them, friend or foe.] What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal; when duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of accidents can balance it. [He thinks of the self, as someone’s general personality, how they think, how they behave, and how they treat others, similar to a centrifuge - a circular device that spins liquids at high speeds in order to seperate them into their component parts (again very new tech for the average Victorian) - and that everything a person does “spins out” from one central idea or theme. He resolves to make his own theme “duty”, as the spinning force, like ripples in a pond, will have a good influence on himself and the people around him and under his care, as apposed to having a selfish core (like how he treated Renfield badly today) which would have bad effects, that only an accident (or coincidence), or indeed a series of accidents/coincidences could set right again].

Well there you are! A break down of Seward’s diary! I hope you all enjoyed the ride and are now a little closer to understanding our local doctor and what he’s about 😊

#Dracula daily #Dracula #Jack seward #my Dracula daily

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jasper-pagan-witch · 2 years

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What do you think about myths?

I’m so torn on them.

On one hand, people say myths are just stories that mortals wrote to understand and humanize the gods. That they’re not true.

But on the other hand, myths are how we know anything about the gods????? And one of the first things you’re told to do when getting to know a new god is to read their myths.

So like, for example. I want to look more into Loki. But Loki and their children are supposed to bring about Ragnarock (sorry for misspelling - iPhone’s don’t have autocorrect for the Norse apocalypse 😅). Like….. Loki is often portrayed as a trickster figure, but at the end it seems like they are depicted as evil. They help to destroy the world.

I guess I’m just trying to figure out where to draw the line????? I obviously don’t think the myths are plain truth. But surely they must have some truth in them if we use them to interpret the gods, right???

I’m just… 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫

OH BIG MOOD ANON. The reason this took so long for me to post was because this is a struggling point for my practice as well.

I often ponder the theological implications of myths, but in the end, I tend to just do myth research and then...ignore it? Like, I'll remember that it's there, that those events may (or may not!) have happened, but ultimately I value my own experiences with deities more than whatever an ancient (or not so ancient) writer said on them.

I value myths more as glimpses into the societies that these deities were worshiped in (or, in the case of Norse mythology, a vague scrubbing at the pre-Christian version of the society), but ultimately I read the myths and keep them in mind but don't let them define my practice.

This is a little more complicated regarding pop culture entities, such as Azura, where the canon is literally the mythos.

And regarding Loki and his kids bringing around Ragnarok, you have to remember that we have many layers to peel back with this one. The first layer is to peel away the pop culture perception of Loki = Marvel and Loki = Satan. The second layer is to peel back the interpretations of the Eddas. The third layer is to peel back the Eddas themselves. Snorri was, at his core, an Icelandic Christian politician (and historian and poet), so his writings on the myths were warped by that. If you have 40-ish minutes, Overly Sarcastic Productions' video on Loki goes into detail about how that whole mess got around, even to the point of "Loki may be Odin" and "Snorri may have meant Ragnarok to be a good thing". There's a lot of nuance about historical Norse religion and mythology that we're lacking simply because we don't have access to many pre-Christian things that don't have a Christianity-approved coat of paint slapped on them.

So uh...don't feel bad for not having answers, anon. This is a line that every practitioner has to figure out for themself. I thought I figured out mine a while back and never paid it any mind, but now it keeps popping up so I'm trying to figure out more and more where the line actually is.

~Jasper

#answered #anonymous #mythology #religion #deity work #heathenry #loki #loki god #loki deity

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