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sanctus-ingenium · 3 months

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I’m really inspired by your world building and the creatures you use. I’m trying to kickstart my own world using Celtic, Norse and Scottish myths (it also involves werewolves because they’re cool)

But I’m stumped and a bit overwhelmed. How’d you start your project and what were huge sources of inspiration for you as you worked on The Black Horse?

hi there!!! this will probably get wordy i have a lot of thoughts on this but here's how i built up my inver setting

i had the characters first, and the werewolf establishment was basically the first thing invented about the world. I wrote a decent amount about the characters in the pre-1st draft slush pile just getting a handle on their voices, their history together, etc. the first slush draft was in painstaking chronological order telling of their lives from birth to like age 40 - it wasn't pretty to read but it meant I knew what big moments formed their worldview, their relationships with others, things like that. and then i got to pick and choose which ones would feature in the actual 1st draft, and which i would leave unsaid, in flashback form, or only in the form of vague allusions. the plot and world events changed significantly as i wrote the actual 1st draft so this ended up only being useful for backstory stuff and not book plots, but it was still good to have.

There was an important moment of a character being kidnapped into a faery realm, which is what started me off thinking about fairies in general. they weren't originally a part of this world - it was an undefined space before just for the characters to exist in, because i was (and still am) more interested in the characters than the worldbuilding. but i still like for there to be SOMETHING there in the background, and it gives a lot of opportunities to inform characterisation, so i started to make my setting. I picked the Púca as a pivotal being & major inspiration source to include because of its relatively large presence in the fringes of my childhood in stories told by my older relatives and i like the unusual aspects about it as well, how it has been both heroic and malevolent in different stories. you have to remember i grew up in this culture too, i knew a lot already, and that's what got me thinking of alternate Earth history - as in, the setting of Inver as alternate history, not wholly original fantasy set in a fantasy land.

So then I had to think about the implications of that, and here is where I think a lot of authors adapting extant mythology fall short. A world where faeries/mythological monsters/gods based in real cultures exist and people interact with them is indistinguishable from our own. We already live in a world where people interact with faeries in their own way; I've heard many older relatives recount stories of being trapped in their fields by faeries, how you can only escape by taking off your jumper and putting it back on inside out. There was no question as to whether they believed this was a concrete, meaningful interaction with a supernatural being. We have a motorway that was diverted while it was being built because the builders didn't want to risk cutting down a hawthorn tree. There is a deep stigma against harming hawthorns. Now, tell me how things would be any different if faeries were real irl? ftr I do not believe in the supernatural whatsoever, not even a little bit, but it is impossible to deny that I live in a world deeply shaped by it - I need only look out the window at the stands of whitethorn around my house to know that. because the main expression of that supernatural element is in how the people of that culture react.

you cannot, you cannot pick and choose only the monsters from a legend and leave behind the people who made & propagated that legend. you're only taking a single thread from a rich tapestry. I'm not arguing that other cultures should be untouchable, far from it, I'm just saying that to truly appreciate it, you need context for everything you adapt. you gotta know what you're writing about

in that sense, the people are more important to building Inver than the faeries. a citizen of Inver not immediately affected by the main plotline would likely never see or interact with magic in their lifetime, but their society is still shaped by it. so is mine (though that's more on the catholic church than anything else)

So now that I'd had that realisation, I decided to dump a lot of the traditional fantasy tropes I'd been working with. Think basic fantasy setting stuff, pop culture "The Fae" tropes, even the terminology of 'Fae' at all - that is not something I've ever heard the older generation in my life call them. It's just 'fairies' to them (although I did shift the spelling to match the Yeats poem because I could not handle writing characters making accusations of being A Fairy and have it not come across as a unintentionally homophobic accusation lmao). I did some research; mostly on JSTOR, using my institutional access, because my own university is mostly science and didn't have a big library of anthropological texts. I read An Táin Bó Culainge which is honestly one of the greatest stories of all time PLEASE READ IT if you are at all interested in Irish myth. It is a fantastic story and extremely comedic as well (a canon mmmf foursome lol). In terms of academic sources specific to the Púca, I have a drive folder of pdfs I will share with anyone if they ask.

I decided I was not going to include anything from what people actually think of as pre-christian Irish mythology - no fianna [rangers notwithstanding], no Ulster cycle, no Tuatha Dé, no Irish gods. All the things I include are post-colonial aside from the notion of the Otherworld in general. This decision wasn't necessarily accurate to what might have happened in this alternate history (given that christianity still has no real foothold in Inver) but it is a colonised society after all. It's why I got slightly steamed once when someone filed my Púca art into their irish deities/irish polytheism tag (I have my own issues with iripols/gaelpols for the same reason I dislike people taking myths out cultural context and in this case contemporary cultural context), because the Púca is in fact a postcolonial being - it comes from the UK, and likely the mainland as well

One of the last things I did before starting on my 2nd draft, which is what turned into Said the Black Horse, was decide to always capitalise the word 'Púca'. Because what really clicked from doing my research and remembering what I'd heard as a child was that the Púca is a specific character. Not a species, not a class of monster. A character, one guy. And you'll find this everywhere - the obvious example is the Minotaur being one specific guy, the son of Minos, not just 'a minotaur'. One very funny consequence of speciesifying mythological characters is dnd ppl saying their character is A Firbolg (fir bolg is plural!!). Fantasy bestiary books like Dragonology or Spiderwick Chronicles have done some amount of damage to how people relate to myths and legendary creatures, and I am not immune as someone who loves speculative biology, but in Inver I decided to cut all of that out.

Next once I got that out of the way I had to think about tone, atmosphere, and intended results. I didn't achieve my holy grail of a very atmospheric, undefined, and uncertain story that provides no answers, due to limitations in my own abilities, but I tried. I have given less than 1 second of thought to how magic or faery biology in Inver works because that is not conducive to the atmosphere of a fairytale. Many of these source myths and legends are really about the fear of the unknown. They are rationalisations to explain away something unknown, some mystery of life, and you cannot explain the unexplainable and expect it to carry the same punch as the original myths that you are drawn to adapt. That's also why I try to never actually give facts about fairies, but instead I talk about what people think of them. The word 'considered' does some insanely heavy lifting in that linked post lmao. Is any of what I wrote true with regards to the Red King?? It is for the people who believe it.

I'm saying all of this because these are all points I had to think about before writing that 2nd draft, but also because I think they're worth considering for your own story as well. I'll admit I invented my werewolves from scratch, they have no mythological basis, because they pre-date the faery stuff and also I wanted them to fill a very specific role and appear a little more concrete than the other supernatural elements. It is what it is; I wanted a werewolf element that didn't match myths and legends (and honestly was partially inspired by me rolling my eyes about those posts going around moaning and whining about 'the doggification of werewolves missing the point of werewolf stories'. I thought, well, there's more than one story you can tell with a werewolf - it isn't always 'i fear the beast within', sometimes it's something else! sometimes it's daddy issues! it's okay to make something new)

ok i think that's all i have to say.. modern Inver is a bit different, that worldbuilding is largely the same but with a big dose of actual ecology because the main characters are rangers and in Inver in 2017, rangers mostly do environmental monitoring. and that's a whole different sort of worldbuilding lol

good luck with your story!!

#me about to write literally anything: this will probably get wordy #mvf #setting: inver

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that-was-a-bit-stupid-of-you · 4 days

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ttpd review: thoughts (and prayers)

cuz wtf was that. (also providing my two cents that no one gives a shit about)

Is the promotion in the room with us?

Not going to lie, this part pissed me off. As a post evermore release swiftie, the first album release I got was midnights. And while the promotion for midnights wasn't astoundingly genius, the track list release (midnights mayhem with me) was smart. Everyday, there would be chaos all over social media of taylor taking out a number and releasing the track name. The excitement over YOYOK was to die for. But after reaching peak fame, girlie just decided shit wasn't necessary anymore. Absolutely no promotion for ttpd, except a few lyrics that provided no context (or excitement) whatsoever. That, and the very non subtle "hinting" of some big reveal of what went down between her and joe, by making some playlists, that not only ruined the perspective of many of her fans and the relationship they had with her previous songs, but ALSO. THE ALBUM HAD BARELY ANYTHING ABOUT JOE. (Not that i personally care about what happened, but it was so unnecessary to center the ONLY promotion done around someone who was barely a part of the album). Swifties went on the internet to harass joe alwyn (and his female coworkers) who might as well be called a special mention on a matty healy album. Why even do all that then? We will never know.

Confusion?

taylor released 31 songs, and while a double album theory coming true would be a dream come true for any swiftie, it just... wasn't. Out of 31 songs, barely 10 stood out. Some of it just didn't make sense, in any way. "Why is this on the album?" "This sounds like a midnights vault track." "No issues, maybe this is just a skip. I'll listen to the next. Oh wait nvm. Um." Like girl what. It just feels like a giant vault album of synth pop music.

Also, it's called the tortured poets department. There is barely anything poetic or tortured about the album aesthetic. Except maybe it's torturing me, but I'm as much of a poet as she is, which basically means I'm not one.

The album just feels so different than the other albums, in the sense that they followed an aesthetic, a certain style of music and lyrics, and created some sort of story. This one just feels like she wrote many songs and put them all on an album, picked whatever track name seemed interesting enough as the album name, and called it a day. Some of the songs are gems, some create a confusion as to why they are on this album, and some just make you cringe- or atleast go "wtf". Which is fine, but if not even half the songs fall under the first category out of 30 songs, then it's a problem.

These were written by... taylor?

The lyrics omfg. I'm not going to be one of those ppl who go around saying that the lyrics sounded like an emo middle schooler (I've heard this take) BUT again, some songs have lyrics that make you question how taylor, someone who wrote the albums folklore and evermore, and many great songs like would've, could've, should've, story of us, all too well, fearless, white horse, dbatc, daylight, red... I could keep going tbh, produced...this.

It was very weird to listen to the words "tattooed golden retriever" from someone who wrote "handsome, you're a mansion with a view" (also who the FUCK is calling matty healy that??)

A very important part of taylor's music is how it is focused on the lyrics. The music itself isn't the most special, or different, in most of her songs, but what makes them (and her) special is her songwriting. However, from her songwriting going from commonly used phrases and idioms to make them tell a story, use a wide range of vocabulary, heavily using personification, allusion, transferred epithet, and a few other figures of speech that she uses in her songs to make elements such as colours, for example, tell a story, in a way it seemed effortless and fit perfectly, to this... now it feels like she's trying to do that, but that's it. She's TRYING, and it's not yielding results, and seems more like a try hard "poet" rather than... whatever she was going for. The songs are filled with self-satisfied "clever" metaphors that are being reused and recycled over and over. This is not what ppl meant when they asked you to be more environmentally friendly, taylor.

Final thoughts I guess?

While the songs are basically only an empty shell of something that taylor used to make, the album isn't all bad. Some of the songs do sound good and go well with taylor's voice (aaron dessner, the fucking legend you are) and are quite enjoyable, if not as memorable as her other songs.

There are songs such as the prophecy, clara bow, so long, london, loml, guilty as sin?, etc., that really do come through and honestly I really like them.

I do feel that the album can grow on people, but it's just... not the best. Like she says so much, and not to quote taylor swift, but genuinely the only thing in my head right now is "the more you say, the less I know".

Overall, the album is fine, but not in taylor swift standards. It's just... not bad, with some exceptions.

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centralperkspoison · 10 months

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I Can See You - G. Way

PAIRING: Gerard Way x Fem!Reader

WARNINGS: sexual references, a little fluffy.

SUMMARY: You and Gerard have known each other for years. When you finally confess to him, everything works out! But how do you keep it as a secret? (Based loosely on I Can See You by Taylor Swift)

WORD COUNT: 1.3k

OTHERS: me posting? whattttt?! this was highly inspired by the song I Can See You by Taylor Swift, so I recommend listening to that while you read. Also, I haven't posted a fic in like a year this is crazy. also!!! not my usual work, not that much fluff just more back story. idk i have wrote in a while so im sorry!

---

YOU KEPT EVERYTHING PROFESSIONAL. You and him only showed your true emotions behind closed doors. You'd brush past each other in the hallways most of the time ensuring to not let anyone catch on.

Of course, you and Gerard were friends to the public eye. You and him were the two lead singers of My Chemical Romance, but what happened behind closed doors stayed there.

You'd moved next door to the Way family when you were fairly young, quickly becoming friends with the two brothers despite the slight age differences; Mikey was three years older than you and Gerard was six years older, which is why in the beginning everything had to be quiet. But of course, you had kept your feelings for the nerdy older brother hidden since you were six, so that wouldn't be too hard.

When the band began recording for Bullets you had just turned eighteen and Gerard was almost twenty-five, which is when it first started.

"Why don't I understand basic song structure," You groaned. "You clearly have it down."

Gerard scoffed, "I do not have it down whatsoever, I just actually ask for input unlike someone who's stubborn as hell." He laughed.

It was only the two of you on the bus, the rest of the guys were inside a restaurant buying breakfast while before you traveled four hours to only record half the album for Bullets.

"Here, bring it over so I can look at it." He said, sitting up on the couch on the bus. You slowly walked towards him, hoping he wouldn't realize who it was about. You silently hoped he couldn't tell, then sat next to him and handed him the lyrics you had written so far. He began analyzing them and handed them back to you.

"It's good, but the bridge should have more meaning. You've described this person in such a beautiful light, then the bridge is just happily ever after? Include some of the struggle in the relationship." You nod, beginning to write. He watches you closely from over your shoulder causing you to face the other way and lay down on him so he could get a better view. This was nothing unusual for you two, it was normal for you to lay on him or anyone else in the band.

You took his words into consideration, then started writing lyrics along the lines of 'If only he knew,' and 'I could see you being my addiction, you could see me as a secret mission.' along with some more context.

"Hey, (Y/N)?" He called, you could feel his heart speed up from your spot on his chest. "Yes, Gee?" You say, looking up at him. "Who is this about?" He asked quietly, playing with your long hair. You dropped your pencil and sat up, facing him. "Is that really important right now?" "I mean not really, I'm just a bit curious." He says with a slight smirk across his face. You just shrug and walk to where you were sitting previously to the whole song structure conversation. Once you sit down, he began speaking again.

"I mean of course the description sounds a little similar, short black hair, hazel eyes, crooked smile," He says, walking behind your chair and gripping it and looking down at you from over the back of the tall chair. "I would say Frank, but his hair doesn't exactly fall under that category anymore, and when you think about it, I'm the only one with short black hair now." He smirks. He already knew, but he was just trying to play around and have a little fun before he had to make his own scary confession.

"God, okay Gerard, the song is about you." You roll your eyes trying to make it come out as if you're not afraid to say it. "Wait, you're actually admitting it?" "Yes, I have a big fat crush on you, now can you please just turn me down already so I can get over it sooner." You sigh, and he walks around your chair so you two are facing each other now.

"(Y/N), I'm not rejecting you," He smiles. "C'mere." He says, opening his arms for a hug, and you quickly throw yourself in his arms. You two linger in the hug for a while before you take a step back and look up at him. You two were so close your noses were touching.

"May I?" He asks, moving his hand up so he's cupping your jaw. You lean into his touch and nod.

After you two established your feelings, your situationship turned into a relationship that ranged from sweet moments to insanely sexual ones, not that you had a problem with that, of course. It was just difficult keeping it from your best friends.

Eventually, fans began sniffing the two of you out. How you would always sit next to each other in interviews, when you were on stage you would always seem as if you were singing to him and he was singing to you, when they watched Life On The Murder Scene every time there was a video on the bus you'd have your legs sprawled out on top of his or you'd be laying on him, and even away from the bus he'd always send you looks.

You started seeing the fans reactions on Twitter in the two of your comment sections.

(Y/N)(Y/L/N): Day off with my boys! <3

mcrlover616: OMG R U AND GERARD DATING

frerard4li4e: Gerard belongs to Frank, girl. Back off.

bugmomma24356: You and Gerard are so cute ug! <3

After trying to cover up everything to the best of your abilities, nothing made them believe you, even your own band mates started thinking the two of you were together, so you two had to act more distant.

No more laying on him, no more lingering hugs, and definitely no more making out on stage just to "make the crowd go wild".

The two of you had to be entirely secret for almost a year now, and it was the first night of your new tour, Rise Against the Black Parade.

Gerard brushes his shoulder against yours in the hallway while you two walk into the dressing room, shooting you a look. "Oh sorry, (Y/N)." He says quietly and slides his arm across your back before sitting two seats away from you in the dressing room.

Makeup took a while, but you and Gerard were the last to finish. Once your artists left the room he sprung up to lock the door, and quickly met you in the middle of the room.

He rested his hands on your hips and you hand your arms on the back of his neck, while he pressed his lips to yours aggressively. You parted from him for a moment, "Now don't go messing up our makeup," You smirked. "We can fix it ourselves." He grunts, picking you up and placing you on the counter.

The two of you were in there for a total of five minutes before someone started knocking on the dressing room door, causing you to jump like two teenagers caught by parents. "Hello? Who's in there, we need to change!" You hear Frank say from the other side of the door. The two of you quickly check your makeup to make sure it wasn't messed up, then you walked to the door to unlock it before turning to Gerard.

"You know, if stopped hiding... it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world." You said and he began to shake his head. "The age difference, (Y/N)." "It's six years, Gee. At least it's not like twenty or thirty like some other couples." You say, causing him to shrug. "I guess it's not the worst thing in the world."

You walk over and unlock the door allowing Frank to come in with the costume cart. Once he realized it was the two of you he gasped. "You?" He said pointing to Gerard, "And you?" He said pointing to you. You turn to Gerard and tilt your head. "Yeah yeah, big deal." He said walking over to wrap an arm around your waist. That night was one of your best shows yet. You two started showing affection on stage once again, you put your emotion back into your lyrics, and you even got a chance to preform the song you wrote for Gerard that started the whole relationship.

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inamindfarfaraway · 1 month

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So I saw your post here [https://www.tumblr.com/inamindfarfaraway/690058488775327745/batfamily-fanworks-that-purport-to-be-set-in-the] and oh my gosh YOU ARE SO RIGHT!

As much as I enjoy it, Hush is definitely to blame for this as it is held as THE end-all-be-all of all BatFam stories yet Cass (who an acclaimed ongoing series as Batgirl around the same time) was suspiciously missing from it along with Steph. Yet we only ever get flashbacks to Bab's time as Batgirl so that storyline also ended up cementing Bab's legacy as "the one and only Batgirl". Methinks a certain editor in charge at the time mandated for Cass and Steph to not appear in Hush because they-according to him-"were way too toxic" for said storyline. Because you see, as soon as he became a leading editor, his number one priority was getting rid of Steph and stripping Cass of her Batgirl role.

And so the age of darkness began...

First, there was War Games that solely existed to torture Steph in the most vile, most voyeuristic ways before killing her off. Then there was Robin: One Year Later, one of the worst, horrific character-assassination storylines since Spider-Man's One More Day, where Cass was suddenly turned into an over-the-top Saturday Morning cartoon villain obsessed with killing everyone, giving long-winded "together we can rule the world" speeches and being able to speak and write in fluent Navajo. ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT LANGUAGES IN THE WORLD. Then there was Redemption Road which, despite its good moments and happy ending, did even more damage to Cass's character. And finally, we have Battle For The Cowl which ended up pushing Cass and Steph so far into the background, they were basically erased from the BatFamily altogether.

Yet despite Steph's well-received run as Batgirl, DC's poor marketing and the lead up to the New 52 prevented the series from becoming a proper bestseller and it was cancelled without any fanfare whatsoever. Still, all those horrible decisions and storylines (like War Games and Robin: One Year Later) did such massive, long term damage to the characters that, even despite all the small good things (Steph's Batgirl series to the excellent Gates Of Gotham mini-series starring Cass), they were buried from public consciousness. As for Duke (another character, I'm a fan of), I think its just a case of him being a very recent character, a lack of marketing and higher-ups not knowing what to do with him.

As for the asshole editor who everything to burry the Batgirls, he was eventually fired for creating an "unsafe working environment". And yes, his name rhymes with "Ban Video".

As for the people who keep erasing Cass, Steph and Duke from fan works, I know it sounds depressing but hear me out: Fandom, be it comics, video games, films, cartoons, TV shows, ect, has an unconscious bias of white male favouritism. (Yes, I know Dick is Romani, Damien half-Arabic/Asian yet they're still quite white-passing)

YES! THANK YOU! ALL OF THIS!

It is so sad and frustrating that these bias persist even in communities that are meant to be about joy and love; but of course the Batfam fandom has issues with sexism and racism when the canon also has for so long. I'm sure most fans don't try to be prejudiced, but male and white-passing characters are so much more popular than others. The unfair treatment of Steph as Robin and both her and Barbara in making Babs Batgirl again for no reason is one of the things I wrote Robins: The Musical to vent about, and that's only the tip of the iceberg.

Thanks for the explanation! I was already familiar with most of the context you generously provided, but I still really appreciate it as a specific comics shame/recommendation guide and education for others. I wasn't aware of Gates of Gotham and will read it! Black Bat my beloved. Dan Didio when I catch you...

(My original post is here)

#batfam #batfamily #batfam fandom #dc comics #dc #dc fandom #cassandra cain #batgirl #black bat #stephanie brown #spoiler #duke thomas #the signal #comics history

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yurinullification · 3 months

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Arc 19 finished. I wrote down a couple theories for how i think the world could potentially end around 19.3, growing increasingly confident though, that if it happens, it'll somehow be tied to Dragon. AI apocalypse. Armsmaster fucks something up in her code, jack talks to her and manages to figure out her weaknesses, gains control, or maybe Colin just straight up dies at some point while fighting the s"9" and she just, like, snaps. Has a second trigger event. World is fucked. Though I guess there's also now the major possibility that it just straight up won't happen? With bonesaw mentioning that they had to take things into their own hands else the world wouldn't actually end. Dunno. At the same time in a meta context for the sake of the story the world actually ending at some point would be alot more possible to write, like, well, now that there's this whole other barren world people can move into. Maybe?

Not entirely related, but there's also this pet theory I've had since around arc 3, the bank robbery. Think it was skitter that mentioned she could control bugs due to how simple their nervous system is. But like, if she can control a million bugs, would it really be that hard to control like, a single person? Or maybe even several people? Like what if it's just a mental block she needs to get over, or maybe it's not even a block, she's just never given it any conscious thought whatsoever. If she ever moves on to controlling like snails or simple reptiles or other relatively dumb creatures that aren't necessarily bugs I'll pretty much know exactly where the story is heading. And it'd immediately make her the most powerful person in the entire story. Regent's a master 10, has been named several times as one of the top capes in the city, and he takes hours to get his thing going right. Really excited to see where the story goes. At the same time though I'm low-key hoping something else happens. Just to subvert my expectations. Will be mildly disappointed if her power's still basically the same in arc 30 though

#reading worm #worm #wormblr #worm spoilers

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orion-s-things · 7 months

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Alright so part two of my explaining BSD french authors:

Arthur Rimbaud !

This is the boy. Looks young, right ? That's cause he's seventeen in this. (Funnily enough, he's exactly the same age as Verlaine's wife. Verlaine, though, is 27 at the time they meet. Yeah, I wasn't kidding when I said he was a piece of shit.)

Rimbaud is kind of THE poet of teenage rebellion. He was born in 1854, under Napoleon III to place him back in his historical context. He wrote quite a bit in opposition to Napoleon, actually.

His father is absent at first, and then not here at all later. He has... A complex and complicated relationship with his mother. He gave her a disrespectful nickname, she was seen hitting him several times (although at the time that's hardly surprising...), but at the same time when he asked her to go see him in London (at a time where the trip was very expensive, and she'd never left France in her life before that) she came, and his sister described him then as "the happiest I'd ever seen him". She's often seen as the source of his inner anger and rebellion.

What he hates for sure, though, was living in his house, with his family, and especially in his hometown, Charleville, which he despises.

He's especially known for having fled his house a lot, as in several times a year, for several days every time, walking during the day and sleeping on the road during the night. His most famous poem, "Ma bohème" (unstranslatable title because "bohème" is a french concept, but it basically means living your life day after day, in communion with nature and/or your dreams, often with an artistic dimension and no money whatsoever - also has travel connotations because it derives from "bohemian"), actually talks solely about that.

He wrote from his fifteenth to his nineteenth birthday, and was - still is - seen as a genius, being one of the most influential french poets ever despite having written for only four years. He was famous for being uncontrollable, and it translates back to his style : he took extremely traditional forms and changed their rules. (Which weirdly enough actually kinda fits with Rimbaud's ability ??)

If we ever have a Baudelaire in BSD, know that his character will probably look up to him, seeing as Rimbaud is usually seen as continuing Baudelaire's legacy of completely revolutionising french poetry. His two most famous books are "A Season in Hell" and "Illuminations", his last one. His literary movement is symbolism, invented by Baudelaire, characterized by melancholy and an attraction to the ethereal and mysterious. Rimbaud himself thinks that "the poet must search and describe the unknown" and, well, too bad if he sacrifices his sanity. He's also one of the first after Baudelaire to write prose poems.

He stopped writing, forever, at twenty, after the Verlaine fiasco. Actually, he wrote "Illuminations" directly after, then gave it to Verlaine so that he could get it published instead of doing it himself.

That's where his life gets really weird. He tries to learn seven different skills and languages while traveling everywhere, fails, his sister dies and he shaves his head for her funeral, is forced into the military to fight in Java, then deserts, gets hired on a boat on his way back and becomes a sailor, then tries to get hired in the American Navy, doesn't get any answer, goes in a circus then a factory, and all of that while traveling everywhere in the world in the space of about three years.

Nobody knows where he was for the nine months after that - and during all of this, everyone who knows him is hoping that he gets back to writing poetry - and then he goes home to help his brother with his farm before leaving, AGAIN. He walks from France to Italy, then gets in a boat to Alexandria, where he works in a construction project to manage the workers. This keeps going for about eleven more years, so I can't list everything this guy did : we'd need a whole ass novel.

He stays in Northern Africa for almost the rest of his life, although he travels quite a lot in that region and never stops moving. In France, he's still as famous as he was at 17, and several eulogies are written for him without his knowledge. We can also note that he does weapon trafficking, for a very short period, at some point. He writes to his family that he's "bored", of all things. He's described by the people he meets then as "smart, sarcastic, not very talkative, never talking about his past".

He then dies in Marseille, in his thirties, from cancer in his leg.

I'm gonna be honest : I don't like his BSD characterization. Rimbaud's a wild card, a chaotic teenager, as an author. I also ! Hate ! That he's Verlaine's mentor. But that'll be the next part, where I'll talk of IRL Rimbaud and Verlaine.

Previous and future parts are in the #IrlBSDFr tag.

#IrlBSDFr #arthur rimbaud #bsd rimbaud #bsd rimlaine #bungou stray dogs #bsd verlaine #bungo stray dogs #bsd spoilers

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marybeatriceofmodena · 1 year

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What was that crazy music video type thing you included on that post about ALW being an ass to Patti Lupone? I have never seen that before and I am both intrigued and horrified. I only recently got into Phantom, and all this craziness is just delighting me. 😂

For context, this is the video referred to in this ask:

youtube

This was a promo video done in 1985 (I think), to promote Phantom. Those are the original lyrics by Richard Stilgoe, which he wrote before Charles Hart was involved. You'll recognize a few here and there, but a lot of them are... weird, to say the least (weird enough for Cameron "Satan" Mackintosh to tell ALW to either find someone to help out Stilgoe, either outright fire him, or else he wouldn't produce Phantom anymore. And given it was proving to be a VERY costly show to make, even ALW knew losing CamMack was a no-no).

The staging is also different, because Trevor Nunn was the director at this point. And that's another funny (HA) story: ALW and Cameron Mackintosh had initially got Hal Prince to direct. And for those of you who don't know, Hal Prince is basically to musicals what Steven Spielberg is to cinema. He directed some of the most successful musicals of the latter half of the 20th century: Evita, Sweeney Todd, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, Cabaret, Company... and that's the list of musicals I know even the uninitiated will recognize. So one day, on a whim, ALW decided to fire Hal Prince, which went about as well as you might expect: ALW chickened out of the dinner where he and CamMack were supposed to break the news to him, which led to CamMack having to sheepishly break the news to Hal Prince, who stormed out furious (AS HE SHOULD). Again, imagine yourself firing Steven Spielberg from making Saving Private Ryan and replacing him with, I dunno, the Russo brothers because The Avengers made a shit ton of money.

Why? My guess is that Hal Prince had the balls to tell ALW to stick it whenever he'd bring bad ideas on the table, so ALW basically decided to replace Hal Prince with the director for one of his previous musicals, Trevor Nunn (who is a decent director, mind you, making the comparison to the Russo brothers a little harsh).

Which musical was it, mind you? CATS.

IT ALWAYS COMES BACK TO CATS.

And Steve Harley? He was a rock singer who got picked up along the way because they urgently needed someone to play the Phantom in the music video, and full offense but he's a worse singer than Gerald Butler in my opinion, and at least the latter could actually act. ALW realized that they needed someone else, and he basically smuggled the score to a comedic actor called Michael Crawford, who had some prior experience singing in musicals (he's in the film adaptations of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Hello Dolly, if you're interested), but he wasn't exactly the guy you'd think of for the Phantom? Thankfully, he proved everyone who might have doubted him wrong, and amazingly at that, but he was a gamble at the time nonetheless.

And as you may guess, the music video was kind of poorly received, and Trevor Nunn worked on a little musical called Les Misérables, which got piss poor reviews and ALW was at the head of them (CLASS ACT, THAT FELLOW). But the uneducated, unwashed plebs loved it so I guess that's the reason why it's still playing today, and not because it's one of the most beautiful scores ever written for musical theatre, summing up a 1,000 book perfectly and conveying emotions that could make angels cry, nah. /s Anyway, that led to ALW firing Trevor Nunn, and begging Hal Prince to come back, and he agreed - which really goes to show how gracious he is because I would have laughed in ALW's face.

And what happened to Steve Harley, you may ask? He found out with a call from CamMack that he was fired, with no explanation whatsoever, and it was only later that he found out Michael Crawford had replaced him. I mean, was it for the best? Yeah. Do I still feel kind of bad for Steve Harley? Yeah.

So yeah, thank your lucky stars Hal Prince, Charles Hart and Michael Crawford agreed to be in this. I'd also add Maria Bjornson, but I really wonder now how she got involved in the first place because if that came from ALW, that might be the single best decision he ever made in his entire life. But I don't have any trust in him whatsoever to pull that off lmao

#lord-valery-mimes #phantom of the opera #Andrew Lloyd Webber #Hal Prince #Cameron Mackintosh #Charles Hart #Richard Stilgoe #Trevor Nunn #Michael Crawford #Steve Harley #and now you know

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liam-summers · 9 months

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The amount of times I see this comment, and other variations of this comment about seeing red, actually blows my mind : “Someone didn’t want him on the show and wrote that in so that the fans hate him and the actor hated it so the fans unanimously pretend it never happened.”

If they didn't want him on the show, they would have killed him off when they were originally planning on doing so and not given him 7 seasons of storytelling that is often labelled by his fans as the most compelling, complex, and developed arc of any character in TV history. The fans didn't hate him after that scene because the show (aka Joss, the writers, etc) went out of it's way to paint HIM in a sympathetic light, using the incident to further his arc and make him a 'hero'. How would he have gotten there if that incident didn't happen? How do people rationalize the most complex, compelling arc without that incident? The actor has spoken out about hating doing that scene because who the fuck would want to film a scene like that? Ask literally any actor and they would say the same. This is nothing revolutionary and JM has not asked anyone to pretend that that scene didn't happen.

On another note, I am the fans and I (as well as many many other fans) certainly did NOT agree to pretending that Sp*ke didn’t sexually assault Buffy, nearly raping her, and it's incredible to me that people are bold enough to make an unhinged blanket statement like that about such a polarizing part of the show that did, in fact, happen...no matter how much they want to pretend that it didn't.

The sheer number of people that I have recently seen pushing this narrative that the writers hated Sp*ke and were purposely trying to assassinate the character, is actually deranged. In reality, all it is is a bunch of made up crap that people have taken out of context, that makes no sense whatsoever if you actually watched the show and accepted the character as he was consistently portrayed. Now don't get me wrong, there are a lot of inconsistencies in the writing for Sp*ke, specifically when it comes to the soulless vs ensouled aspects. However, the ONE thing that remains consistent across all seasons is the streak of misogyny that is baked into the fabric of this character. People will praise Sp*ke's arc as being the most complex and developed but then they will pretend that every disgusting thing he did (which is a lot of things) was out of character and character assassination. I’ve seen people use this argument to dismiss the buffybot, the AR, the creepy obsessive behaviour in season 5 and season 6, and basically anything that he did that people deem as problematic and refuse to accept as a part of the character. I’ve even seen people say that the ATS writers hated Sp*ke and were deliberately trying to ruin the character in season 5 and that’s why the season is so misogynistic... because of the way SP*KE WAS WRITTEN. Can you imagine even forming that fucking thought? I can't because I would be so embarrassed.

People have made up a version of this character in their own minds, that has little to no association with the actual character that was portrayed on the show. And that's fine if that's how they want to view the character but to proclaim that the fans have 'unanimously' agreed to this and to demand that everyone get on board with this interpretation is sooooo out of pocket.

Like I truly don't understand what we're even talking about anymore. How are we supposed to have productive and civilized discourse if we're not even talking about the same thing?

#I would like to perpetually exclude myself from being part of 'the fans' if these are the 'unanimous' decisions being made #there is nothing more embarrassing than being associated with fans of this show #anyway sorry for the rant but ya girl is sick and tired #anti spike #anti spuffy

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lilyliveredlittlerichboy · 8 months

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Harrow brainrot time

I did the thing I wanted to do so now, it is time to start my read through and liveblog of Harrow The Ninth.

But first! It's been a few days since I finished Gideon, so I just wanna round up my main feelings and take-aways from Gideon The Ninth, before I go delving into the sequel.

First up, oh my god, what an adorable goof Gideon is. I love her cluelessness. I love her horniness. I love how strong and skilled she is. I love her irreverence, her quips, her emotive narration. I hate and also love how easily she sacrifices herself for Harrow. I loved their relationship sooooooo, so much, so early on. Such interesting characters. So much trauma. My god. Hold me.

The whole "come to the first with your cavalier and become lyctor" thing seemed disconcerting at first, then kind of nice, then suddenly became almost hunger games-type horror. Upon rereading the very first bit, it seems even in the letter, the first summons, it said "Lyctors joined with their cavaliers"; that type of subtle foreshadowing is bound to hit me hard once I actually reread the whole thing, for real, which I will do, probably after I finish Harrow.

(Let me know if you want a liveblog of my reread as well... I'm hoping to find paper copies of the books before starting the reread, also because apparently there are little tidbits and short stories in the paper versions that I haven't found in the archive dot org pdf.)

Ah, what can I say. I really liked the whole book! I loved Dulcinea and her reveal came as a big shock! Ianthe's coldblooded ascension to Lyctorhood didn't come as a massive surprise (hers was a name I'd seen passed around fandom before I even started - so I always suspected there was more behind the bloodless facade in Coronabeth's shadow). I loved Palamedes and Camilla, I hope we learn what happened to Camilla as she was still alive when we last saw her.

As far as the Harrow brainrot is concerned.... ohhhhh my god Harrow. Like, I liked her from the start, as a character (if not really, at first, as a person) - what an interesting foil to set Gideon up with! But then it was revealed what huge trauma she's been carrying around with her since, basically she was born. The pool scene made me go absolutely feral. Oh my godddddd. HARROWWWWWWWW

Needless to say, I can't wait to spend a whole book with her, narratively. It might be too much to hope for, but I really hope she doesn't fare too terribly. The ending just tore me to shreds. Oh Harrow. Oh Gideon. Oh Gideon you stupid little idiot!! You lovable goof!! Why did you have to sacrifice yourself like that!! I mean, I understand why but also WHYYYYYYYYY. you get me, I'm sure.

I'm gonna attach my little ficlet that I wrote, in pain, right after finishing Gideon the Ninth; without any context whatsoever from the sequels. It's a massive projection. This is how I would be, in Harrow's situation, if I were Harrow. Take it with a pinch of salt. I just wrote this to get the hurt out.

Enjoy, and I will commence my reading of Harrow the Ninth very shortly!!

Alternative Epilogue

"No," she said.

The emperor looked at her, unmoving.

"No," Harrowhark said again. "I will not do as you please. I will not return to the Ninth. I will not be your Lyctor or your Saint. I will not. I refuse."

The emperor was still just staring at her, unflinching. “You realise,” he said, “that you have little choice now. You are a Lyctor, whether you like it or not.”

“NO!” she screamed, feeling as though the walls should have shaken with the intensity of emotions she suddenly felt. More than she’d ever felt, she thought, in her entire life.

She didn’t realise she was crying until she was crumpled to the floor like a wet tissue. Crying like she never had before, sobs shaking her morbid little body mercilessly.

“I refuse,” she bit, shaking. “No. No, I will not.”

There was no response.

An eternity seemed to pass where Harrowhark felt nothing but agony. Her body was perfectly healthy, moreso than it should have been, given the trials she’d endured. No, it was her heart, it felt shattered in a million pieces.

And she knew there was only one thing she wanted.

“Give her back,” she sobbed, hands clenching into her dissatisfactory gown. “Give her back, she’s all I have. She’s all I’ve ever had.”

“No power in the universe can return Gideon the Ninth to you now,” the emperor crooned, unaffected. Uncaring.

“You are God,” she spat. “You have all the power in the universe. You’re lying. You’re lying.”

Once again, he just watched her impassively.

“You’re lying,” Harrow said hopelessly, once again succumbing to sobs. “You’re lying. Please. Please give her back. Give her back to me, she’s all I have. Give her back. Give her back.”

She collapsed, if that were even possible, further onto the floor. Rocked by sobs, she curled in on herself, mumbling the same words again and again and again. She couldn’t even feel the gentle pressure of Gideon Nav inside her own mind. She couldn’t feel anything but herself. It was agony.

“Give her back.”

It was impossibly bright and all Harrowhark wanted to do was to hide. She hid, as much as possible, inside her own body. Eyes squeezed shut, head tucked into her armpit. Curled up on the floor in an extremely un-Harrowlike fashion.

But then again, she’d never quite lost everything before. Not like this. Not ever.

“She’s all I have,” Harrow sobbed into her own skin, “give her back.”

It seemed it was hours later that she realised she was alone.

#i need a tag for my own rambles #gideon the ninth #harrow the ninth #the locked tomb #harrow the ninth liveblog #htn liveblog #tlt liveblog #tlt spoilers #gtn spoilers #< an indication of what tags to expect from this liveblog of mine #my writing #u have to honour this momentous occasion btw. this is the first time ive written/published any fic. in YEARS #YEARS i am not exaggerating pretty sure the last one was uhh. little witch academia fic in MAYBE 2019 #harrowhark nonagesimus #harrow brainrot #griddlehark

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goblins-riddles-or-frocks · 1 year

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BTS for "In This Darkness, I Have You"

Fic Specific Asks

BTS: I’ll write a DVD commentary about my personal favorite passage from [that fic]

OMG thinking about this fic for the first time since 2019. It’s been ages, so I’m just going to read through it and comment on anything that comes to mind!

So for context, the main premise of this is basically my take on the obligatory vampire period sex trope with alutegra lmfao. But specifically imagined as like a once a month no strings attached arrangement where integra REFUSES to ever acknowledge that there is like anything going on between them whatsoever. Mostly because she just can’t bear to actually unpack anything about their dynamic.

I tend to interpret Integra as just incredibly overworked and exhausted and also just. kind of emotionally stunted from having to bear the burden of acting like an adult from the age of twelve. She only knows how to compartmentalize and move on.

So this is obviously scene setting, leaning into the Tropes and horror angle. I always like making clear that Alucard is scary and gross lmao, and also that Integra’s super desensitized to it. This bit particularly though I also wanted to convey that he’s trying really hard!! It’s showmanship for her, he’s trying to put on a face that he thinks she expects and will be into.

So the fic takes place over the backdrop of a storm and the power going out. I think in context of the single one shot it feels a little jarring tbqh because of how things stop about twice to address it, but this fic fits into a continuity of a longer chapter fic I never actually wrote the entirety of. (Maybe one day?) And I think more mundane asides work better in that context. That being said it’s a (somewhat heavy handed?) metaphor. Integra just automatically blames him. He’s not correcting her, but it’s also like actually not his fault, and that comes up later. Idk tying into her perception of him as just more collected and in control of things than he actually is.

I’m generally very drawn to ship dynamics where one character just Can Not deal with being loved. But particularly in this case I think she just can’t like morally and ethically square it, because she feels immensely guilty for the whole… eternal servitude aspect but also doesn’t know what to do about any of it.

I think conversely Alucard truly just doesn’t care. He’s being honest when he asks if it matters. Sure, maybe their entire dynamic is fucked, so what?

This is condensed to see mostly the dialogue. I had a lot of fun with this back and forth! and like Alucard as a temperamental, mercurial type.

The return of the power outage subplot lmao! The Walter cameo was fun to me though. It’s really abrupt and it shakes up the mood a lot. I love writing a very over attentive Walter, perhaps because he’s perpetually feeling guilty…

I also just have a fun time writing him as a very intense mothering type. Kind of unsure how to care for Integra, especially now as an adult where she does not need caring for.

Anyway that last paragraph is a fairly crucial misunderstanding of Alucard I think. Again she doesn’t want to consider him being emotionally involved in anything! He does lash out and like deliberately fuck with her a lot but a) this would NOT be the time b) she views it as like this is just something he does as opposed to like letting herself see why.

And he plays into that perception! He’s like don’t mind me, I’m just silly!! Because admitting to genuine vulnerability is fucking humiliating and also when not in the heat of the moment, being bitter about the fact that she might like actually be grossed out by the prospect of him being in love with her, he absolutely knows that if they Have That Conversation she is going to fucking dump him entirely lmao. So he’s trying to shut the fuck up and not ruin things

And yeah this just further solidifies the points I was trying to make earlier. This fic is not subtle lmao. And if it wasn’t already clear, I just really like getting into Alucard being genuinely fragile.

Generally this fic doesn’t *resolve* anything between them. I don’t think anything I’ve ever written for these characters had a real resolution or solving of problems, just because there’s too much baggage to actually solve anything. But I think they end it with a slightly better understanding of each other. And Integra still has just as many issues with it rip.

Idk if this is potentially annoying to anyone who’s read it and liked the softer ending where she asks him to stay the night regardless of the dramatic conversations. But uh…. in the larger continuity that this fic falls into she’s absolutely going to start avoiding him after this lmao. Which Alucard, in turn, is not going to take well! They’re very dysfunctional.

Which isn’t the complete end of the romantic relationship either, because their boundaries are atrocious. But yeah this fic is def not the end/entire scope of that conflict.

#hellsing ultimate #hellsing #alutegra #alucard #integra hellsing #ask games #I have not like actually actually thought about this ship for a bit but this was fun! I like doing commentary type stuff #I don’t *love* some of the prose choices anymore but I think it generally holds up okay #i ramble sometimes #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared #*writer's cap*#a string of words #long post

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bethhiraeth · 2 years

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Surviving High School English- A Guide

We've all been there: It's the night before your essay is due and you haven't even cracked open the book. You are staring down at a blank word document.

English can be a very hard subject, particularly if you are taking it at advanced levels such as IB or AP. English happens to be my favourite subject, so I thought I share a secret:

99% of English is bullshit.

So, I suppose this post is simply a guide to bullshitting effectively. I am going to focus on English, but it can be applied to other humanities subjects like history as well.

Sparknotes and LitCharts are your best friends.

I get it. Reading is hard. I personally love to read, and always try my best to reads the books for class, but I get that that is sometimes not possible. So just jump onto Sparknotes or LitCharts. Both have full summaries of most classic books, and a lot of popular contemporary books that are used in schools. The page for each book also has chapter-by-chapter summaries, character breakdowns, analyses of major themes and motifs, and even essay ideas.

Seriously. Use them.

2. Audiobooks

I love audiobooks. I get at least half my reading done through them. I like using Audible the best (no affiliate link. I just love it!). You can get your first audiobook free, and they have a whole catalogue of books that are included if you are a member. Seriously, normalise audiobooks. They have saved my ass so many times when I have had to read a big book in a short amount of time. The best thing about them is that you can listen to them while you do other things. Doing chores, driving, making dinner, even going for a run. And if you have dyslexia, it will be a lifesaver for you.

3. Know a few things, but know them well

Do a close reading of a few chapters. Know examples of one motif by heart. Having vague knowledge is no good to anyone, least of all yourself. Hone in on a few key points, and know them inside and out. You can afford to do this in English. Again, Sparknotes and Litcharts are great for this. Choose one theme, and read their page on it. It's as simple as that!

4. If your text was set in/ published in a different time era, do some very basic research on that period

For example, Of Mice and Men (a great book, btw) was both published and set in the 1930's. It is set in California. This is important because many of the story's main themes and motifs are based around this. The themes of the American Dream and minority rights are very prevalent throughout the book. Steinbeck was trying to make a statemnt. And if we didn't know the social context of the time, we would not be able to analyse it. So do your research, even if it is very basic

5. If you are not sure, it is probably a reference to the Bible, or Shakespeare, or Greek Mythology

Literally. Give me any classic book, and I could point out a hundred references to these three. Your English teacher will certainly give you extra points for picking up any allusions of this sort. Once again, on both Sparknotes and Litcharts, most books have a page dedicated to the literary allusions present in them. Use. This.

6. Utilize Tumblr

It sounds silly, but you are much more likely to remember what happened/major themes if you read them from shitposts. Engage people with discussions! Talk about your thoughts on the book, ask them for theirs! There is a very good chance that practically every book has been fandomised on this hellsite. I recently had an incredibly interesting and insightful discussion about the phenomenon of Sherlock Holmes and its effect on modern fan culture. Wouldn't that make a great essay?

7. If you can find any evidence whatsoever, then to your English teacher it is good enough.

If you can successfully argue a point, then you will do well on your essay! Anyone seen that post about the person who wrote an essay that Hamlet was partially blind, and they ended up getting a really high mark for it? That is what I am talking about! Argue that Jay Gatsby was gay, that Sherlock Holmes was autistic and that Dorian Gray had ADHD. Write a whole essay proving that George was in love with Lennie or that Heathcliff is a werewolf. Claim that everyone in Pride and Prejudice is an alien. I don't care (although I would love to read the alien one!). Seriously, I have talked to my English teacher about this: as long as you can find evidence and defend your claim, it is true in the eyes of your teacher.

8. Actually listen in class

I may just be lucky, but every English teacher I've ever had has supplied the class with a lot of the information above, such as the historical context of the story.

9. Start early and over-outline

If your essay is an assignment and not an exam, my advice is to start as soon as you know what the task is! Even if you write the title, and start mulling it over in your head. Write down any ideas you have immediately, take quotes from the book, the author and even others. Once you have your ideas, outline, outline, outline! This is my greatest advice for any subject you need to write an essay for! Don't make the outline rigid, but put down all your ideas. Be silly with it, using abbreviations and swear words and memes. Just get your points down. This fights procrastination too, becuase you think you are only outlining. Once you have everything out in a rough order, all you have to do is open up a blank document and put it into formal and pretentious language. I usually find that if my outline is a bit less than half my word count, then I will be good to go once I have typed it all up. The ratio might be different for you. See what works.

And there you go! You have just written yourself a world-class essay with all of your knowledge of the book! I'm so proud of you!

I hope this has been helpful. These are the ways I personally work. If I think of anything else I will add it on.

Happy reading! (Or Sparknote-ing lol)

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midwesternnerd-asoiaf · 10 months

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The History of Westeros: the Chronology is Wrong!

The Citadel is said to have been founded by Urrigon Hightower, after the death of his brother Peremore “the Twisted” Hightower. These two were grandchildren of Garth Greenhand, the supposed first king of the First Men.

This… makes no sense whatsoever. Here are a few reasons:

- House Hightower is named after the High Tower itself. This means that without a high tower, there is no House Hightower. The Hightower is, over and over again, said to be a beacon for ships, but the First Men were not seafarers. Some maesters hypothesize that Oldtown itself began as a trading post for vessels from the Summer Isles, Old Ghis, and Valyria. I find this… unlikely. Westeros at the time was a backwater at the edge of the world, probably not worth the journey for most trading vessels. Basically, the Hightower as a building would not have been built until the arrival of the seafaring Andals, therefore House Hightower would not exist until after the arrival of the Andals.

- At the Citadel, the meaning of most First Men runes is disputed. If the Citadel had existed during the days of the First Men, then their organization would have known these meanings upon the arrival of the Andals. Essentially, if maesters had existed at that time, they definitely would have documented these meanings. It’s fair if they hadn’t documented before the arrival of Andals; the meaning of runes is something everyone would know. But with the cultural mixing in the Andal invasions, and Andal maesters joining the citadel, this would have been written down so that the Andals would have this vital cultural context. Since the maesters didn’t write down the meanings of runes, we can only assume that maesters did not exist until the meanings of runes faded from cultural consciousness. Again, this suggests that the maesters did not exist until after the Andal invasions.

- The Maesters have EXTREMELY inconsistent dates for the Andal invasions. Anywhere from 5700 BC to 1700 BC. This is frankly concerning, considering the fact that maesters are the keepers of histories in Westeros. The fact that the maesters don’t know when the Andal invasions were, means that their order was established after the invasions. Considering the maesters are unsure of the dates, the very earliest they could’ve been established is a while after 1700 BC

- The earliest event in Westeros that has a solid date, is the Rhoynish migration. Even then, that date isn’t as solid as we’d hope, considering it was “about” a thousand years ago. Granted, we could easily say that Yandel had the exact date, and wrote an estimate for convenience. The maesters have a date for the Rhoynish migrations, meaning that the Citadel probably existed at that time.

What does this all mean?

The Citadel was most likely founded sometime between 700 and 1700 BC, and at the later end at that. Let’s assume it to be 700 BC, just before the arrival of the Rhoynar. This is the safest possible estimate, given the information we have on dates.

This means that any dates before the Rhoynish migration, and possibly some after, are completely untrustworthy, at least coming from the maesters. In fact, the timeline of the history of Westeros could completely break down before the Rhoynish migration. Lann the Clever and Joffrey Lydden could’ve been the same person. Artys Arryn could ACTUALLY BE the Winged Knight. Hot Pie could be an immortal time god!

Maybe not that last one, but you know what I mean.

#a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #asoiaf theories #asoiaf theory

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flowerandblood · 6 months

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I didn’t “lay down rules for what fanfic is and isn't”, I gave a definition of fan fiction which is the basic one. But anyway, my point of the message was quite clear and I just wanted to share my opinion with someone who decided to write a fic about a character that appeared for seconds in the trailer so the interpretation of said character is based solely on vibes. So for now until Saltburn doesn’t premiere in the cinemas, it’s just taking Ewan’s face and two lines he said and writing (probably a smut) a story without any context whatsoever. The difference with his other roles is that we know about his characters, the world they live in and what those characters’ roles are in the story so we have a solid ground to base our fics on, here we have basically nothing. I just thought I could have a conversation with you about that. However I sense that we might not understand each other well so I’ll leave you to it. Many people will surely eat your fic up regardless of my opinion so I won’t bother you further ✌🏻

I still don't get why writing something like that: I see movie, see 1 minute which he is in still knowing shit about him, wrote smut and I'm great fanfic writer is 💥💥💥😇😈😈 like right, in this one minute we will get his jokes so you can use them between angst which for sure will make writing smut more interesing.

What I did is I just came up with his backstory which I assume we won't get anyway, but yeah, I decided to not to publish it, so problem solved, kisses, topic closed 🔒

#topic closed

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toonbly · 6 months

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❤️ + 🍀 for nathan and/or eddie?

i can do both!! :3

❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?

Nathan - nathan's a cynical guy but tbh i think he'd have a hard time CHOOSING a favorite memory of his. the day joey was born, the first time he ever spoke to a ghost, any antics he dragged wilbur into-- for someone who REALLY wants you to think there's nothing to him but rot and vile, nathan has a lot of soft memories he treasures

Eddie - i cant actually answer this because of spoilers! but let's just say it's funny how it just keeps happening.

🍀 - What originally inspired the OC?

OH GOD LOL THIS IS A WHOLE BACKSTORY WITH BOTH OF THEM

so people who followed me in 2020-2021 know i was REALLY into hlvrai and freeman's mind and made a high fantasy au with their casts, including my version of freemind (who i called "nathan" to differentiate from hlvrai gordon) and his friend eddie. my versions of these characters in this AU were so fucking far removed from their canon selves-- like seriously, they only really shared names and faces-- so after i fell out of these fandoms i kinda just...took nathan and eddie and kept using them as OCs until they were completely separated from half life in any context. like genuinely i dont think i ever wrote freemind in character, which tbf to me was bc my version of freemind was kinda separate from canon due to its insensitive content, but still he was basically an oc from the start lol

this eventually got combined with all the inspirations for ferrymen in general and theres NO resemblance to any of this shit whatsoever now HFKJHSDKJFHSDFJK

OC Ask Game!

#ferrymen talk

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septembersghost · 2 years

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i know actors need jobs but ana wasn't struggling. she took this role because she's well aware of how iconic marilyn is and she didn't care about the fact that this fictionalized take of her life is pure and simple torture porn. she should be ashamed. not only of that but actually saying that marilyns ghost approved of this shit

i was just reading a thread earlier where someone brought this exact topic up. i was trying to give ana some leeway, until the full scope of what this movie contains was revealed, plus her own comments, and, even more damningly, the director's. because she worked on the film with this man. he shaped and guided the whole process - and he has NO respect for marilyn as a human being whatsoever, and has made it abundantly clear that he wanted to make a sensationalized, gratuitously graphic film to do nothing but abuse marilyn to death. he said he doesn't see anything positive in the story. he's not only narrowed her down to her suffering and death, and decided that's all there was to her, he heaped fictional horrors onto her. what exactly was he providing on that set other than to encourage this exploitation?

and ana, with full cognizance, read this script, and thought, sure. did she really think it was somehow honoring her? it's what's said in this post after some of ana's comments:

she apparently didn't know much of anything about marilyn when she took the role, but then threw herself into researching her, which honestly makes it worse for me, because i don't know how you can read anything marilyn ever said or wrote, read about anything she dealt with, and still go through with portraying her like this. idc if she though it'd be acclaimed awards bait, exploring one single interview with marilyn should have been enough to tell her how disrespectful this is. then, to go to marilyn's grave (the resting place she didn't even want) and ask "permission" to desecrate her, to invoke marilyn's ghost and say she in any way would've approved and been with them on set, to have the audacity to say she's upset the nude/assault scenes will be taken out of context when she knew what they were doing and didn't give that respect to the subject? girl, what?

furthermore, and this is the part of the movie i've been avoiding discussing, but, there's zero evidence that marilyn ever had an abortion, though there's ample evidence of her miscarriages and her ectopic pregnancy (which itself could've killed her), how much she longed to be a mother, and how not being able to have a baby broke her heart. they took this, twisted it in the most vile way possible, fabricated a forced abortion, putting the camera in the pov of her cervix, depersonalizing her body and in essence assaulting her via the camera lens, having a fetus not only speak to her from her womb, but continue to haunt her in the film. in the year when roe v wade was overturned and women are fighting for their reproductive rights, and they release this. she really had no second thoughts about this? didn't grasp its implications at all? didn't see how invasive it is? how socially tone deaf in a broader sense?

from the nyt:

as you said, it's basically torture p*rn, a dramatized snuff film exploiting a real woman who was exploited more than enough when she lived, and it also has some of the creepiest misogynistic undertones imaginable, pretending to be symbolism. ana knew precisely what it was and signed on anyway, then tried to excuse it with mystical approval that does not, and would never, exist. much as my anger and disgust goes to the director, producers, and jco, i find it difficult to have any sympathy for her at this point either. what's shocking to me is that no one involved in this entire production ever seemed to consider its two prongs - the social commentary, and the humanity of its protagonist. so what value does it even have?

#anonymous #letterbox #blonde #blonde 2022 #sorry for my fury about this entire thing yet again but you're right anon

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ladynicte · 1 year

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Never read TSATS or anything related to it(it’s part of Percy Jackson right?) but I still wouldn’t mind hearing your opinion on it if you have any to share. From what I’ve seen, the new book doesn’t sit well with most folks it seems. :x

Oh Anonnie, if you know me you know I love to talk non-stop about everything and anything so here I go

Putting this whole rant under read more so nobody who doesn't wanna see it has to

That makes two of us I haven't read the full book either and I don't really want to, but yes, it is a sorta side story I suppose that belongs in the Percy Jackson saga

If you are only seeing the opinions from my blog and my adjacents then I will confess a bit of bias because I don't like Will Solace or Solangelo as a whole, so yeah, maybe it sits well with actual Solangelo shippers (?) Who knows I don't go there

But yeah I have seen from the people I interact with that it wasn't exactly stellar writing

Take it with a grain of salt that I already didn't like the premise of the book and I'm not planning on ever reading it full but my opinion is that from everything I have seen it is so bland

Like Solangelo to me have always had the issue that their relationship feels like so sanitized, the whole time they speak to each other like they are trying to get a good grade on couples therapy and it's so grating

Second I don't like Will because he almost had no character whatsoever before the book and a bit on Trails of Apollo, and then now that he does have a character he just gets on my nerves, like for a kid dating the literal prince of the underworld he sure loves to complain about it. I think I dislike how much Will doesn't seem to actually like Nico as much as he seems to only like the potential of what Nico could be

Plus calling him a liar who just didn't try to be liked enough before they got together isn't exactly the best move in my opinion but I digress

Beyond that I have such an issue with all the continuity errors, like that's always an issue with me, even with the original author making mistakes and then proudly exclaiming that he just didn't care and didn't remember, but at least with Riordan I can confidently say that he cares about the world and stories he's built over the years.

With this new author I just don't think they really care all that much about the Riordanverse as a general, and specifically I don't think they care much for Nico either.

He's super ooc basically the whole way through, coming out in front of everybody like he didn't hella struggle with his sexuality and the fact that everybody openly hated him a few months prior.

On that note I feel like all the pop culture references and weird jokes were just stretched so unnecessarily long and missing the charm of the original sagas.

Just as well I do know the author said he re read all the books before finishing the first draft but like honestly with how he just didn't care at all about any of Nico's prior relationships didn't touch on anything beyond what was happening on the book itself and didn't even mention his other most important people by more than name.

Yeah it's bad.

My issue is that besides all the corny writing that feels like it's purposely trying to teach you something all the out of time and context jokes and the characters and whatever I don't like

I really just feel like the person who wrote it doesn't care about Nico Di Angelo and his story on the Riordanverse and that really upsets me.

#i liked the bit about having children with nyx tho that was really fun #i wrote all this while getting my hair done in one sitting and its completely stream of thought so im sorry if some of it doesnt make much #sense #Luna's annonies #tsats spoilers

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