rfallfish

[rfallfish]

So this is actually a super interesting thing.

One reason for this is that these names passed down through Many different peoples. Different language groups, when faced with the same name, will pronounce letters in it differently, and therefore change the word itself over time. Think of how the German surname "Schumacher" can be found in the USA as "Shoemaker". It's a fairly direct translation, but the sounds are also much more familiar to the American English ear.

So with Ulysses, the character of Odysseus made its way through (probably) Illyrian tribes before it reached the Romans, resulting in the Latin Ulixes (which we now mainly call "Ulysses"). This much is argued by Franz Altheim in his A History of Roman Religion (source). Altheim also argues that the character Ulixes did not reach Rome by means of Homer's epics, which further explains the difference in names. However, it was obvious that these were different stories about the same guy, so his stories got imported different places and his name got changed around by whoever was telling them.

Many other cases, especially those with vastly different names, are because many Greeks and many Latins believed their stories were about the same characters. There were enough similarities, due to their common folklore heritage, that such an assumption seemed natural. As these cultures interacted more and more, their stories grew together, and we started seeing distinctly Greek stories in Rome and distinctly Roman stories in Greece. But the people in those areas kept the names they always used, so Mars and Ares both just referred to the war god.

But we still see differences in how they were portrayed between Rome and Greece, due to the differences in cultures and histories. Of course, that's expected, since every folklore has regional variants, regardless of if they're supposedly referencing the same characters.

fuck that specific roman who decided to change the names of the characters from greek mythology, but then keep the stories themselves, basically the same - you have made my life way more difficult than it needed to be.

[rfallfish]

The Pink Hydra is a small, independent magazine online that always pays its writers (even if it's the equivalent of a bar tip). They want to fund three issues for the year, and I'd appreciate it if you considered donating to their fundraiser to make sure they can continue to compensate writers. Additionally, half of the sales from their Ko-fi shop will go towards the fundraiser!

They've published my work in the past, and I can say from experience that the chief editor is a pleasure to work with. They're responsive, personable, and very enthusiastic about helping writers put get their best work out.

Even if you can't support the fundraiser for whatever reason, it'd be helpful to spread it just for a little. Small publications are important to me, and I'd appreciate it immensely.

[rfallfish]

The queue is through. If you see me again, that means I've come back.

I don't think this site is healthy for me. If you want to keep following my work, check out my website or subscribe to my mailing list (both in my pinned post). I have a few posts queued up, and I'll let them run, but I'm going to be away.

(Tag list: @mr-orion @faytelumos @ashirisu)

[rfallfish]

Bugs aren't deserving of death just because they're smaller and weaker than you.

[rfallfish]

Ten miles from Arkham I had struck the trail That rides the cliff-edge over Boynton Beach, And hoped that just at sunset I could reach The crest that looks on Innsmouth in the vale. Far out at sea was a retreating sail, White as hard years of ancient winds could bleach, But evil with some portent beyond speech, So that I did not wave my hand or hail. Sails out of Innsmouth! echoing old renown Of long-dead times. But now a too-swift night Is closing in, and I have reached the height Whence I so often scan the distant town. The spires and roofs are there—but look! The gloom Sinks on dark lanes, as lightless as the tomb!

"VIII. The Port", Fungi from Yuggoth by H. P. Lovecraft

[rfallfish]

I understand the Fungi from Yuggoth hype now.

[rfallfish]

I told my office mate that I was listening to Stick Season by Noah Kahan for the first time, and he just said, "No way! That's someone I've heard of this time!"

Side note, listen to "The View Between Villages". It's very good.

Passed Alger Brook road, I'm over the bridge A minute from home, but I feel so far from it The death of my dog, the stretch of my skin It's all washin' over me, I'm angry again The things that I lost here, the people I knew They got me surrounded for a mile or two The cars in reverse, I'm grippin' the wheel I'm back between villages and everything's still

[rfallfish]

Blank page syndrome is real.

[rfallfish]

Still thinking about this one.

From "It Takes Two Wings to Fly" (1986)

[rfallfish]

I know that Dirk Gently is a character from a comedy book, but I think he represents a kind of fictional detective that we could use more of.

He's not particularly smart, he's not particularly charismatic, he's kind of a jerk, and he's a borderline con-artist sometimes. But dammit does he solve a case. All that time other detectives spend doing deductions? Dirk is grasping at straws for the same amount of time. And it pays off.

Doesn't hurt that he's (totally not) a psychic.

[rfallfish]

Dune is really just a story of a child who has the only three positive influences on his life (Leto, Duncan, and Kynes) murdered and then becomes a violent, cruel tyrant with no one to guide him back to being a good person.

[rfallfish]

We finally reached the summit. Solitude stood in the sun, his bare feet on the ground and his arms outstretched. I stood in his shadow, my torn clothes drawn tightly around me and my hands tucked under my arms. “Isn’t it beautiful?” Solitude said. I stepped into the sun and shielded my eyes. I could see the whole world from this height, and I could make out every detail. People drank wine. People huddled around barrel fires. Bitter friends talked to strangers, each spreading the same rumors and false memories of the other. Marshal, a college freshman, obsessed over a half-point on his final grades while his girlfriend sat alone two rooms away. The sights, the sounds, it was all too much. I tried to draw back, but Solitude caught me by my shoulder. “You aren’t going to want to miss this,” he said.

From "The Apocalypse of Cassandra"

(Tag List: @faytelumos @mr-orion @ashirisu)

[rfallfish]

No promises, but I might get to work on adapting A Study in Scarlet into a musical.

My partner has already attempted to lay claim to singing for Jefferson Hope (which is fair).

"He's like, the best character." —Them, right now, reading this over my shoulder as I type

[rfallfish]

People who want to get into mythology should start by reading the sources, not some guidebook written millennia later.

[rfallfish]

If you're trying to make a character who is a mean, unpleasant person, be wary of going over-the-top with them. Oftentimes subtle disrespect is more effective than big stuff.

Like, if a character says something like, "You don't get it," I personally wouldn't go for

"And I don't care enough to."

even though it conveys the fact the character doesn't care. I'd take a dismissive

"Oh, of course I do."

any day.

[rfallfish]

Frankenstein from the perspective of any of the other characters would be INSANE.

This guy goes off to university; flourishes; stops writing home; and then has a complete mental and physical collapse. While he's still recovering from that, his baby brother is strangled to death. He come home devastated, insistent that the servant accused of the crime CAN'T have done it, and seems more broken by her death and his brother's than anyone else. He is, in fact, VERY Haunted about something. The best anyone can come up with is "do you not want to marry your childhood fiancee anymore?"

He insists he does but he has to go to England first for unclear reasons. His bff goes with him. His bff is strangled to death in Ireland; he's arrested for the murder, released on a an ironclad alibi, but has ANOTHER total breakdown and, even after recovering, frequently insists he killed his brother, the servant, and his bff. Varies between depression, terror, and catatonic fits on and after the journey home.

The best anyone can come up with, again, is "Are you SURE you still want to marry me? Were you upset the last time you were home because there's Someone Else?" He responds that he expects very little happiness in life for any of them, going forward, but he definitely wants to marry her, and the day after their wedding he will reveal why he is a blasted and ruined man. This is kind of a typical interaction at this point, for him.

But he's totally ready to get married in ten days! He's excited for it, even!

He comes home the night after the wedding to tell his father that his bride was strangled to death.

His father died of grief. He himself has ANOTHER breakdown and is put in an insane asylum for many months.

When he finally becomes coherent and stable enough to be released again, he takes all the money he possesses, leaves the country (and his one remaining brother), and is never heard of again.

The local magistrate has a long story from him, given shortly before he left, about an eight-foot-tall abomination he created at college through the Power Of Science. He told the magistrate this abomination committed all the murders.

[rfallfish]

Two quotes I remind myself of endlessly:

“He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”

—William Faulkner, regarding Ernest Hemingway

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?”

—Ernest Hemingway, regarding William Faulkner

I strive to write by these. Use words that might be new to some readers, but don't complicate matters when the simple will do.