#the repairer of reputations

[confoundedpangolin]

started malevolent > heard something about the king in yellow (haven't gotten there yet in the podcast though but I do scroll through the tags) > decided to look up the book the king in yellow > it's free on google books > I decide to read it > very first chapter less than ten pages in there's already state-sanctioned suicide > me incredibly worried both for the podcast and the book

#malevolent #malevolent podcast #the king in yellow #the repairer of reputations

[tenebris-metallum]

Few more doodles of Hildred. Just because. Clothes are once again referenced from fashion plates from the late 1890s

#traditional art #doodle #cthulhu mythos #hastur #the king in yellow #the repairer of reputations #repairer of reputations #hildred castaigne #robert w chambers

[redacted-metallum]

It will never not be funny to me that Louis Castaigne is completely oblivious to the horrors. He's walking around in a completely different Robert W Chambers story.

He's expecting to have a bodice-ripping whirlwind romance with the Armorer's cute daughter, but instead his cousin reads a book after getting a head injury because his horse freaked it and the next thing he knows his cousin is trying to kill him and screaming about being the king of America and Louis is just like I THOUGHT WE WERE GONNA BE IN A ROMANCE NOVELLA WHAT THE FUCK? YOU WERE NORMAL YESTERDAY WHEN I WAS TALKING ABOUT BOATS

#revs thoughts #the king in yellow #robert w chambers #the repairer of reputations

[pureamericanism]

Whenever I've contemplated the recent Canadian MAID policies, my mind has inevitably wandered to Robert W. Chambers' justly revered weird tale "The Repairer of Reputations" and the Government Lethal Chambers that are such a key thematic element therein. I am not going to imply that the Canadian health services have fallen under the sway of the Yellow Sign (although...), but I've always noticed in reading and listening to other moderns' response to the story that there's important period context that gets largely missed. This is understandable - most people haven't read nearly as many fin-de-siècle and Edwardian era 'Scientific Romances' as I have, for the good reason that most of them are really quite bad.

But without historical context, it's easy to miss exactly what the alternate future New York City that the story may or may not be set in represents. It's a whole collection of relatively common Progressive era tropes representing peoples' hopes and fears about the immediate future, arranged in an optimistic (even Utopian) key. The obsession with civic beautification, the gleaming fleets of battleships that are almost an extension of the "good architecture [that] was [everywhere] replacing bad," the optimistic hope that race problems could be settled for all times and peaceably without any then-unseemly 'mixing' (Indian scouts! an "independent negro state of Suanee"! checking of immigration!), a militarism that's as much about pomp & love of regimentation as about actual wars, the "colossal Congress of Religions" that "laid [bigotry and intolerance] in their graves" and "began to draw warring sects together", a love of orderly centralization... This is all the sort of stuff that moderate, bien-pensant Progressives and Fabians of Chambers' day would have cheered on. Even the "war with Germany," involving an unlikely occupation of the Virginia coast, is an optimistic take on the Invasion Story subgenre that was becoming common at the time (the scars it left "had been forgotten in the joy over repeated naval victories, and the subsequent ridiculous plight of General Von Gartenlaube's forces in the State of New Jersey.") It's all of a piece, an expression of boundless Columbian Exposition optimism and faith in Reason and Progress to bring forth an Earthly Paradise.

And so are the Lethal Chambers. They are reasonable, and graceful, and beautiful, solutions to the problem of hopelessness. Reasonably, why should a person not have a right "to end an existence which may have become intolerable to him, through physical suffering or mental despair"? Too, "the community will be benefited by the removal of such people from their midst." And the Chamber is beautiful, placed in a verdant park, decorated with Grecian columns and marble statues, designed to make one's exit from this world as rationally elegant as possible. It's all done discreetly, in the best possible taste.

This is why the story is given this whole setup, why it begins with what seems today to be a very disorienting bit of archeofuturistic world-building. In the context of this world of rational hopes rationally filled, not only is Castaigne's descent into madness more shockingly out of place, but it also represents an irruption into that world of something else, something old and strange and powerful. There is a reason that Wilde & Castaigne invoke the trappings of the archaic medievalism that the Progressive world sought to do away with forever, and a reason why Wilde deals (or claims to deal) in blackmail and conspiracy. All the flotsam and jetsam that, it was hoped, could be swept away like the old slums, bob inevitably to the surface.

As something of a reactionary, I'm inclined to take a political reading of this - "don't immanentize the eschaton!" as the slogan goes. But, like all really good fiction, "The Repairer of Reputations" is about something deeper than politics. I leave further interpretation as an exercise to the reader.

#robert w. chambers #the king in yellow #weird tales #the repairer of reputations

[hirschfanger]

The Repairer of Reputations 03, 2023

#mine #digital #2023 #the repairer of reputations #the king in yellow #illustration

[spritelysprites]

yes thank you robert w chambers this is the perfect paragraph to begin your book with. a thing everybody knows. naturally.

#im joking theres literally no way he could have foreseen how long after publishing his works would be read #its just a good reminder to myself as a writer to give context #the king in yellow by robert w chambers #the repairer of reputations

[jimbelton]

The King in Yellow: The Repairer of Reputations

Robert W. Chambers originally published The King in Yellow in 1895. It is a book of short stories that begins with an excerpt from a fictional play of the same name: Along the shore the cloud waves break, The twin suns sink behind the lake, The shadows lengthen In Carcosa. Strange is the night where black stars rise, And strange moons circle through the skies But stranger still is Lost…

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#carcosa #Castaigne #robert w chambers #the king in yellow #the repairer of reputations

[ernmark]

So I bought a couple belts that turned out to be just a couple of inches too tight-- they kept my pants up, but they were uncomfortable.

I got them at a thrift shop, so there wasn't a lot of choice regarding the size-- but also they were like a dollar each, so I figured I could play around with upsizing and if they didn't survive I wouldn't be too put out about it.

Since they were the same size and nearly the exact same style (I'm betting they were both from the same person), they make for a good before/after set.

I cut it into pieces, sewed the ends, added grommets, and laced them back together with paracord.

You can see the extra length the laces gave me, and it's a lot more comfortable to wear. The knots are a bit lumpy, though-- I'll need to experiment with ways to secure the laces that will lay flat.

I also had some extra grommets left in the kit I bought (it came to all of $3 with a coupon), I went ahead and repaired another belt, too.

#wasteless crafts #clothing repair #I'm building a reputation at work for being cheap and resourceful and I'm here for it

[kirnet]

I’ve read some lovecraft and enjoyed it and I understand the limitations of cosmic horror as a genre bc how do you convey something that’s incomprehensible to human minds to the person reading it, but so much of just jumps to ‘I read this book and now I’m CRAZY and DEAD and everyone else is also DEAD’ which it’s also hard to do a slow buildup into madness in a short story but. You know.

#the repairer of reputations was by far the best at this buildup but the rest were. fine. it’s all fine. #culturally significant obviously but not impactful to me. I’m happy with just engaging with things inspired by it a la td and malevolent #also just an older style of writing I just don’t totally gel with #how are you all enjoying Mina book club time. rate your experience below #ramblings #also I think this is something the southern reach trilogy did really well! in terms of buildup and creep factor without actually explaining #anything and leaving things vague

[imagineagreatadventure]

tried to fix my laptop today and the guy basically was like: its safe for now but unfortunately you gotta buy a new one

i just feel shitty about it not lasting a long time (roughly 2.5 years) and even said it to him and he pretty much said its not bc of me or the computer but because the computer companies arent making the right materials in order to push purchases and he cant get what he needs. he then recommended the lenovo think laptops bc he said they are literally the only ones that he never sees come in with any issues

#like all of my other computers have lasted at least 5 years #and with everything happening in the congo i was trying to avoid buying a new one #but just had to bite the bullet and move everything over while the old computer lives #he said it was also the weirdest thing hes ever seen which is embarrassing lmao #and he only charged me $15 despite the sign saying $40 #i think he felt bad he couldn’t fix it #new laptop arrives sometime in december #i guess at least this happened during black friday so i could save about as much as im spending #this is also a local very well reputed computer repair store #i knew if he couldn’t fix it it was doomed #he said he theoretically could but it would cost more than a new computer and no guarantee it would last longer than 6 months

[torturedartist13]

Ok, I'm reading The King in Yellow for the first time and I'm barely through the first story but gods is it a weird experience (and not in the way you'd expect).

The book starts with a poem about the strange land of Carcosa (exactly what you'd expect from a book like this).

Then the first story starts with literal paragraphs of exposition detailing the book's alternate history with some good old-fashioned 19th century racism and antisemitism thrown in and a side note about how suicide has been legalized in America (note: minus the legalized suicide thing, none of it seems even remotely relevant to the story, let alone interesting. The racism and antisemitism are also nauseating).

Then we learn some of the main character's backstory: he was institutionalized after a traumatic head injury and hates the doctor who treated him, planning some kind of revenge. He's also become obsessed with a book that's been universally banned for being dangerous and maddening (back to what you'd expect from this story).

Then he visits an armourer's shop solely because he likes the sounds of the armourer working. Like, he's been visiting this guy for months just so he can listen to him banging on metal. He's horny for metalworking, basically.

Let's hope things get a little more consistent from here on out.

#the king in yellow #robert chambers #cthulhu mythos #lovecraftian #lovecraftian horror #weird fiction #repairer of reputations #cosmic horror #first time read

[lovelessjane]

You're the mosca dad expert, do you think Robert approves of Dolo as a friend and a partner for Mosca?

As a friend? Sure. But as a partner...not really.

Don't get me wrong, he has nothing against her. She's just "weird".

Dolo doesn't try to impress Robert, since she's not looking to be in a relationship with his son, and treats him like she would treat any other stranger. She's not rude or anything, just cold and less talkative.

Sometimes Robert can't figure out if she's mad, bored or if she simply doesn't like his company. Mosca reassures him that Dolo is just going through something, but that doesn't help much.

#glad to hear i'm the dilf expert btw<3 #sludge life 2 #john's asks #forgot i have a tag for asks #it also doesn't help that the doubles have a bad reputation #though dolo managed to repair hers #kind of

[hirschfanger]

The Repairer of Reputations 02, 2023

#mine #digital #2023 #the repairer of reputations #the king in yellow #illustration

[terpia]

It's about the little things.

#personal #am i at the point where i make memes about my own life? apparently #all 4 books are sequals to other things but in case anyone is interested: #1. Of charms ghosts and grievances #which is a second novella in a series abt vietnamese dragon prince and his fallen angel husband #navigating court intrigues and solving murders (with the dragon also trying to stop his husband from comitting any murders himself) #it comes out in 2 days and i can't wait #2. the grief of stones #which is a sequel to witness for the dead and comes out in july (i think it may already be out in us but not yet in the uk 😞) #3. husband material #a sequel to boyfriend material which in turn is a gay romcom abt messy son of a b-list musician getting a seemingly put together #fake boyfriend to help him repair his reputation and get his life back on track #except as it turns out oliver has his own baggage to unpack. hijinx and drama and healing ensue #the sequel comes out in august #4. Nona the ninth #a sequel to gideon and harrow the ninth which comes out in early september

[blue-cat-shitposts]

#i have this funny headcanon where the madrigals don't get their gifts back #and they end up having to get Actual Jobs #and Bruno goes into construction/renovation business bc he's got 10 years of experience repairing a perpetually cracking magical house #and his reputation shifts from 'creepy guy who predicts bad stuff' #to 'the really meticulous repair man who Fixes Things and builds really good houses' #bruno encanto #bruno madrigal #encanto #meme

[stainlesssteellocust]

Nothing’s wrong with you Angela you’re too good for this fuckwit

besides he might be pretty young himself but a school inspector shouldn’t be creeping on 17 year olds anyway

#the terror of st trinian’s #ronald searle #timothy shy #do you even care save to spite Chloe and repair your reputation #saint trinians