#another interesting take on the usual series format

[loren91]

Young Royals and the three act structure, Part one

Seems like there was some potential interest in a full three-act story structure analysis, so I’m taking this opportunity to indulge myself by going full nerd. I’m going to attempt to make the argument that limiting the show to three seasons is actually perfect for Young Royals, by highlighting the pattern the story follows.

A few things to keep in mind before we start.

This analysis is not about the characters deep inner emotional lives. We are not here to pass judgment on their actions. We are simply identifying the beats of the story in a neutral and objective manner, for the purpose of analysing the structure of the story.

As you will notice, the points I have identified are all from Wilhelm’s perspective. That’s because he’s the point-of-view character, the main conflict is shaped by him and his emotional state. He’s the protagonist. Each subplot however, will follow the same pattern and has its own purpose, but I’ll get more into that another time.

I’ll be referring a fair bit to Lindsey Ellis’s video essay on the subject, because I like how she describes the structure pattern in sequences. So I’m gonna borrow some of her language. Also, note that the examples she uses to describe the tree-act structure are all feature films. Since Young Royals is a series, it’s gonna divert slightly from her description. But that’s what is so great about this structure, it’s flexible. It’s not meant to be set rules, but rather guidelines to help keep your story relevant and engaging all the way through. If you find this stuff interesting, I’d highly recommend watching her videos!

The three act structure is absolutely not the only way to tell a story. There’s many different formats that works just as well! It’s really about finding what structure works best to tell your story. The three acts however is the most common format you’ll find in more commercially viable works, such as Disney films for example.

And finally, I’m not a writer, but an animator, and I have studied film theory/structure. I’ll do my best to motivate the plot points I’ve identified, but if you’re a proper story expert and disagree with me, I’m happy to discuss!

Okay, let’s get to it.

A three-act structure is constructed of just that, three acts, and roughly looks like this. Essentially, a beginning, a middle, and an end. Or the set up, the confrontation, and the resolution. These acts may vary in length, act two usually being the longest and act three usually being the shortest. But what truly defines them is the tension of each act, meaning what drives the conflict forward at that point. A story will have a main conflict yes, but that conflict will take on many forms depending on where we are in the story. Lindsey Ellis describes each act as consisting of multiple sequences, and defines each sequence by its individual tension as well. Though all points of tension should always stay related to the main conflict! So the main points we’re looking to identify in the story are the main act tensions and the main sequence tensions. 

Let’s go through season one of Young Royals and talk about each story beat.

Act 1

Act tension - Wille has to attend Hillerska.

Sequence 1

We start with the Set up/Hook. The purpose here is to establish the world and the protagonist along with their internal conflict, such as their flaws and/or desire that makes them feel incomplete - The way Wilhelm’s character is introduced informs us that he is royal, but struggling with his role, because royals have set rules to follow.

“Why can’t I decide how the hell I want to live? I want to live a normal life!”

The thing that sets the story in motion is the point of attack. Something happens that is outside of the protagonist's control/knowledge - That would be the royal court deciding to send Wille to Hillerska without his permission. This gives the protagonist something to react to.

Sequence tension is established - Wille does not want to go to Hillerska. The rest of episode one reinforces Wille’s discomfort at the school.

Next, we get to the inciting incident. An event that disrupts the status quo, and our protagonist has to get involved - The initiation party, particularly when Wille and Simon almost kiss at the end. This leads him to acknowledge his attraction toward Simon and become more proactive in his pursuit of the boy. 

The sequence tension is resolved. Notice how in episode two, Hillerska is no longer the main focus for Wille, but Simon is. The seeds for what will become the central conflict have now been planted. The conflict is usually driven by character motivation. This is where we can consider the protagonist's Want vs Need. The want drives the main tension - Wille wants to be with Simon. But we’ll find want he needs later on in the story.

Sequence 2

The purpose here is to build up the creation of the main tension of the story. The main antagonist can also be established here -  August keeps getting on Wille’s nerves. Especially when he’s trying to hang out with Simon.

That’s our sequence tension - Wille is working to befriend Simon, but August keeps getting in the way.

The end of the sequence sees the first major plot point, the Lock-in. Where our protagonist makes a decision that changes everything. Usually, something they can’t come back from - In Young Royals that would be the first kiss. Wille and Simon’s relationship has fundamentally changed. The main tension is now established.

Act 2

Act tension -  Can Wille be with Simon, despite him being a prince?

Sequence 3

At the start of this sequence, the protagonist has most likely achieved some kind of milestone or learned something - He’s definitely like that.

To keep the story interesting, writers will add so-called pinch points in between the bigger plot points. These usually act as reminders of the antagonist or the pressure our protagonist may feel - Wille feels he needs to break it off with Simon because a prince is not supposed to be gay. As we established in the set up, royals have rules. 

Sequence tension - Can Wille deny his feelings for Simon? Queer pining ensues.

Sequence 4

The purpose of this sequence is to build up towards the midpoint. We see the protagonist making attempts to achieve their goal - The want never changed, Wille still wants to be with Simon, despite the pressure. Wille invites him to spend the weekend with him.

Sequence tension - Wille is trying to prioritise his new relationship with Simon, but August is still being annoying.

Then the midpoint hits. A major disruption, either from a character action or a force of nature. Can be positive or negative, just something that changes the aim of the quest without resolving the main tension - This time it’s literally halfway through the season. End of episode three, Erik dies and Wille becomes the crown prince. Everything has changed.

Sequence 5

Everybody has to adjust to the new world order after the midpoint disruption. We’ve reached another pinch point - Again we are reminded that royals have rules, and Wille makes another attempt to follow those rules. By embracing his new role, he breaks up with Simon once again, then sort of pursues Felice and joins the society.

Sequence tension - Wille adjusting to his new title while mourning his brother.

It’s common for subplots to advance around this time - Like Simon giving August the drugs to sell.

Sequence 6

Another plot point, where our protagonist may stop and reflect. Maybe have a heart-to-heart with another character, and perhaps make a decision - This is where we see the football field scene and the end of episode four. Wille reaches out to Simon for help, reconnecting with him. This leads them to pursue a relationship once again. They are put in a false sense of security. They are finally together, thinking all is good. BUT, we in the audience know that August has the video of them and the writers keep reminding us of him and the threat he poses. Even if Wille and Simon don't know it yet.

Sequence tension - Can this happiness last?

Sequence 7

(Here’s where the story leaves the classic structure for a bit, and adds an extra sequence for some more drama, as filler. In theory, they could have skipped this sequence and gone straight to the video being released. This part is mainly here to give motivation for August’s character, making his actions clearer)

So we are essentially given another pinch point, a reminder of antagonist or pressure -  August tries to break them apart by telling Wille about the drugs, which leads to the music room fight. 

Sequence tension - August is becoming more hostile.

Wille saving Simon from being framed for the drugs is more related to August’s money subplot. And the Lucia hug scene is mainly there for character building purposes. I’ll talk more about that stuff in part two.

The plot has advanced to the culmination of the main tension. The crisis that serves as build-up to act three - August releases the video. At the end of act two, the protagonist faces their biggest challenge yet. They’ve hit their lowest point - The aftermath of the video's release and Wille is totally lost. 

Act 3

Act tension - Can they save their relationship after the video?

Sequence 8

Begins with the protagonist making a big decision that creates the new act tension. The tension in act three will be different, but still related to the main conflict - Wille and Simon talk in the locker room, where Wille says he won’t do the statement. 

Sequence tension -  Can Wille avoid making the statement?

We’ve reached our last major plot point, located at the end of the sequence. Sometimes known as the twist in the third act - And what a twist, Wille does the statement anyway. This narrows down the tension further, to focus on a more character-driven intimate place for the next sequence.

Sequence 9

Sequence tension - Can they be together despite the statement?

Climax, the last big fight - Simon tells Wille off for being selfish and breaks up. Wille also finds out that both August and his mother betrayed him. The protagonist’s need has emerged from this journey and is now clear to us - Wille needs to decide who he wants to be. The want and the need should be different from each other, but still connected. Wille wants Simon, but in order for that to happen, Wille needs to break out of this cycle of self-preservation and stand up for himself against the royal court.

The climax will most likely lead to some kind of character growth - Wille is now pissed because he’s lost everything and realizes how corrupt the royal court is. As Lisa so beautifully put it, “A flame is ignited in him”. Hugging Simon in public is a display of his character growth.

And finally, Resolution. The point where the story is usually wrapped up neatly, but if left ignored, you get a cliffhanger - Which is exactly what happens in this season. Nothing is properly resolved at this point. Resulting in an open ending/cliffhanger.

Oof, that was a lot. How are we all doing? So these are the main beats of the plot. Makes sense? Let me know if you need any further clarification 😅 I was gonna get into how the rest of the show fits this format as well, but that’ll have to be in a separate post. Here’s part two! 

[thecurioustale]

My New Book Is Out! | Tokens of Zeal

My new book is out!

Buy it! Buy it now!

That's right: In secret, on January 2 of this year I began writing a book of essays. Some of you may know that I have an online journal, which I created in the summer of 2003 when I was just 21 years old and have kept up with ever since. For my new book I went back to the journal and read through it, entry by entry, drawing out excerpts of interest that became conversation pieces for 81 various and sundry essays reflecting on my past life and past thoughts.

The essays are short, often very short. They are less challenging than my usual writing, I would say. My purpose was not to advance my personal frontier of philosophy and intellectual thought in 2024, or to reach a niche audience of deep thinkers, but instead to reflect sincerely on some things I've seen along the way and muse upon how my thoughts have changed and stayed the same over twenty years.

I mention this to you because I am a bit worried that anyone who reads this book might think there's not much to me as an author, and might be dissuaded from reading my works of fiction when those books eventually come out, so I'll lampshade that by adding that I wrote this book in two-and-a-half months. Make of that what you will. I told myself I wouldn't self-sabotage the book by needlessly saying negative things about it, and I am proud of it, not only the fact that I finished it at all, let alone so quickly, but of the actual contents too.

This book is "Volume 1" in a hypothetical series, as it doesn't cover the entire twenty years of the journal but only the first four months, from August to November of 2003—at which point the essays had reached "book length" (lol). So really this book is a snapshot of my life in the latter half of 2003. At that time, I was fading out of college due to financial hardship and other issues, and did not realize that I would never (as yet) return.

I have been wanting for years to go back and reread my journal, and writing a book out of it was the perfect impetus to finally do it. I think a few things stand out about the Josh of 2023:

First, my principles have remained remarkably consistent, but my awareness and understanding of the world has grown drastically, and so those same principles have led me over time to some different policy views and worldviews on some things.

Second, I was a 21-year-old arrogant block of cheese, full of hormones and self-conviction, and that definitely shows up at times in ways that I simultaneously am not proud of and yet which I admire for their sheer gall. There is something very magnetic about the old me which doesn't exist anymore.

Third, following up on that point, it was pretty inspiring and encouraging to revisit the old me, with all that native optimism and drive. I don't express those qualities anymore because life has worn me down and also because I have come to recognize that humanity's problems are a lot more stubborn and irremediable than I thought. By glimpsing into the past, I couldn't help but be cheered on by the old Josh's proud, utopian sense of human inevitability. It lifted my own spirits in the here and now!

I made the mistake of announcing the book on Patreon right after I finished writing it, i.e. back in mid-March. Then I had to wring my hands every week about how post-production was taking longer than expected. Between the irritating realities of formatting a book in software not properly equipped to format a book (never write a book in Google Docs), the complexities of my detail-oriented manner and strong vision regarding the cover design (and engaging for the first time ever with modern generative AI, and having to learn those ropes), and sustaining illnesses and other life priorities and so on, it would take me another two months in all to finally reach today, where I can now publicly declare:

The book is done! It is for sale right now. It is called:

Tokens of Zeal: Words from a Vanished Age

(Caption: Book front cover of Tokens of Zeal: Words from a Vanished Age, by Joshua Calars.)

You can buy it through Amazon in either paperback or e-book format. (I recommend the paperback version for aesthetics as it is much truer to my design vision for the book's layout and appearance, but my profit margin is actually a dollar bigger with the e-book version, so really just go with whichever version you prefer.) It is available in the US as well as in basically all the other countries that Amazon has expanded its publishing service into. If you need help finding a link to a particular version, give me a ping and I will point you there (if there is a "there" to be pointed to). This is my second published book, following Prelude to After The Hero in 2015, and the first book to be published in print.

If you do read it, first of all thank you! It's an honor that you would take the time. Second of all, I would love any feedback you care to offer. That's not a platitude either; feedback is hard to come by and I really would be interested in anything you have to say, good or bad. You can e-mail me, DM, reblog this, drop an ask, or tag me in an independent post. Whatever you like! Feedback will help me greatly when I eventually get around to writing Volume 2. And feel free to leave a review on Amazon, whether good or bad (though hopefully you enjoy the book); I am told it pleases The Algorithm. But most of all, if you enjoy the book, tell someone about it! Your word-of-mouth is currently 100 percent of my advertising budget, lol.

That's all. I wrote a book; it took four-and-a-half-months; it's done now; and it's the first time I've ever gotten to hold a book that I wrote in my hands as a physical thing, and that's pretty neat.

[papermonkeyism]

Poking at the dinosaur project thingy, this time with some production technicalities point of view.

Here be musings.

I originally thought of the project as a calendar, then a series of calendars that could be collected into an art book once enough art had been made for it, and at some point I thought of just skipping the calendar part and going straight for art books.

I've been going back and forth between those options multiple times over the years, and it's still kinda open. Like on one hand a simple calendar with just thirteen illustrations (twelve months plus cover) is the easiest and cheapest option, though pretty limited (what to do once the year presented in the calendar ends, and you still got unsold leftover stock?), and the other hand art books are big projects requiring lots of work, even more money, but be a lasting and very satisfying thing to have.

Maybe I should take a middle road and make a zine instead?

Maybe.

Though, this is where the shape of the actual project comes in.

I've always planned the project as having a slice of life style format, with little story and more focus in exploring the setting. Kinda just looking in and enjoying the view while you go. But I've noticed that keeping the "narration" as illustrations kinda keeps the immersion at arm's length too. While that is fine and dandy for a calendar where the space for any narrative would be very limited anyway, if I was going to do more with the setting, I kinda need something deeper. Even if the audience is fine just looking at pretty pictures, with ADHD it would be better to have something deeper to help keep me personally invested enough to actually plan, plot and produce the materials needed.

Should I make an actual story, with plot and stuff? Feels kinda unnecessary for a thing focusing on just illustrations, and I don't know if I really "click" with a text heavy picture book format. I kinda feel it would make comic as the best option, though that has its own downsides. I've always wanted to do full colour paintings of the dinosaurs, yet going comic it would have to simplify a lot and make it grayscale just to keep me sane. And, as someone who has done well over 250 pages of a long form comic, that's still a HUGE commitment I don't think I have the resources - mental, physical nor financial - to pull off.

I also kinda feel having a plot story would sort of detract from the "exploring the world" aspect and put more heavy focus on characters, which. Well, it's not *bad* exactly, just not quite what I want.

(Also I am aware the dinosaur clan I have has a kid character, and I don't want to make her the point of view character for the story. I have no interest doing a childrens' book. I mean, I am perfectly fine if kids do eventually end up liking my stuff, but I don't consider them my target audience. My target audience is me, an adult person in their later 30s, and a handful of nerds I consider friends and/or mutuals.)

Another option I've been toying with is kind of a double edged sword.

Those who got the Almost Real speculative evolution zine volume 5 got a bit of a taste of this, as I kinda tried it out there.

So... I've gone to pretty great lengths as a layperson to work in the setting of the project thingy. It's always bothered me when dinosaurs get just dumped into a story with no regards to when and where they actually lived, making for an anachronistic hodgepodge of what's popular forming into a mismatched fantasy setting, usually with throwing humans into the mix. I don't like that. I'm more interested in seeing the actual animals as they were, when they were and where they were, where the focus is in the dinosaurs themselves. Thus the limit to Two Medicine formation (with some of the surrounding areas included too, though still keeping to the same time period).

I do not want humans in my dinosaur stories. Period.

But what if...

So, imagine a research journal. There's a scientist visiting the clan of Singing People the project focuses on, with the mission of studying them, their life and their world. The book or zine or whatever could be a story of the dinosaur clan introducing themselves and their life to this person. An outsider point of view to excuse learning about them by them teaching this POV person how their world works. There could be some interaction and maybe interviews, and of course illustrations because you need to document your subjects after all.

Like, I'm kinda excited about the idea. It would let me get into the details I want to picture without getting too into the heads of the characters to limit the chances of artistic exploration. You gotta document the surroundings your study subjects live in after all! But you'd still get to know the characters because it's the job of the POV person to learn about them. Win win!

It's just that I don't want to put too much attention on this hypothetical scientist. Like I said before I don't want to mix my settings. The dinosaur project thingy's world IS Laramidia in the Campanian period of late Cretaceous, it's not meant to be a scifi setting, nor do I want to have any focus on any time travel.

Wonder if it would be possible to leave the scientist character vague enough to never actually get explained? They're just nameless outsider from undetermined time and place who's interviewing some dinosaurs. Maybe with some peronal opinions or musings but no anecdotes about their own life or themself. And whenever there's interactions between the scientist and any of the Singing People it just gets handwaved away. (Of course the Singing People are curious about them too, but that's not the point of the study so it just doesn't get documented or something?)

I don't know. Could that work?

[scarletwinterxx]

sit down with doyoung

helllooo and we're back with another sit down scenarioooo. glad you like this format i tried out😅 hope you like this oneee🤍🤍

If you want me to make more of this with the other members just let me know😅 or you have a request or scenario you want me to do, just send me a message I'll see what I can do😊💌

For my other works you can check them out here, and for my other story series’ you can check them out here.

and if you want, u can buy me coffee(totally optional but any donation is very much appreciated!) thank you🥺💛

All works are copyrighted ©scarletwinterxx 2024 . Do not repost, re-write without the permission of author.

(gif not mine, credits to rightful owner)

The scene starts with two vacant chairs in front of the camera. Then two people walk in, sitting right next to each other.

"Okay, welcome. Can you introduce yourselves please" someone from behind the camera says

"Hello! I'm Kim Y/N, and this is my husband Kim Dongyoung" you smile at the camera, gesturing to the man sitting beside you

"Just Doyoung, Hello everyone" Doyoung bows at the camera after greeting

: How long have you been married?

"Almost two years" you answer, "It will be our second anniversary next week, actually" Doyoung adds, smiling shyly.

He hears you giggle beside him, reaching over to hold his hand in yours before continuing with the interview

: Then how long have the two of you been together as a couple?

"4 years, we married kinda fast. But I knew I wanted to marry him so I asked him. I just couldn't wait" you joked, eliciting laughter from your audience

"I asked her, she asked me jokingly like she asked me one random night. At that point we've talked about it a few times. I kept thinking she was hinting something"

"You're saying that like I made you ask me" you pout at him, making Doyoung chuckle. Giving your hip a playful pinch

"I already had a ring for you. I thought you saw it that's why you kept mentioning it"

"Could've been a promise ring for all I know" you shrug

: How did the two of you meet?"

"His brother was my senior at work, Doyoung thought we were dating then we met at dinner one time. I was so awestruck of him the first time we met I got shy and didn't get to ask for his number" you tell the camera

Meanwhile Doyoung listens to you fondly with a smile on his face. The memory still fresh in his mind like it was yesterday

"I asked my brother if she was his girlfriend, when he said no I asked for her number. When I texted her asking her if she wanted to get coffee, she didn't reply to me" Doyoung adds, piquing the interest of the crew members

"I didn't reply for 3 days cause I got nervous and didn't know what to say. Then we saw each other again at the company when he picked his brother up. He thought I was avoiding him but really I was just shy"

: Then how did the two of you talked again?

This time Doyoung answered first, "My brother called her, offering her a ride home. But it was my car, I was the one driving. He even made some excuse about having an emergency meeting so in the end it was only me and her"

He can still remember that day, you were blushing so much he thought you were having a heat stroke from how red your face was. He blasted the AC in the car for you.

"We finally got coffee together before he drove me home" you said

: How did you know they were the one for you?

You play with the wedding band on Doyoung's fingers, thinking of the exact moment you knew

"I forgot my umbrella at home one time, he usually pick me up after work but that day we decided to meet at a different location. When I got there I was drenched head to toe. He scolded me so much, like all the way home. All while he was nagging, he was also taking care of me. Gave his jacket to me, then when we got to his place he immediately got a towel and made hot tea for me" you look at your husband's eyes, smiling fondly at him

"I knew I wanted that for the rest of my life"

He smiles at you, picking up your intertwined hands to kiss the back of yours before resting it back on your lap

"You know the funny thing is she didn't forget her umbrella. She gave it to me like a few days before. I dropped her off at her office and it was raining hard. She gave me her umbrella because she knows I like to buy my lunch at the store across the street from where I work" Doyoung remarks

"She's thoughtful like that, she gave her umbrella to me even though she didn't have anything to use. I knew I was going to love her for a long time and there was no way I was letting her go but she does do that a lot, make my headache and make me nag at her" he adds with a laugh

"Well I knew you were going to pick me up so" you reasoned out

: Where do you see yourself in 5 or 10 years?

"I don't really know, to be honest. I live each day as it is. I work hard everyday to be the man worthy for her. I want to be there for her, always give her the support, love and care she needs. I don't really need anything else as long as I'm with her" he says

"Me too, maybe someday we'll have kids. We've definitely talked about it. Maybe two, atleast. I love watching his relationship with his family, with his brother. I want that for our future kids too"

Doyoung watches you answer. It's like with every word you say he just falls even more inlove with you. Already it's like he's living a fairytale everyday when he's with you. Thinking about one day having kids with you, raising humans that is part you and him warms his heart even more.

: Okay, that's all. Thank you so much for sharing your time and your story with us, Mr. and Mrs. Kim. Anything else you want to say?

"When we come back for the next interview in the future, we'll bring our kids with us" you tell the camera with a big smile

"You sound so sure, honey. What if they invite us again next year?" Doyoung asks jokingly

"I mean we can make it work right?" you ask back, he knows you're messing with him. He's used to you joking with him all the time.

"We'll see you soon" he says to the camera with one final bow and you do the same

AND CUT

[circeyoru]

Sooooo I know the readers in your stories are mainly left up to the person’s imagination butttttttt

Do you per chance imagine them a certain way? I want to make some fan art and it just always help me to have something to go off of. Any of the readers from any story will do honestly because I adore them all! Sorry to be a bother about this by the way

Oh, it's not a bother~ No worries~

Now for this ask I'm gonna use mainly {Unwanted Soul} for examples, so any spoilers for those that don't read this. Other series are mentioned here and there.

My Works: MASTERLIST (check out the series you haven't heard before would be appreciated~)

I do imagine them a certain way, cause that's how the personality and certain characteristics come out to the design of Reader. I just remove the minor details like the 'likes' or 'dislikes' that have no real meaning to the story.

Like in {Unwanted Soul} you can say you like Japanese food and dislike dogs. So? Alastor's liking you the same, if you like that type of food, he'll just learn to cook it. If you dislike dogs, then he'll avoid them. There's no obvious effect to the story as a whole or changes your character interaction.

In terms of appearance, for stories with a human Reader, I'll think if it's necessary for a certain skin colour set or like height and the like. Usually there's none cause there's no deciding factor. Otherwise, free range for you artists to draw to your liking.

As for demonic Reader, I'll think if it's necessary for a specific species. Like in {The Raven's Deer}, even though the Reader is Zestial's younger sibling, you're depicited as a raven type demon and the powers focuses around that, it's also the dynamic of a raven and deer that I was aiming for. In {Unwanted Soul}, I specifically said the species doesn't matter because the focus was on the power you possess.

Last is the unique Reader, like {The Spirit's Favourite Human}, that one is specifically stated that you're a spirit that protects the forest you manifested in, nothing else. Cause the only interest was that you are a spirit. You'd normally think of elves and forest spirits, or whatever since it's already stated.

Now I'm aware you're asking for specific format to follow in a drawing to match what I have in mind. But that's more like an OC, in my opinion. What I hope to offer in my stories of [character] x Reader is that a number of people can insert their likes and wants (basically an OC appearance) into the Reader's design without saying what's right or wrong.

You can check {Unwanted Soul}'s Demonic Design for fan art, there are some specifics I listed and clothing choices of what I had in mind. There are a few drawings that I saw already and they are fire!

Rabbit based @sparrowfleet Page Demon named Celestine @chirimeimei Jacob sheep based @oh-nowo-i-got-uwu Musical interpretation Page Demon @tash-sho-sho

In {Gone Too Young}, it's a collaboration with another account and they have shared their work and interpretations already~ But parts like eyes colour and the like can be changed~

Drawing from my collaborator @blubugg13

As for {Collection of Overlords}, I won't put out a design like {Unwanted Soul} just yet because the appearance will be more fixed and set in stone. Due to [spoiler].

So~ I suggest you wait for more parts of Collector!Reaeder to come out before anything. For the other series, you can send me spectulations or what you want to add to the design and see if it's what I had in mind, only if you want more pointers. Otherwise, let your imagination take you~!

[coffee-with-mint-syrup]

So I just went on tiktok and saw people shitting on the adaptation. And it's like...Is the netflix atla flawed? Yes, of course. It it a perfect adaptation? Come on, it's like you're living in a world where such thing exists. If you are not enjoying the show - it's completely fine.

But it absolutely does not deserve the utter hate I see from those guys.

I'm sorry, but what did you expect? The very same show as the animated series but this time with real life people? Sorry to break it to you, but it's impossible.

Look, I don't really remember the first season of animated series all that much, I absolutely do not remember all the details. But I can tell the shitshow when I see it and that's not it. People who adapted aang's story clearly love the source material and care for it and they did a great job with adapting the plot to the live action series format.

Yes, of course, they downplayed some of the characters. Aang is much less joyful and childish - but maybe it's because they don't have 20 episodes for him to realistically go from actively avoiding responsibility to fully accept it. Like, yes, you can probably say that the episodes length compensates amount of them, but it doesn't really work that way for emotional journeys. Usually each episode has it's own little emotional arc for every character - so for animated series we have 20 little arcs showing Aang's emotional growth with 20 stages. The netflix series has only 8 of them. Even if the amount of time in theory adds up - it's not the same, it's not how the episode are being structured.

Then there's Katara. I admit - I do not like that they downplayed her motherly nature, her emotional maturity contrasting her rage. I do not like that they got rid of most scenes between her and Aang, especially her teaching him and calming him down. But do you know what I expected? I was so afraid that they would do the same thing the modern medea does to almost every single female character - deprive her of any trait of her character that is remotely traditional feminine, deprive her of her emotions and leave her with only badassery and girlbossery. And I'm so glad they didn't do it that I actually don't care that much.

I heard the guy whining something about "they didn't do the secret tunnel right" and I just can't. You understand why they didn't do it exactly like in the animated series, right? Riiight? It's probably has something to do with kissing between literal children, even if it's just implied. Personally, I wouldn't want that to happen. It was kinda cringe even in the animated version.

Also I saw a video of a guy (90% of such videos are guys) being just "the animated series did this and that, and the netflix version did another thing and it's not like the original" about Suki and Sokka and there was something about "...and then Suki just beats up Sokka's ass out of nowhere". It's like - have we watched the same stuff? She comes to see him training because he is this boy from outer world, from bigger land and she is interested. And then they train together for a little bit and she beats him in a training fight - that is literally what happened. It wasn't ou of nowhere, it was Suki being a girl that doesn't know how to communicate with a guy she kinda likes! Well, I don't know if she actually likes him at this point but she's clearly interested in him. Does it take being a girl myself to understand?

There are many more flaws and drawbacks but it's okay because overall the show is very enjoyable. It doesn't deserve the hate I saw.

[justdalek]

Okay, this might just be me not digging deep enough, but I feel like people complain about the musical numbers in Hazbin Hotel coming across as “jarring” without diagnosing the reason why the music is jarring to the viewer.

I have been rewatching the episodes quite a bit, until the realization hit me in episode 6:

There’s no true transitions from background music, to vamps, to the actual song for most of the songs in the series thus far.  And in some instances, there’s no vamps at all.

Let me explain.

A vamp (in terms of musicals) is when there is music that leads up to the musical number that is about to be performed.  For example, in Disney’s 1989 The Little Mermaid, the sequence right before the song “Under the Sea” has the beginning melody of the song play underneath Sebastian’s dialogue of him telling Ariel that going to the surface is a bad idea.  That little music diddly evolves into Under the Sea naturally without hitting the audience from out of left field.  This was popularized by Howard Ashman, who was a pioneer for the revival of Disney and its movie musicals with the Renaissance Era.  The point of the vamps is to introduce the motif of the song fixing to be song, as well as helping to aid in the character’s mounting emotions that lead them into singing.

To quote Ashman, “You have so much emotion that you have to sing it.  Then you have even more emotion that you must dance.”

Keep in mind that Hazbin Hotel is basing its format off of traditional Broadway musicals.  Each 20-minute episode has two songs in it, usually being sung by the protagonists, or occasionally the antagonists.  The songs move the plot along, as well as provide exposition or a tension for the plot of the episode and the overarching plot of the season.

Here’s the song list (up to episode 6):

Episode 1: Happy Day in Hell (Charlie and Citizens of Hell) and Hell is Forever (Adam and Lute)

Episode 2: Stayed Gone (Vox and Alastor) and It Starts with Sorry (Charlie, Sir Pentious, Vaggie, Angel Dust)

Episode 3: Respectless (Carmilla, Velvette,  Zestial) and Whatever It Takes (Zestial, Carmilla, Vaggie)

Episode 4: Poison (Angel Dust) and Loser, Baby (Husker and Angel Dust)

Episode 5: Hell’s Greatest Dad (Lucifer and Alastor) and More Than Anything (Lucifer and Charlie)

Episode 6: Welcome to Heaven (Heaven Ensemble) and You Didn’t Know (Emily, Charlie, Sera, Adam, Lute)

Let’s dissect each number in terms of its introduction (I can make whole posts on all the numbers, but that’s a post for another day unless you guys want me to talk about it more).

Happy Day in Hell

Man, this song makes sense but also no sense with its introduction.  If you wind the episode back 10 seconds before the song starts, you will notice that the background music completely stops as Vaggie says something about the extermination while Charlie is catching her breath.  Then, Charlie immediately starts her song.

If the background music continued to swell through under Vaggie’s dialogue and morphed into the motif of Happy Day, then the musical number would’ve not have been so weirdly started.

Hell is Forever

This song has an interesting vamp in that it starts with higher instruments detailing Charlie’s hops as she lays down her plans to show Adam and Lute.  My issue with this particular vamp is that the background music right before it is (again) hard cut with a couple seconds of pure silence before we are immediately thrusted into the vamp.  This comes off as a very weird choice as I think that the music should’ve continued through without breaking it apart like that.  It would’ve made the quickness of the reprise of Happy Day in Hell seem more natural in comparison to the dialogue, as well as not throw the viewer off the rails with a slowish background song then an immediate whiplash into the musical number with no real transition.

Stayed Gone

This is one of the few songs that I think works perfectly (it's also my favorite but shhhh).  The vamp and emotion from Vox is on point, and I really wish that most of the songs would take from this song’s set up.

It Starts with Sorry

This one is kinda a weird one for me, and it’s very specific.  The transition from the background music to the vamp is wonderful, but then the transition from the vamp to the actual song has this almost abrupt cut.  The vamp has strings, but then it’s barely a fade into the glockenspiel of the actual song.  It causes this very weird sound drop that makes it not sound right at all.  If the strings would’ve stayed, but at a much quieter level with a resolution chord for the song, you can still have the same effect of the beginning measure of Sorry without that weird track change (Don’t worry, I’ll talk about the audio editing later).

Respectless

I dunno why I had it in my head originally that there was no background music before the song began, but honestly if this particular song didn’t have the background music, it would’ve been perfect actually.  This style of song is like an argument, so it would’ve made sense for it to come out of left field because Velvette (and the audience by extension) was not expecting Carmilla to defend Zestial.  However, there’s this weird choice of having tensions with the strings, then immediately having a guitar strum over it that doesn’t gel well with it at all before the background music gets cut off abruptly.  For this one, it’s not even a musical choice, this is almost a weird editing choice that I am not sure how to feel about.

Whatever It Takes

(This is my least favorite song for a number of reasons.  Bare with me on this one)

I think this song is the biggest beef I have in terms of how it’s introduced.  The mood is somber, and the vamp towards the song is quiet, but then the song is immediately loud, almost like it’s shouting.  I had my headphones all the way up to listen to the background and the vamp, and I almost threw off my headphones when the first notes of the song and that Zestial sing started playing (no shade to either).  I’m not sure what the hell was going on in the audio mixing department, but the songs are not doing well at all in the context of the episode (outside of it, they’re both great).

Poison

I love the vamp into the song for this one, personally one of my favorites of that mount musical volume before Angel starts to sing.  My one issue with it is the background music right before it.  It’s only a couple of seconds, but it shouldn’t be there at all.  I understand that it’s part of the Vee’s “menace theme”, but it should’ve just stayed out and kept the silence.  It would’ve made the vamp into Poison so much more effective.

Loser, Baby

This one is an odd one.  No vamp, just pure silence before Husk breaks into song.  I feel like the silence could’ve been prolonged just a touch more, then Husk starts to sing without the piano.  I feel like the beginning piano lick ruins that silence between Husk and Angel’s confessions to each other, and makes the song feel jarring to the lines right before it.

Hell’s Greatest Dad

Hrmm, I’m… perplexed.

There isn’t a musical problem this go around, but there is a set problem.  The chandelier that falls from the ceiling is meant to signify to Lucifer that his daughter does in fact need his help, but that chandelier has (at least to my recollection) never appeared once in the show, let alone the episode.  It’s the falling set piece that makes this song outright jarring because the setup doesn’t work at all.  Music-wise, it’s fine, no complaints from me.

More Than Anything

Listening to all these scenes back to back made me realize a problem that this song is the biggest sufferer of: volume change.  Just like with Whatever It Takes, the sudden volume change from the background music into the vamp is simply jarring.  I understand that it’s two different tracks that are put next to each other, but you can lower the volume of the vamp to make its transition so much more natural.  I’m not sure if this style for the musical numbers is an oversight or a deliberate decision at this point, but I honestly think that the audio volume is perhaps a bigger culprit than the music transitions.

Welcome to Heaven 

This feels like two scenes Frankensteined together.  You have Emily introducing herself, as well as (probably) her motif playing in the background, then out of left field, St. Peter starts to sing the song. 

Full stop. 

You cannot cut from one shot to the next as a musical transition from speech to song.  It would’ve made much more sense to have Emily and Charlie walking towards the gates, then St. Peter and Emily say “Welcome to heaven” as the music starts to play for the number.

You Didn’t Know

The music transition is a bit smoother (volume still needs adjustment, but not nearly as much as More Than Anything), but the tension in the score isn’t really there, which I feel like is the culprit for this song.  If there was tension in the music while Sera was talking and Emily was looking at the list, it would’ve made more sense to have Emily sing instead of talk.  In all honesty, if Emily would’ve spoken, “But she was right,” then Sera says, “What?” then Emily sings, “But she was right, Sera,” I think that would’ve made this transition work almost perfectly.

This is no shade at anybody working on Hazbin Hotel, this was just something I noticed nobody talking about.  The team is doing a wonderful job on the show, and I absolutely love it all!  I’m just wanting to give my two cents on a topic that no one was really delving into.

Lemme know if you guys want me to talk in more detail about any of the songs, I am more than happy to do so!

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Citizen scientists help discover record-breaking exoplanet in binary star system

With an unusually long orbit, the new planet spotted by volunteer planet hunters and confirmed by Flatiron Institute scientists and their colleagues offers insights into how planets form and remain stable in multi-star star systems.

A team of astronomers and citizen scientists has discovered a planet in the habitable zone of an unusual star system, including two stars and potentially another exoplanet.

The planet hunters spotted the Neptune-like planet as it crossed in front of its host star, temporarily dimming the star’s light in a way akin to a solar eclipse on Earth. This ‘transit method’ usually identifies planets with tight orbits, as they are more likely to follow paths that put them between Earth and their host star and, when following such paths, move into light-blocking positions more frequently. That’s why this newly discovered planet is considered unusually far out, with the planet taking 272 days to lap its star. Furthermore, the star is now by far the brightest one known to host a transiting planet in the habitable zone where liquid water can exist.

Follow-up observations of the system revealed even more peculiarities. The star is also orbited by a still unconfirmed second planet with a 34-day orbit and, perhaps most interestingly, another star. The unique system provides a valuable data point for scientists trying to understand how planets form and remain in stable orbits in multi-star systems. The researchers present their discoveries April 30 in The Astrophysical Journal.

“Finding planets in multi-star systems is crucial for our understanding of how you can make different planets out of the same material,” says study lead author Nora Eisner, a research fellow at the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics in New York City.

Systems of stars and planets form when clouds of gas and dust begin clumping together. When a star forms alongside another star, the pair can form a binary star system. Because planets are estimated to be half as likely to form in a binary star system compared to single-star systems, Eisner says “it’s quite exciting that we found this one.”

The newfound planet — formally called TOI 4633 c, but nicknamed Percival (after a character from the “Harry Potter” book series) by the scientists — was first identified by citizen scientists sifting through data collected by NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS). The Planet Hunters TESS program enables anyone with a computer connected to the internet to search for undiscovered planets in the TESS data.

“Every time I spot a possible transit, I can feel my heart beat faster and my excitement rise extensively,” says Simon Bentzen, a Danish citizen scientist who has volunteered with Planet Hunters TESS since 2018. “I’m very happy that I helped find the new system. I hope that the new planets can help contribute to our understanding of planet formation and help answer other interesting planetary questions.”

The citizen scientists help the astronomers sort through the enormous datasets, which are far too large for researchers to analyze on their own. To date, the project has allowed over 43,000 volunteers from 90 countries to help catalog some 25 million objects. Citizen scientists are particularly invaluable in finding long-orbit exoplanets because these objects are hard for computers to identify.

“The human brain has a really incredible ability to recognize patterns and to filter out noise,” says Eisner, who is the principal investigator of Planet Hunters TESS. “While our algorithms struggle to identify these longer-period planets, the citizen scientists don’t.”

After 15 citizen scientists flagged the possible planet, Eisner and her team decided to take a closer look. Follow-up study of the star’s radial velocity — which looked for tiny wobbles in the star’s movement that reveal the gravitational tug of nearby companions — showed a potential second planet close to the star.

Further images and archival data revealed that what the scientists first thought was a single star is in fact two. The two co-orbiting stars are currently too close together to be distinguished individually from our vantage point on Earth. However, archival observations of the star collected over the past 119 years showed that the system is indeed a pair of binary stars.

The new exoplanet has the second-longest orbit of any planet discovered with TESS data and is one of only five with orbits longer than 100 days. “This planet is remarkable in many aspects,” Eisner says. “It’s remarkable in its orbit, it’s remarkable for being in the habitable zone and it’s remarkable for orbiting a bright star.”

While the scientists do think the planet is in the habitable zone, they would not advise it as a destination for your next interstellar vacation. TOI 4633 c has no solid surface, and the atmosphere is probably thick with water vapor, hydrogen and methane. However, previous studies have shown that long-period planets are more likely to have satellites or moons, which may offer solid surfaces for life to take hold.

“If this planet were to have a moon, that moon would likely have a solid surface, which could then be a great place to find water,” Eisner says. In the future, the exoplanet could be targeted by exomoon detection campaigns given the system’s brightness and the planet’s long orbit, both of which are helpful for exomoon detection.

While scientists are keen to learn more about this system, it will be at least 30 years before the two stars are far enough apart for them to determine the exact layout of the stellar system. Confirming whether the planets orbit the same star or different ones could help improve our understanding of how long such systems can remain stable. It could also help scientists make better predictions for finding new exoplanets. Indeed, nearly half of all sunlike stars occupy multi-star systems.

“If we were able to constrain where the planets orbit, it would really offer a stepping stone to open up our understanding of exoplanet formation,” Eisner says. “It could also possibly help us someday be able to look at a star and its properties and make some guesses about what planets are potentially orbiting in that system.”

TOP IMAGE....An artist’s interpretation of TOI 4633 c, a Neptune-like exoplanet found orbiting the habitable zone of a sunlike star. The system contains a second star (right) and may also host another exoplanet (left). Credit Ed Bell for the Simons Foundation

LOWER IMAGE....An infographic illustrating new discoveries about a multi-star, multi-planet system. Credit Lucy Reading-Ikkanda/Simons Foundation

[cookinguptales]

Regarding new media to get into: *deep breath* Okay so let me make my pitch for why should listen to the podcast Malevolent. If this is the first you've heard of it, it's a Lovecraftian horror mystery series about a private investigator named Arthur who gets partially possessed by an eldritch entity who takes over his eyes. It very cleverly solves the podcast dilemma of how to narrate surroundings in an audio format naturally, because the entity has to describe everything to Arthur. They have to work together to try to figure out what happened to them, and encounter spooky things along the way. The writing, voice acting, and sound design are some of the best I've ever experienced in an audio play, and it is all done by one extremely talented creator.

I think you will like it because Arthur and the Entity start off as adversaries but then become wildly codependent and Not Normal about each other. You've heard of enemies-to-lovers, get ready for enemies-to-allies-to-enemies-to-friends-to-ememies-to-secret-third-thing-(married bastards). Though the nature of their relationship is up to interpretation (queer platonic or romantic are both valid readings) their love for one another is canonical and the crux of the show.

As a warning, the series dives deeply into themes of grief (specifically child death) and how to survive and find peace after traumas. It is handled with grace and care, but can often be heavy. I suggest you check out the content warnings, to be safe.

If any of this is interesting to you, I hope you check it out. Selfishly, I'd love for you to join this tiny corner of the internet, largely because I have always admired your storytelling. Thanks!

Huh. You know, it's not the first time I've heard about this show. One of my SNM friends is also wildly into it, lmao.

I've avoided listening to it thus far because... well, being real with you, I've never actually enjoyed anything described as "Lovecraftian" up to and including Lovecraft. (Oops.) Something about cosmic horror just... kind of bores me, if I'm being honest. I think... small things in horror might interest me more than big things, maybe?

That said, I do like codependent relationships and horror mysteries, and it looks like the site does have transcripts. (I'm kind of hard of hearing, haha.) I can't make any guarantees because, again, it's not a kind of monster I'm usually into, but next time I cross-stitch I'll give it a try. Maybe I'll like it.

(Also thank you, that's really sweet. ;;)

[thatgirl4815]

Going back to the "type" thing, does it even matter who is or isn't Sand's type? Just because Boeing is Sand's type when it comes to a series of a traits he's usually attracted to and Ray happens to be a series of traits that is not what Sand usually goes for, doesn't mean that each relationship takes on a different tier. Attraction is attraction and Sand became very attracted to Ray, type or no type. What their relationship ends up meaning comes from the relationship itself, not arbitrary circumstances that led to its formation.

It's also such a common romance motif for the main character to fall hard for someone (the other main character) they never would have immediately expected to have liked, while the "alternative option"/love-triangle-member that otherwise seems to have all the traits they would have normally liked, fails them in one way or another. Ray and Sand are fitting into a well known genre-trope.

You're right, that does fall into a very common, well-liked trope. "We never thought we'd fall for each other yet here we are." Personally, I eat this trope for breakfast. It never gets old.

"What their relationship ends up meaning comes from the relationship itself, not arbitrary circumstances that led to its formation."

^Agreed. It's really a triviality in the grand scheme of the relationship. But Boeing's comment is interesting in that it hints at what Sand has usually looked for in a romantic partner and how Ray is not that. Again, not sure that Ray completely conflicts with what Boeing claims to be Sand's type (that being Boeing himself) but as a jab at SandRay's supposed dissimilarities, it's interesting to consider how their relationship has developed from those differences.

[ratiosalaryman]

"⃨𝖨𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝗈𝗋𝗍...

#ratiosalaryman ⸻ rp & appreciation blog for ex-salaryman Kento Nanami from the anime/manga series Jujutsu Kaisen. This is a indie, non-picky, OC-friendly Nanami blog. So don’t be shy. Rules⸻Tags⸻Carrd⸻PSAs⸻ Literate RPer. Written by Maha 21+ (they/them)

Looking for...

I prefer character fueled plots, with all the messiness of feelings and misunderstandings. I am a big fan of atypical as well as the vanilla relationships, fyi. That means characters with placed maternal/paternal figures, sibling-like relationships, controlling relationships, destructive passion, fixation, sex with no love, love with no sex, misplaced pity, etc. I enjoy a good old jump action scene, like any JJK fan, so if violence and fighting is your jam, let'sss goo. I am also interested in non-romantic (relation)ships. The paternal/maternal, brother/sisterly, rivals, enemies, unlikely bffs etc. If you are another Nanami player, please add me, you rare dog you. If you are 18+ and are looking to build something lovely and dark, please take a look at my RP rules to get started with Kento. TRIGGERS: While Nanami is not an inherently unkind person, I care a lot about my partners, and roleplays may contain some disturbing content. I will always label my triggers in the format: ‘burn tw’ or ‘nsfw’. See Tags.

About Mun

Name is Maha and feel free to discord me (tell me who you are por favor) at fructosecornsyrup. Also have strong muses for Gojo, Toji, Sukuna, Suguru. I have a super strong itch for Sukuna so, uh, lemmeknow haha. Activity: I am slow, but mostly post everyday. If I am to be hiatus for any reason I will always post about it (under #psa tag). I am usually less weekends. Style: Definitely multi-paragraph. I have a hard time with really short RP style. Min is about 2 paragraphs unless it’s convo. 

[tarakaybee]

Oxventure Sequel, More Thoughts

Following on from a thought I had in this post, I've been wondering what I'd want from a future campaign that would fix my personal issues with the direction that this original campaign took, without fundamentally changing the nature of what Oxventure is supposed to be about.

I said in that post that one of my issues with Oxventure is that there is absolutely no worldbuilding, everything is just a vehicles for improv comedy, which is a problem in that it prevents them from doing compelling drama, but crucially it also limits their comedy potential somewhat. Oxventure fans will say that the focus of the series is comedy, so it doesn't matter if there's not much to the combat, or the puzzles are not fleshed out, or the story doesn't make sense or the settings are vapid.

First of all, I don't agree that Oxventure only exists to do comedy, I could point to a lot of examples of the players doing dramatic acting amongst themselves. Secondly, if I pretend that that's true and that Oxventure is just there for comedy, I can point to other comedy podcasts that have fleshed out worlds that remain internally consistent when the story needs to be dramatic, I could mention A Crown of Candy from Dimension 20 where Brennan wrote an elaborate world mythology about the royal families of a kingdom where everybody is anthropomorphic foodstuffs, but the main thing I have in mind is Not Another D&D Podcast.

NADDPOD's first campaign has a great comedy world, the first arc is about rescuing paladin boy scouts from frogs, the typical in-tune-with-nature druidic community common to D&D settings is instead a redneck swamp village where everybody has southern US accents, the halfling community is less The Shire and instead of a city state ruled by a Boy King and so on. Honestly, this first campaign is my number one favourite actual-play series despite being a very straightforward story played by a smaller than average group, despite being the usual kind of improv. The banter doesn't drag on for too long like I admit even Critical Role does so much that they're releasing an edited down version of the current campaign, it's genuinely extremely funny and isn't in any way limited by the fact that Murph is very strict about rule adjudication.

So my dream Oxventure sequel campaign would be as follows, it'd take place in one location, a single city like Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate, this would mean Johnny and the players would have time to flesh out the world of the campaign and allow us to get attached to it, but also means that Johnny isn't beholden to a format of constantly coming up with new locations in a very short timespan, which is clearly not a strength or interest of theirs. I've been reading the City Watch Collection from the Discworld saga recently, and I would love to play in a comedic fantasy city like that.

[whatyourusherthinks]

Columbo Season 1 Review

Well. Let's try something new. I don't think this will be a regular thing, but I really like this show so far and I just want to talk about it. I have a hard time watching television shows for a significant amount of time, so we'll see if I can make it through all 7 seasons of Columbo, but season 1 was only 9 episodes and each one looks shorter, so hey, that seems reasonable to me. If these kinds of reviews are popular maybe I can do another show.

Anyway, Columbo! The show that is somehow a seminal in the murder-mystery genre, yet also a a subversion of it. See, each episode is basically a mini-murder-mystery movie, but in reverse. Each episode starts with a murder, with the perpetrator in full view. We (the audience) know who is murderer, and we watch them cover it up (usually). The main character, Lt. Columbo of the LAPD, is never the first thing you see, even when the police arrive at the crime scene. The mystery of each episode isn't who killed the victim, it's how Columbo is going to catch them. It's a really good twist, so good that the show has become a standard example of the mystery show, despite the fact it is a subversion. Spoiler for my conclusion, I really like this show.

Anyway, since this is a new format, I'm gonna try something new. I'm just going to give my thoughts, both good and bad, for each individual episode before doing a conclusion for the season. I'm also not going to try not give specific spoilers for any episodes, although I will talk about the set-ups in detail for some of them.

Episode 1 'Prescription: Murder'

This was the first episode of Columbo I've ever seen, and it was a great introduction to the show. I got very excited when Lt. Columbo first walked on set, and every time he said "One more thing..." I giggled. The mystery was pretty fun, and it subtlety builds the establishment of the show with feeling like a first episode. I found it interesting that anyone could randomly catch this episode and not realize this is the opening of the entire series. My only real gripe is I don't know who the lady at the end was. I'm kinda bad with faces, so I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be the wife, the secretary, or some other lady we haven't seen.

Episode 2 'Ransom for a Dead Man'

I really like the set up for this episode. A rich lawyer murders her husband and fakes a kidnapping to cover it up. I don't think it would work for a more modern context but it was really sneaky. The way Columbo caught the lawyer was a bit cartoonish, as was the editing of the episode, but overall it was a good time. I did wonder if television shows at the time were allowed to show someone getting shot on camera. I like the little character detail of Columbo's fear of heights manifesting as him being suspicious of all the aircrafts he rides in during the episode.

Episode 3 'Murder By the Book'

Another funny thing about shows at the time, each director did completely their own thing in each of the episodes. There wasn't a style or guidelines to make all the episodes feel similar, the executives just let the directors do what they want. And when the director is STEVEN SPIELBERG, you're gonna get a great episode. The murderer being a hack writer with one good idea is a lot of fun, and his plan was really damn clever. I found it funny that everyone keeps leaving Columbo behind at their houses when he visits, i think that happens in every episode except the last one.

Episode 4 'Death Lends a Hand'

The weird editing for the second episode is back, and it's still just fine. I dunno, I don't hate it but this episode is just okay so that doesn't help. My biggest take-aways are that I like that Columbo tricks the villain into revealing himself by just straight up lying to him, finally noticing that the show doesn't always show Columbo finding the clues but still letting the audience know what he knows, and wondering if putting a potato in a car's exhaust really prevents it from starting. I also like that Columbo is so genial that everyone just completely writes him off and people will start gossiping about stuff to him and that he doesn't carry a gun.

Episode 5 'Dead Weight'

This episode we find out that the only reoccurring characters besides Columbo is the guy who runs the diner where he gets chili. (Okay, maybe some of the other cops show up in more than one episode but I wasn't paying attention to that.) I sorta like that the killer's plan is to seduce the witness and then I guess kill her, but this episode is kinda goofy. We learn about the backstory of the villain in a newscast that goes on for like ten minutes and it's so awkward I had to laugh. I also thought it was funny that the crime scene had like 8 assault rifles laying around and the victim was shot with a pistol.

Episode 6 'Suitable for Framing'

This is my favorite episode the season. The only thing I'm going to say is this is the episode where Columbo makes the silly face while wearing gloves. You've probably seen that screenshot.

Yeah, that one. If you can only watch one episode from this season watch this one.

Episode 7 'Lady in Waiting'

And this might be the weakest of the season. Again, not to say it's bad, none of the season is bad. But the weird editing is back and they make some goofy story choices. There's a dream sequence. This is the only episode where you see into the minds of the characters, and it's just odd. I like the plan of the killer, I like that the plan goes wrong and she has to scramble to recover it, and I like the doomed love story, but there just a few problems holding episode back as a whole.

Episode 8 'Short Fuse'

So far this is my favorite killer. He's a massive brat, a boorish beatnik, and I like that he tags along with solving the mystery at first. Plus, his method of murder is a lot of fun and leads to a great break down. I could see maybe someone getting annoyed by him, but I dunno, I liked him. And by extension, the episode.

Episode 9 'Blueprint for Murder'

This episode was pretty good too. I really like the set-up, and I like that the mystery is trying to prove a murder happened at all. It feels weird that Columbo doesn't react to the ex-wife flirting with him but...

Summation

I really like this show. I was hooked after the first episode, and I really looking forward to the rest of the series. This season is an easy recommendation from me, even episodes I have problems with I still like. Speaking of which, let's rank them. Why not? Hell, the show is made that you could watch them in any order, so maybe you'll want to watch the episodes this way or something. I dunno, ANYWAY RAPID FIRE BEST TO WORST:

Suitable For Framing

Murder By the Book

Short Fuse

Blueprint for Murder

Prescription: Murder

Ransom for a Dead Man

Dead Weight

Death Lends a Hand

Lady in Waiting

That was fun. Maybe I'll make a master list of best to worst episodes when I finish the series. We'll see. Anyway, if you haven't seen an episode of Columbo before and you like murder mysteries you should see one episode

Oh, uh.... Just one more thing...

Is Columbo Actually Married?

So I knew a few things about the show before watching it. And one of those things is that there is a running gag that we never see Columbo's wife. Oh, he talks about her ALL the time. Every episode he has at least one anecdote about how his wife, and he usually uses it to unbalance the murderer or to reassure a bystander. In Dead Weight, the witness actually asks Columbo if he's making up the story he is telling her, and that just got my brain spinning. I don't know if this is a thing in the Columbo fan camps or if this has been debunked before, but I'm going to start a little investigation of my own. Each season, I'm going to gather up all the details we hear about Columbo's wife, and find out if he's lying about her or not. Here we go.

So most of the stuff we hear about her in Season 1 is pretty banal stuff. She is athletic, likes shag carpets, is good with gadgets, has a sister with a daughter, and doesn't seem like she is a detective herself. A few details stand out to me at first though. One, she likes pipes. Columbo probably meant she likes men who smokes pipes but I like to imagine she smokes pipes and that gives me a nice visual so I'm sticking to it. Two, she's kinda down on Columbo. Like clearly he has a lot of affection for his wife, but I don't know if it flows both ways equally. Columbo mentions his wife thinks he's "the second best cop in all of Los Angeles, behind the 80 guys in first place." That's uh...

He also says she tells him he lacks ambition and she apparently has a proverb for every argument they have, which kinda tells me they have a lot of arguments. At least she gives him a new pencil everyday, which Columbo always loses. Three, Columbo doesn't wear a wedding ring. This is the big one for me, and is why I'm leaning on him making up his wife. Maybe if I look into it, there with be a Doylist reason why the actor isn't wearing a ring, but it's still strange that a guy who brings up his wife at every opportunity doesn't wear the thing that let's people know you're married. Right now though, that's just one piece of evidence. I'm going to stave off a conclusion or more heavy leaning until later seasons.

[palomahasenteredthechat]

Ardeo

Caracalla gets a fever. Part IX of my Emperor Caracalla series.

No warnings, unless you're squeamish about smallpox. I'm not an immunologist, so note I'm taking poetic license here for dramatic effect.

Interesting fact: Inoculation was thought to be developed in China more than 1,000 years ago. Who knows if other cultures explored it around that time or earlier.

----

The fever was stealthy, as the worst ones often were. Caracalla was riding, the wind warm on his back, his retinue of Praetorians riding in formation beside him, when he felt light-headed. The sun is in my eyes, he thought, the angle too bright. But when he arrived back at the fort and dipped into the coolest of the three baths, he felt only discomfort.

At that evening’s feast, he felt peckish and cross (more so than usual), unable to muster even a sarcastic retort to Julia Domna’s shrewd analysis of the Legion’s military strategy along the Rhine river. Only Gelvira seemed to sense something was amiss, her fingers quietly brushing his as he poured his fourth cup of wine, his hand shaking as he set the heavy goblet back down on the table with a splash. “Perhaps Caesar needs to rest,” she murmured softly, the only person who could suggest the idea of his vulnerability without him flying into a rage. 

Caracalla waved his hand dismissively, but it felt heavy, as if made of iron. The floor swam up toward the middle of his vision and for a moment he wondered if he had accidentally eaten another of the potent mushrooms from the night they had conceived. “Very well,” he said, and rose unsteadily from his chair.

When they entered the chamber, Caracalla bade Decimus to extinguish the fire. He leaned against Gelvira as she led him to the bed and helped him to disrobe. Caracalla fell back against the pillow and felt black exhaustion overcome him. 

By morning, he was on fire. The cushions beneath him were wet with his sweat, and a strange sour taste was in his mouth. That day, Gelvira did not leave his side, wiping his brow with fresh cloths dipped in cool water that smelled of crushed peppermint to cool his skin. Decimus brought him mead and wild boar for strength, but he could not eat. His mother glided into the chamber as the sun set and laid her hand above his brow, a stern look on her face. She glanced at Gelvira, who was holding his hand, and tilted her head toward the doorway. “Healer, speak with me.” 

“No,” croaked Caracalla. “She stays.” Julia pursed her lips into a thin line, but nodded and exited the chamber. Gelvira turned back to Caracalla and clasped his hands in hers. “I am here, Lucius,” she whispered. “I will not leave you.”

“Let me feel our son,” he asked, his voice thin and stretched. “Let me feel you, Gelvira.”

Wordlessly, Gelvira slid her shift off her shoulder and placed his hands against her belly. They were as hot as tongs from the fire but she did not flinch. Caracalla closed his eyes and pressed into the hardness underneath the soft curves. He is there, he thought. My son grows strong. He is there. Darkness fell upon his thoughts once again.

_____

The next hours were some of the worst Gelvira had ever experienced. Caracalla’s fever worsened and he became delirious. Various Roman doctors and priests came and went, muttering about humors, bodily fluids, and offerings to Serapis. Gelvira did not want to leave his side, but she knew stronger medicines were needed. Caracalla was developing strange blisters around his mouth and on his tongue. Gelvira knew if he didn’t drink he would be dead by the morning, so she coaxed fluid into him as gently as she could, patiently dripping mead or water into the side of his mouth with a spoon so that swallowing was less painful. When Decimus stood in the doorway, unable to attend to Caesar with his usual duties, Gelvira bade him sit by his side and take over the task. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, gathering her shawl around her. “If he wakes, tell him I am in the next room fetching more water.” Decimus nodded somberly.

Gelvira made her way into the long hallway of the abode, praying that the sisters of the Circle would speak to her, when Julia Domna stepped into her path. Even though the hour was late she remained impeccably dressed, the jewels in her hair and around her neck glowing in the light of the wall sconces. 

“What is your plan, healer?” she asked imperiously, but Gelvira sensed her anxiousness. Without one of her sons holding the reins of the Empire her own place was tenuous, her power only permitted by her connection to her firstborn. 

“I must confer with my Circle,” said Gelvira. “They hold the wisdom of 1,000 years. If this disease is known to our people, they will know of medicines to cure it.”

“Your people cannot make an offering to Serapis or to Asclepius,” Julia answered. “Only the Gods can heal my son, so that he may rise from the ashes of this disease and fulfill his destiny.”

Careful of what you speak of, thought Gelvira. She had heard the stories of the sick and nearly dead burned alive, to ward off contagion from the plague that had swept through the land in her forefathers’ time. Even now, pits of ash were scattered through lower Alemania, Roman soldiers and barbarian farmers alike. The Suebi would not plow plants in these fields, afraid that the roots would bear bitter fruit and spread death. 

“He needs medicine,” Gelvira said again, clenching her jaw in frustration. She daren’t speak of her darkest fear - that Caracalla had somehow contracted the storied plague from before, for his symptoms were troublingly similar.  “Please,” she said quietly, “let me help him the way I know how.”

Julia drew a deep breath and her nose flared in disdain, but she stepped aside to let Gelvira pass. “Do your best, healer,” she called after Gelvira. “For my son cannot die.”

—--

Caracalla runs, panting, through the narrow alleys of the northern spur. The Coliseum lies ahead, the roar of the crowd wafting from the distance. They cheer for him but not me, he thinks. I must run faster, be stronger. He overtakes the boy, shoving him aside, and the boy trips and falls. Caracalla looks back triumphantly and the boy raises his head and his face is hauntingly familiar. “Wait,” he calls out. “Wait,” and then vanishes into the mist.

____

Upon the direction of Julia Domna, Gelvira rode to her village with Caracalla’s prefect. “Wait here,” she bade the soldier as he helped her to dismount from the horse. Gelvira ran to the dwelling on the edge of the village. 

“Sisters,” she called as she entered. “Sisters, I need your help!”

Gelvira stood, panting, as the women turned toward her silently. None spoke as they gazed upon her, and Gelvira felt her face flush hot with anger. Finally, one of the leaders stepped toward her. “What is it you seek?” she asked. 

“Knowledge,” answered Gelvira, “for the plague has returned.” There was a murmur among the women and several backed away from Gelvira. 

“Gelvira,” said a voice, and the Eldest made her way slowly toward her, leaning on her walking stick. “Tell us everything.”

Gelvira nodded and sat near the hearth as some of the others gathered around her, but most stayed away. Gelvira spoke of Caracalla’s fever, his delirium, inability to eat or drink, the white sores that appeared around and inside his mouth. She feared they were in his throat and inside his body as well, drawing strength from him. 

“Do they spread upon his body?” asked the Eldest. “Have others fallen ill?”

“No,” said Gelvira, feeling her exhaustion come across her suddenly. She hugged her arm around her belly, as if she could protect the life growing inside from the threat. 

“If the blisters turn black he is dead,” said the Eldest. She intoned the rhyme that had been passed down, Sister to Sister, so that the knowledge was not lost:

Black and blood grows the heat

Until the body covered complete

Eyes are dazed mouth is full

Until the gods of death pull

None should live unless they leap

Into silvery scars that heap

Along the skin that slivers and cracks

Life returns but strength not back

Gelvira scowled at the fire, her mind working furiously in concentration. “So if the blisters fill with blood it is too late, but if they remain white, he will live?”

“I cannot say,” said the Eldest. “I remember it was capricious. Some would suffer terribly and yet recovered from it, others barely showed symptoms but dropped dead without warning. I thought I was spared until the end. I never recovered enough strength to run again.” She looked down at her walking stick for a moment.

“How many died in the village?” asked Gelvira. The Eldest shook her head. “Too many.”

Gelvira wrung her shift in her hands, staring into the fire. She felt lost and unsure what to do. The Eldest laid a soft bony hand upon her lap, startling her from her reverie. “Gelvira,” the Eldest said softly, “you must protect the life you carry. You cannot tend to Caesar in this fashion. I fear it may already be too late.” Gelvira began to shake, and the Eldest took her hand and comforted her as tears began to flow. “We must perform the ritual, without delay. Prepare yourself.” Wiping her face, Gelvira nodded.

_____

Gelvira clung tightly to the bandage around her arm, held (ironically) in place by the golden cuff. She was anxious to get back to the fort, fearing the ritual had taken too long. In her hands she held a small leather pouch. The Praetorian noticed it as he helped her back onto the horse. “Is that for Caesar?” Gelvira shook her head. “No, it is too late. But it is for you, and for others who have touched him. It was given with great sacrifice.”

The Praetorian pursed his lips and muttered something that sounded like ‘barbarian’ but Gelvira had lost any concern of what Caracalla’s prefect thought. Her mind was racing furiously. The Eldest had given the most, but a few others in the Circle had also survived the plague as children, and they too opened their wrists to mix their blood into the pot. Gelvira had gritted her teeth as her arm was sliced and the mixed blood dabbed into her wound. The Eldest spoke to her as another Sister poured the liquid into the pouch. “You must perform the ritual on the others when you return. They all will fall ill but will not die from it. Your Caesar is too far gone to benefit from it. I’m sorry, Gelvira.” She patted her shoulder, and her eyes were kind. “We will pray for you. And pray that whoever rules Rome remembers this kindness from the Suebi. We are counting on you, Gelvira.” Gelvira nodded, too tired to respond. 

—--

Caracalla crouches in a thicket of nettles, just beyond Hadrian’s Wall. He’s on the north side, the rugged side. Braver than the others. Let the Caledonians come, he was ready. The nettles itch, the fire from their stingers traveling up his back and surrounding his neck. He has to focus, to concentrate. He senses movement ahead and throws his knife, hitting a young boy in the chest. He rises, making his way to see but the boy sinks into the ground. The nettles are all over his skin, stinging, and the pain begins to take over his senses, driving him mad. 

_____

When Gelvira returned to the fort, it was eerily silent. Even on the darkest night there were always one or two soldiers busting about, attending to some matter or drunkenly going about their business, but now it was as still as a tomb. The prefect looked around nervously as he led his horse to the stable and Gelvira ran to Caesar's abode.

She entered Caesar’s chamber to find Decimus sitting next to him with a glazed look in his eyes, sweat pooling down the back of his tunic. I must not delay, she thought. “Decimus,” she said softly, touching his arm and finding it too hot for her liking. “Please fetch Julia Domna and anyone who has entered Caesar’s chamber.” Decimus blinked and nodded, standing unsteadily and making his way out of the chamber as if in a daze.

Gelvira turned to look at Caracalla and she had to clap her hand over her mouth to stop from screaming. In the hours since she had been gone the blisters had spread to his face and neck. She lifted the coverlet to see they were on his back and shoulders as well. His skin was red but the pallor on his face was white. 

“What have you brought us, healer?” Gelvira turned as Julia Domna and her retinue entered, followed by Decimus. Gelvira gestured to the pouch in her hand. “Life.”

____

Gelvira worked feverishly over the next hour, dabbing the blood mixture into the arms of more than a dozen people. Decimus went first, holding his arm as the prefect cut it with a knife and Gelvira used the flat of the blade to dab the Sisters’ blood into it. “Rest now,” she said to Decimus, and then attended to the prefect and several of the Praetorian guards who had ridden with Caracalla. Julia Domna and her priests observed as the guards were treated and then Gelvira looked up at them. “Please hurry,” she said, feeling a panicked urge to cover Caracalla’s body with her own. She wanted to lie down on the earth and rest forever, for she was tired beyond imagining. But she could not stop. 

“The Praetorians trust you,” said Julia. “You have earned their respect.”

Gelvira said nothing. The sound of Caracalla’s labored breathing filled the chamber.

Julia looked over at her son, and Gelvira saw a torrent of emotions flicker across her face - fear, anger, sorrow and disdain. Finally she turned and sat on the stool placed near Gelvira, and offered up her arm. “I place my faith in your medicine, healer. Rome itself is in your hands tonight.”  Gelvira nodded, and carefully took Julia’s arm to make the cut. Julia hissed through her mouth as the blade went through her olive skin, and watched as Gelvira repeated the ritual with her. Gelvira hoped it would be enough, for the blood was beginning to congeal. 

“What of my son?” asked Julia as Gelvira bound her arm with a bandage. She shook her head. “He is too far gone. The blood is only for those who have not succumbed yet. You may get sick but will not die, for the blood is taught to fight with this.” 

Julia nodded and rose to exit the chamber. Several of her priests followed but one lingered behind. Gelvira waited, to see if he would accept the ritual, but he eventually followed the others. Very well, thought Gelvira, as she looked at the bottom of the bowl. The last of the blood had dried.

_____

Without Decimus to help, Gelvira lugged water from the bath back to Caracalla’s chamber, and continued to dab his skin and trickle it into his mouth. The blisters continued to spread. A strange odor filled the chamber, and Gelvira feared it was the smell of bodily fluid. I must stop the blisters from forming, she thought. But how?

Tired, she put her head into her hands. I must pray to the All Father. But it is so hard to find the words. Closing her eyes, she formed a simple prayer: All Father, please give me wisdom. Please save him, the father of our child, who is the future of our tribe. The gods favor this child, you must spare him. Please, All Father. Give me a sign. 

Her exhaustion overcoming her, Gelvira lay her head on the bed next to Caracalla and took his limp hand in her own. “Come back to me,” she whispered. She dozed off to the smell of peppermint combined with the sour stench of his sweat. 

—--

Caracalla is lost, crashing through the undergrowth of thick trees, he can’t find his way out-

—--

Gelvira jerked awake. Caracalla had called out, she was sure of it. She leaned forward to hear if there was more, but he had curled away from her, exposing more of his back. Slowly she traced one of the blisters with her finger. If only I could be a balm for him, she thought. Suddenly, the answer came to her in a flash. Her tiredness gone, Gelvira stood up so quickly the stool clattered against the floor, causing a guard to rush into the chamber. “Fetch me your prefect at once,” Gelvira commanded him. “We have work to do.” The guard looked at her for a moment, then bowed his head. “Yes, healer.” 

A short while later, the wind was rushing against her face, as she rode with the prefect and several soldiers into the forest. The morning sun had risen, and Gelvira spotted what she was looking for growing in a large patch near a birch grove. A sign from the All Father, she thought. It must be. Dismounting, she rushed to the field, her knife already in her hand, and gathered up the lemon balm quickly, cutting the stalks and tossing them into her basket. The soldiers followed suit. After gathering a good half of the patch, they hastened back to the fort.

Gelvira led the soldiers into the kitchen, startling the cook. Gelvira cleared the table so the men could quickly begin to cut the plants into pieces. Gelvira stirred the chopped leaves into a large pot mixed with oil. She bade the cook to boil water and commanded the kitchen slave to gather dozens of cloths and to make sure they were clean. When the kitchen smelled like lemon, Gelvira knew it was time. “Go, bring these to the bath house, and keep them warm,” she said and the slave nodded. Gelvira turned to the soldiers. “Come with me. Hurry.” They ran to Caracalla’s chamber. 

The chamber was dark and the air thick with incense, but it did little to mask the foul stench. Julia Domna was on her knees before the rekindled fire, muttering incantentations to a clay figurine. Several of her priests were gathered around Caracalla and Gelvira saw they were preparing to bleed him. Gelvira summoned every bit of authority she had accumulated over the past months into her voice. “No!” she said firmly, and the priests paused in the dim light. 

Gelvira turned to the soldiers. “Soldiers of Rome. You must trust me. I have spent many moons healing your brothers. I know a better way. Please. Have faith in my gods and my people. Help me carry him to the bath house. The wounds must be washed.”

There was silence in the chamber, and Gelvira held her breath- Would the soldiers listen? Would Julia and her priests yield? 

Without a word, the soldiers moved forward in formation and shoved the priests aside, lifting Caracalla from the bed. Julia Domna rose to standing but said nothing. Caracalla hung limply as the guards carried his naked body out of the room. Gelvira ran after them, followed by Julia and the priests. 

When they arrived at the baths, all eyes turned to Gelvira. The Romans were silent as she inspected the pot of simmering lemon balm and the pot of boiled cloths. It was now or never. Gelvira turned to Julia. “We must bathe him, so that his blood will not become poisoned.” Julia nodded and signaled to the soldiers, who lowered him into the water. Gelvira fetched several of the boiled cloths and waded into the pool after them. She began to gently clean the blisters along Caracalla’s face and neck as the men held him. Caracalla’s eyes fluttered open and he seemed disoriented, but he didn’t protest.

Julia waded in as well, and the women worked together, dabbing the hot cloths against the blisters. As they worked, Gelvira called out for the slaves to bring fresh linens and to lay them on the tile. As soon as they did, she bade the men lift Caracalla onto the sheets. Caracalla’s eyes were darting from side to side and his tongue was lolling out of his mouth, but he did not seem to see them. Gelvira knelt down alongside and gestured for the lemon balm leaves to be brought to her. Carefully, she dipped one of the cloths into the pot, wrung it carefully and placed it against his blisters. The Romans watched as she slowly covered Caesar’s body with the bandages, layering them over each other until only his face was visible. She then wrapped the sheet over him tightly, sealing in the steam and balm oil. Her work done, Gelvira wiped her face and sat up. 

“It will cool into a salve, to prevent more blisters from forming. He must be kept clean, so the blisters do not fester. If they turn black his blood is poisoned. If they remain white he may-he may live.” She fell forward onto her hands, her braid undone, and let out a shuddering breath.

Silence. Only the sound of water lapping against tile. Gelvira realized that Caracalla’s breathing appeared less labored. 

“It will be done, healer.” Julia’s words echoed across the room, and Gelvira felt a surge of relief before she collapsed in exhaustion. 

—---

Caracalla was standing in brackish water, green slime gathering along the edge of his toga. The mud between his toes was sticky and he had to fight to lift each foot as he staggered forward. Each step was more draining than the last. After toiling for what seemed like an eternity, he knelt down in the water to rest. Just for a few moments, he thought. I only need to rest a few moments.

“You’re too stubborn to ask for help,” said a voice, and Caracalla turned to see a young girl, barely old enough to be on her own, her shift torn and dirty, standing at the edge of the brackish pond. Though her face was streaked with dirt she had a regal air, and Caracalla saw the wildflower crown in her hair. I know this face, he thought. “Gelvira,” he whispered. “Help me.”

“What’s the magic word?” asked the child. 

Caracalla sighed, and black water wafted under his chin. It was soft, and he wondered if he let his head slip underneath whether it would feel like drifting off to sleep. “Please,” he whispered. “Please, my love.”

“Thank you and you’re welcome,” said the child, and tossed him her flower crown. Caracalla held it in his fingers, until the flowers unwound into a long thread, and the child pulled, and Caracalla was lurching forward, climbing, until his feet touched the hard pebbles underneath the surface that led to the edge. He crawled out of the swamp and flopped onto his back. The child stepped over him, her face and long curls blotting out the sun. “You’re silly,” she said, before running back into the meadow.

Caracalla sighed, and drifted off.

____

Gelvira woke at dusk. Slowly, she sat up from the bench in the corner of the bath house, stretching her stiff neck. The slaves were re-applying fresh lemon balm cloths to Caesar’s blisters. Gelvira rose to inspect their work, and she noticed that Caracalla’s coloring seemed better. She knelt and grasped his hand as the slaves continued their ministrations. 

“He rests easier,” said one of the slaves. Gelvira nodded, and prayed silent thanks to the gods. Looking around, she asked quietly, “What of the others?” 

“They have succumbed,” said a slave, “but it is not as it was with Caesar.”

“Decimus?” Gelvira whispered, afraid to hear the answer.

“He fevers, but no blisters my lady,” answered another.

Lady, thought Gelvira. If they only knew. 

Later, after tending to all of the afflicted, she stepped out into the twilight, and took a deep breath of misty evening air. A night swallow flew overhead, and Gelvira took it as a sign that the worst had passed. Quietly, she laid a hand on her belly.

The sound of footsteps startled her, and she turned to see Julia Domna approaching, followed by two priests. Only two, thought Gelvira. Julia’s sharp eyes glanced down at Gelvira’s hand on her belly as she strode past her, followed by the priests and several men carrying a body wrapped in a cloak. They slowly filed toward the courtyard, where soldiers were erecting a pyre. 

The body burns until it meets the fire, thought Gelvira. But my Caracalla lives. My lover lives.

[e-b-reads]

Books of the Summer: May-Aug 2024

I'm back baby! These little blurbs at the top are usually where I put my disclaimer that these books are the ones I recommend, but not necessarily my favorites, and that particularly holds true for this summer when I consider a few that didn't make my list below: I read 20-something(!!) of the Hamish Macbeth mystery series, by M.C. Beaton, over June and July, and obviously I liked them because I just. kept going, but I also have several quibbles with them (e.g., twenty books and several years into the series, the main character is still "about 35"). I enjoyed them as something mostly brainless. Then in August, I read and very much enjoyed the Windrose Chronicles, by Barbara Hambly, a particular type of 80s portal fantasy, but in this case although my enjoyment was unalloyed, I feel like they're a rec for very specific circumstances or specific people. Anyway, thought both these series deserved some sort of honorable mention, but my official Books of the Summer are:

May

Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin): This is one of those tragedies where no one could have done anything different because of who they are as people, but even as you know what will happen from the beginning of the book, it's still worth reading to understand how. Also Baldwin is so good at writing. Not a happy book, but worth it.

June

Last Call at the Nightingale (Katharine Schellman): I'm recommending this one because it seems like I've seen (at least a few) people on the lookout for a good mystery set in the 1920s that is (queer) female-centric and not entirely trusting of cops, and this is definitely that. (Also the other book I saw being recced for that kind of thing was Dead Dead Girls, and I read it a little while ago and tbh was unimpressed with the writing.) I also read a few in another series by Schellman this summer, and I generally enjoy her mystery plots and attention to historical detail, while she also always makes sure she has a diverse cast of characters.

The Bellamy Trial (Frances Noyes Hart): A classic mystery (as in, published during the Golden Age), interesting in its trial formatting - the murder has happened, we're hearing everything in the courtroom sort of from the point of view of a pair of newspaper reporters. It's fun the way details are revealed.

July

The Ropemaker (Peter Dickinson): Did you know that Peter Dickinson was married to Robin McKinley? True power couple. I love The Ropemaker, I think I originally found my copy in a used book store with absolutely nothing to go on but the cover (it was years ago), and have read it several times. I particularly like that the main character doesn't have magic (and magic isn't entirely common in the fantasy world, though several other characters can do it), and she starts out feeling reasonably upset and left out, and then starts to realize that her own lack of magic is a particular, specific strength.

August

The Documents in the Case (Dorothy L. Sayers with Robert Eustace): I think I found this book by poking around the "Mysteries" section in a used book store, which is always a good way to find odd anthologies and Detection Club collections. This standalone mystery is, as it suggests, a collection of documents (mostly letters) meant to illuminate a mystery: handily, the son of the murdered man is collecting them and writes a little bit of analysis for us/the official to whom he is sending them, so we eventually get gaps in the story filled in. I particularly like the way that the nature of the medium means that every character is an unreliable narrator to some extent, and it takes a little reading before you can start to figure out who to trust more. I have read this a few times and always forget that it is kind of a chilling little story, in the end, but also really good!

[fellshot]

I am not really looking forwards to the Ashoka Tano series for a few reasons.

First I don’t like the character that much. But it seems like I’m really supposed to. On the surface, I feel like I should like a woman Jedi badass. But I don’t and considering how often she pops up in other characters’ story arcs and that each time she supersedes the other characters rather than taking a back seat, it feels like Rose Tyler from Doctor Who all over again. The “I’m a Jedi, but only when it’s convenient” is very frustrating. I feel like if you have a Light Side Force adept who isn’t a Jedi, you should really lean into it because it sounds like an interesting development for character and worldbuilding.

Second, I haven’t been able to get through Clone Wars partially because the Tartovsky series exists and I have it in its original narrative format, but also because who in their right mind would ever give Anakin Skywalker, walking disaster a padawan? For me, it is beyond my suspension of disbelief. I can’t do it. It doesn’t help that people tell me that the first 3ish seasons are rough going. That is emphatically not encouraging. Rebels season 1 was rough going too but at least it was funny and at least one of those idiots (usually Hera) had a working brain cell at any given time.

Third, it kind of looks like they are going in an Heir to the Empire direction. Which is okay I suppose, but feels like overly eager fanboys who never bothered with any Thrawn novels after the first three, if they even read past the first one. Later there’s an imposterThrawn storyline that seems like it would make a hell of a lot more sense in the current canon (such as it is). But it also seems like we are approaching a major point of no return divergence between bookThrawn and tvThrawn. Timothy Zahn has done a really awesome job of reconciling the two as much as possible, but I don’t think that Filoni is up to continuing it at all. Zahn made a very clear and fundamental difference between Empire/Republic space and the Unknown Regions and how they see their Force sensitives which I find very interesting and great, but given how Ashoka is usually written will probably get overlooked or hijacked to grow her journey to being something or other. Does she have any personal goals at all? To be fair, this seems like a generic Jedi character issue, but I don’t see it getting addressed on screen in any meaningful way.

Fourth, Ezra deciding that he had to stay to help someone (or several very young someones) in the Unknown Regions makes way more sense for his character than hers. A large chunk of the Rebels storyline is him fighting to free his home from Imperial control. Ashoka doesn’t have that kind of connection to place or people and it would be fine for her character if it was left that way , but it very much looks like Ezra’s motives (and Sabine’s) are being hijacked and reassigned to Ashoka. Which is really frustrating if you want to have development for both characters that is different. She needs to do her own work and not crib off someone else’s.

All that being said, if I end up hearing that Ar’Alani shows up and kicks all of the ass (as she fucking should), I will probably give the Ashoka series a shot. There will probably be another delighted squeefest of “it’s Chissmas!!” on social media if such a thing happens. I am totally here for that.