#I WAS PROMISED PACT LIVEBLOGS

[the-dumpster-fire-of-anxiety]

Ok so lore dump:

Intially PIE was one of my 3 scp ideas, and the most complex/least humanoid one. PIE is an acronym for the union of PI (3.14etc), i (sq. rt. of -1), e (euler's constant). Motto: "For the irrational and unreal, we're essential!" (this is a math joke. I am a math nerd. We live with this fact every day of our lives)

The start of my attempt at a formatted file sums it up as:

"SCP-12321 is a group designation for a group of anomalous humanoids who appear to be connected to several otherwise unrelated SCPs. This group wear generic black clothing and carry cameras, microphones, duct tape, makeup, and assorted home improvement and home economic supplies, as well as handheld power tools and storage equipment. Clothing does not appear to be worn so much as either manifested or anomalously altered. The backs of shirts and jackets or hoodies worn by 12321 instances tend to read ‘Crew’ in bold lettering. 

Origin: Unknown. DNA samples left behind by 12321 instances and collected by Foundation agents have turned up thousands of results. Until recently, it was suspected to be arbitrary, but currently, over 700 of confrimed samples are matches to people currently working as technicians, camera operators, makeup artists, or special effects crews in various entertainment formats. Although several of the matched civilians are deceased or missing, there does not appear to be a correlating trend. "

Tldr, PIE is essentially IATSE or any other tech theatre union but an anomaly, and for anomalies! Sascha is a lower-tier member based on a combination of hours worked and unity with group (low unity, initial idea was that the instances are essentially all spawned from the same source, while Sascha hails from outside/has deviated sufficiently to have a name and identity chose).

Notable PIE-involving productions you may (or may not) have heard of: Multiple performances within Alagadda, majority of the renditions of the Hanged King's play, backstage crew of Laugh is Fun, technical setup for the Circus of Disquietment, operators for Bobble's show, and many more!

PIE members appear and disappear as needed (always out of sight), and are perpetually busy and dressed in stage blacks, accessorizing with half-aprons, tool belts, baseball caps, and rigging harnesses. The running gag here is that they're pretty much only seen between gigs (to make a metaphor out of it, the doorway between the theatre and the outside world), and continuously will talk to you but also declare they are "in a hurry, they really gotta go, please go through the union to set up a meeting" and then duck behind a corner to disappear with any equipment they're carrying.

Little blurb from an in-field interview:

"Field Interview. Participants: Agents Masha Kandinsky, Mir Rubenschtein, and Soo Cho, with three 12321 instances. Agent Kandinsky noted that while the clothing appeared to be just indistinct from entity from a distance, it resolved with proximity. Current theory is that instances rely on either illusion or shapeshifting for this effect. At time of interview, the 12321 instances were dismantling what looked like several boom lights and boom mics of unspecified make, placed into generic cases for transport. Agent Rubenschtein reported all instances had clothing imitating black jeans and black shirts, with the second instance wearing a polo rather than a t-shirt, and the second and third wearing a black beanie and fingerless gloves, respectively. Agent Cho noted that the transport cases, unlike the clothing, appeared to have details such as screws, metal grooves, and caster wheels even from a distance."

Anyway yeah. They are an anomalous backstage worker union and I think they're really funny.

Ok fuck it new oc who is just a blatant self-insert: Sascha Golds

Anomaly (unregistered Keter)

part of the PIE union*

continuously runinng off bc work, new gig, can't stay to chat, etc etc

Can pass through walls by yelling "Set change!", shapeshift outfits w/ "Quick change!", control light and speakers/elecrtonics by treatign them as light/sound/SFX cues, etc etc

friendly! just refuses to be detained!

Misspells "dear" as "deer" in all documentation

*ask for massive fucking lore dump

[your-turn-to-role]

so, since i've failed at getting into c3 so far (i've tried, it's just yet to be my kind of story), i've decided in lieu of my liveblogging, each week i will be posting a one sentence summary of the episode based exclusively on what everyone on my dash is freaking out about, regardless of how relevant it is to the episode!

the list so far:

episode 3 - bertrand is fucking dead

episode 4 - s h a d o w b a k e r (who is 100% Not Essek)

episode 5 - "pretend that this is kith and kin, because both liam and i forgot to bring it-" "-both promised to bring it-" "-both forgot!"

epiosde 6 - 🎵 HEY THERE DELILAH WHAT'S IT LIKE IN LAUDNA'S BRAIN🎵

episode 7 - revenge of chetney chocolatecane poc o pea!

episode 8 - dorian's brother is a himbo

episode 9 - moon lore just dropped??

episode 10 - i think the party intimidated their way out of a problem but it's hard to tell because there's a shadowgast time loop au now

episode 11 - my whole dash is one art of the nightmare king, chetney is a werewolf, and matt's figured out how to counterturtle!

episode 12 - is it marwa time i think it's marwa time

episode 13 - ~masquerade ball~

episode 14 - everyone forgot that dorian wasn't a permanent cast member and they would like him to stay pls??

bonus one shot! - how many horses can one party stack!

episode 15 - no dorian :(

but also we're bell's hells now motherfuckers

episode 16 - mind condom

episode 17 - laudna in tlovm confirmed

episode 18 - imogen's blue now. that's her attack.

thursday 31st march - we've had first exu what about second exu?

episode 19 - one gold and a lime

episode 20 - new nordvpn, laura has new hair, and an incredibly deadly heist through a gift shop?

episode 21 - i cast yassify

episode 22 - oh my god did they actually get a response back from vex?

episode 23 - is travis actually making all these things out of wood?

episode 24 - imogen is bald now and erika's playing a hot elf

calamity break - brennan's here to destroy the world and it's the best written thing anyone's ever seen

episode 25 - new intro!!!

episode 26 - orym is Gay and erika ishii is Up To Something

episode 27 - erika's hot elf is evil and even hotter (also not an elf)

episode 28 - fearne lore time

episode 29 - [S] CR Fandom: Mental Breakdown

episode 30 - m o o n  l o r e  j u s t  d r o p p e d [bass boosted edition]

episode 31 - "i was waiting for the riegel shoe to drop" ~taliesin jaffe, c2e48

episode 32 -

episode 33 - somehow the queen is the least relevant person to die today

episode 34 - the true monster in laudna's head wasn't delilah briarwood it was fandom discourse

episode 35 - ashton confirmed spoonie, thank you taliesin for as always giving me personally the representation i didn't even realise was possible

episode 36 - deus vox machina

episode 37 - genuinely i think the delilah fight was so cool and i didn't even watch it

episode 38 - HE LEFT THEM A SKYSHIP AND A COOKIE RECIPE

episode 39 - i don't know what happened this episode but im glad travis is fulfilling his werewolf dreams

episode 40 - fearne put your hand up

m9 two shot! - THREE. PACTS.

episode 41 - it's been almost exactly one whole campaign since the last time members of the party got super fucked up on something they shouldn't have eaten, so it was about time!

episode 42 -

episode 43 - everyone desires planerider ryn carnally

episode 44 - i wanna say amateur porno in the basement. i really do. but unfortunately ludinus is up to some bullshit

episode 45 - turns out he doesn't keep a ledger... he has a kenku... so... we kidnapped the kenku

[yamayuandadu]

Circe by Madeline Miller: a review

As you might have noticed, a few of my most recent posts were more or less a liveblog of Madeline Miller’s novel Circe. However, as they hardly exhausted the subject, a proper review is also in order. You can find it under the “read more” button. All sorts of content warnings apply because this book takes a number of turns one in theory can expect from Greek mythology but which I’d hardly expect to come up in relation to Circe. I should note that this is my first contact with this author’s work. I am not familiar with Miller’s more famous, earlier novel Song of Achilles - I am not much of an Iliad aficionado, truth to be told. I read the poem itself when my literature class required it, but it left no strong impact on me, unlike, say, the Epic of Gilgamesh or, to stay within the theme of Greek mythology, Homeric Hymn to Demeter, works which I read at a similar point in my life on my own accord.

What motivated me to pick up this novel was the slim possibility that for once I’ll see my two favorite Greek gods in fiction, these being Hecate and Helios (in case you’re curious: #3 is Cybele but I suspect that unless some brave soul will attempt to adapt Nonnus’ Dionysiaca, she’ll forever be stuck with no popcultural presence outside Shin Megami Tensei). After all, it seemed reasonable to expect that Circe’s father will be involved considering their relationship, while rarely discussed in classical sources, seems remarkably close. Hesiod’s Catalogue of Women and Apollonius’ Argonautica describe Circe arriving on her island in her father’s solar chariot, while Ptolemy Hephaestion (as quoted by Photius) notes that Helios protected her home during the Gigantomachy. Helios, for all intents and purposes, seems like a decent dad (and, in Medea’s case, grandpa) in the source material even though his most notable children (and granddaughter) are pretty much all cackling sorcerers, not celebrated heroes. How does Miller’s Helios fare, compared to his mythical self? Not great, to put it lightly, as you’ll see later. As for Hecate… she’s not even in the book. Let me preface the core of the review by saying I don’t think reinterpreting myths, changing relations between figures, etc. is necessarily bad - ancient authors did it all the time, and modern adaptations will inevitably do so too, both to maintain internal coherence and perhaps to adjust the stories to a modern audience, much like ancient authors already did. I simply don’t think this book is successful at that. The purpose of the novel is ostensibly to elevate Circe above the status of a one-dimensional minor antagonist - but to accomplish this, the author mostly demonizes her family and a variety of other figures, so the net result is that there are more one dimensional female villains, not less. I expected the opposite, frankly. The initial section of the novel focuses on Circe’s relationship with her family, chiefly with her father. That’s largely uncharted territory in the source material - to my knowledge no ancient author seemed particularly interested in covering this period in her life. Blank pages of this sort are definitely worth filling. To begin with, Helios is characterized as abusive, neglectful and power-hungry. And also, for some reason, as Zeus’ main titan ally in the Titanomachy - a role which Hesiod attributes to Hecate… To be fair I do not think it’s Hesiod who serves as the primary inspiration here, as it’s hard to see any traces of his account - in which Zeus wins in no small part because he promises the lesser titans higher positions that they had under Cronus - in Miller’s version of events. Only Helios and Oceanus keep their share, and are presented as Zeus’ only titan allies (there’s a small plot hole as Selene appears in the novel and evidently still is the moon…) - contrary to just about any portrayal of the conflict, in which many titans actually side with Zeus and his siblings. Also, worth noting that in Hesiod’s version it’s not Oceanus himself who cements the pact with Zeus, it’s his daughter Styx - yes, -that- Styx. Missed opportunity to put more focus on female mythical figures - first of many in this work, despite many reviews praising it as “feminist.” Of course, it’s not all about Helios. We are quickly introduced to a variety of female characters as well (though, as I noted above, none of these traditionally connected to the Titanomachy despite it being a prominent aspect of the book’s background). They are all somewhat repetitive - to the point of being basically interchangeable. Circe’s mother is vain and cruel; so is Scylla. And Pasiphae. There’s no real indication of any hostility between Circe and any of her siblings in classical sources, as far as I am aware, but here it’s a central theme. The subplots pertaining to it bear an uncanny resemblance to these young adult novels in which the heroine, who is Not Like Other Girls, confronts the Chads and Stacies of the world, and I can’t shake off the feelings that it’s exactly what it is, though with superficial mythical flourish on top. I should note that Pasiphae gets a focus arc of sorts - which to my surprise somehow manages to be more sexist than the primary sources. A pretty famous tidbit repeated by many ancient authors is that Pasiphae cursed her husband Minos, regarded as unfaithful, to kill anyone else he’d have sex with with his… well, bodily fluids. Here she does it entirely  because she’s a debased sadist and not because unfaithfulness is something one can be justifiably mad about. You’d think it would be easy to put a sympathetic spin on this. But the book manages to top that in the very same chapter - can’t have Pasiphae without the Minotaur (sadly - I think virtually everything else about Pasiphae and Minos is more fun than that myth but alas) so in a brand new twist on this myth we learn that actually the infamous affair wasn’t a curse placed on Pasiphae by Poseidon or Aphrodite because of some transgression committed by Minos. She’s just wretched like that by nature. I’m frankly speechless, especially taking into account the book often goes out of its way to present deities in the worst light possible otherwise, and which as I noted reviews praise for its feminist approach - I’m not exactly sure if treating Pasiphae worse than Greek and Roman authors did counts as that.  I should note this is not the only instance of… weirdly enthusiastic references to carnal relations between gods and cattle in this book, as there’s also a weird offhand mention of Helios being the father of his own cows. This, as far as I can tell, is not present in any classical sources and truth to be told I am not a huge fan of this invention. I won’t try to think about the reason behind this addition to maintain my sanity. Pasiphae aside - the author expands on the vague backstory Circe has in classical texts which I’ve mentioned earlier. You’d expect that her island would be a gift from her father - after all many ancient sources state that he provided his children and grandchildren with extravagant gifts. However, since Helios bears little resemblance to his mythical self, Aeaea is instead a place of exile here, since Helios hates Circe and Zeus is afraid of witchcraft and demands such a solution (the same Zeus who, according to Hesiod, holds Hecate in high esteem and who appeared with her on coins reasonably commonly… but hey, licentia poetica, this idea isn’t necessarily bad in itself). Witchcraft is presented as an art exclusive to Helios’ children here - Hecate is nowhere to be found, it’s basically as if her every role in Greek mythology was surgically removed. A bit of a downer, especially since at least one text - I think Ovid’s Metarphoses? - Circe directly invokes Hecate during her confrontation with king Picus (Surprisingly absent here despite being a much more fitting antagonist for Circe than many of the characters presented as her adversaries in this novel…) Of course, we also learn about the origin of Circe’s signature spell according to ancient sources, changing people into animals. It actually takes the novel a longer while to get there, and the invented backstory boils down to Circe getting raped. Despite ancient Greek authors being rather keen on rape as plot device, to my knowledge this was never a part of any myth about Circe. Rather odd decision to put it lightly but I suppose at least there was no cattle involved this time, perhaps two times was enough for the author. Still, I can’t help but feel like much like many other ideas present in this book it seems a bit like the author’s intent is less elevating the Circe above the role of a one note witch antagonist, but rather punishing her for being that. The fact she keeps self loathing about her origin and about not being human doesn’t exactly help to shake off this feeling. This impression that the author isn’t really fond of Circe being a wacky witch only grows stronger when Odysseus enters the scene. There was already a bit of a problem before with Circe’s life revolving around love interests before - somewhat random ones at that (Dedalus during the Pasiphae arc and Hermes on and off - not sure what the inspiration for either of these was) - but it was less noticeable since it was ultimately in the background and the focus was the conflict between Circe and Helios, Pasiphae, etc. In the case of Odysseus it’s much more notable because these subplots cease to appear for a while. As a result of meeting him, Circe decides she wants to experience the joys of motherhood, which long story short eventually leads to the birth of Telegonus, who does exactly what he was famous for. The final arcs have a variety of truly baffling plot twists which didn’t really appeal to me, but which I suppose at least show a degree of creativity - better than just turning Helios’ attitude towards his children upside down for sure. Circe ends up consulting an oc character who I can only describe as “stingray Cthulhu.” His presence doesn’t really add much, and frankly it feels like yet another wasted opportunity to use Hecate, but I digress. Oh, also in another twist Athena is recast as the villain of the Odyssey. Eventually Circe gets to meet Odysseus’ family, for once interacts with another female character on positive terms (with Penelope, to be specific) and… gets together with Telemachus, which to be fair is something present in many ancient works but which feels weird here since there was a pretty long passage about Odysseus describing him as a child to Circe. I think I could live without it. Honestly having her get together with Penelope would feel considerably less weird, but there are no lesbians in the world of this novel. It would appear that the praise for Song of Achilles is connected to the portrayal of gay relationships in it. Can’t say that this applies to Circe - on this front we have an offhand mention of Hyacinth's death. which seems to serve no real purpose other than establishing otherwise irrelevant wind god is evil, and what feels like an advert for Song of Achilles courtesy of Odysseus, which takes less than one page. Eventually Circe opts to become mortal to live with Telemachus and denounces her father and… that’s it. This concludes the story of Circe. I don’t exactly think the original is the deepest or greatest character in classical literature, but I must admit I’d rather read about her wacky witch adventures than about Miller’s Circe. A few small notes I couldn’t fit elsewhere: something very minor that bothered me a lot but that to be honest I don’t think most readers will notice is the extremely chaotic approach to occasional references to the world outside Greece - Sumer is randomly mentioned… chronologically after Babylon and Assyria, and in relation to Persians (or rather - to Perses living among them). At the time we can speak of “Persians” Sumerian was a dead language at best understood by a few literati in the former great cities of Mesopotamia so this is about the same as if a novel about Mesopotamia mentioned Macedonians and then completely randomly Minoans at a chronologically later point. Miller additionally either confused or conflated Perses, son of Perseus, who was viewed positively and associated with Persia (so positively that Xerxes purportedly tried to use it for propaganda purposes!) with Perses the obscure brother of Circe et. al, who is a villain in an equally obscure myth casting Medea as the heroine, in which he rules over “Tauric Chersonese,” the Greek name of a part of Crimea. I am honestly uncertain why was he even there as he amounts to nothing in the book, and there are more prominent minor children of Helios who get no mention (like Aix or Phaeton) so it’s hard to argue it was for the sake of completion. Medea evidently doesn’t triumph over him offscreen which is his sole mythical purpose. Is there something I liked? Well, I’m pretty happy Selene only spoke twice, considering it’s in all due likeness all that spared her from the fate of receiving similarly “amazing” new characterization as her brother. As is, she was… okay. Overall I am definitely not a fan of the book. As for its purported ideological value? It certainly has a female main character. Said character sure does have many experiences which are associated with women. However, I can’t help but think that the novel isn’t exactly feminist - it certainly focuses on Circe, but does it really try to “rehabilitate” her? And is it really “rehabilitation” and feminist reinterpretation when almost every single female character in the book is the same, and arguably depicted with even less compassion than in the source material?  It instead felt like the author’s goal is take away any joy and grandeur present in myths, and to deprive Circe of most of what actually makes her Circe. We don’t need to make myths joyless to make them fit for a new era. It’s okay for female characters to be wacky one off villains and there’s no need to punish them for it. A book which celebrates Circe for who she actually is in the Odyssey and in other Greek sources - an unapologetic and honestly pretty funny character -  would feel much more feminist to me that a book where she is a wacky witch not because she feels like it but because she got raped, if you ask me. 

Circe evidently having the time of her life, by Edmund Dulac (public domain)

[neuxue]

Hi! I've been following your liveblog for a long time and now I am thinking about starting my own for another series. I was wondering if you have any tips or advice for a beginning liveblogger?

Oh man, you’d think that after 5 years and 2 million words (plus, you know, a second liveblog) I’d feel more qualified to give advice on this. Maybe that’s just imposter syndrome talking, but my approach was pretty much to jump in at the deep end and make it up as I go.

Which, honestly, is the main advice I’d give you: just go for it! But I know ‘do your own thing and it’ll turn out great’ is not always the most helpful, so some things I’ve learned along the way:

Style, format, and ‘so what do I actually do?’

Like any writing (or art, or...anything), your style will likely change and develop as you go. Give yourself space and time to figure it out. 

Don’t feel like you need to do things a certain way just because someone else has. You’re always better off doing what’s fun or interesting to you than forcing yourself into a style that makes you feel bored or stressed

If you’re not sure where to start, think about what has or hasn’t worked for you in liveblogs you’ve read. Again, you don’t have to do exactly what they’ve done, but giving some thought as to why you liked or didn’t like it can help you develop your own style.

But you might also find that what you like reading and what you like writing are two different things, and that’s fine too!

Have fun. Seriously.

You are not beholden to others for the content you produce. (Unless you’re getting paid for it or you’ve promised it in exchange for something or a fae creature has bound you to a pact).

It’s okay to take breaks

It’s okay to change your approach

It’s okay to quit, if you’re not having fun 

No, really.

(Yes this whole section makes me sound like a hypocrite, but that’s a me problem)

Spoilers?

How do you feel about spoilers? There’s no right or wrong answer, but if you don’t want spoilers you’ll want to flag that early and set up a blacklist. If you don’t care about spoilers, it’s probably worth flagging that as well for the benefit of anyone following along whilst engaging with the series for the first time

Similar to the above, think about how much you want to engage with other fan content. I personally avoid fic and other meta because...reasons; on the other hand my interactions with fandom are largely one-sided and I miss lots of great content. My point being that once again there’s no right or wrong answer, but it’s worth thinking about your preferences.

Your newfound horde of admirers

(Yes I’m being facetious. Mostly)

You may end up with some super enthusiastic readers who want you to update all the time. Take it as a compliment (it is!) but see above re: you are not beholden to others for the content you produce

It’s okay not to respond to everything. For whatever reason, or no reason at all. I naively started off determined to answer every ask I received (I was an idiot?), and then spent a long time being stressed and beating myself up over the ones I didn’t get around to. I’m still working on this; learn from my mistakes.

You may get some negativity. This is, after all, the internet. It’s entirely up to you how you handle this, but again, people are not entitled to your time, attention, or energy (especially when they’re being an asshat). 

You may get a lot of positivity. This is awesome and feels great. Bask in the +1 ego. Ignore the imposter syndrome.

You may also not get a lot of traction, especially right away. I promise that doesn’t mean you’re bad at it (it doesn’t even mean people aren’t reading it. Yes I have stats to back this up, no I will not share numbers, but my point is try not to take notes or lack thereof too much to heart) 

It’s probably helpful to go in with as few expectations as possible.

The internet is a weird place.

Anyway, not sure any of that is helpful, but the main takeaway is: have fun and just give it a try! I wish you the best of luck.

[reading-possibly]

Pact! Liveblog! Maybe!

So, I’ve read worm, and loved it, and I’ve heard some good things about Pact and Twig, and I think I’m gonna try and start a Pact liveblog. No promises, though.