#; ROAMING THE GREENWOOD

[favvn]

K/S as hope

EM Forster's dedication for Maurice, The World Well Lost by Theodore Sturgeon, Star Trek: TOS "The Naked Time", transcript from "Return to Tomorrow", cut script for "The City on the Edge of Forever", Beyond Antares, deleted scene from "Return to Tomorrow", Star Trek: TOS "This Way to Eden", Michelangelo's Creation of Adam, wikiquote entry for EM Forster's Howards End, Star Trek The Motion Picture, Thunder Road by Bruce Springsteen, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen, EM Forster's Terminal Note from Maurice, the deleted holo-necklace scene from Star Trek 2009, Star Trek: TOS opening narration

[expo63]

OP, you need to know that’s not Hugh Grant

Also

[mymitochondriaforpresident]

lol time to pull up maurice (1987) again

[strelles-universe]

The World of Strelles - Two Continent Map

Alright everyone - I spent yesterday slaving away on trying to figure this out so I can have my dream of Strelles being two continents. Each side is still able to access each other as the Wanderer's Pass is actually fully connected to each other - the bridge is only crossable at low-tide however when it exposes the bank. It's appropriately called the Sunken Bridge.

Updated Locations with this map:

obviously there are now two continents; East and West Courage and Dauntless have been shifted upward Fade's Crossing Permanent Market - a trading zone in the west used by diplomats and merchants of all kinds; many kits will be raised here as merchants. Primarily a settlement of coyotes and foxes outside of the Skulks. No Man's Market - a trading zone that is always shifting, morphing and changing. Everyone present is usually only there for a day or so - maybe a week as they wait for the tides to shift so they can leave or join-up with someone crossing to them. Because this is such a busy place, it's ideal to make quick; personal trades or to dump inventory. Dead God's Grave - A massive fertile field of land used for celebrations and trades. An unofficial extension of the Main Lands. The Lake Treaty - Unclaimed space left around the east-side of the lake. Made because droughts happen frequently in the east-continent and water is considered a right. The West Rift - Also called the Throat of the World is a rift-valley sitting on top of a hotspot. The edges of the rift have warm pools cool enough to prevent a creature from immediately over-heating The Sunken City - A series of tunnels and Caverns with signs of previous inhabitation in the form of faded images, old anchored tools and dens that have been victims of time and water-damage. These are a commonly visited area much like a museum - creatures who venture here should be careful however! These caverns are victims of frequent flooding and during heavy rainstorms, the only safe option is to escape. The Untethered - The Guardians from canon but given that's already a rank, I thought this would be a nice name for them. Freelance healers and the collectors of all the world's medical information. The Untethered have some of the most advanced healing methods known to strelles due to their dedication to exploring the world of healing and are known to share this information with others in need."

[lovefail]

[ Thinking about how since the first time Maurice opened the window of his bedroom at Penge and yelled 'Come!', he was calling out to Alec without even knowing it.

Thinking about how Maurice's subconscious was so entwined with Alec's, that since the third time they met and Alec accidentally touched him while running away from Borenius in the garden, Maurice was feeling him and his presence without even knowing it was him, and how he thought "he had not said something at that interview that he ought to have said, that he had missed out something vital from his confession to the doctor" after his visit with the hypnotist that was supposed to turn him straight, and that 'something' was Alec. ]

[batri-jopa]

Temporarily Out Of Service

Appreciate your waiter!👍

[leviscolwill]

manchester united and getafe were born before shame

[1997eitheror]

[pxnandqxll]

❝ there is no one like you. ❞ [ for Alec! ]

song of achilles rp starters: ACCEPTING

II @lovefail

A curtain of darkened curls fell over his cedar gaze, framing a furrowed picture of concentration. Strong hands continued to busy themselves with re-planting the rehabilitated seedlings into the freshly dug earth. Alec may have been a games keeper by trade, but his vehement love of the wood and all things that grow spurred him to learn a tip or two about tending to the green. It wasn't until the gentleman's words that Alec's focus was stunted by a good natured scoff. "Now I know you're really pullin' my leg, you are," turning his head a moment to glance over his shoulder, dimpling towards the familiar figure of his love. His smile was playful yet unconvinced. "There's plen'y lo'ike me. Under different names 'course, but believe me, Maurice, I'm just a run-o-the-mill. I may know my salt more than some others, but doesn't do much to set me 'part at the end of the day, 'suppose. " he tut, shrugging his broad shoulders before turning back to such rural deeds. "Now, want me to show you 'ow to pro'erly pack the soil back in with the fertilizer?"

[aeferfckr]

very few. because reader (me) has sensory issues and would shrivel up and die the second they feel grass. but since you are not me, i feel like it happened once.

aether would have to be beyond pissed to not wait until he gets home. yes, you volunteered to do this but he's not the type to neglect your comfort for his own desires. like this one time...

you two just came from an escorting commission. some snotty old man wanted body guards for his snotty son to send him to a snotty party.

one strike for aether

he also complained throughout the whole trip - "my feet hurt! this journey is taking so long!", "the likes of you wouldn't be able to dream about attending an event like such! just look at your attire.", "my father might have hired some of the most boring bodyguards EVER. you barely say anything, you talk way to much, and you..."

another strike for aether

the final strike was the worst one.

now, aether was never the jealous type. he always reasoned things out before letting his emotions get the best of him. but there was one thing he just couldn't stand, people trying to take what's his.

he demands a break and as soon as he gets it he uses it to try and mingle with you, leaning frustratingly close to you on a nearby tree. every time he talks about the party he never fails to comment about how stunning you would look in formal attire, the way how a corset would bring the look together excellently.

and the most maddening attempt was degrading everyone in the party, but you.

"...you are wasting your true potential associating yourself with these.. people. if we were to be wed, you would be much suited for a soft, lavish life."

aether didn't speak for the rest of the comm, not that he had anything to say anyways

as soon as the doors closed and the brat sealed inside, he shood away paimon, took you by the hand and let you to the nearest forest - not his first choice of location, but it'll provide some sort of privacy.

you could tell that he was pissed from the way that he squeezed your arm, his nails slightly digging into your flesh as he drags you along the greenwood.

pining you against a tree, his anger blatantly obvious, he whispers (it was more of a growl, really. his teeth clenched together as he spoke) into your ear,

"i didn't like how that guy was chatting you up."

his gloved hands start to roam your body as he leans down to spawn dark hickeys on your collarbone. as soon as you sigh he devours it with a kiss.

"you're mine. and everyone needs to know that."

© aeferfckr // mlist. // @that-fucked-up-girl25

[emryses]

i’ve spent the past two days since the Announcement™️ reading Maurice by E.M. Forster, a book i heard about years ago but i absolutely picked up last week because of edwin. reading it with him in mind was a fun and interesting way to connect with the character i love very much even when i am admittedly sad. i do want to eventually make a more artistic text post with some of these quotes, but i don’t have my computer atm to do so. instead, here are a few sections of the book i underlined because i thought edwin would have done the same. i think edwin would like the book very much.

beginning of the quote below starts as, “They became a cloud of dust, a stench and a…”

and from Forester’s notes, written in 1960. i like to think that edwin & charles will always roam the greenwood, too.

[muppetbyers]

“A happy ending was imperative. I shouldn't have bothered to write otherwise. I was determined that in fiction anyway two men should fall in love and remain in it for the ever and ever that fiction allows, and in this sense Maurice and Alec still roam the greenwood.”

- Terminal Note (written in 1960) of Maurice by E.M Forster (written in 1914 and published in 1971)

[morrieandlicky]

Who and What Really Inspired E.M. Forster's Maurice?

(Inspiration and source for this post: "Edward Carpenter and the Double Structure of Maurice" by Robert K. Martin, Ph.D.)

WE KNOW that E.M. Forster was directly influenced by Edward Carpenter (and his life with a lower class man, George Merrill) to write the happy ending of Maurice. Forster himself was a disciple of Carpenter; specifically, he subscribed to Carpenter's belief in the "Uranian" love (love and loyalty between two men that can include a physical relationship). Forster said in the Terminal Notes of Maurice that Maurice and Alec are capable of such love and loyalty—as defined by Carpenter—between each other.

But it wasn't Carpenter who first "invented" that idea of love and loyalty; it was, in fact, Carpenter's influencer and mentor, American poet Walt Whitman.

Carpenter was a disciple of Whitman, and Forster was a disciple of Carpenter. Below, the texts from each's relevant works in chronological order will enlighten on the origin of the inspiration behind Maurice—i.e., what made the happy ending between Maurice and Alec possible, way before Forster even knew Carpenter.

—Walt Whitman in 1856: "Song of the Open Road" from Leaves of Grass

Camerado, I give you my hand! I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law; Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me? Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

—Edward Carpenter in 1902: "Hafiz to the Cupbearer" from Towards Democracy

"Come, son (since thou hast said it), out of all Shiraz Háfiz salutes thee comrade. Let us go A spell of life along the road together."

(FYI: this poem was written by Carpenter to commemorate Merrill braving a blizzard to finally move in with him in 1898.)

—E.M. Forster in 1914 and 1932: Maurice (published in 1971)

“Did you ever dream you had a friend, Alec? Someone to last your whole life and you his." (First written in 1932.)

"They must live outside class, without relations or money; they must work and stick to each other till death. " (First written in 1914.)

"He could die for such a friend, he would allow such a friend to die for him; they would make any sacrifice for each other, and count the world nothing, neither death nor distance nor crossness could part them, because 'this is my friend.'" (First written in 1914.)

It's as if Whitman originated the idea of finding a friend who would last his whole life, and whose love is valued above class and society;

and he instilled it into Carpenter who later was able to live out that idea in real life with Merrill;

and Forster, having witnessed that idea lived out in real life through Carpenter and Merrill, wrote it into fiction so that it's lived out through Maurice and Alec—"for the ever and ever that fiction allows,” in the greenwood.

That's the very symbolic meaning of Maurice and Alec roaming the greenwood: Carpenter and Merril weren't immortal, so their love for each other obviously wouldn't last forever in that literal sense; Forster knew that, but he did what others couldn't: he immortalized their love and Whitman's idea of "Someone to last your whole life" through Maurice, so that for as long as Maurice and Alec roam the greenwood, the love between Carpenter and Merril would live on even if not in real life, and Whitman's idea would thus never die.

Whitman's philosophy is like an heirloom passed down from him to Carpenter to Forster. The connection is more in the clear if you put Forster's and Whitman's lines side by side:

"They must live outside class, without relations or money; they must work and stick to each other till death."

VS

"I give you my love more precious than money, I give you myself before preaching or law; ... Shall we stick by each other as long as we live"

[daughter-of-melpomene]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆… 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐈𝐓 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐁𝐄𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐎𝐈𝐑𝐀 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑𝐍𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐄

❝ Like every child who had been properly taught the history of Middle Earth, Bellemoira had heard the tale of the Mirkwood. Her childhood teachers had taught her that it was home to most of the world’s wood-elves, and that it had once been the Greenwood, a beautiful place full of wonderful flora and many different life forms, before the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron and the shadow he had cast upon it. Now, little Bellemoira had been told, the Greenwood was the Mirkwood, a gaunt shadow of what it had once been, infested with dreaded gigantic spiders and devoid of all its previous colour, and the elves who lived there, a private race of beings at the best of times, had now completely withdrawn from the rest of the world, rarely venturing outside their Woodland Realm and punishing anyone who dared to trespass on their territory.

To little Bellemoira, who even at such a young age had loved and been fascinated by plants and flowers, it was one of the saddest stories she had ever been told: a once-beautiful place drained of its light and much of its life. Still, even as she grew, and no matter how many times she was told never to venture close to the Mirkwood for fear of elven retribution, she had never quite lost hope that somewhere in the great grey forest, there might be some determined little green life still blossoming, despite the odds, in its depths, perhaps even a species of plant previously unknown to humans - and that she might, someday, be the one to discover it.

And the day does come where she attempts to fulfill that dream. After fleeing a betrothal ceremony for herself and a man she loathes, Bellemoira sets out from her little town in the shadow of the Grey Mountains, determined to finally make her way into the Mirkwood and see for herself if the hopes she has been fostering since she was a girl hold some truth. What she does not expect when entering the desolate place, however, is to nearly lose her life to a giant spider and have to be saved by an elven patrol, who immediately drag her to the Inner Mirkwood Palace as punishment for trespassing in the wood-elves’ realm.

Brought before King Thranduil, ruler of all wood-elves, Bellemoira fully expects to be killed or tossed into a cell in the depths of the palace… but, to her utter shock, the great elven king sees something in her, in her thirst for knowledge and passion for plants and her genuine hope that there may still be green amongst all the Mirkwood’s grey, that makes him instead offer her a deal. She may stay in the Mirkwood palace for one year and one year only, studying and learning any knowledge of plants and flowers the wood-elves have to offer… but during this year she may not leave the palace unsupervised or attempt to return home, lest it become well-known that Thranduil has allowed a human to roam free in his palace, or she will not be able to return to the Mirkwood.

Faced with the prospect of so much learning and still desperate to stay far away from a betrothal she never wanted, Bellemoira readily accepts the elven king’s terms - but she is not truly prepared for how aggravating living in close quarters with Thranduil will be. The King of the Mirkwood is self-righteous, arrogant, cold, and thinks himself so far above mere humans such as Bellemoira… but, she comes to find, he can also be gentle, witty, and endlessly loving toward those he truly cares for. And the longer she spends in Inner Mirkwood Palace, the more midnight conversations the two of them end up having over ancient tomes and under the stars, the more they both find Bellemoira beginning to be numbered among those people.

There is much risk in this newfound attraction between them, of course: Bellemoira, as a human, will never truly be accepted by the wood-elves as their king’s consort, nor will she ever be able to live as many years with Thranduil as either of them would wish. But the story of two people who dislike each other at first but come to truly care about each other is a tale as old as time, and when said people find themselves in such a story, there is never much to do but live it out. ❞

General Taglist: @hiddenqveendom, @auxiliarydetective, @foxesandmagic,

@artemisocs, @reyofluke-ocs, @endless-oc-creations, @stanshollaand,

@ginnystilinski-reblogs, @luucypevensie, @ginger-grimm, @oneirataxia-girl,

@arrthurpendragon, @surebrecs, @gabbysdawsons, @dancingsunflowers-ocs,

@eddysocs, @stelstellakidd, @manyfandomocs, @ocappreciationtag. (Also tagging @xoteajays.)

[strelles-universe]

The World of Strelles - Updated Directory

I’ve come to accept that anytime I start changing too much of the world, my first instinct is to just make a new master post rather than try to update and rearrange everything XD

Anyway, welcome to the World of Strelles! An ambitious rewrite project where I aim to reach to at least The Last Hope! All the sapient species are more advanced than in canon, humans don’t exist, there is magic; a lot of conlangs and of course, queer characters. This AU is very self-indulgent so I wouldn’t call it a fix-it-fic.

Social LInks: Ao3 Series | Discord | Ko-Fi

Current Arc: A Prophecy of Fire - Embrace the Inferno (Outline)

| Completed Books: Strike the Match | Spark a Light | Ignite the Pyre | Fan the Flames

Current Super Edition: Bluedawn’s Voice

The Complete Collection on Tumblr - XX

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General Strelles Worldbuilding

Various Group Names of the World

The Fauna of Strelles

The Flora of Strelles

Maps and Territories of Strelles - Current | The Old Map

Herbs and Medicines

Illnesses and Diseases

Ailments and Conditions

Character Profiles

In Character Asks

Ask Box Translations - Premise

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General Masterlists

The Greenwood Empire | Names and Meanings

The Sky Kingdoms | Names and Meanings

The Great Packs | Names and Meanings

The Marrow Skulks | Names and Meanings

Rogues and Loners

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Helpful References - documents, reblogs, websites and other things that are useful to working on a warriors fic

Into the Soriverse - someone asked me about Sori joining the other clans in the strelles universe and I got very carried away with my answer

A Dream of Fire - a really cool picture by @sparkwing of one of the scenes in strelles, Fireheart dreaming of the fire

Fireheart x4 - A few chibi Fireheart's created by @spottyissleepwalking of various Fireheart's in AUs

AU Summaries - what it says on the tin, summaries about the AUs that regularly appear on this blog besides just Strelles

[lovefail]

[ okay but can we talk about the fact that Alec invited Maurice to bathe in the pond at Penge? Was he planning to just ogle a naked Maurice, or did he have other plans in mind? ]