#guin and arthur are 11

[forgottenedmund]

arthur & edmund: "don't you dare throw that snowba--goddamnit!"

[ 15 years ago ]

"What on earth are you doing?"

It was snowing. And not just any snow: it happened to be the first snow of the season. The entire courtyard was covered with it. Edmund had stopped on their walk to grab himself a handful of the stuff.

"We don't have time to play in the snow." Arthur continued. There was no patience in his voice. All five of the Varmont children had been presented to their father that morning on one of his rare appearances. He had tested them all (Guinevere, Arthur, and Edmund more than the rest) and Arthur and Edmund had both been found wanting. It was Guinevere who had won the round and with this victory, he had asked her to stay behind after the other's left.

The jealousy and frustration Arthur felt at this slight was apparent.

"Arthur's right, Edmund," Sebastian said softly. "Our tutors are expecting us."

Edmund stood upright, packing a handful of snow in his hands.

Arthur arched an eyebrow, "Are you going to throw that at me?"

"Of course not," Edmund replied sarcastically. "I never throw a snowball after I've gone through all the effort of making one. That's the real fun."

Arthur did not appreciate his brother's sarcasm -- especially in this moment. "Stop being such a child."

"I am a child. And so are you." Edmund would have thrown it at him right then if he'd been confident he wouldn't miss. His throwing arm wasn't particularly strong and he didn't want to look like an idiot just now.

"I am not a child!"

Edmund supposed, in a way, he was right. Despite Arthur's rather childish declaration of not being a child, they hadn't had much of a childhood thus far. The three of them had been pitted against each other for their father's throne since the day they'd been born and Sebastian was always trying to run interference whenever their tempers flared. The only one who had ever really been allowed to be a child was Cassandra, who was too busy trying to catch snowflakes on her tongue to notice that her brothers were on the verge of fighting with each other.

"Alright, enough. Let's go," Sebastian interjected.

Arthur and Edmund stared at each other for a few more moments without saying a word. It was Arthur who turned first and started to head off after Sebastian. The fact that Edmund still hadn't dropped the snow in his hands had not escaped him. And after he'd turned around, he gave his brother one final warning,"Edmund, don't you dare throw that sno-- Goddammit!!"

At that moment, a snowball came crashing into the back of Arthur's head. To say that Arthur looked infuriated as he turned round, was an understatement. Before he could say another word, Sebastian stepped between the boys. "Arthur, Edmund I -- "

"-- I told you not to throw that snowball!" Arthur pushed passed Sebastian, heading straight for his youngest brother.

"I didn't." Everyone looked down to see that Edmund still had the snow in his hand. It was hardly resembled anything more than a melting mess, now.

"What -- ?"

Everyone turned then to see Cassandra standing behind Edmund, eyes wide as she witnessed her brother getting angry. She'd seen Edmund making snowballs earlier and, while everyone was talking, had begun making one of her own oblivious to the tension that had been rising. She'd honestly meant to throw one at Edmund, but she'd thrown it too hard and it passed up over his head and landed, instead, on Arthur's.

"Nice shot." Edmund was both impressed (even if he knew Cassandra wouldn't have been able to replicate that again if she tried) and amused (it took everything he had not to laugh -- Arthur truly looked a ragged mess).

But Cassandra beat him to it yet again and although her brother's were all suddenly afraid that she might cry, the next minute she started to laugh at how ridiculous Arthur looked. Whatever tension had been growing between Arthur and Edmund began to fade away and it was now Arthur's turn to laugh.

"Your turn!" Cassandra shouted.

Arthur bent down and made a snowball of his own. "Don't think you I won't get you back, just because you are a girl!"

Cassandra squealed, laughing as she ran to hide behind Sebastian, "You won't be able to catch me!"

"Hmm, perhaps you are right," Arthur mused and, instead, he tossed one to Edmund instead.

"Not too old for this, after all?" Edmund raised an eyebrow.

"Guess not." Arthur shrugged.

It was Edmund's turn to throw and this time he hit Sebastian who had long ago given up on trying to get any of them to their lessons on time.

Moments later, the four of them were properly drenched from the snow and they'd managed to leave their footprints over almost every inch of the courtyard. It had been a long time since they'd played like this: forgetting every care they had in the world.

"What on earth is going on? Look at the four of you. Absolutely Deplorable."

All four of them stopped in their tracks and stared at Guin. No one had noticed her step outside and, noting the disapproval on her face, each of them were suddenly ashamed at this display. It was not befitting of princes and princesses.

"If you are going to have a snowball fight, you must do it properly. Not a single one of you have constructed a fort. How can you prepare your arsenal if you do not have the right defenses? Come, let me show you all how it is done."

[dcocca]

Hello everyone! Finally, I bring you the post in which you will find a complete list of the literary works I mention in my fic “Pages About You, Pages About Me”!

At the moment, it mentions ALL the book titles referenced from the beginning to the current chapter, and I will update it as we go.

Here you will find the books and comic books mentioned as they were introduced in the fic, following the chapter order. So, for example, if you’re currently on Chapter 8, you can go straight to the part of the list dedicated to that Chapter and see which works were mentioned, without spoiling yourself anything that could pop up on later chapters.

The list includes both works that are explicitly quoted and works that are only briefly mentioned, or are referenced as passing thoughts. Wherever an author is mentioned without any of their specific works being brought up, I will put a book title that might represent them or that I particularly love. If the same author is mentioned in more than one chapter, you will find them added more than once, in each chapter they appear on, but perhaps with a different book title mentioned (we like variety, don’t we?).

Books are blue, comics are red. The titles of Aziraphale and Crowley’s two-person book club, the ones that are the bone and marrow of the story, are also written in bold (and listed only in the chapter in which they make their first appearance).

Chapter 1:

“On a Sunbeam”, Tillie Walden

Chapter 3:

“Persuasion”, Jane Austen

Chapter 4:

“The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer”, Sydney Padua

“Robinson Crusoe”, Daniel Defoe

“Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal”, Christopher Moore

“Practical Demonkeeping”, Christopher Moore

“The Stupidest Angel”, Christopher Moore

“Scott Pilgrim & The Infinite Sadness”, Bryan Lee O’Malley

Chapter 5:

“The Sad Fortunes of the Reverend Amos Barton”, George Eliot

“The French Revolution: A History”, Thomas Carlyle

“Alice in Wonderland”, Lewis Carroll

Chapter 6:

“David Copperfield”, Charles Dickens

“A Scandal in Bohemia”, Arthur Conan Doyle

“Little Women”, Louisa May Alcott

“The Happy Prince”, Oscar Wilde

“The Lord of the Rings”, J.R.R. Tolkien

“Bone”, Jeff Smith

Chapter 8:

“Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man”, David Marquez, Brian M. Bendis, Mark Bagley, Sara Pichelli

“Bone: Out from Boneville”, Jeff Smith

“The Secret of the Unicorn”, Hergé

Chapter 10:

“I, Robot”, Isaac Asimov

“The Left Hand of Darkness”, Ursula K. Le Guin

“The Dispossessed”, Ursula K. Le Guin

“Mary Poppins”, P.L. Travers

“Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind”, Hayao Miyazaki

Chapter 11:

“Genderqueer”, Maya Kobabe

Chapter 13:

“Big Questions”, Nilsen Anders

Chapters 14:

“Letters from Father Christmas”, J.R.R. Tolkien

“A Christmas Carol”, Charles Dickens

“Christmas Days: 12 Stories and 12 Feasts for 12 Days”, Jeanette Winterson

“A Redbird Christmas”, Fannie Flagg

“Celebrations, Rituals of Peace and Prayer”, Maya Angelou

Chapter 15:

“Black Clover”, Yūki Tabata

“Drifting Dragons”, Taku Kuwabara

“Dungeon Food”, Ryoko Kui

“This Is How You Lose the Time War”, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone

“Asterios Polyp”, David Mazzucchelli

Chapter 16:

“The Happy Prince”, Oscar Wilde

“Persuasion”, Jane Austen

“Recognize Yourself”, Guillaume Apollinaire

“Leaves of Grass”, Walt Whitman

“The Park Bench”, Christophe Chabouté

Chapter 17:

“Dover Beach and Other Poems”, Matthew Arnold

“The Dispossessed”, Ursula K. Le Guin

“The Chronicles of Narnia”, C.S. Lewis

Chapter 18:

“The Major Works”, Percy Bysshe Shelley (Oxford World’s Classics)

“Collected Poems 1934-1952”, Dylan Thomas

“A Book of Verses”, William Ernest Henley

“Romeo and Juliet”, William Shakespeare

“The Walking Man”, Jiro Taniguchi

“Tales from Moominvalley”, Tove Jansson

“Le Souffle du Vent Dans Les Pins”, Zao Dao

“The Shining”, Stephen King

Chapter 19:

“Four Quartets”, T.S. Eliot

“Gitanjali”, Rabindranath Tagore

“Emma”, Jane Austen

“Watership Down”, Richard Adams

“The Hobbit”, J.R.R. Tolkien

“Maurice”, E. M. Forster

“Opened Ground. Poems 1966-1996”, Seamus Heaney

“Wise Blood”, Flannery O’Connor

“The Remains of the Day”, Kazuo Ishiguro

Chapter 20:

“Pride and Prejudice”, Jane Austen

“Superman. The Mysterious Mr. Mxyztplk”, Jerry Siegel, Ira Yarborough

“Oliver Twist”, Charles Dickens

“Batman. The Killing Joke”, Alan Moore, Brian Bolland

“On the Devil, and Devils”, Percy Bysshe Shelley

Chapter 21:

“The New Avengers. Breakout!”, Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch, Danny Miki

“Saga”, Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples

“Tank Girl”, Jamie Hewlett, Alan Martin

“Deadpool”, Joe Kelly, Ed McGuinness

“X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills”, Christopher Claremont, Brent Eric Anderson, Steve Oliff

“My Favorite Thing Is Monsters”, Emil Ferris

“The Hunting Accident”, David L. Carlson, Landis Blair

“Divine Comedy”, Dante Alighieri

“V for Vendetta”, Alan Moore, David Lloyd

“Macbeth”, William Shakespeare

“My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness”, Kabi Nagata

“Blankets”, Craig Thompson

Chapter 22:

“Martin Eden”, Jack London

“Teleny”, (attributed to) Oscar Wilde

“Gabrieliad”, Alexander Pushkin

“The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty”, Anne Rice

“Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda”, Becky Albertalli

“Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe”, Benjamin Alire Sáenz

“The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue”, Mackenzi Lee

“1000 Nudes. A History of Erotic Photography from 1839-1939”, Hans-Michael Koetzle, Uwe Scheid

Chapter 24:

“The Double”, José Saramago

“Fables. Legends in Exile”, Bill Willingham

Chapter 26:

“Lumberjanes”, Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, Gus Allen, ND Stevenson

Chapter 28:

“Action Comics #1”, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster

“Maus”, Art Spiegelman

“The Incal”, Alejandro Jodorowsky

“Persepolis”, Marjane Satrapi

“California Dreamin’”, Pén��lope Bagieu

“Rooftop Soliloquy”, Roman Payne

“The Brothers Karamazov”, Fyodor Dostoevsky

“The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”, Mark Twain

“One Hundred Years of Solitude”, Gabriel García Márquez

“A Tale of Two Cities”, Charles Dickens

“Mary Poppins”, P.L. Travers

“Dazzler”, Tom DeFalco, John Romita Jr.

“Jessica Jones: Alias”, Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos

“The Rocketeer”, Dave Stevens

“Wonder Woman: The True Amazon”, Jill Thompson, William Moulton Marston

“The Park Bench”, Christophe Chabouté

“The Tale of Peter Rabbit”, Beatrix Potter

“Goodnight Punpun”, Inio Asano

“Memoirs of Hadrian”, Marguerite Yourcenar

“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, Stephen Chbosky

“My Brilliant Friend”, Elena Ferrante

“Crime and Punishment”, Fyodor Dostoevsky

“Ulysses”, James Joyce

“Watership Down”, Richard Adams

“Paradise Lost”, John Milton

“Pride and Prejudice”, Jane Austen

“Martin Eden”, Jack London

“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, Stieg Larsson

“Tank Girl”, Jamie Hewlett, Alan Martin

“Jane Eyre”, Charlotte Brontë

“The Divine Comedy”, Dante Alighieri

“Hamlet”, William Shakespeare

Chapter 29:

“Watership Down”, Richard Adams

“Alice in Wonderland”, Lewis Carroll

“Rat-Man”, Leo Ortolani

“Venom – Deathtrap: The Vault”, Danny Fingeroth, Ron Lim

“Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man”, David Marquez, Brian M. Bendis, Mark Bagley, Sara Pichelli

Chapter 31:

“Are You Listening?”, Tillie Walden

“Fun Home”, Alison Bechdel

“The Magic Fish”, Trung Le Nguyen

“Forget Me Not”, Alix Garin

“I Kill Giants”, Joe Kelly

“Daytripper”, Fábio Moon e Gabriel Bá

“Wrinkles”, Paco Roca

“Always Never”, Jordi Lafebre

“Heartstopper”, Alice Oseman

“Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me”, Mariko Tamaki

“Snotgirl”, Bryan Lee O’Malley

“The Summit of the Gods”, Jirō Taniguchi

“Venice”, Jirō Taniguchi

“Safari Honeymoon”, Jesse Jacobs

“Perdido Street Station”, China Miéville

“Blue In Green”, Ram V, Anand RK

“The Arrival”, Shaun Tan

“Red Rackham's Treasure”, Hergé

“Berlin”, Jason Lutes

“Corto Maltese: The Ballad of the Salty Sea”, Hugo Pratt

“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous”, Ocean Vuong

“The Divine Comedy”, Dante Alighieri

“Dante Shinkyoku”, Gō Nagai

“The Road”, Cormac McCarthy

“The Road”, Manu Larcenet

After the Ending:

“The Lantern Maker and the Wind”, Anthony Crowley, Aziraphale Fell 💚

I hope this list will be useful to you. I hope you find something new to read, too. ❤️

Tagging @goodomensafterdark ? This could be useful to some who follow my fic. 💙❤️

[scotianostra]

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22nd May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh.

Arthur was educated at several places before studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, including periods working in Aston (then a town in Warwickshire, now part of Birmingham), Sheffield and Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire. He also studied practical botany at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

Whilst he was a medical student, Conan Doyle was profoundly captivated by the skill of his professor, Dr Joseph Bell, in observing the minutest detail regarding a patient’s condition. This approach of diagnostic deduction inspired Conan Doyle’s literary creation, Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study of Scarlet, and its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving the detective.

Later Conan Doyle focused his work on non-fiction, including to military writings, such as The Great Boer War.

Despite his immense fame and wealth, Conan Doyle remained irked by the fact that his literary writings were not taken more seriously, and threw himself into a huge number of side projects, notably sport and outdoor pursuits (legend has it that he introduced Norwegian downhill skis into the Swiss Alps).

He also regarded his most important public work to have been in ‘spiritualism’, (the photo with the whisp of smoke beside him is said to be a spirit!,) based on research supposedly demonstrating that the souls of the dead could be contacted by the living, which had become fashionable in England partly because of the devastating toll of the First World War. Perhaps influenced by the fact that his own son, Kingsley, died in 1918 in the great influenza epidemic that year, Conan Doyle poured endless time and money into ‘the psychic question’, and published a series of increasingly eccentric books, notably The Case for Spirit Photography and The Coming of the Fairies and The History of Spiritualism.

On the author’s death in 1930, the Royal Albert Hall filled with fans, who took part in a huge séance in his honour. By then, his literary immortality was already assured: according to The Guinness Book of Records, Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed movie and TV character of all time.

[bm2ab]

Arrivals & Departures . 11 June 1959 . James Hugh Calum Laurie .

James Hugh Calum Laurie (/ˈlɒri/; born 11 June 1959) is an English actor, comedian, singer, musician and writer. He first gained professional recognition as a member of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry.

Fry and Laurie acted together in a number of projects during the 1980s and 1990s, including the BBC sketch comedy series A Bit of Fry & Laurie and the P. G. Wodehouse adaptation Jeeves and Wooster. From 1986 to 1989 he appeared in three series of the period comedy Blackadder, first as a recurring guest star in the last two episodes of Blackadder II, before joining the main cast in Blackadder the Third, and going on to appear in Blackadder Goes Forth and many related specials.

From 2004 to 2012, Laurie starred as Dr. Gregory House on the Fox medical drama series House. He received two Golden Globe Awards and many other accolades for the role. He was listed in the 2011 Guinness World Records as the most watched leading man on television and was one of the highest-paid actors in a television drama at the time. His other television credits include starring as arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, the main antagonist in the miniseries The Night Manager (2016), for which he won his third Golden Globe, and playing Senator Tom James in the HBO sitcom Veep (2015–2019), for which he received his 10th Emmy Award nomination.

Laurie has appeared in the films Peter's Friends (1992), Sense and Sensibility (1995), 101 Dalmatians (1996), The Borrowers (1997), The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), Stuart Little (1999), Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001), Flight of the Phoenix (2004), Tomorrowland (2015), Arthur Christmas (2011) in which he voiced Steven Claus, and The Personal History of David Copperfield (2020). Outside acting, as a singer and musician, he released the blues albums Let Them Talk (2011) and Didn't It Rain (2013), both to favourable reviews. Laurie wrote the novel The Gun Seller (1996). He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours and CBE in the 2018 New Year Honours, both for services to drama.

[woodsfae]

I've reverted to my oldest coping mechanism: whenever I feel an emotion I redirect to reading a book. I'm having a lot of feelings and my temp election job turned me loose (with pay through the end of the contract period) so I have had lots of time to read. All of the time, really. Better reading than feeling right now.

11/06: Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh Sci-Fi. The timing on this coming available from the library was impeccable. This is going on my list of the best sci-fi books I've ever read.

11/07: Frontier - Emily Curtis Sci-fi. Quite good with an imaginative future and immersive worldbuilding. The post appcalyptic wild west setting was unique enough to hold my interest all the way through.

11/07: Six Wakes - Mur Lafferty Sci-fi. Has a lot of interesting world building and ethical exploration of cloning. I enjoyed the murder mystery very much and found the conclusion satisfying.

11/08: Wild Seed - Octavia E Butler Fantasy. A masterpiece, as all Octavia E Butler books are, but deeply horrifying. Incredibly well done, but I hated it. Many of the horror elements are exactly what I have feared most in my life. I will probably read the rest of the series because it was that compelling.

11/08: Ocean's Echo - Everina Maxwell Sci-Fi. An entirely enjoyable queer space romance. An expansive, immersive universe, and I'm keen on reading the author's other stand-alone book in this setting.

11/09: Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik Fantasy. As always with the best fairy tales, this one felt utterly true. Naomi Novik is always a master of her art, and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

11/10: The Girl With All The Gifts - M.R. Carey Zombie apocalypse. Follows a little girl named Melanie, who is 10, and unlike most "hungries" is intelligent and has been kept in a military base and educated as part of an experiment. Her story is compelling and melancholy. I was absolutely riveted.

11/10: The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin Sci-fi. I had thought that this was going to be a re-read, but realized quickly after I started it that I have not actually read this previously. It was a delight to read a new-to-me Le Guin novel! As a reflection of society when it was written (1969) it's a rather grim view of the future. The main character is eminently unlikable and deeply misogynistic. I wouldn't want to live in his future.

11/11: Rendevous With Rama - Arthur C. Clarke Sci-fi. A really fun space romp! It felt like classic sci-fi in all the best ways and very few of the bad ways. It felt a little Jules Verne-y, with the plot being structured around exploration of a new environment which was never designed for humans and could never be comprehensible by them, either.

11/12: The Last Girl On Earth - Alexandra Blogier Sci-fi. This is the shortest one I've read this week. It was enjoyable but much more YA than the others.

11/12: Ready Player One - Ernest Cline Sci-fi. A really good read! The pacing was fast, the plot was engaging, and I enjoyed the story. As someone was raised under a rock, I was delighted whenever I understood the cultural references.

11/12: Into the Dim - Janet B. Taylor Sci-fi/time travel/historical fiction. Very mid, but gave me a real hankering to re-read some Connie Willis.

Rather amusing - Partner knew I read quickly, but he hadn't internalized how quickly. I certainly have not gone on a reading spree like this since we've met. He keeps saying I'd be perfect for a job reading through a publisher's slush pile and making recommendations to which I totally agree. I just don't know how to get that job.

Dunno if this will be the end of my reading spree. The badness feels overwhelmingly huge, still. I don't feel quite ready to move onto a planning/organizing phase, and I still need to find a new job now that my temp election job is over. It has surprised me how viciously this goddamn election result hit me. And how much of an echo chamber I have apparently been in to be this shocked!

Regardless, I'm grateful to have had this time to take a mental break and read a bunch of interesting books. I'm not sure if it's my all time record, but it's got to be close to it. Twelve books in seven days is a lot!

[osiris-ward]

[image discription of above image: a twitter post by the user Sage their Twitter handle being @sagescrittore.

Twitter text begins: last night Ursula K. Le Guin visited my dreams and I said to her "Queerness is a long thread of hurt" and she answered "Now what will you mend with that thread?" and it rocked me so hard I woke up crying. End text.

At the bottom of the image it says 11:34 AM 10/25/21 - Twitter for Android. End image discription

This tweet moved me enough to spark art, I might change the background but I don't know yet. Anywho, enjoy

Image discription:

The background is (supposed to be) a blend of different skin tones, a rainbow string, the main focus, tangles around the image. Some of it twirls around other bits of it, some parts faded and some parts bright with color. The end of the string is tied to a sewing needle with a bloodied tip. There is text positioned above a thread in the top middle, the font is italicized and faded goldish yellow, it reads "Queerness is a long thread of hurt..." At the bottom of the image, right below the needle, there is bolded gold text that reads "Now what will you mend with that thread?"

The signature is Arthurs (me) and is dated 2023. End image discription.

I think about this every hour of every day of every month by the way

[leatherdaddymoominpappa]

all of them. if you’re gonna play that way.

Oh I'll play this way.

How many books did you read this year?

So far 89, but I'm hoping to get to 100

2. Did you reread anything? What?

Not this year. I have so many books I haven't even read once.

3. What were your top five books of the year?

So far: People like us - Valts Ernštreits, Yellowface - RF Kuang, Wolf in White Van - John Darnielle, Heritage Aesthetics - Anthony Anaxagorou, and A Kind of Spark - Elle McNicoll.

In no particular order. I actually haven't liked a lot of books I read this year, but at least it means I've got rid of a lot of books (I bought even more but shh).

4. Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

Elle McNicoll, Kaoru Mori

5. What genre did you read the most of?

Poetry or nonfiction

6. Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

There's a whole pile next to my bed rip

7. What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate?

I don't know, that goodreads end-of-year stuff hasn't come out yet

8. Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones?

Not yet, I'm still 11 books off

9. Did you get into any new genres?

No, but I read more manga than I used to

10. What was your favorite new release of the year?

Yellowface and Safiyyah's War. Tbh most books released this year that I want to read are still buried in my tbr 11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

I suppose Planet of Exile by Ursula K le Guin

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Oh boy. Anything by Arthur Miller, Devolution, War of the Worlds, Heart of Darkness. Devolution in particular

13. What were your least favorite books of the year?

Heart of Darkness was a load of Wank. The Midas Touch also sucked

14. What books do you want to finish before the year is over?

City of Illusions, and my costume reference books

15. Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them?

I honestly have no idea.

16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?

Heart of Darkness. Joseph Conrad can gargle my balls

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

The first 2/3rds of Devolution before it went weird and Z!on!st. Also An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo and Clouds Cannot Cover Us by Jay Hulme

18. How many books did you buy?

Hahahahahhaa

19. Did you use your library?

Once. I borrowed Lapvona

20. What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

Yellowface was really good

21. Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama?

I did at the start but funny enough I unfollowed pretty much all the booktubers I followed. I just don't care about their opinions anymore, especially with horror. I do tend to have a peek at any drama I happen to see.

22. What’s the longest book you read?

Apparently, it was My Brother's Husband, Vol 2. The second longest was Vol 1. Good manga, very touching.

23. What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book?

It took a few minutes to read Who Will Comfort Toffle

24. Did you DNF anything? Why?

Quite a few things. Some of the stuff was poorly written, or old books that were full of racism, or I just decided the book was bad and not worth the time it would take to read.

25. What reading goals do you have for next year?

I'd like to read 60 books, and also finish my own book

[dailyunsolvedmysteries]

The Guinness Family Is Marked By Tragedy

Arthur Guinness was born in Kildare, Ireland, in 1725 and crafted the beer that forged both his legacy and fortune in 1759. After he married, Guinness and his wife had 21 children - 11 of whom tragically never reached adulthood. Whispers of a curse surrounding the Guinness family began when members began suffering from addiction and perishing in unusual ways.

Some of Guinness's grandchildren fell into alcoholism or were committed to psychiatric institutions. In 1944, extremists killed Guinness's descendant, Lord Moyne. In 1966, Tara Browne - the 21-year-old heir to the brewery - was in a fatal car crash. In 1978, Lady Henrietta Guinness jumped off of a bridge. The same year, Dennys Guinness was found dead from an overdose, while a car wreck killed one of John Guinness's sons. Another Guinness relation, Olivia Channon, suffered a fatal drug overdose in 1986. Robert Hesketh, married to a Guinness descendant, also passed from an overdose in 2004.

[beewantstotalk]

Hugo Awarded Books:

1. T.H.White - The Sword in The Stone(1939)(3/02/23)

2. A.E. van Vogt - Slan(1941)

3. Robert A. Heinlein - Beyond This Horizon(1943)(21/06/23)

4. Fritz Leiber - Conjure Wife(1944)(30/06/23)

5. Leigh Brackett - Shadow Over Mars(1945)(19/05/23)

6. Isaac Asimov - The Mule(1946)

7. Robert A. Heinlein - Farmer in The Sky(1951)(30/01/23)

8. Alfred Bester - The Demolished Man(1953)

9. Ray Bradbury - Fahrenheit 451(1954)

10. Mark Clifton - They'd Rather Be Right(1955)

11. Robert A. Heinlein - Double Star(1956)

12. Fritz Leiber - The Big Time(1958)

13. James Blish - A Case of Conscience(1959)

14. Robert A. Heinlein - Starship Troopers(1960)

15. Walter M. Miller, Jr. - A Canticle for Leibowitz(1961)

16. Robert A. Heinlein - Stranger in a Strange Land(1962)

17. Philip K. Dick - The Man in The High Castle(1963)

18. Clifford D. Simak - Here Gather the Stars(Way Station)(1964)

19. Fritz Leiber - The Wanderer(1965)

20. Frank Herbert - Dune(1966)

21. Robert A. Heinlein - The Moon is a Harsh Mistress(1967)

22. Roger Zelazny - Lord of Light(1968)

23. John Brunner - Stand on Zanzibar(1969)

24. Ursula K. Le Guin - The Left Hand of Darkness(1970)

25. Larry Niven - Ringworld(1971)

26. Philip José Farmer - To Your Scattered Bodies Go(1972)

27. Isaac Asimov - The Gods Themselves(1973)

28. Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous with Rama(1974)

29. Ursula K. Le Guin - The Dispossessed(1975)

30. Joe Haldeman - The Forever War(1976)

31. Kate Wilhelm - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang(1977)

32. Frederik Pohl - Gateway(1978)

33. Vonda N. McIntyre - Dreamsnake(1979)

34. Arthur C. Clarke - The Fountains of Paradise(1980)

35. Joan D. Vinge - The Snow Queen(1981)

36. C. J. Cherryh - Downbelow Station(1982)

37. Isaac Asimov - Foundation's Edge(1983)

38. David Brin - Startide Rising(1984)

39. William Gibson - Neuromancer(1985)

40. Orson Scott Card - Ender's Game(1986)

41. Orson Scott Card - Speaker for the Dead(1987)

42. David Brin - The Uplift War(1988)

43. C. J. Cherryh - Cyteen(1989)

44. Dan Simmons - Hyperion(1990)

45. Lois McMaster Bujold - The Vor Game(1991)

46. Lois McMaster Bujold - Barrayar(1992)

47. Vernor Vinge - A Fire Upon the Deep(1993)

48. Connie Willis - Doomsday Book(1993)

49. Kim Stanley Robinson - Green Mars(1994)

50. Lois McMaster Bujold - Mirror Dance(1995)

51. Neal Stephenson - The Diamond Age(1996)

52. Kim Stanley Robinson - Blue Mars(1997)

53. Joe Haldeman - Forever Peace(1998)

54. Connie Willis - To Say Nothing to the Dog(1999)

55. Vernor Vinge - A Deepness in The Sky(2000)

56. J.K.Rowling - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire(2001)

57. Neil Gaiman - American Gods(2002)

58. Robert J. Sawyer - Hominids(2003)

59. Lois McMaster Bujold - Paladin of Souls(2004)

60. Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange and Mr.Norrell(2005)

61. Robert Charles Wilson - Spin(2006)

62. Vernor Vinge - Rainbows End(2007)

63. Michael Chabon - The Yiddish Policemen's Union(2008)

64. Neil Gaiman - The Graveyard Book(2009)

65. Paolo Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl(2010)

66. China Miéville - The City & the City(2010)

67. Connie Willis - Blackout/All Clear(2011)

68. Jo Walton - Among Others(2012)

69. John Skalzi - Redshirts(2013)

70. Ann Leckie - Ancillary Justice(2014)

71. Cixin Liu - The Three-Body Problem(2015)

72. N.K.Jemisin - The Fifth Season(2016)

73. N.K.Jemisin - The Obelisk Gate(2017)

74. N.K.Jemisin - The Stone Sky(2018)

75. Mary Robinette Kowal - The Calculating Stars(2019)

76. Arkady Martine - A Memory Called Empire(2020)

77. Martha Wells - Network Effect(2021)

78. Arkady Martine - A Desolation Called Peace(2022)

[forgottenroderick]

ok so i went to answer the arthur/guin comment and noticed their development seems to depend a lot on what happened after elaine's death, so i thought maybe i should pop over here and hash that out. for that purpose, i did a [ revised timeline ] of roderick's life and it looks like her death (seredipitously enough!) actually lines up pr well w some stuff during his conquests so! elaine died during roderick's conquest of aarnu (think: fantasy!egypt) and, as we know, roderick defff thinks she died of a brokenheart. i do feel like the illness was of some duration, since @forgottenamira absolutely wanted to ensure it looked natural buT also couldn't let it go ~too long bc she didn't wanna risk a cure or a birth, so yeah!

so! lets get to the part of the timeline that's relevant here and ill include a couple years to sorta give an example

year 1270 OC/8 AR – aged 25 – birth of edmund, surrender of malkarta, roderick invades aarnu

year 1271 OC/9 AR – aged 26 – birth of cassandra, siobhan, death of queen léna of astaira

year 1272 OC/10 AR – aged 27 – death of elaine to unknown illness during the early stages of pregnancy

year 1273 OC/11 AR – aged 28 – surrender of aarnu

year 1274 OC/12 AR – aged 29 – roderick invades argadara

okie dokie so as you can see in the first year there, roderick receives the surrender of malakarta and then pr much ~immediately turns around and invades aarnu that same year and that's typical of his regime if you look at the prev places he'd invaded (without prompting from ~them) kolchis (tho that may have been ~slightly provoked but mostly not idk its a thing i can get into some other time alksdfs), vinetta, and malakarta. he seizes it, stabilizes it for maybe a couple months, and then moves on to conquer the next thing. after aarnu, we can also see that he returns to this pattern. but then w aarnu we see smth strange. he waits a whole year before invading smth else. so honestly that was already there, id originally put it in bc i was like 'surely even ~roderick needs a lil break from time to time!' but!! now this feels like cause/effect -- roderick in mourning

so, i defffff have always thought that the death of elaine was a key factor in roderick's psychology, and i kinda think maybe the end of the aarnu conquest, following her demise, was where we first get a glimpse of the brutality that roderick will later unleash in astaira, giving his grief and guilt a full outlet in the decimation of his enemies. honestly, i think ppl like @forgottenalistair who were old enough to have participated in the conquest of aarnu, probs wrote it off as a fluke -- like obv he's not doing well w the death of his wife and this was horrific but surely this'll never come again etc! its just bc of elaine's pass ing and not a pattern etc etc etc. meanwhile ppl like @forgottentristan ~weren't old enough to remember and had never seen the like before astaira.

if we say that elaine perhaps died at the end of the year? and roderick returned to obliterate aarnu's resistance, conquering them by the beginning of the year, we then have basically a two year absence from fighting for roderick that is the direct result of elaine's death. so guin's abt? seven? when he goes to argadara, but up to that time he probs kept her v close, giving her every lil thing he could think to, all that was left of elaine, as if any of it could make up for losing her mother...

roderick has trouble staying out of battle for too long lakjsdfkjsdf (def not a red flag there SCREAM) so eventually he ~had to return but not before setting guin up w her own household as a potential heir to the imperial throne and probs investing her w all kinds of titles, powers (to be wielded by her when she came of age but until then largely to be wielded by roderick as her surviving parent), lands, and revenues as a direct result! if her grandparents were still alive? esp her grandfather bc...well, roderick's not here for women doing anything lakjsdfjdsf he was probs the official governor of her household until such time as guin came of age. if her grandfather was dead, it was probs bartholomew. before he left, roderick def appointed all the members of her household personally, ensuring they all met stringent standards of morality (his vers anyway!), learning, experience, and pr much every other lil detail! No one but the perfect candidate for ~his kid!!!!

its ~also possible he merged the households of @forgottenalaric (until arthur's birth, he was still heir presumptive to the throne after all) and guin, so that could've been a thing, too? if so, though, bartholomew def would've been the governor of their combined household at least until alaric came of age and went on to be established in his own unique role as duke, etc.

he def stayed in daily communication w her various household higher-ups (as well as various spies and household plants) to ensure he had a v clear and v direct picture of what was happening there. no detail is too small to escape ~his imperial notice...even today!

she would've had only the best of the best in her houlsehold -- tutors, to teach everything from comportment and ettiquette to statescraft (her education would've been sterling and included both must-knows for traditional princesses as well as that for tradtional heirs to the throne!); a fleet of ladies-in-waiting both her own age and older, to provide both examples and companionship and care and service as the case may be. she would have had household secretaries (accountant/lawyer/scribe/our idea of what a secretary is all rolled into one) and servants w their own liveries pertaining to her household and horses and hounds and every sort of thing any peer of the realm would have had but n an even grander scale given her rank and potential future as empress.

in fact, all this also goes for @forgottenedmund and @forgottenarthur as well, save that they would noT have been taught anything a princess needs to know hahaha -- this is traditionally how you raise an heir to the throne, so they all got that, but guin def got it first. it was probs a few more years before the boys got their households established as independent from those of their mothers. obv, the boys also would not have had ladies-in-waiting hahaha but they def would've had gentlemen of the chamber (and when they were still kids nurses ofc just like guin herself) @forgottenmarian's father or one of her brothers and/or bartholomew was most likely the governor of arthur's household till he reached his majority; @forgottengodfrey or bartholomew likely served that purpose for edmund

so yeah!! that's what roderick would've done most likely to set up his daughter before he skeddaled off to war/after he did. when he was home, he was always sur e to see all his wives and children, but esp in the first years after elain's death, probs kept guin around him most out of anyone

i do think there're two version of elaine at court, now: the vers of her that was real, and the ver that exists in roderick's brain after all these years of missing her that was absolutely perfect and also agreed/agrees w him on absolutely everything and yeah!! i do think if/when he's ever confronted w the reality of things that ~weren't perfect it causes him a lot of cognitive dissonance and he tends to lash out so that's...fun alksdjfkjdsf so yeah!!

i kinda based guin's sitaution/upbringing this way off the royal household of elizabeth i as heiress presumptive to henry viii between 1533-1336 and that of mary i as the same before her, if you were wondering <3 but...fantasy-ified! laksjdfdsg

now on to the stuff you ~actually asked abt here laksjdfkljsdf sorry for the digression i just thought i should address it laksjdfjksdf

roderick, giving guin a surprise husband: ill give her a surprise! women love surprises!!

SCREAM honestly tho he'd been fighting the idea of ~any of his kids getting married (they're just children!) until recently (i can get more into that in a sec) so i feel like on that count it had to be even ~more shocking too bc he'd toss i t abt and then have some prime NONONONO reaction and itd all be dashed and so i def think all his kids were kinda like...in limbo/that won't happen almost kinda thought processes...arthur def was, anyway! lakjsdfkjdsf

(between marian convincing roderick [ here ] that it was time and now scandals breaking out abt his sons having impregnated the malconaire girls, eithne, aoife, and roisin, he's had a v decided change of heart)

ooooooh that'll be interesting to see how that goes!! roderick is inherently stubborn so he really digs his heels in when other ppl try to tell him he's wrong/take charge in any way but also?? he won't respect ppl till they try it???? man is contrary af there's literally no winning w him bc ultimately ~all his heirs are in competition w ~himself bc they can't embarrass him but they also can't outshine him and even ~he can't quite figure out where that line is...but at the same time guin can get away w sm that the rest of the world cannot???? and also feels less threatening to him bc she's a ~mere woman~ so like??? i honestly don't know how he'll react to that??? lskjdfakljsdf it could be reaaaaally bad or it could be good????? i truly don't know! alksdjfjkdsf good luck, dear guin!!! lkajsjkfsdf

OOC | Roderick & Guinevere

hihihi! ok so obv there's a lot [ here ] regarding general treatment, but!! ngl just straight out the gate, guin's his favorite child alsdkfjklsdf she's also the one he feels most guilty towards bc of what happened to her mom so he's always looking to make up for things in his own weird way??? largely this consists in sending her clothes and jewels. she ~is the kid he shows up most for, but honestly even that isn't saying ~that much bc he's still off subduing nations etc and like???? he's there if he gets to it but??? actually interacting w her occasionally at least appears on the to-do list (in the if-i-get-to-it category but still that's more than the rest get)!

he def does feel that her mother's loss is his fault and she was the one he truly loved and frankly her loss haunts him. i also think guin probs resembles her mom, at least a bit, so he can never really put that to the back of his mind either and alkdsjfkjsdf

anyway, i think you said that she resents him a bit iirc? do you think this is obv? or does she keep this under wraps, bc that would def impact the way he interacts w her, too!

i also think that, in general, he doesn't view women as capable of ruling (yikes) but he holds guin as an exception to this -- not in a 'you've proven women capable way' but in a 'wow you're not like other girls' way which alkjsdfjkadsf but anyway here we are im so sorry for him in advance alskdjfakljsdf

[weirdwoodeyes]

4, 6, 11, and 15!

4 - what sections of a bookstore do you browse

i poke around the sci-fi section and whatever early american history stuff they have, usually with little success in the latter

6 - what books have you read in the last month

embarrassment okay maybe i lied in my original tags because i got very caught up in my thesis work early this month and didn’t read much beside jstor articles and my own writing. in may so far i’ve read:

- the angel of darkness by caleb carr. this was a christmas present and i had fun but if you’ve read the alienist you’ve read the sequel.

- notes on an execution by danya kukafka

- when breath becomes air by paul kalanithi. something of a let-down for me

- childhood’s end by arthur c clarke

- this is how you lose the time war by amal el-mohtar and max gladstone. i should never read books i see on tiktok. this was very bad.

i’m currently reading the left hand of darkness by ms le guin and selections from marx’s grundrisse edited by david mclellan

11 - what non-fiction books do you like if any

if any!! i’m getting my masters in history so i’m in a committed relationship with nonfiction. some of my faves include:

- scraping by: wage labor, slavery, and survival in early baltimore by seth rockman

- power, pleasure, and profit: insatiable appetites from machiavelli to madison by david wooton

- debt: the first 5,000 years by david graeber

- the shoemaker and the tea party: memory and the american revolution by alfred young

15 - answered!

[indiejones]

INDIES TOP 75 AMERICAN ACTORS OF ALL TIME !

As most of y'all enjoying Indies produce all these years, would've sensed for long, we at Indies are a bit classical at heart ! And in keeping with those richly steeped tastes, bring to you our latest (as also I'm sure hugely interesting & awaited) all-time historic list! The Indies Top 75 American Actors Of All Time ! (And only reason Indies don't extend this list any further, is for the sheer impossibility of it!..the gulf btwn below esteemed list & most other actors through the century of American cinema, assessed, being just too wide, upto 150+ spots atleast, to carry on further.) Enjoy ! & A Very Happy & Prosperous New Year To Everyone !

1.       Gary Cooper

2.       James Stewart

3.       Daniel Day Lewis

4.       Charles Boyer

5.       Spencer Tracy

6.       Joe Pesci

7.       Gerard Depardieu

8.       Walter Pidgeon

9.       Fredric March

10.   Henry Fonda

11.   Charles Laughton

12.   Charlie Chaplin

13.   James Cagney

14.   Jon Voight

15.   Jack Nicholson

16.   Al Pacino

17.   Peter Ustinov

18.   Albert Finney

19.   Michael Douglas

20.   Kirk Douglas

21.   Christopher Plummer

22.   Harrison Ford

23.   George Kennedy

24.   Mickey Rooney

25.   Montgomery Clift

26.   Cary Grant

27.   George C. Scott

28.   Clint Eastwood

29.   Gary Oldman

30.   Walter Huston

31.   Laurence Olivier

32.   Marlon Brando

33.   Gene Hackman

34.   John Gielgud

35.   Douglas Fairbanks

36.   Paul Muni

37.   Paul Newman

38.   James Mason

39.   James Caan

40.   Alec Guinness

41.   Dustin Hoffman

42.   Peter O’ Toole

43.   Tom Hanks

44.   Humphrey Bogart

45.   John Wayne

46.   Ronald Coleman

47.   Gregory Peck

48.   Rex Harrison

49.   Richard Dix

50.   Claude Rains

51.   Anthony Hopkins

52.   Franchot Tone

53.   James Dean

54.   Robert Duvall

55.   William Powell

56.   Arthur Kennedy

57.   Geoffrey Rush

58.   Steve McQueen

59.   Johnny Depp

60.   Richard Burton

61.   Clark Gable

62.   Michael Caine

63.   Laurence Harvey

64.   Conrad Veral

65.   Sean Penn

66.   Ralph Richardson

67.   Warren Beatty

68.   Rock Hudson

69.   William Holden

70.   Robert Redford

71.   Nick Nolte

72.   Walter Brennan

73.   Leslie Howard

74.   Michael Shannon

75.   Sean Connery

76.   Robert de Niro

[scotianostra]

Arthur Conan Doyle was born on 22nd May 1859 at 11 Picardy Place, Edinburgh. 

Arthur was educated at several places before studying medicine at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, including periods working in Aston (then a town in Warwickshire, now part of Birmingham), Sheffield and Ruyton-XI-Towns, Shropshire. He also studied practical botany at the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh.

Whilst he was a medical student, Conan Doyle was profoundly captivated by the skill of his professor, Dr Joseph Bell, in observing the minutest detail regarding a patient’s condition. This approach of diagnostic deduction inspired Conan Doyle’s literary creation, Sherlock Holmes  Sherlock Holmes made his first appearance in A Study of Scarlet, and its success encouraged Conan Doyle to write more stories involving the detective.

Later Conan Doyle focused his work on non-fiction, including to military writings, such as The Great Boer War.

Despite his immense fame and wealth, Conan Doyle remained irked by the fact that his literary writings were not taken more seriously, and threw himself into a huge number of side projects, notably sport and outdoor pursuits (legend has it that he introduced Norwegian downhill skis into the Swiss Alps).

He also regarded his most important public work to have been in ‘spiritualism’, (the photo with the whisp of smoke beside him is said to be a spirit!,) based on research supposedly demonstrating that the souls of the dead could be contacted by the living, which had become fashionable in England partly because of the devastating toll of the First World War. Perhaps influenced by the fact that his own son, Kingsley, died in 1918 in the great influenza epidemic that year, Conan Doyle poured endless time and money into ‘the psychic question’, and published a series of increasingly eccentric books, notably The Case for Spirit Photography and The Coming of the Fairies and The History of Spiritualism.

On the author’s death in 1930, the Royal Albert Hall filled with fans, who took part in a huge séance in his honour. By then, his literary immortality was already assured: according to The Guinness Book of Records, Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed movie and TV character of all time.

[teamxdark]

🔬✏ - ToA/RtA? 👀

Hooo boy. This got long because I can't shut up about ToA.

🔬- Was there one scene you were building up to/knew you had to get just right?

For ToA? Oh boy, MANY THINGS.

In the beginning perhaps less so, when there weren't many people reading and there was a lot of establishing going on. Chapter 9 (Corbenic) was the first one I was nervous about publishing and the first big plot chapter, but I don't remember stressing about getting it just right.

Chapter 13 on the other hand. The one where Arthur nearly dies and Lance goes ballistic before having his major realisation? Yeah. That one I needed to get right. Even though very few were reading. And even though I got almost no response to it aside from a few new kudos, I was very proud of it.

Other major things after that, that I wanted to nail on the head? So many things. The second half of ToA is basically the meat of the story.

I wanted to show the warrior side of Nimue and her frustration at being kept in place.

I wanted to show Arthur messing up and handling the consequences.

I wanted to show Lancelot falling and falling hard, but still retaining his love for his son and his friends and his mother.

Guin. Just... Everything about Guin.

THE WEDDING CHAPTER. I WAS REALLY EXCITED FOR THE WEDDING CHAPTER OH MY WORD I LOVE WRITING DANCING AND I LOVE GUIN AND LANCE SHOWING EVERYONE UP AND I LOVE ARTHUR STRUGGLING WITH FORMAL DANCES BECAUSE HE NEVER HAD THE TIME TO LEARN THEM BUT THE INSTANT THE MUSIC SPEEDS UP HE SHOWS WHAT HE REALLY CAN DO AND INVENTS BREAKDANCING. Also building up Gareth.

Building up the conflict with Lance and Gawain.

Chapter 20 in its entirety.

Chapter 21 where Arthur FINALLY REALISES.

Chapter 22 oh wow that one terrified me to write because of some of the topics involved, especially at the time when it was being written. I didn't want people to see Gawain as a villain, and I was afraid that the direction I took him in could be viewed as xenophobic in some ways, and there were times when I sat there and felt genuine anxiety over this chapter because I wanted people to sympathise with Gawain's plight and feel the weight of his decisions and ultimately understand why he puts a blade to his throat (as he does in SatBK). And that part at the end when he and Guin basically exchange their most valued items to demonstrate a trust in each other and as a way to promise to move past that night and work to build a better future.

AND THE LAST CHAPTER. THE LAST. FREAKING. CHAPTER.

THE PAYOFF.

THE CULMINATION OF THE SLOW BURN AND THE CONCLUSION OF THE TALE.

I remember finishing the chapter and sitting on it for a week and just. Dying to post it. It was a relief. It was such a relief to write something soft and sweet and reciprocated and the beginning of a time of healing.

Meanwhile with RtA... Everything to do with King Ban. And there are some coming up as well, but those are spoilers! I will say, though... That I hope the end of Chapter 11 makes everyone lose their minds anew.

✏️-Would you go back and change anything if you could?

For ToA? Absolutely.

Make Gawain and Lancelot's relationship more of an explicit friendship. Amp up the tragedy of the final five chapters and be closer to the legends by doing so.

Show a younger Arthur calling Lancelot 'Lance' and Lancelot protesting it. I had the idea of the nickname when I was writing Chapter 13 and I wasn't about to go back and change earlier chapters, so I told instead of showed.

More slice-of-life chapters or interludes so more of the knights have character moments, though that might ruin the flow of the story.

Allude to the fact that Galatine makes Gawain stronger while in the sunlight. I could add it to RtA but that would feel kinda shoehorned in at this point.

Establish that Merlina can only see visions of death and misfortune and tie that in to her motivations to attempt to frighten Arthur into retrieving Excalibur so she could make the proceedings of SatBK happen. Honestly the whole chapter when Arthur finds her and puts a stop to it feels... lacking to me.

I'd let Arthur say 'fuck' just once. Not sure when but. I'd let it happen. He's earned it.

[cinematicnomad]

1, 7, 25 for the fanfic end of year ask :)

001. favorite fic you wrote this year i have a soft spot for take my hand (take my everything) which was the first fic i wrote this year! and kind of the first step back into writing creatively on something new that wasn’t the 7 year monster sterek fic. also my first foray into 9-1-1 fic and was just a lot of fun! 

007. longest completed fic you wrote this year the longest fic i wrote was my second for the year! so show me (family) wound up being around 16k+ for 9-1-1 which kind of burst out of me over the course of one 48 hour window unlike take my hand which took a few weeks to crank out. 

025. a fic you read this year you would recommend everyone read SO MANY FICS DUDE!!! i’m gonna rec a couple, some that i re-read this year and some that i discovered for the first time, all from a variety of fandoms. BUT heads up, you didn’t specify a fandom so it’s gonna be a little scattered. also someone else sent me this same question but specified 9-1-1, so i’m gonna reserve those recs for that ask. GET READY!!

and this, your living kiss by opal_bullets (7/7 | 84k+ | M) destiel; AU: college/university; john winchester’s A+ parenting; angst with a happy ending

only a very few people in the world know that the celebrated and reclusive poet jack allen is just kansas mechanic dean winchester, a high school dropout with a few bucks to his name. not that it matters anymore; life has left him so wrung out he never wants to pick up another pen.

until, that is, a string of coincidences leads dean to auditing a poetry course with one dr. castiel novak. the professor is wildly intelligent, devastatingly handsome...and just so happens to be academia’s foremost expert on the poetry of jack allen.

note: i discovered this fic back in the pre-pandemic times of feb 2020 and i’ve read this fic TWICE since, leaving a lengthy comment each time. the poetry in the fic itself is stunningly gorgeous and i have a habit of reading it out loud to myself while reading bc it begs to be heard. this fic is seriously beautiful and makes me want to read all the poet!dean au’s out there in the world. unfortunately there aren’t that many so i just keep coming back to this well. i don’t think i can express enough how much i love this fic. 

lost time by ARCurren (105/105 | 350k+ | T)  bransonxsybil; AU: canon divergent; outsider POVs; original characters; slow burn

the story of a free spirit who was asked to give up the man she loved for a system she didn’t believe in and what happened next. AU after 3.04. 

note: did i think, when i stumbled across this fic years ago, that it would wind up being one of my all time favorites that i return to time and again to re-read? never. did i re-read it for like the dozenth time this year?? 110%. this fic is everything i want from fanfiction—it’s beautifully written, expands on canon, and shows me all the hidden moments the cameras never did (not to mention it’s historically accurate and delves deep into irish politics of the time). the first third or so of this fic is all about tom and sybil’s slow burn romance at downton, but the fic really bursts into its own when we follow the two to dublin and get introduced to all of the author’s deliciously detailed oc’s. heads up warning: this fic was never officially completed, though the final chapter is a beautifully written summary of the final arc of the fic. even so, it’s fucking worth it. 

misfire by mothlights & unpossible (6/6 | 28k+ | T) sterek; time travel; angst with a happy ending; alive hale family; magic; alternating POV

“the debt must be repaid,” she says, and it has the weight of a vow. the words resonate through him, ringing through his ribcage and the bones of his jaw, and stiles loses his breath and maybe his grip on reality because she draws herself upright and where there had once stood a supermodel-level MILK now there is galadriel’s much hotter older sister, a presence of unmistakable power in their ordinary, smells-vaguely-of-thai-takeout hallway. 

“oh shit,” stiles says. 

note: this fic is the first in the misfire ‘verse and i need you to understand that it literally broke me when i binge read these fics a month or so ago. i am a sucker for a solid time travel fic especially bc there are such few good ones in fandom. but this gets at the heart of it all by exploring the idea of stiles getting the chance to save derek’s family and taking it...after he and derek are romantically together in his true timeline and then actually dealing with the ramifications of how that alters everything and how stiles survives in this new present where he and derek are virtual strangers. everyone should definitely read this, but you should also know that i fucking sobbed while reading the sequel (which also has a happy ending, but really digs deep into the nitty gritty angst of the repercussions). 

map of the world by seperis (11/11 | 154k+ | M)  destiel; end!verse; alternate universe; canon divergent; original characters; slow burn

the world’s already over and they’re already dead. all they’re doing now is marking time until the end. 

note: look, if you don’t know about down to agincourt by @seperis, what are you doing with your life?? the series is over 1M+ words so far, the fic author is on book 4 out of a planned 8, and it’s fucking phenomenal. i know i’ve tagged a couple of these recs as slow burn but...this is the slowest slow burn to ever burn. canon!dean travels back into the end!verse timeline just as lucifer kills dean and somehow cas made it out alive and has to keep dean safe while he learns to become his end!verse counterpoint. the world building in this series is intense and i cannot recommend it enough. i’m still in the midst of my re-read bc it’s SUCH an endeavor but i highly recommend it to everybody. 

invictus by ellanasan (116/116 | 355+ | M) hayffie; au: alive abernathy family; pre-hunger games; canon prostitution; slow burn

“so then, before i can even think about doing something stupid like trying to stab him with his fucking golden paperknife, he gives me a choice, see?” haymitch continued, almost detached. “either i play nice like all the other victors or he’ll kill my family. i could either become his puppet—greatest punishment he could give me, according to him—or i could become the example.”

AU in which haymitch’s family lives.

note: hello, have you ever wondered what the hunger games series would be like if haymitch’s family were alive? i fucking hadn’t until 2 years ago when i stumbled across this fic and fell head over heels in love with this ship. @ellanainthetardis is my go to hunger games fic writer for anything exploring canon and i’m obsessed with anything she writes about the OG victors pre-canon (finnick, joanna, chaff, etc). this fic is just 300k+ exploring that world and all the intricate details of how cruel the games could really be. HIGHLY recommend. i definitely re-read it this fall when i needed a pick me up.

don’t know what i’m supposed to do (haunted by the ghost of you) by crazyassmurdererwall (1/1 | 30k+ | T) sterek; canon divergent; angst with a happy ending; ghosts; stiles POV

stiles sees dead people. yep. seriously.

(he’s got this. he’s totally got this. so what if one of them is derek’s mom?)

note: did you know that @crazyassmurdererwall is one of my all time favorite people? and that she’s wicked talented? and that in our spare time she’ll send me a billion fic ideas that are amazing and i get to hear all the intricate details of her plot bunnies? but i digress. this fic is one of my all time fave sterek fics i’ve re-read it sooo many times. there’s just something about the heartache and stiles’ insecurity and the way he tries to shoulder it all on his own. and then there’s alli’s brilliant writing, the way she weaves through a scene and paints a picture just so and manages to tug at your heart strings with her precise word choice. there’s some amazing world building in this fic as it explores this other facet of the supernatural that canon teen wolf never touched upon, and i’m so grateful for that bc alli is the only one who should be allowed to write about ghosts and teen wolf together. 

lagavulin and guinness by snarfle (10/10 | 163k+ | explicit) hartwin; slow burn; PTSD; suicidal thoughts; graphic depictions of violence; domestic abuse

plenty of people had looked down on eggsy throughout his life. he had gotten fairly used to it. didn’t mean it was fair, but he knew how these things worked. what really sucked was that the new arthur was worse than the old one.

“eggsy grimaced. he didn’t know how to explain to harry—who seemed like he hadn’t been discriminated against a day in his life—that the new arthur kept giving him what amounted to suicide missions, and that he was currently bleeding out in a warehouse because of the deliberately bad intel she had given him.”

also featuring: dean is harder to get rid of than eggsy thought, his mum is going off the deep end, there are way too many nefarious plots in play, and eggsy is really beginning to wish that harry would stop holding his hand and kiss him instead.

note: look, i know i recced this literally less than a week ago but i ALSO stayed up til 5AM re-reading this last night and it was a-m-a-z-i-n-g. i was on a bit of a kingsman kick earlier this year, so i’ve actually re-read this fic TWICE so far in 2020. i will give you a serious warning in that this fic delves deep into domestic abuse through the lens of a variety of different relationships. it also explores the potential for abuse in hartwin, bc this fic is one of the few that actually commits to the fact that they’re literal spies who murder people. actively. a lot. but seriously, this fic is one of my fave in the fandom and i STRONGLY recommend it. 

waste of breath by bryrosea (1/1 | 22k+ | M) loganxveronica; canon compliant; missing scenes; navy; past child abuse

logan echolls, the nine years, and the navy.

note: bryrosea has an obscene number of amazing logan and veronica fics (her canon divergent series stay with me is another i re-read this year), but i’ve found myself returning to this fic a lot over the years. i’m a sucker for canon compliant fics that explore the missing scenes in between canon and this fic hits all the right buttons by diving deep into how logan echolls went from being a trash fire at hearst college at the end of s3 to being a decorated navy pilot by the movie. it explores logan seeking out therapy and making a life for himself that he can be proud of, all while pining after the girl who got away. and bc this author is amazing, she followed it up with a sequel from veronica’s point of view in the series done by only me. 

the law of equivalent exchange by awed_frog (8/8 | 60k+ | M) destiel; POV castiel; pre-canon; post-canon; canon compliant; immortality; reincarnation

“and what’s the point of it?”

“of love? there isn’t one. loving is its own purpose.” 

note: i mean??? i don’t really know what to say except that this is one of the truly most beautiful fics i have ever read. it follows castiel through time as he meets different reincarnations of sam and dean across history and falls ever more deeply in love. it is achingly tender and so ecstatically written that i die just thinking about it. and that summary? i mean. holy fuck break my heart why don’t you? i don’t know how i missed out on this fic for so long since it was published in 2015 but i only learned about it for the first time back in july and it was. life changing?? when the fic finally reaches the canon timeline and he meets THIS dean it’s peak yearning. 10/10 will read again.

ahead in the count by elisela (17/17 | 50k+ | E) sterek; AU: sports; pitcher!stiles; teacher!derek; long distance relationship; getting together

“yankee fan,” derek says, laughing when stiles makes a disgusted face. “the bronx bombers, stiles, you can’t be a new yorker and—”

“stop talking right now,” stiles sighs, shaking his head. “i can’t believe i still want to kiss you after that,” he says, pulling derek in by his coat. “this is making me rethink everything.” 

“i’ll never watch them again,” derek promises, and stiles laughs against his mouth. 

or: stiles is a starting pitcher for the NY mets when he meets and falls in love with derek. derek doesn’t know. 

note: i read SO MANY of @elisela’s 911 fics this summer, which i loved, and then she got into teen wolf and started writing sterek and i just about died. this fic is amazing, one of my fave sterek AU’s that i’ve read in years. it’s just the right amount of drama and angst and fluff filled with all the joys of miscommunication and character relationships that makes reading sterek such a joy. reading this fic and finding out eli needed fic recs pushed me to dive back in to reading sterek fics for a bit this fall so i can say with the utmost authority that this is one of the best i’ve read in a long time. 

i used to think one day we’d tell the story of us by notequitegucci (2/2 | 32k+ | M) gendrya; alternate universe—modern setting; outsider POV; friends to lovers; friends to lovers

9 times a stark encounters gendry + 1 time he meets the starks.

note: again, this is the first in a 2 part series titled love me like you do that explores arya and gendry’s dynamics together through the point of view of her family. game of thrones ended last year with a whimper but i keep returning to the gendrya tag on ao3 to seek out new, amazing content and also to re-read some old favorites. i can’t remember if i came across this for the first time last year or this one, but i’ve read it and re-read it more times than i can count since and i love it more than i can describe. i’m a total sucker for outsider POV fics and my biggest pet peeve in canon is the fact that none of the stark’s ever found out that arya and gendry had a history together. this modern au fic almost makes up for it by giving me a gendry encounter with every family member and then the big reveal. it’s peak content. 

theeeeeeese recs got a little away from me. i wasn’t originally intending on adding lengthy notes to each entry but ... oh well!! these are all amazing so please enjoy. 

fanfic end of the year asks

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Zack Snyder’s Justice League

It is a rarity in cinema to get a second chance at making a film. It is even more rare for a director to complete their original vision as intended while a different version exist. Richard Donner famously had a different cut of Superman II before being removed from the film and a decent film was later released. In 2006, Richard Donner's originally lost footage was restored and the film was a significant improvement and is the superior version. Fast forward 11 years later and a similar situation had happened again with Zack Snyder's Justice League. The film was stripped of Snyder's vision and just the bare bones were left for another director to wrap a different type of meat on them. The Joss Whedon or what I like to call the "Josstice League" version, was a lighter, inconsistent and leaner film that went for the fun aspects of the story. I liked bits of it, but as a whole it failed to live up to the ground work that was laid before it. It was then the bell for the reinstatement of Zack Snyder's original vision had been rung. It was heard and now his complete 4 hour epic has arrived and it was 95% a different film all together. There were character arcs, story beats and many visuals that were not featured in the Josstice League version, it was awesome and epic to witness. There were many different paths that this film took and I applaud the bold decisions made, but I also felt the same problems still exist in this new version. I see the strategy of bringing all of these legendary heroes together in one film and then explode them out into their own solo films later and it worked in retrospect, but it just wasn't built up enough. The problems I had with this version is that there are some truly over indulgent visual moments and the pace needed to be picked in some spots. I don't want to spoil the bigger surprises of the film and I won't go too deep into what the differences are, but just know that this is a Zack Snyder film in every way and you’ll need to forgive the film if it feels dated in terms of where the DCEU is now.

The cast in the film all do excellent jobs and I love that the consistency has been restored. Its a big cast so I'm gonna highlight the standouts. Ben Affleck was good as Bruce Wayne/Batman, but he was a little too jolly at times. There are 3 parts to Bruce: billionare playboy, brooding force of strength that is almost cold to people and the world's greatest detective. Ben has only gotten the first 2 right in the Batman v Superman and in this film. He's a decent Batman, but a good Bruce Wayne. Gal Gadot was great as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and once again she brings home the inspiration and strength the character means to all of us. Henry Cavill comes back as Clark Kent/Superman and I liked that we see him slowly comeback to the man we knew him to be. There are moments where he is even more brutal than the Josstice League version and it was somewhat terrifying. Jason Mamoa was extra brooding and cool as Arthur Curry/Aquaman and I liked that we see more of his arc as he begins to make the decisions that would lead to his solo film. Ezra Miller gets more time to shine as Barry Allen/The Flash and I liked his comedic timing and how much of a dork he is. His scenes with his father played by Billy Crudup were touching and gave him more purpose. Now the real MVP and the one character that had the strongest story was Victor Stone/Cyborg portrayed wonderfully by Ray Fisher. Even in the Josstice League version, Ray Fisher was the highlight of the film and he is even more so here. His story in the film was the most heartfelt and the evolution of Victor excepting his new life was amazing and I felt the film was almost completely his. Joe Morton was beyond perfect as his father Silas Stone and their relationship was perfectly strained as it has always been in every iteration.

Ciarán Hinds was still great, powerful and brutal as Steppenwolf. I loved that this time around you see his mission was more than just conquest of our world. His design is striking and his armor is pretty sweet looking with all the jagged edges and spikes. Peter Guinness was cool as DeSaad and I liked that we got a taste of what Darkseid's legions are like. Ray Porter brings to life one the most deadliest and dangerous villains in the DC Universe, Darkseid. I have been waiting for the day that we would see him on screen and I was not disappointed. We get see his brutality on full display and I loved every bit of it. I truly hope we get to see more of him in the future. Jared Leto returns as the Joker in a new scene and honestly, I don't think it was necessary. He was better this time, but it was kind of a throwaway scene. Yes you want to see Batman and Joker on screen and the entire sequence reminds you of Bruce's motivation to bring back Superman, but I just felt it was just not that great of a scene.

The new score by Tom Holkenborg was excellent and melodic throughout. He brings all the themes we know from the past films, but also introduced a few new ones. A piece that really stuck out to me was "Cyborg Becoming/Human All Too Human". Visually this film is spectacular in every scene and the 4:3 aspect ratio didn't bother me at all. Zack is very fond of slow motion shots and I think the effect works in a dramatic since, but when every consecutive shot after the next is in slow motion just to drag out your opening credits or something "cool", it becomes way too indulgent and it really slows the pace of the film down. It was borderline gratuitous. The film earns its R rating with a lot more bloody violence and a few F bombs, but that wasn't a problem for me since DC has always been known for pushing the limits. I just felt that there was a whole universe to build before we got to this point and it still felt rushed. The film diverts so many times that you can almost get completely lost in what the actual story of the film is. It is Zack's vision and I applaud his ambition, but I see why it was cut down so dramatically. Is this the superior film to Josstic League? Absolutely! Is it a bold direction for DC? Yes. Did it need to be a 4 hour epic? No. Could there have been 3 different films made from this one epic? Yes. In the end, I enjoyed this better than the previous version and it did not disappoint. Definitely a must watch if you've enjoyed the DC films so far and a testament to the fans supporting a filmmakers' passion and vision. It is now streaming on HBO Max, but let me know what you thought of the film and my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!