#bad eleonor bad

[saint-jussy]

Reading The Danton Case and I'm so ??? at this scene

[robespapier]

An hommage to Hilary Mantel but it's a fiction scene in which Eléonore Duplay waits for Robespierre naked in his bed, not because she's an evil schemer, but because they've been flirting and she's tired of the slow burn and wants to surprise him

and she quickly realizes it's not the best idea, but it's too late!! She's already hearing his footsteps!!

She's mortified and he's awkward, but he holds open his dressing gown for her and averts his gaze while she slips it on

And then...THEY TALK!!!

[dragonsinthedarkness]

Flint and Eleonor’s “reunion” in ep.4x4 honestly got me so emotional since the moment when they look at each other through the fort's doors.

Despite being on opposite sides, despite having both lost and conquered it all multiple times, that connection between them, that trust, that understanding is still there.

I loved their relationship in season one and two so much. I think what they shared and actually kept sharing until the end was some really special bond.

They've been working together to reach a shared goal, of course, a goal that just the two of them seemed to see and believe in, or to care about, but I think there was more to it than just that.

Nassau itself, and the freedom that it would have allowed them, had a different meaning for each one of them and the chains that kept them from truly gaining that freedom were of different nature, but I think that above all they were two persons able to recognize one another.

They were very different, but also very similar under some aspects, and I think that what they had most in common was their loneliness.

They were often surrounded by people, and had also a few ones strictly related to them or that sincerely loved them (just, very few), but over that, they both had a dimension of their own when they were fated to be forever lonely. Those special parts of themselves (good and bad, just parts of their personality) that no one had been or would ever be able to truly see or understand. They both had this and even if they themselves couldn't reach that dimension of each other they could just feel that they both had that. This is what I mean when I talk about recognizing one another. Just looking at the other person and knowing that, despite all the differences, they will always be able to understand you, even without necessarily approving your choices, just because they are just the same as you, because they know that feeling of having to make that choice -dealing with the world and with your own self- all alone.

And this, joined with their incredible ability to survive and to (almost) always end up “ruling things” somehow, definitely generated also a great deal of respect towards each other, and is what I think bound them the most for so long.

I found very endearing that Flint was in the end the last one she saw before dying: the tenderness with which he lays her head on the ground, the sadness of the moment (both for her death and for him losing yet another one of his loved ones), the meaningful burning house on the background…it really felt terrible, even if it's a great scene. It has such an emotional impact on me. 😢😢😢

[tankgotstuckinthecircusgate]

shit ton of fluff w young mobsters n co bc i deserved it 1) henry, betty and eleonore 2) serafina, frank and lauretta 3) rich scumbags 🙄🙄🙄being happy🙄🙄🙄ew🙄 (i need it so bad fr i need it so bad)

that one scene w the lost book inspired by @mwwktn 's tag: “do you think they have to distract him from lingering in the magazine corner before their flights”

[llama529orange]

Since I give some basic info about Eleonore and her desing I also decied to write about Eleonore past life and explain how she got in Twisted wonderland and maybe one day making a more detail version like a series to know better what happend in Eleonore past life.

Past life:

Eleonore’s past life actually began in Twisted Wonderland, where she was a well-known mage. This mage was famous for granting wishes and bringing luck to those who offered something in return. However, anyone who dared to anger the mage would face severe consequences, such as bad luck or their wishes not coming true.The mage’s magic was incredibly powerful, with the ability to make people die.Because of this power, no one wanted to risk making the mage furious. While the mage was renowned for their magic, they were also known as a rule-breaker, scammer, fraud, and were even responsible for the deaths of two important people. These actions led to the mage being hunted by other mages who worked for law and justice. These mages did everything in their power to bring the rogue mage to justice. However, they underestimated the mage's abilities. When cornered, the mage used all their power to create a portal, escaping through it to another world—the world where Eleonore’s homeland existed.In this new world, the mage continued their work, causing the same mischief until they died of old age. Upon their death, they were reincarnated as Eleonore. Although Eleonore doesn’t remember her past life or know about the powers she possesses, the luck and wish-granting abilities from her past life continue to bring her happiness and help her escape from difficult situations.The reason Eleonore was sent to Twisted Wonderland and NCR was because she was in great danger. As her powers slowly began to awaken, her life was also at risk. The only safe place for her was Twisted Wonderland, where her soul truly belonged.

[lizardperson]

this is my human costume

[on ao3]

fandom: original work rating: g cw: implied bullying, parent death/loss of parent mention, autistic alienation wc: 751 prompt: #fff265 galaxies away for @flashfictionfridayofficial

---

Eleonor was a strange creature. A weird kid. An alien, alone among humans, somehow transported to Earth from a faraway galaxy. On an expedition to study them, perhaps.

Of course, Eleonor knew they weren't really an alien. They're human like everyone else, their brain just worked a little differently. A few years ago Dad had explained what autism is, and that it was the reason they had a hard time playing with the other children and why the world got a bit too much occasionally. Dad said it's fine, no big deal, but people might make it a big deal. "Some people don't like it when someone is different. But that's their problem, not yours." So yes, El got picked on by the other kids - they didn't care too much. In a way, it was just another point for the alien expedition report. Now that they were in middle school, the mean remarks had gotten more, though. Maybe the new school would be better. Maybe it would be worse. "Maybe you'll make some friends!" El never particularly understood that concept.

"Ellie - sorry, Eleonor," Dad corrected himself immediately, "meet Quinn. Remember, I told you about her? She's Victor's daughter?" El knew how happy Dad was to move here, now being practically neighbors with his oldest friend - because he had said so repeatedly, and because of the smile all over his face. They still had trouble sometimes telling apart a fake smile and a real one with most people, but that one definitely was real. The dark-haired girl beside him on the other hand looked very much not happy, crossing her arms in front of her chest and frowning.

"I'm sure you two will be friends," he predicted, perhaps a bit too optimistic, and left Quinn standing in El's room.

As soon as he was out of the door, Quinn dropped down on the bed, arms still crossed. "Just for the record, I'm not looking for any friends, and I'm too old for fucking playdates anyway," she stated.

"Okay. Me too." El turned back to their book, glad this matter was apparently settled and they were in agreement.

After a few minutes of silence, Quinn at least uncrossed her arms and made herself a bit more comfortable on the bed. "So. Ellie."

"Eleonor. Or just El," they corrected without looking up from the book.

"Why not Ellie?"

"Because Mom used to call me that. But I never really liked it much."

"She died, didn't she?"

El closed their book and looked up. "Yeah. Last year." They didn't mind talking about it, but a lot of people got really strange when the topic came up. A few adults even got weirdly touchy and wanted to comfort them for some reason? El wasn't exactly a fan. A lot of kids their age either shrugged it off because they couldn't relate to it, or got sad because they were suddenly confronted with the fact that their parents might be mortal.

"I wish my mom was dead too."

That was a reaction El hadn't gotten before. Curious. "Why?"

"'She's dead' sounds nicer than 'she got tired of me and dumped me with my dad'," Quinn shrugged and crossed her arms again. "Not that I wanted to stay with her anyway. I hate her."

El studied the other girl and went through the mental checklist of emotions, landing on either 'angry' or 'sad'. Option one would mean to calm her down somehow before that anger turned towards El, and option two would mean comforting her. El was pretty bad at both those things, in their own opinion, and had learned from experience that picking the wrong option usually made everything worse.

"Yeah, makes sense." Maybe that would just end the conversation.

Quinn raised an eyebrow. "What, aren't you going to tell me what a horrible thing to say that is? What a terrible and ungrateful child I am? Because surely my mom loves me very much, and all that bullshit?"

El shrugged. "I don't know your mom, so I have no opinion on her."

Quinn frowned and stared at them for a few moments. "You're a weird one."

"So I've been told," El chuckled. "I'm just an alien from a faraway galaxy, visiting Earth or something."

"Well, your human disguise is pretty good. I like it." Quinn smiled a little, and El was reasonably sure that was a real smile. "You know what, I think I might be an alien too."

"Nice to meet you then, fellow extraterrestrial."

[usergreenpixel]

JACOBIN FICTION CONVENTION MEETING 33: MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION (2022)

1. The Introduction

Well, hello there, my dearest Citizens! Welcome back to Jacobin Fiction Convention! I missed you but, unfortunately, real life ™️ was a bit complicated yet again.

Either way, I’m back at it again, roasting analyzing historical fiction. Today’s “masterpiece” was graciously sent to me by @suburbanbeatnik in PDF form as a future review subject. And boy is it one hell of a ride.

Now, on paper, I was intrigued by a story of a Haitian biracial bisexual female protagonist, as there are many possibilities for that kind of story to unfold in a Frev setting.

Besides, it was written by an author who is promoting the #OwnVoices stories, which is a good intention in my opinion. Let’s see if the execution matches though.

(Spoiler alert: IT DOES NOT!)

Unfortunately, it looks like the book is only available in English at the moment and has to be purchased, mainly through Amazon. But maybe both of those things are for the best, since, upon finishing the book, I will be happy if it stays as contained and inaccessible to the wide audience as humanly possible.

Why? Well, more on that later.

This review will be longer than the ones I usually post, so please keep that in mind and grab some popcorn.

Also, it’s a very explicit book with scenes of sexual assault and gore. Goya’s “Disasters of War” and even “Innocent Rouge” levels of gore. So yeah, please be warned.

Anyway, this review is dedicated to @suburbanbeatnik , @jefflion , @lanterne , @on-holidays-by-mistake and @amypihcs . Love you, guys!

Now, let’s tear this sucker apart!!!

2. The Summary

The book follows the story of Sylvie de Rosiers, an aristocratic young woman born to a slave but raised by her plantation owner father as a free member of local nobility. Although not enslaved, Sylvie never felt truly accepted by the elites of Sainte Domingue.

However, following the outbreak of the Haitian Revolution, Sylvie and one of her half-brothers manage to escape to France, where another revolution is unfolding.

Intrigued by the ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, Sylvie must fight to find acceptance in this new context and carve out a place for herself.

Sounds interesting so far, right? Let’s see if the story lives up to expectations or not.

3. The Story

I have to admit that the first few chapters, the ones taking place on Haiti, were actually pretty good, or at least not bad. The pacing was good, the storyline building up to the uprising made sense and the introductions of the characters and the world building were fine.

Too bad that this lasted only for about four beginning chapters. The French chapters making up the bulk of the book were awful.

The characters suffer from assassination like they’re mafia snitches, the pacing turns into a speed run, the historical context isn’t explained well at all and the story rapidly stops making sense:

First Sylvie arrives and quickly meets Robespierre and the Duplay family, then becomes an ardent revolutionary, then flip flops between loving Eleonore Duplay and pining for Robespierre, then just so happens to meet Danton and Marat, then becomes a spy, then murders Marat… No, I’m not joking.

All of this is in the book with very little justification that makes sense. The worst part? The book isn’t stated as alternative history, so the author is very dishonest and presents everything in the book as actual history that is accurate to reality when it’s definitely not.

Oh, and flashbacks. The fucking flashbacks breaking immersion like a cat breaking a vase don’t help at all.

There’s also a ton of Thermidorian propaganda as well, so yeah… Fail.

4. The Original Characters

Let’s tackle the OCs first because the historical peeps deserve a separate category here.

First and foremost, I don’t like Sylvie as a character. She starts out as a vain spoiled brat growing up surrounded by privilege and luxury and openly looking down on slaves, especially on women.

Then she witnesses the execution of a rebel and very suddenly goes: “Fuck, slavery is awful!”, renounces her old ways, disowns her father and does a 180. It’s not written well though and is more like a teenage tantrum than character development.

Sylvie keeps flip flopping like this throughout the entire story too. Yay…

Oh, and she’s a Mary Sue. Everyone adores her except the villains, she’s able to charm her way through anything and obviously plays an important role in almost all of Frev! Robespierre even calls her The Mother of the Revolution at several points, even though she did nothing to earn that title.

She also pines for Robespierre for no reason at all, except for “he’s cool and charming I guess”, but in order to get closer to him, Sylvie Sue ™️ starts an intimate relationship with Eleonore Duplay.

So yeah, our protagonist manipulates another person (which is abuse) and plays Eleonore like a fiddle, but she also flip flops between only using Eleonore and actually loving her. Is Sylvie ever called out for that? Technically yes, but it gets resolved too quickly so it doesn’t count.

Also, Sylvie is INCREDIBLY selfish. She’s fine with manipulating Eleonore, fine with Charlotte Corday being executed for killing Marat (in the book Sylvie did it) and taking the blame… Again, everything revolves around Sylvie and she never gets called out on that either and never gets better.

She lacks consistent personality aside from those traits, however. She claims to want safety yet always takes the risky option and refuses to emigrate when it would help her obtain actual safety, for instance.

Gaspard, one of her half-brothers, is a much better character in my opinion, but still underdeveloped. But at least his journey from privileged fop to a revolutionary is less clunky. Too bad he dies with the Montagnards in the end.

Sylvie also has another half-brother, Edmond, who is cartoonishly evil and tries to murder Sylvie at one point.

Sylvie also has a standard issue evil stepmother who is eager to marry her off and thus get rid of her but at least has enough decency to not be actively malicious.

Her dad is loving, but painfully ignorant.

Sylvie’s aunt Euphemie de Rohmer is a good character, always looking out for Gaspard and Sylvie. She does emigrate to London during the reign of terror though.

Okay, now let’s discuss the historical figures.

5. The Historical Characters

I know that I usually don’t discuss accuracy, but an exception must be made here.

Maximilien Robespierre seems to undergo a typical “character arc” of “actual revolutionary turned ruthless dictator”. He is also one again coded as asexual and thus shown as not giving two shits about his lover, Eleonore Duplay. He tries to marry Sylvie for political reasons only later in the book and it’s all but stated that he condones all the violence going on and is called a hypocrite multiple times. Oh, and he also kisses Sylvie without her consent… Err… DID SIVAK CONFUSE HIM FOR DANTON?!!! Okay, one sec…

(Shows up with a bloody face) Okay, let’s continue…

Eleonore Duplay is a promising artist who is fiercely loyal to Robespierre but cheats on him with Sylvie and later turns out to be a member of a women’s secret society that is trying to curb the terror. She’s on board with murdering Marat and is also friends with Olympe de Gouges and Charlotte Corday. Wtf?!

(Checks that the antidepressants didn’t cause a hallucination)

Elisabeth Duplay falls in love with Gaspard and her marriage to Le Bas is portrayed as arranged by Robespierre to “reward” Le Bas for being a loyal Jacobin, but at least she is relatively happy in said marriage. Uhm, okay…

Olympe de Gouges and Charlotte Corday are portrayed as basically saints and also part of the secret society.

Corday in particular is willing to sacrifice herself for the sake of France and Sylvie is fine with that because, apparently, Corday has nothing to live for anyway but Sylvie does.

It’s not like in reality Corday actually had a family and Girondist friends or anything so yeah, TOTALLY OKAY to throw her under the bus amirite?!

Danton, luckily, is portrayed fairly accurately as a crass womanizing brute so at least that’s correct.

Marat is a stereotypical bloodthirsty monster who is supposed to be very smart yet acts like an idiot in the presence of our dear Sylvie Sue.

Charlotte Robespierre makes exactly one cameo and acts like a total ass to both Duplay sisters and to Sylvie (who she just met). Don’t get me wrong, Charlotte was at odds with the Duplay family but not all of them and certainly she wasn’t a bitch to every single fucking stranger.

Augustin Robespierre is merry, a gentleman, loyal to his ideas but also a part of that secret society and also supports the idea of offing Marat. Nice…

Surprisingly, Henriette Robespierre makes a cameo alongside Charlotte and also acts like an ass but at least less so than Charlotte. Except she shouldn’t even be in the book because the cameo happens in 1792, yet Henriette died in 1780. So it’s either a ghost or the author doesn’t care. I’m kind of inclined to believe the latter.

Where are Camille Desmoulins and Saint-Just, you may act? ABSENT, believe it or not! No, I’m not kidding! They’re nowhere to be seen for some reason!!! I have no idea why. They’re not even fucking mentioned!!!

Anyway, let’s move on before I lose my sanity.

6. The Setting

Again, the first chapters are much better than the rest. In the majority of the book the descriptions are not that great and the world building is laughably inaccurate, to the point that, if I were told that it’s a joke fanfic, I’d have believed it instantly!!!

7. The Writing

Thankfully, there’s no “First Person Present Tense” bullshit, but the writing is still full of problems. The aforementioned flashbacks are just one problem, but there are others.

For example, extremely clunky use of French. I’m the beginning of every chapter we get a date and the months are in French. This would’ve been fine but gets ridiculous in cases like “early avril 1793”. What’s wrong with writing “early APRIL”?!

Oh, and in another instance, the houses of families are called “Chez + Family name”, like Chez Rohmer and Chez Marat. It gets weird when the text has phrases like “went at Chez Marat”. Chez already means “at” in this context, so it’s extremely redundant and a damn eyesore. Wouldn’t it be better to say “Went to Marat’s apartment”? Apparently, not for Zoe Sivak!

Also, the author describes all the brutal and gory scenes of executions and torture at an alarming length and with a concerning amount of details, to the point that I got very uncomfortable despite not being squeamish most of the time.

8. The Conclusion

Phew, it’s finally over. As you may have guessed, I don’t recommend wasting your time and money on this pile of trash.

A 13-year old here on tumblr can write a better novel than whatever the fuck this author published.

It’s poorly researched with inaccuracies that even a quick Wikipedia search could fix, the protagonist is an awful Mary Sue, the historical characters get constantly fucked over… so yeah, please skip this shit.

Anyway, on that note, let’s conclude today’s meeting. I think I might need time to recover from reading this book…

Stay tuned for updates!

Love,

Citizen Green Pixel.

[drowninginabactatank]

Via S T Gibson's instagram:

"You didn’t really think I was going to pull ODD SPIRITS from circulation forever, did you? 😘

ODD SPIRITS is a prequel novella that takes place six months before the events of EVOCATION, exploring how Rhys and Moira met and what exactly David did to end up Rhys’ bad books. If you like haunted houses, marriage in trouble romances, and the opposites-attract trope, you aren’t going to want to miss this one! The wildly talented Eleonor Pietera, illustrator of the EVOCATION cover, is back to provide stunning interior illustrations. It will rerelease from @/angryrobotbooks this October (she’s a Libra 💅)

You DO NOT need to read ODD SPIRITS to enjoy EVOCATION, however they do make for an excellent pairing.

ODD SPIRITS was the first book I ever self-published, and I’m excited to revisit it. This beautiful new edition will be fully edited for consistency and continuity as it becomes part of the larger Summoner’s Circle series, and it will also be professionally proofread and sensitivity read.

I’ve learned so much about pacing, POV, and sentence structure since originally publishing this book six years ago, and I’m eager to bring the story into alignment with the rest of my body of work. I’m particularly grateful I’m able to remove plotlines in which Moira was biphobic towards Rhys, and in which Rhys’ bisexuality was treated like a twist reveal. At time of writing, I thought I was Bravely Tackling Real World Issues, but I ended up just reinforcing stereotypes for the sake of shock value. Most authors never get the opportunity to revamp old work, so I’m thrilled that I’m so lucky.

This re-release wouldn’t exist without your sparkling enthusiasm for my work, so thank you so much for reading my books and boosting them on social media and telling your friends about them!

Follow the link at my bio to pre-order (don’t forget today is the last day to get 25% off on B&N!) to to request an arc!"

[tubbee372]

Chapter 2: A Fresh New Face.

WARNING, THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING: MENTIONS OF STARVING / BEING EXTREMELY HUNGRY, MISGENDERING, SLIGHT VERBAL ABUSE (?) STAY SAFE.

Ender continued to sit in their father’s office, anxiously staring at the clock…

4:30… 

After a few seconds…

4:30…

1…

Why does time go slower when you watch it…? 

It’s dreadful…

Ender had been in and out of this office all day, their Father having clients meant they got booted outside of the office for an hour, maybe an hour and a half, depending on however long the session goes on for.

Maybe Ender shouldn’t be complaining, maybe their Father isn’t as bad as they make it out to be.

After all, they have a roof over their head, people to talk to, even if they don’t care… They have a nice room… Supervised, but nice… They have a phone… They…- well, maybe the food part is pushing it… 

Food is sometimes scarce, for them at least. 

Their parents eat every day. 

But them? 

They weren’t ever allowed to get lunch at school, even if they had the money. 

Hell if they did have it they would get it stolen by Ariana. 

Maybe even some of her friends would get to it first.

Ender sighed and looked down, messing with their suit.

“Posture, Ender. I’m not going to allow anyone to see my son slouching.”

Ender immediately sat up straight and smiled nervously.

“Sorry, sir.”

“And don’t get that damn suit dirty, understood?”

Ender nodded and shook slightly.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door.

David sat up properly and smiled.

“Come in!”

Another demeanor shift.

The woman who entered the room was none other than Ender’s mother.

Eleonore Tomitski.

Just your average housewife.

Eleonore was stunning for her age.

Mid 40’s and still amazing looking as when she was young.

Must be lucky. 

Eleonore was a dark-skinned woman with green eyes and beautiful medium-length black hair, she was currently wearing a sparkly red dress with bright red heels, smiling cheerfully at her husband.

She walked over to David’s desk, setting a small Tupperware box on the table before giving him a soft peck on the cheek.

“You forgot your lunch again, dear!”

Eleonore smiled.

David chuckled lowly, placing his hand on Eleonore’s cheek before kissing her softly.

Ender looked away and rolled their eyes.

“Thank you, Love. I was in quite the hurry this morning.”

“Of course~! What was the school calling about, dear?”

“Ender here, had gotten into a fight with a girl.”

Eleonore scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Seriously, Ender? You got pulled out of school because of a girl?”

Ender winced and looked to the side.

Eleonore rolled her eyes.

“Sometimes I wonder why I carried you for nine months…”

She shook her head in disapproval before looking back at David.

“I might be home a little late, dear. I’m having a girls night.”

David nodded and smiled.

“Well, thank you for telling me. I’ll make sure to make myself dinner and put leftovers in the fridge for you.”

Eleonore smiled and nodded.

“Alright, bye honey!”

David waved goodbye after his beautiful wife had left the room.

He grabbed the Tupperware, opening it and beginning to eat.

Ender looked at the food, they were starving… They wanted something to eat but didn’t want to ask directly…

Last time they did, they didn’t eat for another two days.

David glanced at Ender and rolled his eyes.

“If you’re hungry, go ask one of the staff for food. You aren’t getting this.”

Ender blinked and nodded, walking off to go find a staff member.

As Ender walked around they looked over at a nice looking woman…

Ender went over to her, tugging on her sleeve softly.

“Huh? Oh! Hello sweetheart! Aren’t you Tomitski’s son?”

Ender looked down and nodded.

They just had to deal with being accidentally misgendered.

Again…

It’s not like she or- well…

Anyone knew they were non-binary.

They were too afraid to say anything.

“If you’re nervous I understand. Do you need anything sweet pea?”

Ender paused and messed with their fingers.

“Do you-”

Ender cleared their throat.

“Do you have any food…? I’m so sorry to bother you but..-”

“Oh! Yes, sweetie! Come to my office, I have some snacks you can have!” 

The vitiligo smiled, walking off to her office.

Ender followed hesitantly behind the woman.

“Come, Come! Sit! I’ve been absolutely dying to meet you! David has told me a lot of nice things about you!”

The woman smiled and sat in her office chair, looking for something in the drawer of her desk.

Ender sat in the chair in front of her. 

“Oh, really…? That’s uh… great…”

Ender looked down and fidgeted with their fingers.

The woman grabbed a box of Goldfish Colors from the drawer and smiled.

“Are you okay with this? I could put some in a bowl for you!”

Ender gave the woman a small nod.

The woman nodded, getting a plastic bowl from her drawer and pouring some of the Goldfish into the bowl, then handing it to Ender.

“Here you are! I always keep little snacks in my office in case my clients get hungry.”

The woman smiled.

“That’s extremely sweet of you, miss..- uhm..-”

“Ivy! Ivy Gonzales. You can call me Ive, Vee, Vivi- Whatever you prefer!”

“A-Alright… V-Vee…-  H..ow has your day been…?”

Ender spoke, messing with their hoodie strings.

“My day has been going well, thank you Ender.”

Ivy smiled warmly at the timid child in front of her.

“That’s wonderful…”

Ender looked back at their food and continued to eat.

“Don’t choke, Ender! I have more if you need it!”

Ivy smiled and set the box on her desk.

“Sorry..- I’m just hungry…”

“It’s okay, sweet pea. I understand!”

Ender looked down and fidgeted with their fingers. 

“So! Tell me some things about yourself, sweetheart! I’m all ears.”

“W-Well..- uhm..- I-I guess…- I like doodling, sometimes…-”

Ivy blinked and nodded.

“That’s great! Drawing or doodling is a nice hobby to have.”

“Y-Yeah… I guess so… uhm–”

Ender thought for a second.

“I–I like, animals… L-Like ducks… I think they’re neat…!”

Ender nodded and smiled, taking their duck hair clip out of their hair and smiling

“You can, probably tell that I like ducks…-”

Ivy smiled and nodded.

“Ducks are very cute… I like ducks as well!”

Ivy grinned.

“You do!?”

Ender gasped, looking at Ivy with glee.

“Of course! Ducks are very interesting creatures… Did you know that Ducklings are loving siblings and communicate with each other before hatching?”

Ivy smiled, clasping her hands together and looking at Ender with a hint of curiosity.

Ender seemed intrigued by this fact, shaking their head and smiling.

“I did not know that, but did YOU know that Female ducks pick their favorite male ducks to mate with based on dancing ability?”

Ivy chuckled and clapped her hands, giggling with pride and happiness.

“I didn’t know that, thank you for enlightening me! That’s very interesting, Ender!”

“Thank you… My school has a library that has all sorts of interesting books on different topics… I like to go there during school and read sometimes…” Ivy nodded and grinned.

“Reading is always nice to pick up on.”

Ivy smiled and rummaged through a drawer in her desk.

“Picking up a book and reading through the words can really take you somewhere, depending on the genre of the book or the current mood of the situation… A scene with a killer chasing his or her victim down a dark, cold alleyway or forest can take you to a place of intensity, anxiousness and fear that the victim will make it out alive, etcetera… Now a romantic scene with a character finally confessing to their love interest can do the same thing, but in a different form… but when their love interest accepts their feelings and they finally become a couple after so long, it’s clear the reader can express feelings of relief, bliss, euphoria, the list goes on…”

Ivy smiled, looking back at Ender.

“I’ve heard from some of my patients, and friends that reading helps them cope with negative thoughts and feelings. And that’s always a healthy coping mechanism…”

Ender’s look shifted to one of guilt as they glanced at their arm.

“But, anyway. Since you like ducks, Ender.”

Ivy pulled out a small sheet of duck stickers, all of them having varieties of small, medium, and semi large cartoon ducks, all of them doing different things.

Ender blinked and took the sheet of stickers with surprise. 

“I thought you’d like this sheet of stickers I have lying around in my drawer…” 

Ender took the sheet of stickers and smiled.

“Thank you, Ivy…”

“Of course Ender!”

“I’m here for you.”

[thisloveforyourmom]

SMITH COLLEGE GIRLS FOR ID MAGAZINE 2004 2003

OKAY SO.

the reason this took so long is because i'm compiling all info from previous posts into a masterpost, but tldr back in february i, being a smith alumn, set out on a quest to confirm the veracity of Smith College Girls for ID Magazine 2004. here's how it went:

- Image ID: anonymous user asks sun-bees 'hey, if it’s okay to ask, where did you find that pic of the Smith College girls?’ sun-bees responds 'it was posted a while ago on the instagram account junyawannabe, so I looked up the image and found a bigger version of it!'

this image is not on junyawannabe’s instagram. reverse image searching this image does not provide a bigger version of it, only the version spread initially by tumblr user sun-bees. searching 'smith college girls for ID magazine 2004’ does not provide any other versions of it, only the version spread initially by tumblr user sun-bees. neither junyawannabe nor sun-bees reply to queries about the topic. in fact it’s unclear if junyawannabe even is involved. I-D magazine’s media has no record of this photoshoot ever being done.

literally DAYS into my initial investigation, on february, richard kern posts the full (ETA: NOT FULL!) photoshoot on his instagram, confirming both the image’s veracity and source. junyawannabe comments “I have gotten multiple emails about this photo lmao” (no other information) (she did not reply to our email). comments are limited (randos can’t comment). there's still 0 information as to how sun-bees got this image considering the listed avenues Do Not Work. this allows us to get some info on the casting director eléonore hendricks, but her website lists nothing about this photoshoot or anything in that general date range. at this point i've also trawled editions of ID magazine from 2004 to try and find any that reference richard kern, smith college, eleonore, etc and come up utterly completely empty. i would have to buy all 12 copies from ebay to try and find it, and these are just too expensive for all that.

important: richard kern ALSO refers to it as 'smith college girls for id magazine 2004.' an insta comment also implies the existence of sarah lawrence girls for id magazine 2006, but that's neither here nor there

trail goes cold for a while. ive exhausted all my leads and am too broke for much more.

BUT THEN, IN AUGUST: i-d magazine ITSELF picks up the trend!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by i-D (@i_d)

This provides one EXTREMELY important piece of information that everyone up until now had excluded: the issue number! smith college girls for ID magazine was a photoshoot for their August 2003 issue, The Straight Up Issue. which means the reason the trail went so cold is because we were looking in the wrong spot!

Smith College Girls for ID Magazine 2004 is actually Smith College Girls for ID Magazine 2003!

and there was a copy on ebay for 30 GPB. So i bought it. while i was waiting, eleonore hendricks also posted it, tagging a few people involved in the shoot, but ultimately it's not much new info.

photoshoot here.

disclaimer: there's eight portraits in the photoshoot. only 7 have been revealed and i won't be posting number 8. i'm not trying to gatekeep, it's just a frontal photo of the casting director wearing only panties and yes it's artistic and pretty but i figure if that was the kind of thing she'd wanted to publicize heavily she or richard kern would have posted it themselves. you don't always agree with the choices you made at 21 and you don't always make them assuming in 20 years the photo will go a type of viral that doesn't exist yet.

also it goes against tumblr TOS. buy the magazine if you wanna see it that bad, i'll show you everything surrounding the photo itself. im not posting the titties.

[bruisingknees]

Knokke Off ep 1 ENG transcript

Episode 1: Welcome to Knokke, bitch!

Eleonore: Alex? Alex! Alex? Alex? Hey, Alex! Hey, dear. I’m here. Alex, come on! Did you take something?!

Alex: I didn’t take anything, no.

E: Then why did I have to come here straight away?

A: They know.

E: What do they know?

?: Alex?! Alex?!

KNOKKE OFF

[A couple of weeks earlier]

A: Stay.

Earphones: Take some time for a meditative run. In a place where you can run in peace, and where you can run back and forth at least a couple of meters. On a meditative run you will focus on the act of running itself, not on where you’re running to. It’s about being present for every step, for every breath. You’ll focus on every step of your foot, your left, and back to your right. You will notice your breathing. If there are other objects or impressions that come into your field of consciousness […]

Melissa [Dutch accent]: Oh, sure, grandpa. What are you doing?! Are you just going to…

Earphones: […] you don’t have to pay them any special mind.

M: I’m not going to wait for you, grandpa! You should’ve thought about this before!

Daan [Dutch accent]: What was that?

M: A way too expensive car.

Earphones: You can just continue running. And to end this exercise, come to a stop.

Louise’s sister: Dad, left or right?

[Louise’s mom speaking French]

Louise’s dad: But you already have a dress?

Sister: I want another one. And?

Louise: 18,5 in one hour and twenty minutes.

Sister: Great job.

Mom [in French]: You don’t understand! My daughter… [in Dutch:] Can you grab a quick shower, baby? [In French] My daughter, the bride, will be the only one dressed in white. Right, and the guests will all be dressed in different colors. Okay, there we go, that’s right. Okay. So…

Dad: Bye.

L: See you tonight.

Mom [in French]: No, no.

Mom: Your pills.

L: Yeah.

Mom: Don’t forget them, okay?

L: I won’t.

Camping lady [Dutch accent]: Thank you, m’am. That’ll be 720 € please.

M: One hundred, two hundred, three hundred, four, five, six… Daan, do you have 120 € for your mom?

D: No.

M: I just have to grab some from the car.

Camping lady: Okay. Come here a sec, boy. I’m only telling you this once. At the first sign of any problems, I’m throwing you out.

D: M’am, I don’t want to be on this fucking campground at all. So don’t worry about it.

M: And 120.

Camping lady: Okay, thank you. Well, Mrs. Van Lieshout, then I’ll just wish you a pleasant stay here at Cadzand-Bad.*

M: I’m sure we’ll enjoy it. Thank you.

D: Mrs. Van Lieshout?

M: Yeah. What a weird bitch, right?

 E: Of course we’ll be coming over later.

Christine [Dutch accent]: Great. Margaux is just labeling the Fontana. Patrick is still interested, right?

E: Yes. 99 % sure. He just wants to see it in real life.

C: Of course. See you later. Bye, bye, babe.

E: Good morning.

A: Good morning.

E: Olivia? Hello?!

Olivia: Weren’t you going to the hairdresser?

E: What was that?

O: Weren’t you going to the hairdresser?

E: Oh, yeah, but all of a sudden I didn’t feel like it anymore. I went to the bakery.

O: Did you bring cupcakes?

E: Yes. And mini pastries. Where’s daddy?

O: I don’t know.

E: Where’s dad? And nanny Isabelle?

A: Yeah, I obviously don’t know.

E: Patrick?! Pa- Yeah, come on. I know she’s in here!

Patrick: What?

E: Isabelle? Come here a sec, come. I know you’re in here. Isabelle? Isabelle? Isabelle?!

A: Mom, she’s here.

Isabelle: M’am?

E: I’ve had it up to here with you, Isabelle. I would really like for you to pack your stuff.

I: I’m sorry, but what did I…?

E: Didn’t you hear me, or what?

A: Please.

E: Alex. I never want to see you again.

I: But, m’am… Sir, please.

P: You heard my wife.

 M: So, what do you think?

D: It’s…

M: Super nice, right?

D: Yeah.

M: Look, a little grill. Look. The bathroom’s pretty big! It’s kind of a nice shower! Oh, this room is even bigger! This is super relaxed! Look at this, a mirror, a little desk. You can sit here with your photography thing and stuff. Hey, Daan. Are you out of money?

D: No, no. It’s just that someone still owes me 300 €.

 A: Mom. Listen…

E: I don’t want to hear it. I really don’t.

 D: Okay, mom, I’m leaving.

M: Good luck! Do you have everything? Your phone?

D: Yeah.

M: Yeah?

D: Yeah. Bye, mom.

M: Bye.

 D: Hey, can I ask you a question?

Waitress: Wait a minute.

A: I’m telling you, Matti, could be better!

Matti: I get it, but I’m just telling you there’s a lot involved with this. It’s not just opening some bar. You need a whole concept. You have to think about it!

A: You don’t necessarily need to come up with something new? You could just take the Casino Club and copy that. Just make it better, fancier, more expensive…

M: Fancier and more expensive than the Casino Club?!

A: And just make it fucking hot, man, you know? Designer sex, right?  

M: Designer sex…

A: What about the title: Crazy Lulu?

?: Crazy Loulou? Sorry, ‘Lex, no.

Margeaux: Loulou? Isn’t that that cheap perfume?

A: Not like the fucking perfume, you write it with two u’s, but you pronounce it…

?: Lulu?

A: Not lulu. You write it with the u’s but you pronounce it like oo. Lulu.

?: Exactly, Lulu.

M: Lulu.

?: Lulu.

M: Aren’t those cookies?

A: Matti, for real, if you don’t have anything to contribute to the conversation, just keep it shut.

M: No, but seriously. Those bears and letters. In this big bag? We have those at home.

L: Lulu? Isn’t that a play?

A: Ah. There we go. A play. About a lesbian high-end whore during the Jack the Ripper era.

L: That’s a little simplified.

A: Matti has to be able to follow as well, you know, baby?

M: And who are you, our great play lover?

Waitress: Follow me.

A: Don’t stare like that.

L: What?

A: Hey.

L: What?

 Waitress: Jacques? The student.

D: Hey, good morning.

Jacques: About time, don’t you think? Are you scared they’re going to steal it?

D: No, I just forgot my bike lock.

J: Follow me. Hospitality experience: none. Seventeen?

D: Sorry.

J: Name.

D: Daan.

J: Last name.

D: Paroty.

J: What?

D: Paroty.

J: Buroni. Buroni… Surinamese?**

D: Half. Racist?

J: Half. Here, you can fill out the rest at home, and then you can start earning some money. I’ll go grab your uniform.

D: Uniform?

 M: I just don’t think anyone’s waiting for a titty bar here in Knokke.

A: Please! It’s not a titty bar, dude!

M: But that’s what it comes down to!

A: No! You don’t know jack shit about doing business, do you?

M: More than you’d think.

A: Aren’t they teaching you this at that Business school? Aside from playing some American football and rugby.

M: Oh! Hockey, not rugby!

A: Sorry.

?: Nice, nice. Yummy.

J: Okay, on top of your head. And now you yell.

D: Boules de Berlin.

J: Louder, Daan. People won’t hear at that volume.

D: Boules de Berlin!

A: Do you still think he’s interesting now?

D: Boules de Berlin!

J: Louder!

L: He’s working for his money.

D: Fresh balls. Boules de Berlin.

J: Fresh balls!

D: Boules de Berlin!

J: Boules de Berlin!

M: Where did they find this clown? He’s new.

?: I wouldn’t mind a taste of his balls.

?: I get it.

J: And we’re off. There you go.

?: Good afternoon.

D: Hey.

Mar: Oh… that’s not for me… These Boules.

?: I’ve never tried them.

Mar: My clothes will be drenched in cream.

D: How many do you want?

A: What’s your name?

D: Daan.

A: You don’t really look like a Daan.

D: I get that a lot.

A: Your box is in a dangerous spot, buddy.

D: No, it’s okay, man. There you go.

Mar: Come on, that’s sad.

A: Sorry.

?: Come on.

A: I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.

D: It’s okay. It’s okay. Here you go.

A: Do you want one as well…? Oh, I just wanted to ask… I mean. Sorry, I thought… Sorry. I told him, that wasn’t a good spot for the box. [Imitating a Dutch accent:] “No, man, it’s totally fine!”

?: And that on his fist day. What’s Jacques going to say about that?

?: Hey! Hey, what the fuck?!

?: Are you crazy?!

D: No, it’s fine.

?: We got that [on film].

?: What the fuck, dude?

?: Alex, are you okay?

?: Are you okay?

A: I’m okay, I’m okay.

M: Did you lose it [his tooth]?

?: Did you get that [on film]?

J: Hey, what’s going on here?

A: Daan dropped his box of balls, man.

J: On your face?! Come, you, follow me. Come on.

?: Are we going to continue working?

J: Everything is okay, people. Accidents happen.

A: Is he still there?

L: I’m going to the bathroom.

 Boy: Mommy! Mommy!

Man: Move back.

 D: Hey, Jacques. You’re not going to fire the kid, right?

J: Too late, Alex. Already did.

D: You’re not a racist, right, Jacques?

J: What do you think?

D: It doesn’t matter what I think. It matters what people are going to think, buddy.

J: That’s up to the people.

 D: Fucking Knokke, fuck.

Anouk: Good vacation?

D: Knokke. Arrogant, rich assholes.

A: You’ll see more of those here. Anouk.

D: Daan.

A: Daan. And what else? So I can give you a follow. Us tokkies*** have to band together.

D: Paroty. Is that a thing? Brown tokkies?

A: Yeah. They’re the worst, right?

D: True.

A: Are you okay?

D: Sorry, I was just looking at your… shirt. Casino Club. What’s that?

A: It’s a night club in Knokke. Full of rich, arrogant assholes.

D: Fun.

A: It pays well.

D: I can tell. Nice iPhone.

A: Want to buy it from me?

D: If I wanted an iPhone I’d steal one myself.

A: Daan. Do you develop your photos yourself?

D: No, no. I bring them to the store.

A: I’d love to see them. Especially the ones of me. From this afternoon, in the sun. I have to get going, Daan. You can keep that.

M: Hey.

D: Hey.

M: Oh! Wait. Before I forget… [Spanish] Un, dos, tres.

D: How did you get this?!

M: Stole an electric bike.

D: Sure.

M: I borrowed it from an old friend.

D: Since when do you have friends?

M: I was young once. I have friends too.

D: Really?

M: Daan, how was work? Daan?

D: Like this.

M: Will you be sleeping there?

D: Yeah.

M: On that one?

D: Okay?

M: Yes, okay. Yes. Uhm, how was work?

D: Yes, uhm, good. Nice boss.

M: Okay. Bye.

D: Good luck.

?: Oh, look here!

?: Hey. How are you?

Grandma: Hi baby.

E: Hi, mom.

 M: I’ve told you once and I’ll keep telling you. I just think Crazy Lulu is a ridiculous name. It’s just a ridiculous name.

A: Are you drinking two glasses?

M: I’m thirsty, aren’t I?

A: Just make sure you’re not throwing up on my shoes later, buddy. I still remember last time. I haven’t forgotten! There’s still chunks on my shoes!

Mar: I was wearing sandals and it also got –

Louise’s mom: Hey, I heard your nanny quit?

E: Yeah, can you believe that?!

Mom: Yeah, Olivia told me.

E: From one day to the next she just left, without saying a word. Really.

Mom: Yeah?

E: Anyway, I shouldn’t say anything cause she’s going to study to be a nurse, so.

Mom: But come on, so selfish!

L: Your dad’s here.

P: Hey, Daniel. I’ll be with you in a moment.

E: There he is.

P: Don’t forget.

Mom: Hey, hello, Patrick.

C: Patrick, so nice of you to come!

P: Hey. Show me!

C: Yes.

?: Will it take long before…

A: Hey. Your mom is selling my dad that Fontana?

Mar: Uhu.

M: Fontana?

L: Together with Max Baumann he was one of the most important minimalists.

A: The white canvas with the rips.

M: That’s it? Those three rips?

Mar: That’s why it’s a minimalist.

M: It’s definitely the smalles piece here.

P: It’s beautiful. Really.

E: Yeah, it’s is.

M: And how much are they asking for it?

Mar: Mom is asking 1.7 million.

M: 1.7 million? For three rips?

L: I’d spend it better.

M: You’d open a titty bar, wouldn’t you, Alex? Crazy Lulu. Or have you found a better name yet?

P: Can we get down to the business side of things? Before we’re too drunk.

C: Follow me.

Mar: I think they’ve sealed the deal.

M: 1.7 million. I’d know what to do with that kind of money. Right, Victor? I’d buy a nice yacht in Saint-Tropez.

A: I’m gonna take a leak.

[Anouk: now you can look your fill]

C: Well, the Fontana is officially yours!

C: The guests are waiting.

P: Let the guests wait.

C: Oh, yes!

E: Where is he? It’s her last number. I’m going to have a look.

 E: It’s Olivia’s last song. Where’s dad? Hm? What?

A: Mom.

E: What?

C: Well, congratulations!

E: It’s Olivia’s last song! She’s almost done.

P: This had to be signed, right?

E: Great.

Louise’s mom: Did it go through?

E: Yeah, it’s done.

P: Beautiful, little olive. Amazing, honey. Come on, take a bow.

E: Bravo!

C: So talented.

E: She’s amazing.

C: I’d enter her in the Queen Elisabeth competition.****

E: She’s better than her teacher. I mean, he tells us that himself. Chopin, Debussy… Much better.

C: I’m going to…

Louise’ mom: Great atmosphere, Christine! Truly! I won’t be stay for too long. Honey, tomorrow?

E: Yes, 10 at Natan’s.

Louise’ mom: For Emilie’s wedding.

P: You think I could pop by soon?

Louise’ dad: For a shot?

P: It’s been almost three months now.

Louise’ dad: Okay. Oh, you’re kidding. It’s like they can smell it. Emergency at the hospital.

P: The same old, same old?

Louise’ dad: Yeah. Okay.

P: You go ahead.

Louise’ dad: Honey, there’s an emergency case. What?

Louise’ mom: At the hospital?

Louise’ dad: Yeah. Honey, emergency.

Louise’ mom: Congratulations!

P: Thank you.

A: Did your dad leave?

L: Dad always has an emergency case if he’s not having fun somewhere. Anyway…

A: I’ve had it as well with this place, actually.

L: We did what we had to do.

D: Come on, dude, I’ve listened to enough piano.

Mar: Thank you.

D: Hey, good evening.

Security: Good evening. Do you have an invite?

D: Yes. Anouk invited me.

Security: Anouk? Doesn’t ring a bell.

D: No? Short lady, black hair, lots of tattoos?

A: Thomas!

Security: Good evening.

All: Good evening.

D: Maybe she’s inside. She’ll recognize me when she sees me.

Security: No, dude.

D: Hey. He’s with us.

Security: Have fun.

D: Thank you.

A: Welcome to Knokke, bitch.

A: Six glasses, Anouk.

?: Champagne!

L: There’s your flame.

A: I think she’s so fucking hot.

An: Hey, Daan.

D: Hey.

An: Are these those rich assholes? Okay.

A: What the fuck?! Don’t be so shy!

A: You’re thinking about him, aren’t you?

L: Who?

A: I saw you looking.

L: Who?

A: You know who.

L: You’re crazy.

A: You make me crazy.

D: Hey, mom. I’ll be out all night. I’ll be home tomorrow morning.

L: Daan!

A: Daan, come dude!

L: Alex, no.

?: Come on, join us.

Notes:

Daan and his mom Melissa are Dutch, as is Margaux’s mom Christine. (Margeaux herself didn’t have a particularly Dutch sounding accent to me.) 

* Cadzand-Bad is in The Netherlands, about 10km from Knokke (Belgium)

**  There’s a colonial history between The Netherlands and Suriname https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suriname

*** Tokkie: The epithet tokkie is used in the Netherlands as a pejorative noun for lower-class people who often are seen as likely to engage in anti-social behaviour, similar to the English chav, the Scottish ned, the South African zef and the Australian bogan.

**** The Queen Elisabeth Competition is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in Brussels. The competition is named after Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1965). It is a competition for classical violinists (from 1937 to present), pianists (1938 to present), singers (1988 to present) and cellists (2017 to present).

[missflurry]

Leading up to the final season of Never Have I Ever I will share my thoughts before I’ve seen season 4 <3

First of all, I am definitely team Devi, but in my fangirl heart I’m also really Team Benvi 😭♥️ With the “you were my dream” scene to Paxton it for me just wraps up what Paxton was to Devi: a dream image, that helped her, but is not real relationship material.

Ben and Devi’s banter is so freaking amazing. The actors have such amazing chemistry. If Devi is going to end up with someone, it’s Ben. He had supported her through everything. I do want for Devi to have a moment to maybe say sorry again for what happened, to have a real heartfelt moment to show him that she respects him, but was just scared for love and intimacy.

It would be nice for Ben to have a moment of true appreciation. I love his character and I want to see a lot of him! Also him standing up for himself, owning himself, and just some happy moments, because the Ben episodes have been my favourite but also pretty sad.

I am a bit scared though that we might not see a lot of Ben(vi), because of what we saw in the trailer. I wish I hadn’t seen the trailer. It doesn’t make me really happy, more anxious why they have to invite ANOTHER boy into it. Just give me some Benvi cuteness, PLEASE. I’m also afraid that the ‘boink scene’ payoff isn’t gonna be that grand, even tho it all left us breathless at the end of last season. I don’t mean we are gonna see a sex scene, nope nope nope, I mean that I hoped for some in depth emotional talk about it. Welp, seems like that’s gonna be drawn out ;)

I am happy well see Paxton too and I hope he’ll get a lovely storyline, exploring even more of his growth, but I also hope he won’t be a love interest for Devi anymore. I would love to see a real friendship between them!

I have the feeling that it’s gonna end in a ‘team Devi’ way, her not being in a relationship and focusing on her personal goals. I do however hope the ending will be leaning towards Ben. They have such a beautiful bound so I hope they will kind of leave it open, with a wink to their attraction to another. Or even an ‘where will they end up’ scene.

I want the PSYCHOLOGIST to be there almost every episode because I LOVE that this is a series where the psychologist is actually pretty capable. Gosh there are a lot of bad stereotypical psychologists in series. I hope for a lot more beautiful quotes from her. I feel like the teens watching need to hear ‘em.

I also love Nalini and Kamala and their growth so love to see that. I’m sorry but I’m not such a fan of Eleonore and Fabiola. I did like their storylines more last season though! So I hope they keep that up. Can we have a realistic and interesting lesbian/bi story please? Maybe with Aneesa? A good bi story? Please?

Trent is a cutie and a good actor for his age. Not my most fav character but I always like his scenes so I’m excited to see him!

I love the cast so much. I’m already watching interviews and Jaren, Maitreyi and Darren are so amazing!! I’m gonna miss them! I hope to see them in other stuff!

[zeldriszezinho]

Name: Eleonor

Alias: Necromancer

Witch of the Dead

Cruelty Incarnated

Race: Demon

Gender: Female

Age: 137

Status: Alive

Birthday: March 29

Height: 159 cm

Weight: 60 kg

Hair Color: White (Upper part) and Green (Lower part)

Eye Color: Blue

Blood Type: B

Relationships: Unnamed Father

Unnamed Mother

Meliodas (Guinea pig, lover)

Affiliation: Demon Clan

Occupation: Necromancer

Abilities: Telekinesis

Necromancy

Trillion Dark

Eleonor is a necromancer and is described as a extremely dangerous person, mainly because of her bad temper and dark powers. In addition to being an extremely powerful Necromancer (being even more talented than Melascula, one of the Ten Commandments), she is also capable of using Telekinesis (Her original magical power). At first she only saw Meliodas as a guinea pig, but later, they became lovers.

(And about her age, you may wonder why she is much younger than many other characters. However, everything will be explained with later posts about the story)

[dragonsinthedarkness]

"But I hear other voices. A chorus of voices. Multitudes. They reach back centuries. Men and women and children who lost their lives to men like you. Man and women and children forced to wear your chains. I must answer to them.

And this war, Flint’s war, my war, it will not be bargained away to avoid a fight. To save John Silver’s life, or his men’s, or mine.”

I’d like to start from this beautiful speech from Madi to explain why I think Madi is the war itself. Why she was exactly what Flint needed to start fighting it and why she couldn’t be further away from Silver as a person.

Just because I rewatched the final ep. today and I feel the need to honor the one who lost part of herself in this and to reason about the dynamics among the two persons who might have changed the world and the one who kicked that hope back into the dark corner of the untold.

As always, Flint and Silver’s conversation at the end of ep.XXXVIII made me think A LOT. First time I guess I was overwhelmed by emotions, but this time, between the bitterness of the betrayal and the desperation of Flint's loss, I think I started to see exactly what Silver couldn’t get about the war. Which basically is its meaning.

But let me begin with Flint, because is the character I think I know better by now and because I need to start from a warrior who is not the war itself.

Flint started by fighting a war, another one, an easier one, alongside Thomas. He found himself in that period of time, but he lost that war and the one he loved the most with it. Then he started to fight another kind of war, twisted himself in order to fit into its lines. That war was never about liberation, even if that was what he had been telling himself all along and maybe what he hoped he could eventually accomplish by fighting it: it was just about revenge and something to grab in order to stay afloat. It took him to lost every hope of happiness he had left (Miranda), the last possible meaning of his life and of the person he felt he really was deep inside to see the chance for yet another kind of war. A wider one, a harder one, a most fundamental one. It took him to meet Madi. Knowing her, someone completely different from anyone he had known and fought along in the past, someone who was somehow closer to him as a person than anyone he had ever known (except maybe Eleonor, I’m talking mainly about the pirates. Thomas and Miranda were close to him but not very similar in character I’d say and maybe this is why they got along together so well), he finally had the chance to understand that he was not alone in his misery. She had the courage to be what Flint didn’t even know he could become, the fight not for the fight’s sake but for the outcome, as much as he reputed himself already excluded from it, because however he couldn’t ever be part of anything again, not in the way he had been with Thomas and Miranda. But there’s a difference between fighting just to kill and fighting to save who the one you are killing would have been willing to kill, and Madi represented that change for him.

And the war represented the only meaning he was still able to give to his life.

He is defined by his past, absolutely and mainly, and this makes him both someone with valid reasons to fight and someone with reasons to stop fighting.

In the previous episode we see how Silver instead refuses to be defined by his past, which could be a good or a bad thing, depending on how one let that past influence themselves, but that in this specific situation is basically what makes him unable (just my point of view of course) to get the general meaning of that war.

He chooses to erase his experience in favor of the moment, of the future maybe, and this makes him unable (as much as he likes to affirm the contrary, which I had never agreed upon) to understand the minds of the ones who let that experience shape them. And even more, it makes him unable to understand the minds of the ones who don’t need to have cruel experiences behind them in order to feel the fight. That is, Madi.

To link with my previous post ( https://www.tumblr.com/dragonsinthedarkness/758840316125216768/from-the-moment-he-started-speaking-i-couldnt?source=share ), in that infamous conversation in the last ep. Silver confesses he felt the war only (or especially, but I’d say only) when he lost Madi, because he felt the need to honor her sacrifice, avenge her lost and everything Flint had been doing for years, and the point is that that war was EXACTLY that. It was answering to the multitudes of voices who had undergone all that suffering and that demanded justice for it. It was trying to accomplish that as few others as possible could undergo that same fate.

And the point I want to make is that Madi was not only a warrior but the war itself because she felt those voices and the need to answer to them EVEN IF she had never personally experienced such tragedies. She was raised with the Guthries, then in the camp, she had probably even had the chance to be happy in her childhood, but this didn’t prevent her from developing the knowledge of that evil or the responsibility to fight it as leader of her community and as sisters of all the ones who had suffered before and may suffer again.

She wasn’t defined by her own past, but she brought on her shoulders the most painful and important legacy and decided to honor it.

And one may ask for justice for what happened in their own lifetime with a single chance of succeeding, that can make a great warrior of them, but those voices REACHED BACK CENTURIES, as she said. Her justice, their justice, would have been hopeless as long as something bigger as that war started to change things, and this is exactly what Silver couldn’t understand.

Now of course I know changes don’t happen overnight because “the world is too strong for that”, but I’m talking about their reality in that age right now and I think that as much as a war couldn’t have probably changed things, it would have been a beginning at least. A scream echoing in the night of their existences who would have maybe be heard, and as long as even a single person was able to gain goodness from it, it wouldn’t have been in vain.

As I believe all their efforts had not been in vain, despite the outcome.

For one hour, a month or a year (to improperly quote Silver) of freedom.

For one single moment of victory, of light in the dark.

[winterhalters]

The whole “white was the traditional color for Dowager Queens in France” is true? If so, why did Catherine de Medici choose to dress black clothes for mourning Henri II? If not, why did Mary Stuart choose to dress white clothes for mourning François II? Thank you so much, I love your history posts.

it was very much true, yes. White was a symbol of eternal forgiveness and resurrection. It went out of fashion during the 16th century. Up until that point black clothes were extremely expensive to make and it only became more popular because 'technology' improved, thus making it cheaper to create on a larger scale.

Catherine's situation was very specific. She was running against the clock to fend off the Guise family and a literal coup d'état in the making, so she couldn't lock herself up for forty days and pray that things would be good. Not using white was a way to break off with the 'quarantine' period she couldn't afford to take. She's not the first one to do it though, Anne of Brittany also wore black when Charles VIII died (though she honored the quarantine period). Mary (wife of Louis XII), Mary (wife of François II), Elisabeth (wife of Charles IX) and Louise (wife of Henri III) all wore white, Louise being the last one. I'm not sure about Eleonore though.

It's worth noting that when Louise took the white veil and began dressing exclusively in white, from 1589 on, it was considered really old-fashioned. Not in a bad way, more in a 'look at that ghost from the past' kind of way. Odd but still commanding respect, in a way.

[leseigneurdufeu]

Re: your longest historical obsession, the court in Versailles

OK so I say the longest because when I was a kid I got into historical novels and, at least in my social circles/neighbourhood library/older siblings shelves etc, 50% of french kids historical novels are about Louis XIV and Louis XVI. When I was like 7 i borrowed from my sister (then got the whole collection offered to me the next years one here one there etc) her only tome of Les Colombes du Roi-Soleil (lit: the Doves of the Sun-King) which was about the noble but poor girls who got educated basically for free (as long as the pauperty of their family was because of their service to the king/country) in this big, stern boarding school near Versailles. Each of the girls lived big adventures that started in the boarding school or went they left it. The first one, Louise, discovered she was Louis XIV's illegitime daughter and her mother was in jail (she thought she was an orphan as she didn't know her parents). Charlotte was a stowaway to Siam because a guy was trying to marry her against her will because she was protestant and the law that authorized protestantism in france had just been repelled and the guy she wouldn't have many friends who would stand up for her, Hortense was in love with CHarlotte's brother and they eloped to go live in Switzerland (protestant country + she's not supposed to elope, the girls at this Boarding School were generally married off by the director, Madam de Maintenon, or at least with her blessing), Isabeau became a governess but the father of the kids tried to make a move on her and she ran away and I don't remember what she did then. Victoire became a lady in waiting for an italian princess, Adelaide got fired, then was sent to the new world in a basically "mail bride" thing because the population of the new world was 90% men at the time so France sometimes sent girls from jail to start a new life there (evening the population ratio and allowing prostitutes and other thieves to start anew) then fell in love with an indian and married him after her husband died (in... most suspicious circumstances), Jeanne became a cosmetologist/parfumer, Eleonore's book was about alchemy and porcelain... so basically all that. You would learn everything about everything and most of the time there was also a cute love story.

There was also the Complot à Versailles series (lit: Plot in Versailles!) which was all about the darker secrets of the court, mainly the Affair of the Poisons (which you can look up or I can make a post about) in which an amnesiac little girl was saved from the Seine (the river) flooding and adopted by destitute nobles, the Saint-Beryl family. SHe got friends with their daughter was was her age, and when the daughter, ten years later, is sent to the court because someone owed them a favor and paid it by giving her a job, the amnesiac girl goes there as her maid. Amnesiac girl is also a skilled healer because she was raised by the Saint-Beryl's only left servants who are a butler and his wife the healer. Anyway they were somehow put into a whole plot which was the follow-up of the one that had made the Amnesiac Girl taken from her family and made amnesiac and she found out who her family was and they arrested the bad guys.

There's also Orange Trees of Versailles and (putting them together because I had them in the same edition and thought it was the same book for a while at 7-8) The Sun-King's Spy (l'espionne du roi-soleil). Basically also about the Affair of the Poisons, everytime a young girl arrives at the court and has to enfurl plots.

When I was 9, i won a reading contest and got offered the first book of a (at the time 3, but apparently there were more than came out) romance biography of Marie-Antoinette (which, as a matter of fact, was nicknamed Antoinette or Antonia, not Marie, so sorry Time Princesses but it really breaks my immersion - because almost every girl was named Marie-Something at the time). It was from the pov of a priest who had been sent to Austria to teach her french and then accompagnied her back to France, Idk if he really existed. Anyway it taught me a lot about the time but also now I can't see the name of the austrian embassador in France at the time without thinking "omg like in Marie-Antoinette: Le Jardin Secret d'une Princesse!!" so it kinda allows me to baffle history majors when they're like "oh yeah this guy no one knows about" and i'm like "well actually..." and then gives them info without precising it's from a book i read when i was 8.

After that I found the historical novels shelves on my local boookshop and also discovered the Soeurs Espérance books which I cannot recommand enough to anyone interested in "recent" (1789-1900) french history which is basically about this atheist girl, Emilie, who's father died and because of the lack of money her mother and her move into a smaller house around the 1890's, and she finds a secret part of the wall in which there's a bunch of letters from Charlotte, a noble girl from the french revolution era, writing to her sister Elisabeth who had left France for England during the revolution. Then because she wants to know more about the girls, Emilie looks up who the previous owner of the house was and it was a family with a daughter her age, catholic, named Constance. Basically the whole book is half the thriller that is Charlotte's life and half an ongoing theological debate between Atheist!Emilie and Catholic!Constance, but there's also this serial killer and their neighbour who won't leave them alone about that one fence that is supposedly over his part of the garden. Anyway. Four books of that, at some point Constance wonders if she should become a nun, Emilie converts to christianism and marries Constance's brother far later, there's a whole thing about how Elisabeth never answered the letters of Charlotte and CHarlotte received a letter from the english cousins who were supposed to take care of Elisabeth saying she never arrived at their house, so the two "modern" girls try to find out more about what happened to them both, there's a "cursed" reliquary plot which is not cursed it's just that everyone who owned it dies but it's because someone is killing them to try and get their hand on the reliquary, there's a whole "russian girl who got abandonned by her parents to protect her because they were suspected of being in on the assassination of this one tsar" etc it's great read it i beg you read it.

Anyway so yeah the french court of Versailles is basically all I could find to read about so this obsession started when I was 7 or so and is still ongoing so that's why i call it my longest one.

So basically what's Versailles?

It's a castle that was supposed to be a hunting lodge for Louis XIII, but his son Louis XIV, as soon as his tamed the revolt against him (la Fronde) which was led by his own uncles, when he was a child, moved into Versailles and made it into the biggest, most beautiful castle in Europe (if you like the golden colour only though. if you prefer white and blue, some german/austrian castles are way more beautiful, and for cream and beige you'll have plenty of magnificent english ones but that's not my point). Because of the Fronde, Louis XIV put in place a very, very strict social/courtly etiquette which only purpose was to make everything turn around him. Basically, the goal was that while the noble houses would fight each other for the privilege of serving him, they wouldn't have time to fight him.

So in Versailles, there was this whole food chain of basically, dukes and duchesses are serving the royal family, but their own servants are generally lower-ranking nobles, and the nobles' servants and lady-in-waiting/attendants are generally even-lower-ranking nobles, who then are served by commoners.

As far as recurring characters that did exist went from a historical novel to the other, you had like the basic ones, Jean de la Fontaine, Racine, Corneille, André Lenôtre, Jules Hardouin-Mansart and other big cultural characters (Fontaine, Racine and Corneille are authors, Lenôtre and Hardouin Mansart were architects working on Versailles, one in the gardens, one in the buildings), it became both a cultural epicenter and a... well, at the beginning it was a place of debauchery, the king had many mistresses and libertinage was running rampant, but then the king became wiser in his old age and it went the other way and became a very pious place, except obviously it was the inverse excess so it became very roman catholic and nothing else. Back to the reucrring character you have less famous like ministers and "famous" priests and such, La Reynie was the minister of police, Jacques Benigne Bossuet was the bishop of Meaux and a famous writer (would write moral and religious discourse) etc. So really it taught me a lot about that period.

Back to the king's mistresses, there are only three kings who lived in Versailles, all called Louis: Louis XIV, his great-grandson Louis XV and the latter's grandson, Louis XVI. There was no king between them, they just all outlived their other descendants.

Louis XIV was... intense. Everything I said before obviously, plus his, let's say, love for women and for parties. He spent millions in parties but he also put France in first position in Europe, culturally and militarily. Actually, iirc (don't quote be on this one) at the battle of Blenheim in 1704, France was defeated for the first time since Louis XIV had ascended to the throne. And he had ascended like fifty years earlier (depends on how you count).

He also cheated on his wife throughout most of their marriage. His most famous mistresses (who stayed famous because they were openly recognized as royal mistresses despite the church condemning it but hey how can the local priest or even the pope knock some sense into the most powerful guy of europe) are Louise de la Vallière, from whom he got two children who were the heroes of a ton of historical novels I didn't talk about because they're all blurring with each other honestly, Athenais de Montespan (Athenais was a "precious" name, her real name was Françoise, we'll talk about preciousism later), with whom he had like seven or more children who he legitimized, and who... er... was kinda... totally guilty of trying black magic and human sacrifices in order to try and keep the king under her tumb when she got older and her beauty started fading? But anyway she got exiled from court but not punished otherwise because it would mean actually admitting that the king's mistress was a human sacrificer satanist and it didn't look good ya know? The third "principal" mistress (by which I mean they were known for being the king's mistress and held as much power as the queen, but he also had tons of extra-marrital relationships with maids and noble ladies that were not made public) was Angelique de FOntanges who was much younger than him and also died in childbirth but was for a while suspected of having been murdered by Montespan because she was jealous of the king sleeping with someone else (so you know... Montespan was intense too for everyone to believe that) and then finally, Madame de Maintenon (née Françoise d'Aubigné) was the last one except she was not the king's mistress. She was his confident, and for all the time they were friends, she tried to persuade him to chase off his mistresses and get back with the queen (she was a very pious woman who apparently succeeded where everyone else had failed in scaring the king with promises of Hellfire if he kept cheating on his wife). Anyway after the queen died he married her in secret and afaik they didn't sleep together before they were married and maybe not even after because they were both old already so she's not exactly a mistress, but she's generally counted as such.

Madame de Maintenon is also the one who created the boarding school from the Colombes du Roi-Soleil series, so she was featured prominently in those books.

Speaking about Montespan's ritual sacrifices, dark masses, satanism and all, I can't say more because it would take a whole post on its own but just google affair of the poisons (or... you know, click the link i put) and it's a whole can of worms.

Preciousism (not sure it's called like that in english) is a cultural movement mainly started by women but which had men in it too, all nobles or at least high-middle-class. The principle was basically to make things more "precious" so basically you wouldn't call yourself Jane but Athenais or Clarimonde (weird names inspired from pastoral poems or greek mythology), you would discourse about the arts and politness, and mostly it was considered as ridiculous except by the "Precious" themselves. There's a play by Moliere mocking them. Mostly instead of saying "i'm going to the toilets" you would use loads of metaphors and periphrases and end up saying something like "Hermes is leading my feet against my will to the house of Cloaqua" and such.

On the "intense" and "party" side of Louis XIV, he was also a theater kid, kinda, and acted and danced in a lot of ballets and plays that he had sponsored.

Anyway from there we go to Louis XV. Becomes king at like three or so and obviously regency by his uncle, Philippe of Orleans. Then he becomes an adult and honestly i know that time period less well but he got two prominent mistresses too, Madame de Pompadour and Madame du Barry. He got loads of kids and four of his daughters never married: Marie-Adélaïde (who you know by time princess) among others. One of them became a nun but the other three became one of the most powerful social group at court by the time Louis XVI was born.

Anyway Louis XVI was not destined to become king, he was a second son, but his older brother died of illness when they were children, and his parents apparently would have rather that Louis died than his brother and were awful with him.

Anyway Marie-Therese of Austria (not the one who married Louis XIV, the one who reigned over Austria in Louis XV's time) had loads of children too and one of the youngest was Marie-Antoinette. WHO WAS NICKNAMED ANTOINETTE NOT MARIE! Why would Timeprincess butcher that one point? Everybody was named Marie-Something at the time, every single one of her sisters, her mother, all the french princesses... they were called by their second name not their first!

^me right now and everytime I play QUeen Marie on TP

Anyway. (am i using this word too much? probably. but i'm only proofreading when I'm going back up to add something and see words here and there while doing so)

One notable thing is that Louis XVI is the first king in a long time to have not had a msitress. Actually, although they were a bit shy around each other when they got married at 14, Louis and Marie-Antoinette loved each other dearly. Louis was an expert clockmaker, a great hunter, etc. Very good with his hands for everything.

Versailles (the castle) was invaded by the people of Paris and Versailles (the village) during the revolution and the king and queen were emprisonned and that's the endo f Versailles. Still a museum but that's not the same.