#the underland chronicles

[leosdooley]

LIVING THROUGH MEMORIES.

thomas campbell // suzanne collins, gregor and the code of claw // czesław miłosz, the issa valley // vladimir nabokov // antonio porchia // l.m. montgomery, the story girl

#inspired by that gregor the overland quote ! #luxa & gregor my beloveds #suzanne collins #gregor the overlander #gregor and the code of claw #the underland chronicles #vladimir nabokov #antonio porchia #czesław miłosz #l.m. montgomery #the story girl #on memory #living through memories #on love #on friendship #web weaving #word collage #parallels #i’m going insane #hate the way i formatted this btw lol

[tangents-within-tangents]

Just some things I think deserve a super accurate movie/show adaption in a beautiful 2D animation style:

The How to Train Your Dragon series

Gregor the Overlander

Artemis Fowl

The Adventure Zone

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (fr so much was left out of the 1939 film!)

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass

The actual Little Mermaid story (there are a ton of adaptations I haven't seen yet so maybe it exists somewhere but we all know Disney’s didn’t even come close)

#the entire series for those that have one if that wasn't clear #some of these need to be done #some just need to be done RIGHT #like fr why is it so hard for adaptations to just be faithful to the source material? It's not rocket science #also why did hunger games get so much love but no one read Gregor the Overlander? #the original little mermaid may be sad as heck but it is also beautiful #I admittedly only read the first few books in some of these series' but still #like did you know there's 14 oz books? #okay imma tag everything now #how to train your dragon #httyd books #gregor the overlander #the underland chronicles #artemis fowl #the adventure zone #taz #the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy #hgttg #frankenstein #frankenstein the modern prometheus #the wizard of oz #alice's adventures in wonderland #the little mermaid #old niche fandoms #adaptation #animation #hans christian andersen #lewis carroll #suzanne collins #cressida cowell

[prophecyofgray]

HAPPY BAT APPRECIATION DAY!

#the underland chronicles #tuc

[aldoodles]

And you say ‘as long as I’m here, no one can hurt you’

#for an audience of like four ppl #the underland chronicles #this part of ‘everything I wanted’ by Billie eilish #reminds me of gregor a lot #so please have this little comicky thing I’ve been working on on and off for a couple months #for this patch of lyrics #al chatters #my art #fanart #tuc #gregor tuc #tuc gregor #please pardon any errors #tuc spoilers #Suzanne Collins #gregor the overlander

[marxism-leninism-meowism]

looking at suzanne collins’ list of published novels like yeah. she rly wrote the most fucked up middle grade series ever in which she traumatized a random impoverished 11 year old from new york city by throwing him into a war against giant rats with his 2 year old sister by his side, went on to write a fucked up young adult series about a dystopian revolution that radicalized many gen z kids and opened our eyes to the way our government tries to distract us from senseless killing with spectacle. and thats it! what a queen. wrote two incredibly good series then went “no, i will not elaborate” and kept on living her life.

anyway guys if you like the hunger games and/or really liked animorphs, PLEASE read the underland chronicles. they’re so fucking underappreciated considering how popular the hunger games is.

#suzanne collins #the underland chronicles #gregor the overlander #hunger games #the hunger games

[quohotos]

The way that poverty has affected Gregor is omnipresent. He knows how to care for people and how to make food because his parents can't afford a sitter. He goes to the underland and suddenly he's among royalty and wealth. He remarks how when it's not about to go to war the underland is actually a nice escape from his life. When they're all forced to eat raw fish he notes how he's never been able to have sushi before.

I love how it's not something that just gets solved. Even when Vikus gives them cash in the clock it doesn't *last*. His mom says, "We're going to pay all the bills, and then we're going to have Christmas!". That's so *real*. Like, the series is fantasy but Gregor is still *forced* to live in the real world.

There's also this whole parallel between Ares and Gregor. Both of them were just nobodies having to live on the margins of society until someone wealthy finds a use for you. For Gregor it's Luxa, for Ares it was Henry.

Okay, so this isn't the most well put together or thought out of my rants but... Aughghfhg. The book with the giant sexy rat and the spider that makes you slippers is so god damn *real*.

#Tuc #Tuc20 #The underland chronicles #Tuc spoilers #Gregor the overlander

[bubblesandpages]

I greatly admire Suzanne Collins goal to never explain any of her stories. She just drops them and goes.

#she leaves the rest of us to make an absolute circus out of it #Suzanne Collins #there was so much negative buzz when Ballad was announced and her response was 'no the ones who get it will get it #those who don't don't none of my business' #The Hunger Games #thg #Catching Fire #Mockingjay #The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes #The Underland Chronicles #tuc #Gregor the Overlander #Fizzy talks #books

[dishsaop]

i like the Hunger Games a lot but im always gonna be a little bitter it took off when her Underland Chronicles never did. those books were so good and so fucked up. snippets of spoilers for a 20 year old book series for middle schoolers ahead:

cockroaches the size of horses who talk and are actually super chill and great babysitters for human toddlers. these books are the only reason i dont have nightmares about cockroaches anymore

cannibalism happens a lot. at one point a rat the size of a bison says "man go ahead and eat your dead friend, we wont judge" to a spider, who then proceeds to eat her dead friend. everyone but the rat judges.

another rat, who is still relatively a baby, is found later eating his babysitter's liver in an attempt to hide the body.

dude, pandoras death was so fucked up. "wow an island! im starving im gonna have a snack. brb guys" flies a little bit over, is immediately devoured in seconds by bugs and her skeleton crashes into the jungle below

plague book! humans try to commit genocide and blame it on bugs

hey. hey eleven year old. kill this tiny baby screaming for his mother. he sounds just like your baby sister you think just died horribly. kill this baby with a sword. you didnt? you didnt kill a sobbing baby who watched his mother die? we're putting you on trial for treason and will execute you

baby rat gone insane, now 15' tall and leading an army, ripping the head off of his friend/gaslighter, immediately heartbreakingly asking where she went, and then finding the head and accusing a twelve year old boy of doing it

dude gregor is eleven and in the first book willingly leaps off a cliff to his death (despite it being his worst fear) in the hopes itll stop his two year old sister boots from being graphically torn apart and eaten, like he has seen happen to others

thalia's death. they dont just kill unnamed children (they do absolutely kill a lot of unnamed babies onscreen) they also kill beloved named children

"the fireflies had to gnaw ares' claw off of his corpse bc you wouldnt let go of your friends claw. its been almost three weeks and the viscera has dried and glued it to your grip. we cant get it off without breaking your finger. you gotta let go of your friends corpse, twelve year old boy"

twitchtip.

forcing the twelve year old into a prophesied battle where he will die, and making him dissociate so hard for months he blankly allows others to make him cause/be complicit in war crimes

HAHA HEY THE SAPIENT, INTELLIGENT MICE DYING BY THE HUNDREDS SUFFOCATING ON POISON GAS WHILE A TODDLER SINGS A NURSERY SONG ABOUT THE MICE DYING.

the six year old boy losing literally everyone hes ever known and cared for over and over again

just so much violent gore and death for middle schoolers, man. i love it.

hey that was objectively a good and well done ending. and i also loved it. but "hey gregor my husband was in the war. he had ptsd that will never go away just like you" hey hes twelve :( someone help him

prim's death in the hunger games has nothing on the shit collins pulled in the underland chronicles this is like a tiny chunk please read them

#cannabalism #gore #child death #the underland chronicles #gregor the overlander #gregor campbell #ripred #twitchtip #hazard #boots #ares #thalia #idk im tired of tagging now #m text

[bisexual-kelsier]

What is your most controversial TUC opinion?

I’ll go first: Ripred is NOT a father figure (except maybe to Lizzie) and treating him as one reduces his character down to little more than a cardboard cutout.

#I will die on this hill btw #the underland chronicles #gregor the overlander

[ultimate-rat-bracket]

The bRATcket

ROUND THREE

We’re starting this round off with our celebrity chef star, Remy VS. our warrior who has proven to overcome the odds, Ripred!

#btw I do not apologize for the images #1. i am committed to that image of remy bc I die for the bit #2. I cannot get my editing app to cut out ripred in a way I’m satisfied with I’m sorry #rat bracket #ultimate rat bracket #the bratcket #tournament poll #tumblr tournament #tumblr tournaments #tumblr bracket #tumblr brackets #tournament #bracket #poll society #remy ratatouille #ratatouille #disney #ripred #the underland chronicles #tuc #ripred the gnawer #ripred the rat

[1very1fancy1doilies1]

ripred the rat for my sister's birthday :)

#I haven't read the series in a minute so I apologize for any inaccuracies! #my art #used many references! #ripred #ripred the rat #didn't really capture his snark but ah well #he is after all a rat #gregor the overlander #ripred the gnawer #the underland chronicles #luxa #queen luxa #rat #rats #ratposting #ratblr #bc apparently that's a thing? #suzanne collins #the hunger games #tuc #sketch #sketches

[i-think-in-metaphors]

Gregor bought them all boba.

#the underland chronicles #tuc #gregor the overlander #my art #digital illustration #boba tea #bubble tea #ripred #ripred the gnawer #ares #ares the flier #procreate #ares and his fuckin bendy straw

[prophecyofgray]

"does gregor's family move to virginia?" this "does gregor ever go back to the underland?" that. what about "does gregor spend his adult life sneaking into nyc libraries at night hoping that he'll run into ripred chomping on some books?"

#this thought came to me while listening to RTR and now i cant get it out of my head #i think he would at least do it once. maybe goes to the library during the day and leaves ripred a note and some shrimp and cream sauce #comes back the next day and the food is gone but there's just like. kafka's “the metamorphosis” in its place #the underland chronicles #tuc #gregor the overlander #gto

[averagecygnet-blog]

bartholomew of sandwich, carving the genocide prophecy into the kids' room instead of the prophecy room: in 400 years this is gonna fuck em up soooo bad lmao

#gregor the overlander #the underland chronicles #return to regalia

[aldoodles]

I hope they got to play ball again sometime

#the underland chronicles #WOW tumblr is crUNCHIN the quality of this #also I imagine auroras wings beat much faster than ares’s so I draw her lil wings flapping like crazy #i hope it makes some visual sense in doodle form #i should stop giving Luxa thick eyebrows bc I logically know she has like imperceptible blonde ones but I just gotta give her brows for days #tuc Luxa #the underland chronicles luxa #fanart #my art #doodles #tuc #Luxa tuc #aurora tuc #tuc aurora #al chatters

[thelightfluxtastic]

The Crawler's Language

So I'm not a linguist by academic specialty but I am bilingual and fascinated by languages and every time I reread the Underland Chronicles I think about language and especially the Crawler's style of repetitive speech.

All of the species in the Underland have different speech patterns. The bats speak rarely, quietly, and in short sentences because it is physically difficult for them. The spinners speak through vibrations. The rats as a species are associated with humor, they're most likely to use sarcasm and constantly make jokes. But when all of these species do speak, they use the grammar and syntax common to human Underland English.

The exception is the crawlers, who have a distinct verbal quirk, saying things like: "Smells what, so good, smells what?" In this essay I am making basically two arguments:

The crawlers word order is completely normal for Underland English.

Often, when discussing the crawlers, the book narration will make a point of Gregor or others having to mentally re-order sentences to understand the bugs. But if you take out the repetition, Crawler sentences become things like:

"Smells what so good?" "Be she the princess?" "Hates us, the Overlander?" "Unless this be not the Cradle"

And this order that goes Verb-Object or Verb-Pronoun is not unusual for standard Underland English. Human and other characters throughout the books say things like: "Stop you. Stay you. Slow your hearts." (Ripred, Book 1) "Meet you Mareth and Perdita" (Dulcet, Book 1) "Gather us here for we must discuss" (Vikus, Book 1)

It's even baked in to the standard Underlander farewell, "Fly you high".

So the crawlers are speaking correct sentences in Underland English, just repeating the first phrase at the end. Which brings me to my second argument.

The repetition serves a grammatical function

In paying attention to the crawler's speech, I found a pattern. The repetition is not present in every sentence. Crawlers often make simple declarative statements without repetition:

"You look much like but smell not like" "Temp will share her food with me" "Rats give many fish"

The repetition specifically happens with questions:

"Ride you, ride you? Run you, run you?" "Give you five baskets, give you?" "You so say, you?"

Even Vikus takes on this particular grammatical feature. When speaking to the Crawlers, he says "We will give four baskets, and one for thanks" but later asks "Take us to your king, take us?" when asking a question.

There are exceptions to this, but to me they seem to be in cases of emphasis or explicit confirmation:

"Only the Princess, Temp serves, only the Princess" "Hate warmbloods, cutters do, hate warmbloods"

I have no idea if this was Suzanne Collins intention, but for me personally, it reminds me of how questions are structured in American Sign Language. In ASL, a question is indicated by raising or lowering the eyebrows. Signs for question words like who/what/where/why exist, but aren't always necessary. One of the structures common with ASL is to put or repeat the question word at the end, so you can sign a longer phrase or sentence normally, and only have to worry about the question facial expression for the last word. Bill Vicars at Lifeprint/ASL University has a more in-depth explanation, comparing it to English questions structured as "You go to [X university], don't you?" or "You like engineering, do you?" But basically, in ASL, a perfectly grammatically correct way to ask if someone is Deaf is to sign: YOU DEAF YOU?

It is also worth exploring why, in my opinion, the crawlers are the only species who have this visible difference to the audience, even though all species are speaking English as a second language. And at a meta-level, it contributes to the basic assumption that the crawlers are dumber than the other species. Gregor has the most to adjust to, but even long after he's accepted that the Underlanders aren't primitive, and bats/rats are intelligent, he still has a kind but condescending outlook on the crawlers. And even other insect species (like the fireflies) look down on them. Having the crawlers speak differently from anyone else emphasizes their alienation from all other species in the Underland. And it reminds me of how some accents or dialects, like AAVE, are associated with stupidity or assumed to be "incorrect" English when they have perfectly valid and functional structures and meaning.

#the underland chronicles #language #linguistics #mine