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solokabuto · 3 months

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So what are your Fate yuri rarepairs?

Thank you so much for asking!!! I treat fate women like immensely complicate barbie dolls i can roll around in my mind until they slot together in ways that make the deeply ill recovering catholic lesbian in me squeal so you may or may not notice some general themes, I’ll be including hcs and fic ideas in here because my brainrot is terrible rn so have fun with this:

Dobrynya Nikitich x Morgan Le Fay

Now this is largely due to the fact that i noticed similarities in them (white haired mothers that are more than they seem and definitely not who they seem with fucked up daughters that have pink hair and pent up rage) and admittedly I’m not in Tungsuka sanctuary so I don’t have a vantage point on Dobrynya’s personality like at all outside of adorable fanart but they seem like they’d be cute. They’re one of those couples that would largely only exist in au’s where Dobrynya runs the daycare that Morgan drops Baobhan at or something. And the entire story is just Baobhan being terrorized while Dobrynya and Morgan make out in the background.

Okita Souji x Nitocris

That moment when you (living vessel for your brother’s vengeance who immediately committed suicide upon fulfilling your goal due to perceiving the cold embrace of death as warmer than the cruel clutches of your fellow man) come across another girl (a hollow mockery of a human being born and bred to slaughter without a care who relates better to broken bones, sinew, and blood than she does to living beings and can kill her friends at a simple order)and link up (have intense homoerotic discussions about death dying and purpose) over tea and wine (cups of literal blood) and fuck nasty (memento memori style)

Olga Marie Animusphere x Ereshkigal

If you haven’t read Afterlife by nd7878 and you have any form of attachment to Olga or Ereshkigal or see the similarities between the two please read it, it’s amazing and I love it so much it fulfills my Olga Marie cravings very well. Anyways i think these two are cute, like super cute like insanely cute and I’d like to imagine Olga would bring out the more forward and irritable side of Ereshkigal and the two would clash in a way that’s still friendly. I dunno she’d make eresh more lively and make Olga feel more loved. I really love afterlife, please read it.

Jeanne D’ Arc x Barghest

I just think the idea of a woman who already sees herself as an offering, offering herself up to a worthy warrior who desperately wishes to stop destroying things she loves to be incredibly interesting. Especially because in my mind Jeanne would probably have little issue with letting Barghest eat her regularly as long as she recovers decently enough. They’re interesting i have fic ideas for them i think Jeanne would enjoy being devoured gruesomely. The knowledge of having a set place for your body to go rather than being burned and desecrated just to be tossed into the river and washed away. I am far too invested in Jeanne D’ Arc. A part of me thinks she would enjoy having something resembling a proper corpse since she was torched to ash and thrown into a river rather than properly being laid to rest. I have vivid images of their entire routine can you tell u have been plagued by yuri visions for far too long?

Baobhan Sith x Galatea

You know how popular girls in hs always have that one girl that isn’t popular or important or really much of anything to a majority of the student body that they don’t play about? Yeah that’s Galatea to her. They hit it off over sculpting because Baobhan has a general affinity for art that includes her love of fashion and eventually they become friends which is incredibly strange to Baobhan because she is deeply unused to being cared for and loved by anyone that isn’t her mother and even then the way she goes about it is very much not like her mother (it’s okay Morgan you tried sweetie). I just think it would be nice to see Galatea slowly help Baobhan build a healthy relationship with love, loving and being loved. They’d be cute. I also think Galatea would find having her blood sucked to be an interesting experience considering she probably finds the fact she has blood to be quite novel.

Merlin (Prototype) x Morgan Le Fay

With benefits. I don’t know what to call their relationship so they’re just with benefits. Morgan would just vent out her frustration on her while Merlin just takes it because why the hell not, being half-succubus has its perks. Additionally, she’d rely on Merlin to have a few moments of complete thoughtlessness and freedom from the stress and general fuckery of Faerie Britain by just allowing herself to fall for the effects of her beauty. Honestly it’s more so method of relaxation for Morgan then a genuine relationship but I think it’s interesting. They probably have insane conversations about the world that usually end in Morgan forcing her to shut up because she says something she doesn’t want to hear but isn’t untrue. Occasionally in moments of weakness Merlin will ask Morgan if she wants her to take her away to Avalon and leave this place for the faeries she hates so much, and Morgan will always refuse dispute herself.

#there are more #many more #by my brain is currently knee deep in Jeanne/Barghest bloody yuri so I can’t think of them #I hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoy being plagued by visions of them #fgo #fate grand order #baobhan sith #barghest #morgan le fay #dobrynya nikitich #jeanne d'arc #okita souji #nitocris #galatea #um are there more #olga marie animusphere #omg I’m so sorry for forgetting you pookie #I have delivered the Yuri #merlin (prototype)

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himehikoshrine · 5 months

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Lore: Izayoi - 誘宵 - Invitation Evening

The image is of the moon, as shown during the test of courage at the church and as the background for the Mary Jane scenes that take place at the chapel in the play. It is shown as just a little past full.

Jack Jeanne's lore is scattered all over the place, and much of it seemingly doesn't show up in the game proper at all. This is one of those things, but it feels like an important piece of a puzzle I'm not sure actually can, let alone is supposed to be, solved. But it's fun to know the superstitions (and potentially more) around town. So here's one I find particularly intriguing. Inviting, if you will.

The source for this is the pre-release short stories on the website, which you can read for free, if you read Japanese. Specifically, it's found in section 4 of Kisa's story, which you can read [here]. There will be light spoilers for Suzu's chapter of the Summer Light Novel, and the test of courage on Fumi's route, and major spoilers for something towards the end of Kai's route in addition to that.

To summarize the scene, Suzu, Soshiro, and Kisa are in the library talking about an assignment from Tagane on analyzing some part of an old Tamasaka play. After Suzu leaves, Kisa tells Soshiro there's a specific word she doesn't know and hasn't been able to find much on. As they're discussing this, a shadow falls over the text -- Neji-senpai, here to drop lore, and be mysterious and also annoying.

The word is 『誘宵』 - written with the characters, Kisa notes, for "invitation" and "evening".

Through the conversation, he reveals that the word is unique to Tamasaka - not the troupe or stage, but the town. He says it's pronounce as 「いざよい」 Izayoi. Soshiro recognizes the reading of it, with some prompting, as the traditional Japanese word for the 16th day of the Lunar Cycle. The traditional Japanese calendar is lunisolar, and has unique names for many days, months, and parts of months. It would be written as 「十六夜」.

But within Tamasaka, they use 『誘宵』 instead, a pun, in that the characters can be read the same way. It's based on a superstition that, on the 16th day of the lunar cycle, the one that follows the full moon, people tend to disappear, as if they've been invited by something. The superstition also posits that the more worried someone is of these "invitations" the more likely they are to vanish.

Neji says Tagane must "still have good taste" for giving them a play with this word in it.

You can read my very shaky and probably badly done machine assisted translation of the section [here]. If this gets translated by someone more competent with Japanese and translation, I'll try to remember to edit this and give you something better, but for now, you can read more about Neji being... like that.

There seems to be potentially another play, Tearful Kanzashi, with this word, or at least where the climax takes place on the same night of the lunar cycle, discussed in the Summer Light Novel chapter titled the same as the play. This play itself gave rise to yet another local superstition or custom, based on the play, of women leaving a Kanzashi in a tree by Himehiko Shrine, in hopes of being reunited and able to live with their lover, even if only in their next life. In Tearful Kanzashi, the woman does this before throwing herself off a cliff. On the 16th night of the lunar cycle, on Izayoi.

The particular pre-release short story in question seems to, maybe, also take place on this night, judging from other sections. In 2020, the year the calendar suggests the game takes place, Kisa's birthday also seems to be on Izayoi. In the novelization, Towada specifically mentions a day being the 13th day of the cycle, lining up with 2020 as well. Kisa notes it's almost a full moon, before thinking about her brother.

Worth noting that the day of the test of courage, where the moon shown above the Chapel is barely waning, as it might on Izayoi, does NOT line up with the actual moon phase on that night in 2020. Maybe it's just for the static backdrop, which will also be used in Mary Jane (which I can see Neji wanting to be this moon, since he knows this superstition well).

Or maybe....... nah... right? Right?

I mean it's not like Fumi, during one of the routes on test of courage, points out the moon specifically. No way that's the route were Kisa follows a light somewhere and just vanishes before Tummy, who's supposed to be a town away, 'kyui kyui-s' her back into reality.... Right? R-right?

Oh... it is you say? That's exactly what happens?

I mean maybe if, also, the part of Kai's route where Kisa loses her entire mind, follows a voice into the woods, thinking it's her brother, and almost dies, also just so happened to take place on the day after a full moon--

It DOES you say? January 29th, 2021 was, depending on your calculation of it, the day after a full moon? And the game explicitly calls attention to it?

Right before Kisa is...

"Invited" as it were. And almost gets lost up in the mountain?

Yeah, I think this puts it beyond "Just a coincidence," don't you?

[ if for some reason the alt text descriptions don't work for the above images, they are all of the scene on Kai's Route on 1/29 with Kisa outside the school. The first two read, as said by Kisa "Ah, the moon is out. Is that...A full moon?" and "Not a full moon..." The third one is an unknown voice, shown as three question marks, saying "Kisa..." ]

But perhaps because the lore isn't actually in the game, and they forgot to tell the localization team, the full EN translation of the scene ends up getting the moon phase wrong. It accidently reads "No... It's not exactly a full moon yet" Where the JP reads 「・・・違う。少しだけ欠けてる・・・。」 Which translates to "No... a little bit is missing." Both work for the observation Kisa makes about comparing herself to her brother, so long as you've caught on or know that "Tsuki" is the word for moon by now (Not quite a full 'Tsuki' and 'a little bit missing from a full 'Tsuki') But the EN totally changes what day it is on the Lunar Calendar. Not that the lore is easy to find for it to matter to anyone but me.

And maybe, just maybe, you, too now.

Also interestingly, the original reading comes from almost the opposite place, from an archaic word and reading for 'to hesitate - 猶予いざよう that is no longer in use. This isn't mentioned anywhere in the game or side material, I've just been losing my mind a tiny bit.

If anyone can find a site that actually lists out which days are considered the 16th day of the lunar cycle, as astronomic websites don't include the cultural calculations of which day to assign which, which varies in every different lunar calendar on earth, I'd really appreciate it, I'm struggling to find one. Japanese wikipedia has a whole section on how it's calculated -- I think from google translate its noon in Kyoto? But an actual calendar would be more helpful. For example, I can't figure out if New Year's Eve in game is also one, but it may be. Same with the Univeil Performance, actually? Though that might be a day early instead. I'm saying Kisa's birthday is, because Towada specifically called the 5th of April the 13th day of the lunar cycle.

If there are any other events that you think fit into this bit of never-mentioned lore, please let me know! Nothing directly comes to mind off the top of my head, especially since it'd have to be an event that can only happen on one day, and in the evening, but at this point I wouldn't entirely put it past this writing duo to put some in RNG events, which is why having a more definitive list would help.

#lore hunting #jack jeanne #my posts #meta #izayoi #there are many posts to make going through the test of courage #but like idk maybe put this IN THE GAME???#no? okay then I guess I'll just have to keep hunting #like this is some soulsborne game or something #anything else you wanna tell the class light hearted theater otome game jack jeanne?

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twistingtreeancestry · 4 months

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I partially translated a French record from 1711, and I'm proud AF.

A top contributor in one of my genealogical groups on Facebook posted a baptismal record image yesterday. I saw it this morning, and the name rang a bell. I checked my tree on FamilyEcho and, sure enough, I have an 8th great-aunt named Marguerite Brun. I have no personal information about her, only basic familial information.

Image Description: A wooden easel pad stands in the center with an unlined notepad flipped open and draped over it. The title is "What I Do Know" highlighted in violet-red, followed by a list of relatives of Marguerite Brun highlighted in deep mauve.

Mother: Marie Anne Pellerin; Father: Abraham Brun; Maternal Grandmother: Jeanne Savoie; Maternal Grandfather: Etienne Pellerin; Sisters: Marie Madeleine Brun, Marie Josephe Brun, Marie Anne Brun; Brothers: Charles Brun, Joseph Brun; Maternal Stepfather: Laurent Doucet Sr.; Maternal Step-sisters: Marguerite (Doucet) Breau; Maternal Step-brothers: Michel Laurent Doucet, Laurent Doucet Jr.

Image from BeFunky stock images. Edited by Keekee Smith with BeFunky.

— — — — — — — — —

The baptismal record could be about my 8th great-aunt, but for the sake of certainty, I need to translate the record. The issue is that I haven't spoken, read, or written French in 15+ years and instead began attempting to learn Spanish. I wasn't confident in my ability to translate this, especially since the handwriting of old is notoriously challenging to read anyway.

Thankfully, my experience with reading old, handwritten records and my rusty French pulled through to help me transcribe/translate nearly half of the document. I'm confident of the bulk of the translations, but I'm definitely unsure of a few.

At any rate, I'm proud of myself for what I accomplished with this document, and it helps me to feel more connected to my language, culture, and roots.

Image Description: A document page with faded lines and cursive handwriting in black ink. "1711" and "Marguerite Brun" are scrawled in the left margin. The main body of the document details a baptismal record written in French. The document was signed at the bottom by two individuals.

Image provided by J. D.

— — — — — — — — —

1711 - Marguerite Brun The 9th of January 1711 __ __ __ __ (fruits?) __ __ has(?) Port Royal __ baptise with __ ce- remonies __ __ __ __ cha- pel of St Laurent of haut de la Riviere __ __ __ __ Port Royal __ __ __ Mar- guerite Brun __ __ girl(daughter?) of Abra- ham Brun and Marie Pellerin __- __ __. __ __ __ __ godfather Pierre LeBlanc __ __ godmother Magdelaine Pellerin __ of Pierre __ __ __ __ __ __ __ the __ __ the __ __ __ __ __ __. The godfather and the godmother __ declare(?) __ __ __. F. Justi(__) Duraud(?) __ __

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dfartproject · 1 year

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A woman under the Influence of the Organic. By Marie-Jeanne Avgerinos What I am trying to #express depends on the #moment when I initiate a #specific work, my state of mind at the time. I may be triggered by something I have read, an #image, an #encounter… So according to the moment, I shall #express things differently, and generally speaking, my work is influenced by #organic aspects. I have always been #captivated by works representing #metamorphosis and #hybridisation, from #prehistoric times, throughout the history of art. The #figure operates in two ways in my work – firstly informally and #unpredictably. In this case, I try to #emphasize and #encourage the #vision I perceive as #emerging within a #speck or a blot, for example, which gives the figure less of a structured #character. Secondly, I also engage in live #drawing and in this case, try to adhere more closely to the #original form. Belonging to an #artistic #collective provides me with an outside #gaze on my work and helps me #benefit from an organisation capable of #promoting this work, in the sense that this #collective provides us with the relevant tools regarding #communication, promotion on social media and creation of #exhibitions. I hope that through this channel, I may come into in contact with other artists.” 🇫🇷 Ce que je cherche à #exprimer dépend du moment où j’amorce un travail #particulier, de mon état d’esprit à ce moment-là. Je peux partir d’une lecture, d’une image, d’une #rencontre… Donc selon le moment j’exprimerai des choses différentes, d’une manière générale mon travail est influencé par un aspect organique. Les œuvres qui mettent en scène les métamorphoses, l’hybridation, dès la Préhistoire et tout au long de l’histoire de l’art, m’intéressent. La figure intervient de deux façons dans mes travaux, soit de façon informelle, imprévue et j’essaie alors de souligner, de faire émerger la vision que je perçois dans une tache par exemple, ce qui donne un caractère plus déstructuré à la figure. Par ailleurs, je dessine aussi selon un modèle essayant alors de coller au réel. (at Paris, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoN2oGxr9Bi/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

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a-duck-with-a-book · 3 years

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REVIEW // Bone Gap by Laura Ruby

★★★★★

Before I get into my rant, here is my very quick review where I parrot what everyone else has been saying:

Beautifully written, Bone Gap is a refreshingly different YA novel with a hypnotizing narrative and fascinating characters. I loved seeing their stories revealed amidst the magical realism of the story. Bone Gap itself was a fantastic setting that functioned almost as an extra character.

TL;DR -> read this book!

I've talked before about how much I enjoy many of the retellings in YA in a previous review, and this book once again shows why this trend deserves more academic attention. For anyone who isn't aware (which I certainly wasn't until I got about 60% of the way through the book... oops), Bone Gap draws from the story of Hades and Persephone. The myth of how the goddess of spring came to be in the Underworld has been a popular story for millennia, and in the past few decades it has (rightfully) faced some not-so-favorable scrutiny.

// image: official cover art Melissa Castrillon //

Largely, complaints stem from the kidnapping and r*pe of Persephone in most classical versions of the tale:

"He was riding on a chariot drawn by immortal horses. The son of Kronos. The one known by many names. / He seized her against her will, put her on his golden chariot, / And drove away as she wept. She cried with a piercing voice, / calling upon her father [Zeus], the son of Kronos, the highest and the best."

Homeric Hymn to Demeter, translated by Gregory Nagy

As I mentioned in my Circe review, the "retelling" of older myths and folk tales is by no means new-rather, humans have been adapting the stories each generation was raised with to suit their new needs and values. Stories meant to teach young girls how to prepare to become dutiful and doting wives in arranged marriages to ugly, older, and perhaps violent husbands (think the traditional versions of Beauty and the Beast) become tales of headstrong women who want more for themselves and *gasp* know how to read! See this description of Belle from the 18th century version by Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beautmont, then compare it with the "misfit", not-like-other girls bookworm of the Disney movies:

"When they came to their country house, the merchant and his three sons applied themselves to husbandry and tillage; and Beauty rose at four in the morning, and made haste to have the house clean, and dinner ready for the family. In the beginning she found it very difficult, for she had not been used to work as a servant, but in less than two months she grew stronger and healthier than ever. After she had done her work, she read, played on the harpsichord, or else sung whilst she spun.

Beauty and the Beast, by Marie Leprince de Beautmont

The Hades and Persephone myth has similarly gone through the 21st century transformation, but, interestingly, by way of two very different paths-"Good Hades" and "Bad Hades". "Good Hades" makes the god of the Underworld a sort of feminist character who, in a way, rescues Persephone from the misogynist world of Olympus and mankind, allowing her to blossom (as it were) in his realm. He is respectful of her body and frequently asks for her consent. Hyperaware of the history of the pair's relationship, authors will often beat the reader over the head with the "see! he's asking for consent!" element, which I'm not one to complain about. Rachel Alexander uses the "Good Hades" approach in her Hades and Persephone series (which I highly recommend). While the "Good Hades" stories make him into a misunderstood, kind, and respectful love interest who we are meant to want to end up with Persephone, the "Bad Hades" ones take his persona in an entirely different direction. "Bad Hades" is conniving, evil, and almost always described in ways that disgust the reader: corpse-like, cold, oily. He is a villain who Persephone must escape from, a foe with no regard for her bodily autonomy and twisted views of love and authority. This is the path that Bone Gap takes:

“Don’t worry. I won’t touch you until you want me to,” he said, as if he should be congratulated for such scruples."

The trait that both of these trends share is that Persephone becomes an independent, active participant rather than a pawn in the game played by Zeus, Demeter, and Hades. She often takes charge of her fate, sometimes outmanoeuvring Hades or even developing powers that outmatch those of the other gods. While Ruby's Bone Gap and Alexander's Hades & Persephone series take opposite approaches in their interpretation of Hades, both give Persephone similar authority and liberation. Ruby's Persephone (SPOILER) maims her own face in order to force Hades to let her and Finn go (END SPOILER) while Alexander's is revealed to be (SPOILER) the "true" ruler of the Underworld and has powers over Tartarus that even Hades is intimidated by. (END SPOILER) The myth of Hades and Persephone can be a controversial one to approach-some readers won't even pick up a story if it is such a retelling simply out of principle. I've seen quite a few posts floating around which condemn every Hades and Persephone retelling, especially those with the "Good Hades" storyline, and I stringently disagree. Many of the myths, fairy tales, and oral histories we rewrite have problematic pasts that reflect the standards of the cultures they were told within. Modern retellings can further mold those same frameworks into new tales that instead show us our current standards. Bone Gap is such a beautiful and well-written rendition of the modern retellings trend, and I will just keep hoping that academic circles will start paying attention to the old stories finding their way into YA books.

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nighttimemachinery · 3 years

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✨ if you don't mind! Everything should be under my naomi's content tag 😊💖

Of course!! Also wow you’ve made so many posts - I did my best to go through, but these definitely skew pretty recent.

I haven’t watched the new SBTB yet, but this is very pretty!! Stood out to me bc it’s v well composed. (x)

I feel like this is so Julie, you really captured her vibe here. (x)

These are perfect pulls for Alex Claremont-Diaz!! (x)

Perfect Scydia vibes - knew it was them before I read the caption. (x)

Very cool that you made a Marie-Jeanne Valet post! I love a rare character! You also did a perfect job choosing images for this one. (x)

creators: send me ✨ + the link to your creations and I’ll answer with my top five favorite edits of yours!

#harper gets mail #ask box thing #betwecouldmakesome

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kaiju-emperor · 4 years

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d’Artagan (Saber) Character Concept

(d’Artagan servant outfit. Art by @angelicvangaart Thank so much for this amazing work! Please go give them your support)

One of the central characters of Alexdre Dumas’s classic ‘The Three Musketeers’. d’Artagan was a young woman, who dreamt of being a musketeer and traveled to Paris. There, she met the titular Three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The four would go on many adventures together, and d’artagan would come into her own as a great sword fighter.

d’Artagan takes the form of a woman in her mid twenties, with flowing locks of brown hair. Her usual attire is the leather armor and cape of her musketeer uniform. She wields a basket hilt rapier, a parrying dagger and flintlock pistol with deadly accuracy.

d’Artagan has an easygoing and ‘rougeish’ personality. She is ‘romantic’ in the classical sense of the word, having a deep sense of honor and manners. Her tongue, and wit are sharp, offering witty quips and jibes in and out of battle. However, she knows when the time for such things is over.

As a servant, d’Artagan is a master of the blade. She was more than likely one of the greatest swordmasters of her era. She strikes with precision, and finesse over brute force. Using diversion, positioning and superior skill to win over her opponents.

(Casual d’Artagan)

Parameters

Strength:C+

Endurance:B

Agility: A

Magic Power:C

Luck A+

Noble Phantasm:A

Skills

Charisma C+:Despite not being a leader, d’artagnan has a decently high charisma stat. Her personality is infectious and she has a way with words.

Riding B+: Like most musketeers d’Artagan was trained in the art of horsemanship. She even has some knowledge about sailing thanks to her travels

Magic Resistance B: Being a saber class servant, d’Artagan is granted a high level of magic resistance.

Noble Phantasms

Tous Pour Un: Musketeer’s Bond Rank B

A secondary noble phantasm to d’Artagan’s main one. Using this power, she can call on a phantom of one of the other musketeers. They infuse her with power, each one granting a different boon. Calling upon the power of Porthos, her Strength and Endurance stat increase, allowing her to clash with opponents physically stronger than herself. Calling upon Aramis grants her keen vision, and agility. It also summons Aramis’s trusty musket, which is a low ranked noble phantasm in and of itself. Finally, by calling upon Athos, the phantom of Athos will strike alongside d’Artagan, mirroring her moves, or defending her from harm. Allowing her incredible versatility in combat. As well as the ability to stand toe to toe with servants whose skill exceeded normal humans in life.

Un Pour Tous, Tous Pour Un: Oath Of The Musketeers Rank A

The full power and form of d’Artagan’s noble phantasm. It is a crystallization of her oath, and friendship with the other musketeers. A representation of their intertwined legend. By speaking the famous oath of the musketeers, d’Artagan creates a reality marble that is an image of the Palace Of Fontainebleau. Inside of the bounds of the reality marble, she summons the full forms of her three companions Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. All three of them are full servants in their own right and their parameters are on par with d’Artagan herself. As long as the reality marble is maintained, the four will fight together to defeat their enemy. It is here that the full power of the musketeers is seen. Within the space of the reality marble, things such as authority and divinity do not matter. All are equal within. Which allows the musketeers to harm divine beings despite not having divine weapons or divinity themselves.

FGO version

4* Saber

Deck

Passive Skills

Riding Rank B+:Increase Quick performance by 9%

Magic Resistance B: Increases own debuff resistance by 17.5%.

Active Skills

Charisma C+ : Increase attack party attack for 3 turns. from 8.5 to 17%

Un Pour Tous: Porthos: Increase own attack for 3 turns from 10-20% Apply Debuff Immune for 3 turns

Un Pour Tous:Aramis: Apply evade to self for two attacks. And apply sure hit to self and gain 10-15 crit stars.

Noble Phantasm

Un Pour Tous, Tous Pour Un: Oath Of The Musketeers Rank A, Type:Arts, Anti Unit

Deals 900-1500% damage to a single enemy that ignores defense. Overcharge Increase NP gain for 3 turns from 20-40% (activates first)

Dialogue

Summon

“I have answered your call, I d’Artagan shall be your sword and your shield. Hehe, sorry that was far too formal. Let me try again. I am d’Artagan, Saber class. *leans down to kiss your hand* “Enchante, My Lord/Lady. I hope my companions and I can serve you well.”

Level Up

“ Ah je me sens déjà plus fort!” (Translation:Ah. I feel stronger already)

Battle Start

En garde! Prêts? Allez! (Translation: On guard! Ready! Lets begin!)

Battle Start 2

All For One, And One For All! (Randomly said in French or English)

Attack 1

“Advance! Hah!”

Attack 2

“Attaque au Fer!”

Attack 3

“Doublé!”

Extra Attack

“Parry! Then...thrust!”

Hit By Noble Phantasm

“Gahhh I must...endure!”

Defeat

Ah! Tou...che.

First Skill Used

Transmettre mes amis! (Translation: Onward, my friends!)

Second Skill Used

Porthos! I need your strength!

Third Skill Used

Aramis! Grant me your speed!

Noble Phantasm Selected

“It is time, my friends!”

Noble Phantasm Used

“Let me show you, the strength of our bond, of our oath. The dream of our legend! All For One, And One For All! Athos! Porthos! Aramis! Fight by my side once more!”

My Room Lines

(If you have Jeanne d’Arc Ruler/Archer) “Mon dieu! Is that Jeanne d’Arc?! I was told stories of her as a child. It is such an honor to meet her in the flesh! She is truly as beautiful and radiant as I imagined.”

(If you have Chevalier d’Eon) “A fellow knight of France! It is a pleasure to meet someone who served the country as I did! To think that there would be future knights as lovely and cute as yourself! Hahaha! No need to blush!”

(if you have Marie Antoinette) *quickly bows* “I can tell just from your beauty and countenance that you are of royal blood. A future queen of France you say? So, I was right! I do seem to have a talent for reading resplendent beauties.”

(if you have Edmon Dantes) “That man... He has a dark aura about him. I feel the pain in his eyes. What must he have suffered to have such eyes?”

(if you have Astolfo) “I’ve been spending some time with Astolfo lately. They are quite the character. On the surface they seem quite strange and lack common sense. However, deep within they truly are worthy of being a paladin of the great Charlemagne”

During an Event

“It seems something exciting is happening out there, master. A festival perhaps? Let us go and see.”

Likes

“Things that I like? Hmmm. Wine, roses, books, and poetry. But the thing I love most, are women. Eh? That last one was obvious?”

Dislikes

“Dishonorable types. Backstabbers, traitors and the like. The worst types like that however, are the ones who make women cry.”

About the other musketeers.

“You want to hear about Porthos? Porthos was a boisterous man, always smiling. He had a hearty loud laugh. He was also a bit of a dandy. Always wanting to wear the latest fashions and look his best. I never knew a man who shined his boots more.”

“Aramis was a ladies man, through and through. Despite being highly religious he always seemed to find time for women. *sighs* More than once I caught him knocking boots with the nuns of various churches. But, despite all that, he was a good and stalwart friend, and he always respected when a woman was not interested in him.”

“Athos... Athos was... He was like a father to me. He was the one who taught me how to fight with a blade. I looked up to him, and loved him dearly. But, he was also a haunted man. I often found him drinking away his sorrows. Curse that Lady de Winter...”

Bond 1 “Good day to you my lord/lady. I hope you are doing well. I’m still trying to get used to this modern place. Its a lot to take in.”

Bond 2 “Walking among these halls of heroes, I feel like I’m back at the musketeer barracks again. Just without all the drills, haha!”

Bond 3: “I was not born a noble like the other musketeers. I was a simple farmer’s daughter. But I dreamed of being one despite all that. I remember arriving in Paris, my eyes wide with wonder, and head full of dreams. Ah, sorry, I’m rambling.”

Bond 4:”Hmm? You want to know more about my childhood? Well, there’s not much to tell. I was a farmer’s daughter, as I said. I grew up in the fields of France, milking cows, collecting eggs, milling grain and so on. It was a simple life. But I don’t think it was for me in the end.”

Bond 5(if male mc): “Master, I wish to offer my fealty again. You are my king, and I your loyal musketeer. You are truly a great and kind leader. I could not ask for a better lord to serve.”

Bond 5(if female mc): “Good day, my lady. I hope you’re well. I have something special planned for us today. I’ve arranged a rayshift to the rolling fields of France. A perfect place for a romantic picnic, oui?~ Shall we, my lady? There’s no need to be shy. Take my hand, ma petite fleur~”

Bond CE: “Note From The King”

Effect: “Party Quick, and Arts up by 10% “

“I remember that day. It was many years after my friends and I had drifted apart. I had been recognized for my accomplishments, despite my common birth. I was leading France’s forces against the United Provinces. During the Siege of Maastricht, I was reading a letter signed with the royal seal. I was to be made into ‘The Marshal Of France’ the highest honor I could ever hope to achieve. I can hear the ringing of the sudden gunshot that followed. The feeling of the musket ball piercing my chest... Blood leaked from lips and I felt my life ebbing. ‘Athos, Porthos, Aramis, adieu forever....’ “

#fate #fate series #fgo #fate grand order #the three musketeers #fate oc #servant oc

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clarasimone · 5 years

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From Patti Smith to Dany x Jorah

Do you ever feel yourself sliding down an exquisite stream-of-consciousness ?

I’ve just come home from a long stretch of road, for work, reconnecting with one of my favorite song of all times, Walking Barefoot, by the songstress priestess Patti Smith. A song I discovered watching Millennium (an angst-filled-to-the-brim distopic tv series if there was ever one !) in an episode devoted to Mary Magdalena, the feminist Dan Brown-inspired version of St.Mary.

Are you still with me ? (You know when you’re writing a post on Tumblr no one will reblog or even like ? ;-) But I can’t help myself. So listening to this amazing song anew, I found myself COMPLETELY connecting it to how Jorah worships Daenerys and how that ‘ship makes ME feel and connect to Ser Jorah. See the lyrics below...

DANCING BAREFOOT (Patti Smith)

(The song starts with the irrepressible devotion of J for D, and the unavowed love of D for J)

She is benediction She is addicted to thee She is the root connection She is connecting with he

(The chorus has to do with US, thirsting ladies)

[Pre-Chorus] Here I go and I don't know why I fell so ceaselessly Could it be he's taking over me? [Chorus] I'm dancing barefoot Heading for a spin Some strange music draws me in Makes me come on like some heroine (With the verses we go back to Dany x Jorah; etc)

[Verse 2] She is sublimation She is the essence of thee She is concentrating on He, who is chosen by she [Pre-Chorus] Here I go and I don't know why I spin so ceaselessly Could it be he's taking over me? [Chorus] I'm dancing barefoot Heading for a spin Some strange music draws me in Makes me come on like some heroine [Verse 3] She is re-creation She, intoxicated by thee She has the slow sensation that He is levitating with she

(Oh how I love this image above. If only, indeed, Dany would have known this bliss of carnal levitation in the arms of Jorah) [Pre-Chorus] Here I go and I don't know why I spin so ceaselessly 'Til I lose my sense of gravity [Chorus] I'm dancing barefoot Heading for a spin Some strange music draws me in Makes me come on like some heroine (The incantatory ending to the song inserts true obscure poetry into the lyrics but it SO speaks to me of the horror Dany went through after Jorah’s death... especially if she could have been pregnant with his child, a secret nonsensical late-canon wish of mine ;-)... and ends yet again with Jorah everlasting love and pledge for his Love and Queen)

[Outro] Oh, God, I fell for you Oh, God, I fell for you The plot of our life sweats in the dark like a face Oh, God, I fell for you The mystery of childbirth, of childhood itself Grave visitations Oh, God, I fell for you What is it that calls to us? Why must we pray screaming? Why must not death be redefined? Oh, God, I fell for you We shut our eyes we stretch out our arms Oh, God, I fell for you And whirl on a pane of glass Oh, God, I fell for you An afixiation a fix on anything the line of life the limb of a tree Oh, God, I fell for you The hands of he and the promise Oh, God, I fell for you That she is blessed among women Oh, God, I fell for you Oh, God, I fell for you

Below a fan vid made by someone who watched the Millennium episode but edited the song with footage of a live Patti Smith rendition

youtube

p.s. The song is actually dedicated to french artist and muse Jeanne Hébuterne... and even there I find traces of our tragic ‘ship...

Jeanne Hébuterne (6 April 1898 – 26 January 1920) was a French artist best known as the frequent subject and common-law wife of the artist Amedeo Modigliani.

On 24 January 1920 Modigliani died. Hébuterne's family brought her to their home, but she threw herself out of the fifth-floor apartment window two days after Modigliani's death, killing herself and her unborn child.[3][5][6]

(And didn’t Dany let herself tumble into madness after Jorah’s demise ? Didn’t she die and “soon rejoined” him after the battle of Winterfell ?)

Her family, who blamed her demise on Modigliani, interred her in the Cimetière de Bagneux. Nearly ten years later, at the request of Modigliani's brother, Emanuele, the Hébuterne family agreed to have her remains transferred to Père Lachaise Cemetery to rest beside Modigliani.

Her epitaph reads: "Devoted companion to the extreme sacrifice."[3]

(Can’t help but dream that the remains of Dany have rejoined those of Jorah...)

Below the braided Jeanne, shades of our braided Queen...

and her self-portrait below...

#stream-of-consciousness #Dany x Jorah #dancing barefoot #patti smith #Iain Glen

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aliteraryprincess · 5 years

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Heart’s Blood by Juliet Marillier

Warning: Contains spoilers

Welcome back to Fairy Tale Friday! It’s been far too long. I need to get better about posting these regularly. Today is a special Fantasy December edition. What makes it special? I read Heart’s Blood as part of @books-and-cookies Fantasy December event. That’s it. Nothing about the content or format is changing. But hey, this event got me to post after several months, so that should count as special!

Anyway, today we’re looking at the first “Beauty and the Beast” retelling of this feature. Juliet Marillier is an author I just discovered this year, and she is amazing. The other two retellings I read by her were wonderful, and, as expected, Heart’s Blood was more of the same.

(Side note: can you believe I’ve never owned an illustrated copy of “Beauty and the Beast”?! I now feel like my parents failed me when I was a kid. So I had to settle for the rather boring first page of the story in my copy of The Blue Fairy Book. I think it might be time to buy some more illustrated fairy tales...)

As a Retelling:

Heart’s Blood is a fairly loose retelling of the fairy tale and actually has enough deviations and original content to stand as it’s own story. The most commonly known versions of the fairy tale begin with a father going on a journey and receiving the request from his youngest daughter to bring her back a rose. The father stays in the Beast’s castle on his way back and takes a rose out of the garden, provoking the Beast’s anger. In order to spare the father’s life, the Beast demands Beauty come live in the castle with him. This is a very far cry from the beginning of Heart’s Blood. Caitrin, our Beauty, is fleeing the abusive relatives who took over her home after her father’s death and comes to the strange settlement of Whistling Tor. Upon hearing the chieftain, Anluan, is seeking a scribe, she goes up to his fortress to ask for the job. She winds up in the garden and comes across heart’s blood, a rare herb that can be used to create purple ink.

The scene in the garden is one of the closest to the original fairy tale with the heart’s blood taking the place of the rose and Beauty herself interacting with it instead of her father. Though a rose is the most common item found throughout different variations, it is not the only one. In a Swiss version, the youngest daughter asks for a grape, and in a German one she asks for a “clinking clanking lowesleaf” (don’t ask me what that is; I don’t know). Anluan appears and accuses her of trying to steal the plant. As an abuse victim, Caitrin is afraid of his angry demeanor rather than his appearance, which I’ll discuss in the next paragraph. After this point in the fairy tale, the rose or other plant does not appear again. However, in many retellings the rose continues to play an important role, as you can see in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Robin McKinley’s Rose Daughter. The heart’s blood continues to appear throughout Marillier’s novel. It becomes part of a bet between Caitrin and Anluan on whether she will stay through the summer to finish the scribing job; if she stays, he will allow her to use the heart’s blood flowers to make ink. The plant also plays a vital role in the climax. I don’t want to say more than that to avoid spoiling the whole book.

Anluan is our Beast, but he is not very...beastly. “Beauty and the Beast” is an animal bridegroom tale, so the main character’s suitor is not human at the start of the story. The two most well-known versions of the story, one by Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve and the other by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont just describe him as a beast. However, other folklore variants have different creatures. A common one is a bear, featured most notably in “East of the Sun, West of the Moon.” Other forms include a horse, a serpent, and a dog. Anluan, on the other hand, is completely human. He is disfigured, something the people in the village believe is caused by the curse on his family. However, his disfigurement is unrelated to the curse. As a result, there isn’t the typical transformation one finds at the end of “Beauty and the Beast” tales. This isn’t unprecedented in retellings; McKinley’s Beast in Rose Daughter chooses to remain as he is, and the Beauty character in Angela Carter’s “The Tiger’s Bride” transforms into a tiger to match the Beast.

As you can guess from Anluan’s lack of animal form, Marillier has changed the nature of the curse from the original story. The curse in every variation of the tale is the Beast’s appearance. Many versions don’t go into why he’s been cursed. The Beaumont version mentions a fairy placing the curse, but doesn’t go into the details. The curse in Marillier’s book is a result of Anluan’s ancestor Nechtan, who used magic to bond spirits of the dead to him. These spirits, called the host, are under Anluan’s control, but only while he remains on the hill. When any of his ancestors left the hill, they lost control of the host and it ended in disaster. Knowing this, Anluan remains on the hill, isolating himself and causing ill will toward him in the village. We find out later that this loss of control stems from a curse laid while Nechtan performed the ritual to bind the host. It is a curse of 100 years of bad luck, sorrow, failure, and being haunted by the one who placed it. Once she finds out about it, Caitrin makes it her mission to find a way to reverse the binding spell. In the Villeneuve and Beaumont versions of the fairy tale, the curse is broken by Beauty falling in love with the Beast and agreeing to marry him. While Caitrin does fall in love with Anluan, it is not what breaks the curse. Caitrin puts a lot of effort into finding the way to sever the bond, and it is done through a ritual and a sacrifice by two members of the host.

Mirrors appear in many variations of “Beauty and the Beast.” Villeneuve mentions a hall of mirrors in the Beast’s palace. Beaumont’s, along with several others, involves a magic mirror that allows Beauty to watch her family while she is with the Beast. Marillier makes use of both concepts. Anluan’s fortress is filled with magical mirrors, two of which are important to the plot. The first shows her the events that occurred at the time the documents she is translating were written. This mirror is how Caitrin is able to piece together what happened with Nechtan 100 years ago. The second she finds in a tower that holds items of women who once lived in the fortress. This mirror functions in a similar way to the one in Beaumont’s tale. However, she doesn’t watch her family while living at Whistling Tor; she watches the people of Whistling Tor while she is back home. The mirror also works like this in the Danish tale “Beauty and the Horse,” and it shows Beauty an image of the horse dying. In the Villeneuve and Beaumont stories, Beauty sees the Beast dying in a dream. As in the Danish version, Caitrin sees a vision of Anluan dying in the mirror and sets off for Whistling Tor again.

My thoughts:

This is my favorite of all the retellings I’ve featured here so far. It’s actually the first of the Fairy Tale Friday books that I’ve rated 5 stars! I love Marillier’s writing and the way she weaves her stories together. All of her books are historically based even though they are fantasy. Heart’s Blood is set in Ireland as the Normans are starting to invade. Historical fantasy is a subgenre I’ve become very fond of in the last year, and Marillier is definitely one of my favorite authors of it!

Caitrin is a wonderful main character, and I really enjoyed her growth through the novel. She is the survivor of physical and mental abuse. While she did manage to flee her abusive home, she always feels she isn’t brave enough. She has a hard time speaking up for herself and easily freezes up in conflict. However, her time at Whistling Tor helps her find her voice again and speak up for what she believes in, even when it makes Anluan upset. When she returns to the town she’s from, she faces her abusers despite her fear and is able to regain her home. I also liked that she takes great pride and joy in her work as a scribe and that it is so ingrained into her personality. She examines everything through the eyes of a scribe, including handwriting and plants.

The romance between Caitrin and Anluan is excellent. If you like slow burn romances, this is definitely the book for you! One review called it “bittersweetly realistic,” and I agree with that. It’s a quiet kind of love story. They are both closed off due to past traumas, so it takes a while for them to get to know each other. They have misunderstandings and arguments. But both try to do what is best for the other, whether they agree or not. It’s a deep relationship that feels very real, and I think it makes for a beautiful story.

My rating: 5 stars

Other Reading Recommendations:

The starred titles are ones I have read myself. The others are ones I want to read and may end up being future Fairy Tale Friday books. To keep the list from getting too long, I’m limiting it to four that I’ve read and four that I haven’t.

Other Retellings of “Beauty and the Beast”:

Beauty by Robin McKinley*

Rose Daughter by Robin McKinley*

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas*

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter*

Hunted by Meagan Spooner

Bryony and Roses by T. Kingfisher

The Beast’s Garden by Kate Forsyth

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

More Retellings by Juliet Marillier:

Daughter of the Forest*

Wildwood Dancing*

Prickle Moon

About the Fairy Tale:

Beauty and the Beast: Classic Tales About Animal Brides and Grooms from Around the World by Maria Tatar*

Beauty and the Beast Tales from Around the World by Heidi Anne Heiner

The Meanings of “Beauty & the Beast”: A Handbook by Jerry Griswold

Have a recommendation for me to read or a suggestion to make Fairy Tale Friday better? Feel free to send me an ask!

#fantasydecember #aliteraryprincess fairy tale friday #heart's blood #juliet marillier #booklr #book photography #books #beauty and the beast #fairy tale retellings

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biandlesbianliterature · 6 years

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Lesbrary Link Round Up: October 19 - November 1

[image description: the covers of Sapphistries by Leila J. Rupp, Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu, Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory by Qwo-Li Driskill, When We Were Outlaws by Jeanne Cordova, and Queer Brown Voices: Personal Narratives of Latina/o LGBT Activism edited by Uriel Quesada, Letitia Gomez, and Salvador Vidal Ortiz]

Autostraddle posted

Our Sex Is Good: Kink Writing in the 1980s–1990s

“The Carmilla Movie” Is Everything We Wanted It To Be (And So Much More)

25 LGBT History Books to Add to Your Epic Queer History Reading List

Thank You Jeanne Córdova, Love Autostraddle Dot Com

Book Riot posted I Only Read Queer Romance and I Feel Great About It.

[image description: the covers of Like Water by Rebecca Podos, Tomboy Survival Guide by Ivan Coyote, Tarry This Night by Kristyn Dunnion, That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston, and A Line In the Dark by Malinda Lo]

Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian posted Five Queer Canadian Audiobooks for Your Ear-Reading Pleasure.

I Heart Lesfic posted Is Romance What Lesfic Is All About?

Women and Words updated their Hot off the Press and Coming Attractions page.

Ylva posted How Libraries Turn LGBTQ+ Readers into Ghosts.

[image description: the covers of Hanging on Our Own Bones by Judy Grahn, A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner, The Big Book of Bisexual Trials and Errors by Elizabeth Beier, Something Better than Home by Leona Beasley, and Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore]

Something Better than Home by Leona Beasley was reviewed at Black Lesbian Literary Collective.

The Big Book of Bisexual Trials and Errors by Elizabeth Beier was reviewed at Comicsverse.

Hanging on Our Own Bones by Judy Grahn was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend by Emily Horner was reviewed at LGBTQ Reads.

Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore was reviewed at Rich In Color.

[image description: the covers of Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant, Afterglow by Eileen Myles, The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill, Murder Under the Fig Tree by Kate Jessica Raphael, and Red As Blue by Ji Strangeway]

Afterglow by Eileen Myles was reviewed at the New Yorker.

Sugar Town by Hazel Newlevant was reviewed at Okazu.

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill was reviewed at Autostraddle and Just Love: Queer Book Reviews.

Murder Under the Fig Tree by Kate Jessica Raphael was reviewed at Lambda Literary.

Red As Blue by Ji Strangeway was reviewed at Okazu.

(Originally posted at the Lesbrary.)

For even more links, check out the Lesbrary’s twitter! We’re also on Facebook, Goodreads, Youtube and Tumblr.

Support the Lesbrary on Patreon at $2 or more a month and be entered to win a queer women book every month!

#queer books #lesbian books #wlw books #sapphic books

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creativitytoexplore · 4 years

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Astral Sex by Harrison Kim https://ift.tt/3kQA5cX Seventeen-year-old Matthew has an out-of-body sexual experience that gives him a new perspective; by Harrison Kim.

It's midnight, I'm in Bonnie's apartment, I'm seventeen years old and she's a mature woman who wants astral sex, she's lying on her back in her bikini underwear. I'm on my side, my stomach, I'm flipping like a porpoise. Bonnie's going for soul travel, the ultimate high, she says. I have a hard time holding back, viewing the sheen of her legs against the moon light from the window, "Matthew, we have to breathe in and breathe out slowly," she says. "When we hear a loud bang, that's when our souls leave our bodies, right through the middle of our foreheads." She continues "I've made physical love with many men, but this is a spiritual calling. If I get pregnant with astral intercourse, I'll be like Mother Mary," she laughs. "We're both spiritual sex virgins, Matthew. That's a real turn-on for me." "Pregnancy?" I pushed that out of my head. My teenage mind had room for nothing but lust.

We met as I rested by my bicycle outside Winfield Hall following my debacle premiere at the Okanagan composers' contest. I'd cycled a hundred kilometres to Kelowna, camped overnight in a baseball stadium in preparation for the event. I entered a song called "Throwback," about a small-town kid who because of his quirks and differences is doomed to work forever in a fast food restaurant. "We liked your song," Judge Simone Jeanne said in her written assessment, "Though it's not really our style." However, she invited me down to Kelowna, to the shindig in Winfield Hall. "Bring your guitar." "You'll have a chance to be completely on your own," my Mom said. "It'll be a character-building experience." At the time, I had no idea Simone offered this gesture out of misplaced politeness. I bicycled far above Okanagan Lake, on a curving road, my guitar balanced on my back carrier, apple blossoms falling, the scent of pine trees whirling on wind from the south. I hummed my contest song all the way, 'Throwback, get back, you're gonna work at doing dishes 'til you die." At Winfield Hall, I discovered all the other performers were classically trained musical experts. They played intricate original compositions on piano and wind instruments. I knew ten guitar chords, and couldn't change them very fast. Aged, jade necklace wearing Simone insisted I perform. "Let's give you a chance," she told me, her green rocks shining. "You've come all this way." The crowd of mostly older ladies clapped. "Presenting Matt Andrucci and his guitar." A slim short haired woman with cat's eye glasses and very short hair watched me. "Go on," she sang out as I walked to the stage with my twenty-five dollar instrument, its sides held together with beige duct tape. "Push out your energy." My energy did not push. After five minutes of sitting and tuning and retuning my patched up sound machine in front of the thirty or so attendees, I stood up, waved goodbye and stumbled offstage. "Just doesn't sound right," I shouted, sidling towards the exit, exhausted from riding and not getting enough sleep, disappointed in myself and my failure to launch. I heard a few polite claps as I slid through the door to the fresh air and folded myself down under a poplar tree. "I want to talk with you a moment," The cat's eye lady ran out after me. "I can tell you have spiritual potential." She appeared nervous and thin and she smiled so wide all her teeth showed up past the gums. "Okay," I said. "We can talk under this tree." "Like the Buddha," she grinned. "I'm Bonnie, also with a B. my favourite musical note." Through the half-open windows I heard the next performer beginning a Bach-like organ drone. Bonnie talked fast, the cadence in her voice moving along with the serious music. "I know intuitively who is my match," she said. "I know I met you before in a previous universe. Do you believe in previous universes?" I told her I'd read a couple of books by the Zen monk Lobsang Rampa who used to be an Irish Priest but he had some kind of astral cord soul fusion operation with a Zen Master's body. "It's surprising that his books are in the school library," I said. "I've read all Lobsang's books too!" Bonnie enthused. "It's hard to find anyone who knows about him. You must be quite a different type of boy." She was right. I didn't participate in team sports or school clubs or parties. My Mom said, "If all you do is sit around reading those weird books, you're going to end up a dishwasher."

Bonnie saw me cycling in up the hill as she drove in. "I sensed you as an old soul in a young body," she said, "such courage and leg muscles, to pedal so far from your comfort zone only to embrace disappointment." "My song was no good," I said. "It was about a nerdy boy stuck working in a fast food restaurant." "It was a true song," Bonnie told me. "I heard the recording, and it made me cry." "Really?" I said. "It sounded sad?" I looked at her face. There were lines and angles of chin and cheek. Bonnie wasn't sculpted flawless, like Sandra Washington, the girl at school I crushed on, Bonnie was kinda bony, her hair tucked round her rather large ears. Her rhythmic breathing drew me in; as she spoke she whispered, and told me compliments with every utterance, like, "You seem to have a knowledge far beyond your years, young man." How could she like me so much when she didn't even know me? "But I did know you," she said. "As my lover in a previous existence," she laughed out loud and put her hand across my mouth. "Don't say anything skeptical!" I didn't argue, it was rare to be so attended to, and now, a few hours later, here we were in her bed, her hand on mine, waiting for our souls to be set free with astral sex. She hummed a sound, "Huuuu," and again, "Huuuu," and began exercising her legs. I asked "What's that hum you do?" and she told me, "That's the highest sound in the Universe." "Is that higher than Om?" I asked. "I always thought that Om was highest." My mouth was so dry my words cracked. Bonnie's long legs moved up and down against mine. My eyes bulged. "'Huuuu' is the number one sound for soul travel," she whispered, and maybe it was that whisper of the hu, because I heard a bang, right from the top of my head. I'd felt shifts as we lay in the bed, my soul moving jelly like inside my skin, kind of a blue light shimmering atop my chest, but this was a very assertive pop. I'd wanted release so bad and now I floated outside my body, looking down at it lying there on Bonnie's bed. Bonnie stared right up at me, and then I heard another pop, more like a boom. A mix of light and dark shimmered out of her face, billowed up and formed a human shape beside me. "Hey, how's it going?" is what I heard and there was a lithe and much younger looking Bonnie floating right there. "It's just like when we met the first time," she said; she spoke telepathically, I didn't hear her words as much as see images. "Way back two thousand years ago." "I don't remember," I said. She did seem to be channelling Sandra Washington's look, in fact as I watched her she formed into a very close Sandra replica. "I can be anyone you want me to be," she said. "Is this good?" "It is," I said. "Who do I look like to you?" Bonnie laughed and merged her body with mine, her soul legs moving through my soul chest. Fuzzy blue sparks buzzed, we moved and slid up there in the astral plane, our souls lifted fast as elevators. I heard the tone of "Huuuu" all round me. Our bed shrank back as we burst through the apartment roof and tumbled together up beyond and above the lake. We merged again gazing down at the darkness below, parted by lights all sparkling along the town shore, until things blackened again along the dark tops of trees along the mountains.

That wasn't what I expected when we ate together earlier at Veggie Pro cafe. "I am really hoping Mike sees us," Bonnie smiled behind her wine glass and I asked "Who's Mike?" "That's my ex." "Oh," I said "What does he look like?" "You'll know," she said. "A guy with a ski-jump nose and a beard. He's boasting to me about all the young girls he's seeing. He's probably with one now." She smiled. "I want to show him I can do that too, with a cute young guy of course." I stood up nervously, headed to the bathroom to check my profile in the mirror and make sure Mike wasn't anywhere around. I examined my reflection, checked for pimples, then walked back to Bonnie, vigilant for bearded men. "He's not in the bathroom," I announced. "Mike always comes back to me." She took a big gulp of wine, and poured me another glass. "On his knees. You're never too young for Pinot Noir," she said. We ate gluten free vegetarian. Bonnie talked about her job as a music therapist. "I don't have all my credentials, but I have a few contracts. Would you like to come back to my apartment and hear my mandolin?" "I like the mandolin," I said. She asked if I had a girlfriend. I told her about my crush on Sandra Washington. "I can channel her," she smiled, and rubbed my foot with hers.

A few hours later, way up above the shimmering astral lake, Bonnie morphed into teenage form, appropriating Sandra's long black hair and shiny young skin. I took her into my soul, or so it seemed, we were bodies within bodies thrashing around in the heavens, the mountains rocking and the lake tilting all around our sexy universe. Then I discovered her on top of me in the bed moaning, her hands all down my back and shoulders, as I ran my fingers along her arms. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "The earth's moved back under us." But she kept moving, she did not stop. In my opinion all seemed well, here we were, on earth again doing it conventional style and at this time sex was all new to me, both the terrestrial and the astral versions. As we lay spent on the bed, Bonnie stated in a low voice "You're very grounded to the physical. You bought us back with your teenage lust." "I heard that sound, 'Huuuu'," I told her. "It was all down my stomach and legs." "Mine too," she said. "I think we may have reached the highest level, just for a few seconds." We rolled out of bed round five as the sun came up. As soon as I stood, my tiredness returned. "I'll drive you and your bike downtown," Bonnie offered. "We'll put everything in the pickup like yesterday." "I think I might sleep a few hours on the side of the highway," I told her. It felt like I wasn't truly in my body, that my soul still lingered up above the astral lake. I felt dazed all day, and pedalled the hundred kilometres back home like an automaton, where I slept twelve hours straight.

Back at school, I daydreamed all day through my classes, I couldn't stop thinking about the astral sex. Sandra Washington walked towards me down the hall. She handed me a note and the note said, "I dreamed about you." "That's great," I said, without smiling. She tightened her lips. "You act as if it's normal," she said. "I think you're a trifle conceited, Matthew." I couldn't tell her I had this soul merge experience, sex in the sky, sliding all over a thirty year old woman's body in a big bed; I looked in Sandra's eyes and imagined her as Bonnie. Daydreams of Bonnie counted now, how she bought me that "Huuuu," and the feeling of intersections and penetrations and the worthiness of being on display. I couldn't study or think; I didn't even know her phone number but I might perhaps remember where she lived. "Do you want a game of one on one basketball?" I asked Sandra, as she stood there and I held her note. "That would be okay," she said, "Except I've never seen you play the game." "I just want to play like a normal kid," I said.

I convinced my Mom I needed to return to Kelowna for a few days and talk to concert judge Jeanne Simone about music lessons. "I want to learn the mandolin," I told Mom. "You're pretty preoccupied these days," she replied. "I'll drive you there." "No no no," I insisted. "I'll take the bus and save you the time and inconvenience."

Jeanne Simone told me, "Bonnie's always been a bit different," but wouldn't give me her phone number. I spent all day searching for her apartment, wandering along the lake; the hours flew by. I absentmindedly gave ten dollars to a panhandler, then found I didn't have enough money for the bus home. I hitchhiked. I couldn't catch a ride all the way back so I slept overnight behind a 24-hour laundromat. I wasn't coping well with the real world. A number of months later I shopped in Kelowna's Orchard Park mall with my friend Keith. We stopped at a music store, spent time trying out all the guitars and synths. Then I saw Bonnie playing a dobro over in the string section, singing with a tall thin black bearded ski-jump nosed man. "Must be Mike," I thought. Bonnie stopped playing and stood up. I noticed a big baby bulge. "See that pregnant lady?" I said to Keith. "Kid could be mine." "Huh?" he said, his chipmunk shaped face turning my way. "That's the older woman I told you about." I said. "Bonnie. The one I had astral sex with." Keith stared for a moment. "Then It could be an astral baby," he stated. Bonnie glanced up, then looked directly at me. I pulled my cap way down over my face and sidled hunched over, creeping towards the door like I did at that concert where I never fit in. "Yeah, maybe the kid'll be another Jesus Christ," I said to Keith. As I passed Bonnie I tipped my hat and smiled large. "Hi," I said. "Do you remember me?" She shook her head and mouthed, "No." Mike stared. "Hi," he said. "Do I know you from somewhere?" "Oh, sorry," I answered. "I mistook you both for rock stars." Bonnie smiled, and played some more rhythm on the dobro. I followed Keith into the afternoon heat. My next dishwashing shift at Hannigan's Burger King began in a few hours. We had to drive back home so I could begin my work on time. "I won't be living my sad sack 'Throwback' life much longer," I told Keith as we hopped in his van. "That's not the actual world." "What is the actual world?" asked Keith. "The one Bonnie showed me," I told him. "Above in the astral, man." I glanced back. Bonnie played at the music shop window, looking away from the outside. "I'm going into music full time," I told Keith. "Well, you do play a few chords not too bad," he agreed. In about thirty years I'll know the holy truth about Bonnie's child. In the meantime, I'll be a dreamer shaping my own reality, practicing, playing, and trying to reach the stars.

#FICTION on the WEB short stories

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nadiaabueldahab · 6 years

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Arabic

Microphone: http://amzn.to/2xEa1fd

Talk Like an

Egyptian.

Egypt! Where according to wikipedia and other sources Arabic is the national language… but is that under threat? Find out more in Nadia Abu El Dahab talks about

Now this can be just like a normal thing, do you think we are transitioning to a different place? I’d love to know your opinions, as it’s hard to settle on mine mia fl mia. But here’s what I think.

Is arabic going to become a spoken only language? In Egypt.

Arabic, el logan arabeya, lately I’ve had a few questions about it. As a graphic designer, *officially* and as an observer I’ve recently come to notice too much English. Now if you don’t know me I’m Nadia Abu El Dahab, Nadia Jeanne Abu El Dahab if you want some taste of my foreignness, I was born and bred in England and my Arabic is makasar awwi w aslan kolo haga ana arfa 3ameya. What first caught may attention for me to make this video was mother’s day. Mother’s day fy shark el awast. 3id el om - عيد الام is unique to the Middle East and falls every year on March 21st? What I noticed, in Egypt was ‘Happy mother’s day fy kolo heat, I’m talking about, posters, billboards,

In an article I read recently by Peter Hessler for the New Yorker, the journalist explained how he was learning Arabic in Cairo. The article opened up a lot to me, about the history of Arabic vs the Quran, the books and articles debating the point that I”m bringing up which is Arabic being lost?

Now I can easily say, that it would be ideal and very convenient if my second country learns my mother tongue so it will save me any trouble in learning Arabic or writing a different dialect.

Orientalist is a word that I wasn’t aquatinted with before.

As designers, developers in the Arab region, you have the upper hand and the power to make Arabic more accessible,

Maybe older Adobe products (which fun fact that I found out in this article is that Adobe is from the Ancient Egyptian language) didn’t compute Arabic. But they are starting to. And type design is on the rise. (check out my article/interview with Gaber)

Not only this I believe that Arabic and the design of Arabic and calligraphy needs to infiltrate the rest of the world they need to be updated on this Arabic 2.0 update and download it because this (insert image of bad apparel) And they are making money off it xD la222 ana ayza el felous deyat, minfahs ento, feen el design work feyha. Actually I’m not great at type design in Arabic bas I know plenty of people so they’d get the money bas y3ani shway commission for me?

Reading in Egyptian Arabic?

Ways you can support and be an Arabic Egyptian.

Get into reading Arabic/Egyptian books/authors. (Mansour might not be with us any more (allah yerham) bas that doesn’t stop his books from being printed, also Egyptian authors can be born anytime. Check out these young budding book writers.

Write Arabic words in Arabic (sounds like a no brainer but who’s not guilty of that text lingo or Franco as you call it)

Ana andy so2al

aw kaza so2al

bas homa abor3an el logha arabyea

(side note if you don’t know me I was born w raised in England w English is my first language hence why my araby or marsry is makasra awii) (side side note one of my most popular videos is called ana in araby)

youm 21 maris youm eid el om fy shark el awasat

w ana figit info ana short happy mothers day fy kol heta, fy malls, fy compounds, fy akl, yani mist gowa akl y3ani fo2a, el decorations.

w dah eih bas fy shark el awat, malesh dawah fy engleze

this does bring up the so2al been westernization,

bas is Arabic uncool y3ani? aw eno el logia arabeya mish taught well fy madrassa,

sa7i7 there are international, futures, english, american, modern, schools, bas Misr andaha ah huuuuuuge popoulation, w el national language isssss arabyyy

W bardo araby fy typography w design is another element bas dat ah whoooole new video

bas don’t get me wrong ana all for engleze being used to promote egyptian products, ideas w content

Outro - thank you for watching my video, unless you just skipped to the end, which is weird, bas I really hope you liked it, w if you didn’t understand kolo haga isA you can go to close captions y3ani subtitles w hopefully understand what I was going on about xD

Salam

Camera I recorded my video on: http://amzn.to/2yyjYYh

Microphone: http://amzn.to/2xEa1fd

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victoriagloverstuff · 6 years

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Lit Hub Weekly: June 4 – 8, 2018

TODAY: In 1717, writer and mystic Jeanne-Marie Bouvier, one of the key advocates of “Quietism,” dies.

“The truth is that truth has always been a contested idea.” Salman Rushdie on the “multidimensional, fractured and fragmented” nature of reality. | The New Yorker

The New York Times recommends the best thrillers, cookbooks, romance novels, and more to read this summer. | The New York Times

“People have been saying forever, we live in a glut of images. I thought to myself, how would you tell that story?” A profile of Lynne Tillman. | SSENSE

“I wanted to watch the patriarchy go up in flames, but I wasn’t excited about what was being pitched to replace it.” Natasha Stagg on nightlife and dating after #MeToo. | n+1

“I wanted to be able to tell my story directly to someone without couching it in theory, history, the sociological . . . Why pretend I am worth more in some context? Why can’t I just tell my story?” An interview with Porochista Khakpour. | Tin House

“This was like running a marathon instead of doing a lot of sprints.” Catching up with Michiko Kakutani as she prepares for the release of The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump. | Vanity Fair

What would James Wood the critic think of James Wood the novelist? Christian Lorentzen considers both. | Vulture

“Who was America’s railroad king?” T. J. Stiles on the history of the rail. | The National

A profile of crime novelist Zhou Haohui, who worked as an engineering professor until 2007, when he began publishing, online, the trilogy that earned him a cult following in China. | The New York Times

“By her third month into the job, her disdain for what she was doing was outsize.” On Renata Adler’s brief stint as the New York Times chief film critic. | Bookforum

“If I live to be 80 (if humanity survives that long), I’ll be transparent and able to walk through my neighbors’ front doors, not just look through their windows.” Lauren Groff in conversation with Lucie Shelly. | The Paris Review

“I never did well in math, but I understand fractions better now.” Tommy Orange on what it means to be “Native enough.” | BuzzFeed Reader

Kamila Shamsie’s Home Fire has been awarded the 2018 Women’s Prize for Fiction. | The Guardian

“I didn’t want to write a book that leaned into the facts. I wanted to make the language itself part of what helped keep a person reading.” Rising author Elizabeth Rush on finding a new way to write about climate change. | Longreads

Books Not Bombs: how libraries, whose stacks supposedly “offered excellent radiation shielding,” prepared during the Cold War. | JSTOR

Anthony Bourdain has died at 61—read the New Yorker essay that started it all. |The New York Times, The New Yorker

Also on Lit Hub:

From cows to Nabokov to art school, 16 books you should read this June • 17 great writers on their favorite short story collections: Lauren Groff, George Saunders, Samanta Schweblin, Helon Habila and more • Paul Beatty talks on LA lit, The Sellout, and life after winning the Man Booker Prize • How train-hopping gave me my life back: poet Kai Carlson-Wee on the origins of his collection, RAIL • The last days of Robert F. Kennedy: Timothy Denevi on the radical compassion of an American icon • From Nobel Prize winners to canonical poets, 20 writers who’re still notoriously underrated • Peter Wohlleben turns his attention to the not-so-secret life of stars • A vigilante feminist terror organization meting out capital justice to #MeToo’s worst offenders? Does AMC’s new adaptation of Dietland take things too far, or not far enough? • From darkly adamant NO, to brightly urgent YES: 14 writers on whether or not to have kids • We, for one, do not welcome our new billionaire space overlords: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and the commodification of the void • Kristen Arnett doesn’t actually play a librarian on TV, but she totally could: On pop culture portrayals of the library, and how they’re getting. . . cooler? • When your childhood memories are slowly privatized: Caleb Johnson on the lost lakeshore of his youth • Elizabeth Alexander on Lorna Simpson: “Black women’s heads of hair are galaxies unto themselves. . .” • “I spent the first 19 years of my life defending my virginity!”• Hannah Pittard goes where many of us won’t: a conversation with her mom, about sex • Literary classics retold as two-panel comics: Grapes of Wrath = “Farming sucks. Road trip! Road trip sucks.”• Aminatta Forna digs into the truth about fiction vs. nonfiction • How Prince helped me finally feel seen: James Tate Hill on the multifarious legacy of an American icon • For Adrienne Celt, moving from her beloved apartment to a new home was like going through a bad break-up. So she drew about it • Emily Heiden visits an abortion clinic that wasn’t • On being a translator from Catalan • Salman Rushdie on his sister’s culinary genius: Sameen Rushdie’s home cooking comes to America • Surviving a Rocky Mountain winter in a horse barn, all in the name of writing • When one man has had enough: on documenting the systemic torture of the Assad regime • How did Los Angeles become a destination city on the rare book trail?

Best of Book Marks:

BookPeople’s Eugenia Vela on 10 Contemporary Classics of Children’s Literature by Writers & Illustrators of Color • Acclaimed novelist and screenwriter Anthony Horowitz spoke to Jane Ciabattari about five influential murder mysteries • Writer and critic Hamilton Cain on Sylvia Plath, Vivian Gornick, and the pleasures of being a roving reader • Ron Charles on Bill Clinton’s first foray into fiction, Jonathan Dee on Helen DeWitt’s intellectual unicorns, and more Book Reviews You Need to Read This Week • New titles by Lauren Groff, Tommy Orange, Dorthe Nors, John McCain, and more all feature among our Best Reviewed Books of the Week

New on CrimeReads:

Lit Hub Daily

Good read found on the Lithub

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