#but also this just means I have a ton more retelling to read through!

[edwardian-sea-witch]

Why did no one tell me that fairy tales count as their own fandoms on AO3?

I’d always avoided fanfic and fandom culture because seeing other people’s (entirely subjectively) Wrong Opinions on existing IP tend to make me irrationally angry (and that is something I’d like to work on Not Doing—why do I do that?) but!!! Straight-up fairy tale retellings? That aren’t AUs of copyrighted media?? Taking the tools of modern transformative fiction and applying them to traditional tale types and thus creating a hybrid between the very new and the very old???

[bestworstcase]

ALSO. IRRELEVANT SIDEBAR. i seem to be the only person in the fandom who a) took it as a given that ‘the girl who fell through the world’ was at least a century old and thus predated the great war by at least two or three decades, and b) didn’t think the author’s identity being unknown was odd enough to require an explanation.

and i’m wondering now if the xkcd average familiarity curse Got Me bfgrbxcjk

alice’s adventures in wonderland! that book is One Hundred Fifty-Eight Years Old. it was published in november 1865. through the looking glass was published six years later in december 1871. CAN YOU NAME THE AUTHOR?

if you answered “lewis carroll,” bzzt! incorrect!

(well, correct in that the books were indeed written under that pseudonym BUT I MEAN HIS REAL NAME.)

alice’s adventures in wonderland is a hundred and fifty-eight years old. it has never been out of print. it’s been translated into a hundred seventy-four languages and it’s one of the best known works of nineteenth century english literature in the world. it’s been adapted many, many times for stage and radio and film and video games. “retelling the true story of alice in wonderland” is like an entire niche fantasy YA subgenre; i could name seven different examples off the top of my head. it’s as close to UBIQUITOUS as it’s possible for a story to be in a world with seven billion people living in it.

and… in a world where the non-pseudonymous identity of the author is thoroughly documented and easily accessible via the internet, the average person who Fondly Remembers watching the disney animated film or having the book read to them as a kid doesn’t know that ‘lewis carroll’ was a pen name.

his real name was charles dodgson.

and the reason the average person doesn’t know that isn’t any kind of individual failing or whatever, it’s just that the book was published almost a hundred and sixty years ago under a pen name. the pen name is what’s on the cover. most people don’t go Looking for biographical information about the authors of books their parents read to them as kids unless they have a particular reason to be interested. such as high octane nerdery.

(i own the 150th anniversary edition of the annotated alice and have read it cover to cover multiple times. and i’ll do it again. i am an Owns Books About The Math In Wonderland kind of nerdy about alice.)

—the point. being. the real world has a lot of things going for it in terms of historical preservation that remnant does not, chiefly the absence of a Fuck Ton of monsters trying to eat everybody all the time and making international travel and communication horrifyingly dangerous on a good day. the CCTS has only existed for a few decades; before that, sharing information between kingdoms was matter of “send an armed convoy and hope they don’t get killed and eaten by The Horrors en route.”

so the scholars of remnant are at, to put it mildly, a serious disadvantage in terms of information being retained over time.

anyway. ‘the girl who fell through the world’ is established very clearly to be remnant’s equivalent of our alice’s adventures in wonderland, in that it is a quite old children’s story that became MASSIVELY POPULAR worldwide, to the point that nearly everyone alive has at least some familiarity with the plot, many remember it as a cherished childhood bedtime story, and the more bookish characters can quote favorite passages from memory.

which is to say, it isn’t just The Story is an allusion to the wonderland story. the book’s ubiquity is also modeled after alice’s ubiquity, and the lack of popular knowledge about the author’s real identity likewise takes its cue from the fact that in real life most people Don’t Know who charles dodgson is.

so!!!

it’s not at all unreasonable to think that ‘the girl who fell through the world’ is probably meant to be about as old as alice’s adventures in wonderland—about a hundred fifty years, which would mean lewis published it around sixty years before the great war even started. (he also presumably didn’t publish it as a child; if he was about the age dodgson was when alice went to print, this would have been around twenty years after the fact.)

and it’s also not unreasonable to think that lewis, like charles dodgson, published his book under a pseudonym. or anonymously, but given how certain jaune is that alyx wrote the book, even though it was lewis taking notes and lewis saying he would write the story for jaune to find his way home…

i’d put my bet on lewis having written his book as “A.L. [Surname].” A for alyx, L for lewis, a symbolic way for her to come home with him. but the girls upon discovering the ever after is real and alyx was real would of course think “oh, ‘AL’ as in short for alyx” and the use of initials is also ambiguous enough for jaune to worry his way to the conclusion that he did, after alyx poisoned him.

fast forward a century and a half or so in a setting with no internet for most of that and hordes of man-eating Nightmare Beasts inhibiting international communication and… yeah of course the Real Name of beloved children’s classic author A.L. Whoever isn’t common knowledge outside of academic and hobbyist carrollian-equivalent circles.

[seraphtrevs]

Since I’m a huge fan of your writing, I’m curious: who are some your favorite writers and what are some of your favorite books or short stories??

Oh man, I've done so much reading over my life that it's hard to narrow down. Like I'm for sure going to leave people out.

For fiction: some of my favorite authors are the Bronte sisters (slight preference for Charlotte - Jane Eyre was one of my first loves and hugely shaped me as a reader and a writer), Daphne du Maurier (favorite of her books - Rebecca), Sarah Waters (can't decide between Fingersmith and The Paying Guests), Angela Carter (The Bloody Chamber), Susanna Clarke (Jonathon Strange and Mr Norell), Toni Morrison (Beloved), Robin Hobb (the Farseer trilogy and Fitz's further adventures, but I've heard good things about the Liveship Trader books!), Terry Pratchett (the Tiffany Aching books are particular favorites), and Anne Rice (well, depending on the book tbh, she's not very consistent lol - the first three Vampire Chronicle books are my favs from her), with special shout-outs to Robin McKinley (Beauty), Avi (The True Confession of Charlotte Doyle), LM Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Frank L Baum (I have read every single Oz book - there are a ton of them!) and Madeleine L'Engle (A Wrinkle in Time), who were my favs when I was a kid (along with the Babysitter's Club book lol - but they're mostly ghostwritten so I'm not sure who to credit!)

Right now, I'm re-reading (for the millionth time) The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, which is a collection of fairy tale retellings - but that feels like a really inadequate way to describe it. It's very visceral, primal, and poetic. My favorite story from the collection is "The Bloody Chamber," which is a Bluebeard retelling. Bluebeard is one of my favorite fairy tales, but it understandably doesn't get a lot of adaptation. (I'm very curious what Disney's Bluebeard would look like lmao)

I'm also listening to the audiobook of The Vampire Lestat, which is the reason that Anne Rice is on that list. She really lost me with her later books, but listening to TVL reminded me that actually, she can be very good! She really excels at evocative descriptions and conveying emotion - she's very shameless, in a good way. A woman who always writes with her entire pussy, whatever else you might say about her.

But I actually read more nonfiction than fiction. I'm a big fan of memoirs - not celebrity memoirs (although Jennette McCurdy's I'm Glad My Mom Died was probably my favorite book I've read this year), but memoirs that are more about someone grappling with the human experience - like, sometimes the author has been through something horrible and they've done a lot of mediation on what they've been through, or sometimes the author is just a very astute and entertaining observer of their own (and other people's) ridiculousness. Some of my favorites are Mary Karr, Caroline Knapp, David Sedaris, Cheryl Strayed, Jeanette Walls, Tara Westover, and Allie Brosh.

If I had to pick one to recommend - all of David Sedaris's books are extremely funny. He writes humorous personal essays, so I guess his books aren't really memoirs exactly (google says he's a humorist), but he usually writes about himself so I'm lumping him in this category lol. Me Talk Pretty One Day is a good place to start with his stuff - you will cry laughing.

I also love pop science and pop history - Mary Roach is a super approachable science writer with a quirky sense of humor. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is so funny and candid - she asks every question you've ever had about dead bodies and then some. I also love Bill Bryson - another very accessible and funny writer - I really loved his A Short History of Nearly Everything, which covers exactly what it says. I ADORE Oliver Sacks - he was a neurologist who wrote so movingly about what it means to be human through the experiences of his patients - The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat reads more like a book of short stories, and I weep like a baby every time I read it (I actually started tearing up thinking of a few cases.) (Btw he's also written beautiful memoirs but I like his science writing best so I'm putting him here. Bill Bryson has written memoir too.) Carl Sagan is also approachable and humane - This Demon Haunted World is my favorite of his. Andrew Solomon's The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression is required reading for anyone who's dealt with mental illness, although it's difficult and painful at times (his Far From the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity is also really good, but also difficult and painful - but worth it!)Diane Ackerman's A Natural History of the Senses has gorgeous prose and is a great book for artists and writers imo - it gets you thinking deeply about how we interact with the world.

For history, I am obsessed with this book called "The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber and David Wengrow - it will completely upend everything you think you know about the history of homo sapians. Mike Duncan got his start podcasting - his series Revolutions is about major world revolutions and is essentially like listening to an audiobook, so it's not a surprise his books are pretty fun too. Sarah Vowell has some really fun books about quirky historical topics - her Assassination Vacation is great (she goes on a roadtrip to visit locations in America where famous assassinations took place).

And here are a few other miscellaneous non-fiction writers I enjoy - Sebastian Junger (just finished his In My Time of Dying about his near death experience - super thought-provoking - but it was A Perfect Storm that made me love him), Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas), Jon Krakauer (Into the Wild), Jon Ronson (The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry)

This was a fun question to think about! I hadn't realized I had such a strong preference for female writers until I actually listed all my favs out, which is an interesting thing to know about myself, so thanks for asking!

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a reading week

11pm, tuesday, feb 20, 2024

hello beloveds. just wrote two increasingly passionate paragraphs about what social media and my use of it over the years has done to benefit my life, and got so genuinely moved that i had to come talk to you about it.

reading really wild mix of reading material of late. surprisingly high amount of YA, because people keep recommending me things and i keep going 'sure, let's try it!' so i'll use that as an organizing principle and save discussing some of the others for a future post. in order of completion:

firekeeper's daughter, angeline boulley, read by isabella lablanc. finished in a rush, very engaged in the last three-four hours. i was never prepared for the next thing this plot threw at me, though in retrospect saw how it all made sense. i didn't know a thing about it going in, which i think actually enriched the experience a lot, but for a novel set in michigan's UP and sugar island, it resonated with a lot of things i associate with ontario after living here for five+ years. the hockey, the ojibwe /anishinaabe names and cultural connections, the murdered and missing indigenous women. but it also mixes in elements reminiscent of, like, braiding sweetgrass (and tangentially mexican gothic) and various fan fiction tropes i recognized in their shape if not their execution. highly recommend the audiobook-- they cast the audiobook's narrator very carefully, and she does a superb job juggling the mix of scientific jargon, teen narrator unreliable/dramatic narrator (loving), and Anishinaabemowin.

castle in the clouds, kerstin gier, translated by romy fursland. maybe 33% through. it's giving grand budapest hotel and somehow also the princess diaries? it's also reminding me somehow of, like, the kind of novel i wanted to write as a second or third grader, which means eva ibbotson, and a particular flavor of plucky, intelligent heroine. i was hooked by the first page+ but have yet to see a ton more of the same high action and suspense, and have let this one slip a little further onto the back burner. it's cute escapism at the moment, though that may change.

fourth wing, by rebecca yarros, read by rebecca soler (and apparently also teddy hamilton, although i haven't gotten to him yet?) about 25% through. trying desperately to give us a gritty, hardcore, new and dangerous and fun take on dragons and their human riders, while also trying to be idk divergent? the hunger games? there's a love triangle, the protagonist has naturally ombre hair, the premise of the novel is brutal training where young adults are all dying in improbable droves due to how cutthroat and brutal it is. a testament to the narrator that i am, despite myself, having a great time. there are a few too many supporting characters who want our main girl straight up dead for me to really find the threats believable, but i'm intrigued by the prospect of alternate versions of this world's history than what she has learned and a potential for discovering how their kingdom has? manipulated them? could be asking too much.

fairest, gail carson levine. finished in a long saturday morning spent reading in bed. i was such an intense and dedicated fan of the original ella enchanted novel that i couldn't read most of levine's other books (exceptions for her short stories made grudgingly) because they weren't sequels and weren't the same and wouldn't be as good. in fairness, reading this now as a much-older-than-the-intended audience, perhaps i was too harsh-- but i think little-me was right to be a little suspicious. it's a snow white retelling, and again i think largely successful in building a more detailed plot in which the elements of the retold fairy tale are embedded, but where the focus in ella was on language and obedience and free will, here we're trying to articulate things about beauty and body image, and it's harder to say that it really succeeds? i like that we gave the Wicked Queen more nuance, positive and negative qualities, moments of sympathy, a name and a precarious political position. i was not nearly as charmed by the romance (fine, fine, it's not ella and char but it couldn't be, it's fine). i still love the use of unfamiliar / fairy-tale languages and how levine puts them on the page in such fun spellings. probably aimed at the youngest audience, of the four titles here, but treats its reader as almost more intelligent than fourth wing, possibly? YA from ~twenty years ago was a different world.

listening graded like twenty quizzes today with just a mess of random panic at the disco bumping in my headphones. it's a hell of a feeling, etc. i'm halfway through this particular round of grading, and they're doing so well, so it's mainly a quick check to make sure they got the basics right and i can jam while doing so.

watching spent a very pleasant ~2 hours yesterday watching as much as we could of the film amadeus with @hematiterings, @pep-squad-lizzie, and @dimir-charmer. love a film that isn't afraid to lean into all its sensory indulgences, and to be a little heavy-handed with its symbolism (the chocolate is about repression!) and to, just generally, spend money on costumes, locations, hiring lots of extras, and so many wigs. there's a live event performance of this film with orchestra + choir being advertised all over our subway right now, so it does very much feel like we're being followed by this guy:

...but what's sticking in my head right now is the costumes.

playing 41+ hours into hollow knight. i have opened half of my stag stations! i have the dream nail, surprisingly early i think! i have saved bretta! i have somehow missed the mantis lords, i think, but have made it to the city, the resting grounds, and have now been throwing myself fruitlessly against the crystal guardian and a soul warrior in alternation. i am...not good at combat. current plan is to grind to get quick focus, and i'm close! also, @spoonierbard stepped in and gave me a much needed morale boost by winning me the final mask shard necessary to get increased lives, which has helped tremendously, and the grubs rewarded me with the grub song charm which has helped tremendously.

making many potential projects, none executed (or even really attempted). soon, hopefully. fallow section for now. does music count? music counts, right? i joined a second choir! enticed by the chance to perform mozart's requiem in full with an orchestra, and finally fulfill the broken promise of 2020. that's my hobby right now. oh i also just cleaned out a ton of storage in my phone + icloud, which felt generative in its own way. besides backing things up better than i have in a while.

working on submitted the travel money application i've been thinking and dithering about since...this time last year? no real expectation of getting it, but it did actually help me consider some next steps in the diss, so that's nice. now prepping to take my class on two fun on-campus field trips next week, one to the manuscript library and one to the medieval collection in our little hidden art museum! i need to write some notes up for the TAs and docents to use, and finish organizing my list of desired manuscripts, like, yesterday. midterm grades posted today, a little late but hopefully not too bad, still well before the drop date. the aforementioned quizzes (i have like 28 more to grade, but they're reasonably painless). plus i was going to work on my fucking dissertation this week, and prep to teach the next few lectures in advance so i'm not scrambling monday nights, plus send a bunch of emails, design a CFP poster, put in some RAship hours so i can speak intelligently in my meeting tomorrow, and....prep for the guest lecture i'm giving on the 28th! it's a reskin of the conference paper i gave this summer, freshly edited, but i need to expand the intro bits to include a useful overview, since these students aren't a conference of celticists.

weirdly at peace with how my work-life balance is balancing right now, though. it's the extra sleep and the increased sunshine, and the little cat who is being so so whiny right now. i must conclude these lines and feed Herself.

[drill-teeth-art]

My comic Good Bi Gender is really blowing up more than I expected and traveling outside my usual circle. And that’s awesome, and I’m very glad it’s resonating.

But I’m genuinely wondering how many people who are more unfamiliar with my work read it and went to check my blog only to discover I post transformers fanart for my wip of a fan version of a series literally every day.

BUT. In genuine seriousness. I’m really thrilled my comic is resonating with so many. People who are transmasc and bigender and tons of people in the tags who aren’t those identities who still connected so much. It genuinely means the world to me. And it genuinely means a lot that the comic is circulating as much as it is. The comments and tags on that comic. I’ve literally just been reading through them all this morning, and it’s a wild and amazing feeling to see how many people are all so connected in this.

So. For anyone who saw that comic and gave my blog here a follow and doesn’t know much about transformers (which I mostly post art of) but is curious about my work, I’ll post a summary of what I’m workshopping. Because it’s basically a retelling of the story of transformers my own way since transformers was the first “boy” thing I liked growing up and is very significant to me.

And also, I might post more gender stuff now too. I have a series of illustrations I’m not done with yet about my gender I was on the fence about sharing, but maybe now I will.

But anyway. Thank everyone who liked my comic. Thank everyone who reblogged my comic. Thank everyone who left tags and comments about how much the comic meant. Because that means the world to me.

[neveralarch]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

Aw thank you :) I'm gonna do all non-TF stuff just for fun so strap in for small fandoms. I'm also v v self-conscious about self-reccing so i have attempted to let go of shame here and just pick some of the ones i've been rereading myself

A Harder Road - Johannes Cabal | gen | pg | 7.8k

A pastiche of Nikolai Gogol's Dead Souls which means that this fic has an audience of like. Three. You have to be in it for the silly narration, the idea of being able to buy souls through 19th CE Russian bureaucracy, and brotherly hate. But I'm really pleased with how this one turned out given the life circumstances I was in at the time, and it always makes me happy to look back on. If nothing else, highly recommend Dead Souls itself.

Just Like Ice on the Dune - Baseball RPF | gen | pg | 26.5k

Tim Lincecum and Hector Sanchez do magic together and win the world series. Baseball fandom (writing fic or watching games) is weird bc you get very into these players who then retire and disappear, but I've kept a soft spot for these two. This is another one from my grad school misery period - I think I'm prouder of these bc they were very hard won haha. This fic totally consumed my December and I almost missed the Yuletide deadline but I had tons of fun writing about Baseball superstitions.

Mirror - Tortall (Tamora Pierce) | Jonathan/Thom | adult | 1.7k

Very early Nev foray into genderfuckery and toxic relationships. Really I only recommend this if you a) remember Tortall fondly but b) wish it was even more explicitly messy.

Tudor Spies and Perfidy - The Ten Stupidest Things I've Heard Since Richard III's Remains Were Identified | gen | pg | 700 words

Because I used to write so much for Yuletide, I have a lot of fics for internet ephemera. I think this one is especially fun and also the blog post is worth remembering. Read it if you love nonsense time travel and shaggy dog stories! Also, in the same genre, honorable mention to this fic about Michael Buble being stalked by a velociraptor.

Hypocrisy Was Our Text - Skyfall (Bond Movie) | Bond/Silva | Teen | 11.5k

Once, long ago, I was going to write a novel about Shakespeare. Then I scrapped it and used all of the research to write a Elizabethan retelling of Skyfall. This is soooo fun to me and if I had the power to compell all of you to read one fic on this list it would be this one. But. I also get very weird about teeth in here. If you like historical AUs but not weird teeth stuff, allow me to rec this 17th century Dr Who epic instead haha.

[waltwhitmansbeard]

hiiiii, i'm fairly new to CR (it saved my life during the pandemic!!1) and i'm pretty much caught up with everything but my love for vaxleth is off the charts and it's both a blessing and a curse: i love everything about them but there's fewer fics about them than i thought they ought to have. i have gone through ao3 these past few months and read a lot and also saved some for later (including yours!! i want to save it for a cozy day where i need a pick me up). having said all of that i was wondering if you have any recs (preferably of the longer type but ok if not) not just in ao3 but anywhere else as well? and preferably happy endings and some smooching n stuff bc wooooooof. these two got so much angst (i do also love it tho). any smut rec is welcome as well!! AND!!! ALSO!! do you think there's any chance this last ep can reignite the flame so to speak so we can all get more and more fics bc honestly?? i'm obssessed and they deserve it. epic love needs eternal retelling.

well hello! first i wanna say welcome to the fandom, we're all pretty nice but completely feral so watch where you put your hands bc we like to gnaw on things. (i say this like i am not also very new to the fandom; i just looked it up earlier today and my 1-year anniversary is at the end of may.)

when it comes to fic recs, i actually have to admit that i don't read a ton of fics myself (i don't have time, lol). i'll start by saying reading @romeoandjulietyouwish's au posts and drabbles is what got me back into writing fanfiction for the first time since i was a teenager, so i definitely recommend checking her stuff out. @blorbologist is, in my humble opinion, the foremost perc'ahlia expert of the fandom, if that ship also floats your boat. i have started reading her extremely famous one for joy but as i said, i really do not have a lot of time to read these days so i am extremely behind. my friend @ravendruid has recently started dipping her toes into the fic-writing realm, and i've been really loving watching her style develop as she goes, and my irl best friend and platonic life partner @runforyourshield is writing a vaxleth summer camp au called camp cloudtop you should check out! other recs you can find on my blog under the tag #fic rec. also just generally we tend to rb each other a lot so just stalk all of those blogs and you'll find some good stuff.

on ao3, i actually just today read a little three-part vaxleth happy ending style fic called with grace in your heart and flowers in your hair that i really enjoyed, and i've started reading this incredible fic called Heaven Couldn't Shake that AGAIN i started reading and then stopped having time for (!!!!!!!!!!!! i am busy!!!!!!! i am sorry!!!!!) but it is really good and i highly recommend the one chapter that i have read lol.

as for smut, to be perfectly honest, there is a dearth of smut in the vaxleth fandom, and like, i get it, it is extremely common to headcanon keyleth as ace or demisexual, and i don't have a problem with that headcanon at all. but me personally, while i also hc her as demi, i absolutely believe she and vax have fucking incredible sex and i wish i could read more of it (*eyebrow waggle* keep your eyes on the mfl space for future one-shots, jussayin). my recommendation there is to go the keyleth/vax tag on ao3 and filter by E, tbh. (also, don't sleep on vaxlethmore, bc those fics are *chef's kiss*)

(also this isn't vaxleth and idk if you've seen c2 or not but truly one of the hottest fucking fics i have read in my life—and friendo i have read a lot—is this shadowgast fic that truly gave me a nicotine addiction, bc wow)

will c3e51 reignite the fandom's fire for vaxleth? i mean, i can hope so, tho tbh, i'm keeping my hopes low. i know that, generally speaking, more people care for perc'ahlia than vaxleth (which was truly the wildest thing for me to find out when i started interacting w the fandom at large, i assumed everyone would be as fucking feral for vaxleth as i was), so i don't imagine there's gonna be a ton of new people writing them, but hey, maybe the episode will spur some people who haven't watched c1 to go watch, and they'll be the new generation of vaxleth shippers (again, me talking like i'm not the new generation of vaxleth shippers).

i hope i answered all of your questions, and thanks for being part of this community! i hope you find what you're looking for.

[shebeafancyflapjack]

Thought I'd do some quick book reviews for three sapphic reads I've recently finished.

First one is Mortal Follies by Alexis Hall.

Three stars. I really, really wanted to like this book because the cover is so gorgeous and I wanted so badly to have it on my shelf. Basically how my reading experience goes is that I listen on Audible or read the Kindle and then if I like the book I buy the physical copy, kinda like a murderer displaying trophies of their victims, I dunno why that's the similie I chose to go with. To start with the positives; this book is told in a really cool style with the narrator being an amoral sprite who watches and subtly intervenes over mortal affairs just to collect stories to bring back to their master. Honestly watching them start to slowly and reluctantly feel sympathy for the main leads and their funny commentary was the most entertaining aspect. I also liked the quirky best friend, I find it a shame she didn't get to interact with the narrator, that's a dynamic I would have loved! Sadly they overshadow the main leads who are pretty dull in comparison and the plot feels like two stories mashed together and very rushed because of it, rather than having both the reveal of the villain and the high stakes happen at once at the end to make a better climax and see more of the couple spending time together to build up their connection. This is supposed to have Bridgerton vibes but really lacks the Ton intrigue and politics that make Bridgerton interesting. Bit of a let down but I would be up for reading more stories in this world with the same narrator.

Next up is the Witch and the Vampire by Francesca Flores.

Two stars. Like a lot of people I was really hyped for this book; a sapphic retelling of Rapunzel with witches and vampires, sounds like fun if nothing else. Also, like Mortal Follies, gorgeous cover! But sadly, like Mortal Follies, another let down. And this one doesn't have a fun narrator to save it. This was such a struggle to get through, I felt like a secondaries school English teacher being handed a students first draft, like I could tell the author had a story she really cared about but how it's written is just so basic, with way too much exposition and poorly delivered world building. Similar to another book I read recently, The Shattered Lands, this just feels like it doesn't belong in the YA category, even though it deals with really mature themes and has some graphic, violent moments, the writing style just doesn't suit it.

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawking.

Three and a half stars (four if I'm being generous). This book really surprised me, I finished watching Red, White & Royal Blue wanting to find the sapphic equivalent and this kept popping up on booktok. This is just a really sweet teen love story, even if it's by no means perfect. I listened to this on Audible which on the plus side, the narrator had the cutest Texan accent - I have a weakness for Southern Belle accents, can't help it - but it also sadly meant the Scottish accents were awful bordering on hilarious. The history nerd in me does wish we'd got a little more info on the hows and whys of Scotland still having a monarchy, it's just something that's set up without any explanation, but I get that's not the focus. I do feel that the writer had even less understanding of monarchy than who wrote RW&RB, I didn't read that book but going by the movie, the Prince acted mostly on point like a British royal and you felt how important that role was to him wheras Flora could have been just any high profile celebrity or nobility. But again, not the focus, it's high school romance where the alpha queen is revealed to be more than a spoiled brat and the simple country girl falls for her, and that being what it is, it's just very sweet, there's not much more I can say other than it gave me the same corny but cute fluff I got out of watching RW&RB.

Bonus quick review.

Four and a half stars! I did not think Faerie smut was for me, I skimmed through pretty much all the "spicy" parts in the ACOTAR series (which was also 60% of ACOSF). But I dug this, even though it's filthy as hell, I knew what I was going into, and it just surpassed my expectations. And it's gay, maybe that's why, maybe het spice just rarely does it, but this ticked so many boxes I didn't even know I had. Only took off half a star because it's so short and dammit I know it didn't need to be longer because it's just meant to be simple fantasy porn but, ugh, I got way more invested in this three day love story than I did the whole of Mortal Follies!

[raevens-ramblings-after-reading]

The Historian's Toolbox: How Sources and Technology Shape the Study of History

OBSERVATION

When I hear the term "history," depictions of past wars and historical figures who have long since passed away yet continue to hold a significant role in various cultures and societies come to mind. Growing up, teachers and elders in general taught me many aspects of history, but I never once questioned why they were doing so. For the sole purpose of learning more about history, I've read a ton of books, listened to the radio, and followed the news on television. I was encouraged to memorize those historical facts because I would find them valuable in social circumstances like a school, a mall, or even family reunions to appear intellectual and knowledgeable.

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I gained the consciousness to question myself if the sources for those historical facts were credible and still accurate after a lesson from one of my subjects in 11th grade. I vaguely remember my former research teacher talking about primary and secondary sources and how to tell them apart in order to make our research papers easier to write.

From my understanding, primary sources are direct information of the past and provide first-hand evidence of historical events. They include things like letters, diaries, government records, photographs, and artifacts. On the other hand, secondary sources are a retelling of primary sources or the kind of sources that did not witness historical events first-hand. Examples of secondary sources include history books, encyclopedias and research papers.

INSIGHT

Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method (1969) by Louis Gottschalk gave me the insight that there is a difference between original and primary sources, despite having almost identical definitions. An original source refers to the earliest or most reliable source of information about a historical event or person, meaning that they are unpolished and the texts on manuscripts or documents are in their original language. As for the primary source, again, they allow researchers and historians to get a firm understanding of the past because the sources were directly involved or were created at the time of the historical event. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that an original source is always a primary source but not all primary sources are original sources.

For instance, if someone wants to learn more about the history of the Philippines, they should visit the National Museum and take a closer look at original sources like artifacts, antiquated photographs, and legal documents because these have been examined and are considered reliable sources by historians. However, they might be regarded as secondary sources rather than original ones if they were learning Philippine history from recently released textbooks.

Another insight I’ve learned from the reading materials is that history is dependent on how people communicate and the advancement of technology when it comes to sources according to Martha Howell and Walter Prevenier’s study From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods (2001). Before, people would walk for miles just to deliver news and information. It would also depend on the climate or geographic conditions of the area if the information would successfully reach its destination. As time went on, people resorted to using visual signals (flags) and sound signals (horns or drums) to communicate with one another. By 2000 B.C.E, they used pack animals as transportation for information. Then, Mesopotamians were able to put information on stone tablets when 3000 B.C.E rolled around.

It’s like how we look up information through the use of the internet nowadays in different mediums such as computers and mobile devices. Overall, communication and information technology have changed the way sources are created, stored, and shared, making them more accessible and easier to preserve, but also making it more challenging to ensure the authenticity and reliability of sources since it goes through a lot before reaching their destination.

SUMMARY

Despite all these insights and learnings, one thing is bothering me:

With how advanced technology is these days, almost anyone can fabricate information, manipulate photos, videos and even audio recordings. I wonder... how will they be able to tell apart factual sources from those made-up? Especially with the use of artificial intelligence on the rise, it's quite intimidating that they are able to replicate digital information with a few clicks and tricks of coding. And there are always people naive enough to believe them and spread them to garner even more attention.

Do historians have the technological means to determine whether or not the sources they have are original or just copies? I can only hope so.

To sum up my thoughts about this topic, I learned that historians go through a lot of labor to help us get a better understanding of history despite knowing that we will never be able to attain all information about the total past. It is only right that we acknowledge their efforts as they continue to pick apart and sift through portions of historical sources to put together historical facts, appropriately citing their works in our academic and professional publications, and generally supporting them in their attempts to provide a clearer picture of mankind's past. However, it's crucial to remember that honoring historians doesn't mean to worship them and take their every word as fact, but rather to recognize their significant contributions to society's knowledge and to our understanding of the past, present and potentially even future.

REFERENCES:

Gottschalk, Louis. Understanding History: A Primer of Historical Method. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1969

Howell, Martha, and Walter Prevenier. From Reliable Sources: An Introduction to Historical Methods. New York, Cornell University Press, 2001

[literalliterature]

rules: tag nine people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the questions below

hiiiii @kingfisherkink you tagged me in this literally a month ago and i've only just now remembered to do it but i still appreciate it <3

four ships: Truthfully, I don't do a ton of shipping these days, not for any, like, ideological reason but just because most of the things I'm really into right now (by which I mean literally my own personal D&D campaigns) don't feature that many ships. That being said, the most recent ship that absolutely did Compel Me for a hot minute involved characters from one of said games--specifically Theodora/Roxanne, who are both politicians from different warring nations and somehow managed to get married and have children in secret???? And relatedly, two completely different high-ranking officials from opposite sides (namely the president of one country and the right hand to the king of the other) might also have a thing?! The gays are wild. For others, uhhhhh, let's go with Rue/Wuvvy from ACOFAF, and to pay respect to my roots and because I am still genuinely so fond of them, Hurloane from TAZ.

last song: "Bruno Is Orange" by Hop Along/Queen Ansleis. From my angsty rogue's playlist, natch, but also I've absolutely loved that song for years.

currently reading: Most pressingly, Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis, which I bought yesterday and am already halfway through because I'm loving it so much. It's an excellent retelling of the myth of Eros and Psyche and truthfully, it'll never stop being weird to me how underrated that myth is, as it's one of my favorites. Also, a couple nights ago I finished reading a short collection of essays by Mary Oliver called Upstream, which involved some very compelling literary criticism that has prompted me to read Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, which I'm now in the middle of.

last film: Genuinely cannot remember, since I watch TV series much more frequently than movies these days. The last couple of series I finished over the weekend were Murdaugh Murders and Cunk on Earth, both on Netflix (and an absolute whiplash in terms of vibe).

craving: To be done with this meeting I have to lead tomorrow night...

Tagging: @metamagic-adept @conartisthaiji @fagdykez @bird-icon @theatricuddles @nebulousbutch @pirateknight @shyyren @thegempage (as always, only if you feel like it)

[neerikiffu]

time for an update huh (30.03.24)

i'm alright now

i completed hamefura game and now will be playing nightshade

silva is officially THE BEST, with rozy coming at 2nd place everyone else is kinda ehh

and i also really dislike the tendency of

well we've been unable to sort out our feelings for 7 chapters so we're just gonna quickly confess share a kiss and get married and then the game will end and maybe we will get a little text entry about how we blushed eating ice cream out in the town together or something

WHAT WAS ALL THE BUILDUP FOR"??? okay you got married but no aftermath at all?????"? like, what was the entire game for? if we're not gonna see you two interact any further? and it's not like 7 chapters is an hour or two, it's like 4-6

yeah silva was the coolest

YET SO MUCH LOST POTENTIAL GAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

why didn't they explore how fucking consistently innuendo-suggestive he was in the first part of the game, no explanation, no continuation, nothing, they couldve at least made a reference to it sometime later, but they did nothng, this part of him just vanished without any reason nor his attitude was ever explained

on another note, i've finished watching kusuriya no hitorigoto and then got provided with the light novels, so now i'm reading that before bed

on one more note, i am being pressured into watching jobless and reincarnation into slime so that once the next seasons start airing i could join the watch party

on some other note, i have been out yesterday with FRINEDZS??????? and we've been downtown and there we got to know that that one english competition ive been on, i won it, so i ate a big burger. i am happy

what's the competition? it was last saturday, we had to come to some other school, there were 16 of us, we first had 40 minutes for a, supposedly, really tough written test with …3 tasks, the only hard thing there was probably supposed to be vocabulary - but i know it already - so it wasn't, and i turned it in at the 15th minute, mostly because i was taking too long rechecking my answers

next thing was the game of alias we were randomized into 4 groups of four and then we had to switch between explaining and guessing words, as we've been watched by some serious guys

and next thing, the disaster, was the ted talk

we had to lead a 4 minute ted talk on themes we were given a week prior, with a presentation

i made the best presentation on climate change you will ever find, with tons of cool animations, but we werent given a remote so i had to wave my best at my friend, and as time was ticking and she didn't entirely understand my creative points and didn't let animations finish playing out, i was visibly frustrated and maybe even aggressive, so i probably have been a little mean in my gestures.

i am not the most collected person and i do my best to retell the slides with bits of additional info so i ended up taking a lot of time. and as i've been halfway through i've been hit with the "10 seconds left!". WHAT. like, you couldn'tve told me earlier, no? bruh

i had to skip half of my presentation and there was so much interesting stuff that had to be skup (skip in past tense?) over…

i felt like collapsing the entire time i was standing there, and i couldnt stop shaking for like ten next minutes

they never told us what would the prizes be, instead referring to them with never changing two words: "valuable prizes". maybe they knew the prizes would be so demotivating that nobody would even try to win - so they left them ambiguous :| at least they fed us free candy

and, i got back to work

my issues were volume bars

well, i made them

then i moved on to making the rebinding menu, after some little fixes

took me a few days

now doing confirmation boxes

[lokasae]

hello,, hello !! so for the last year and a half i have been researching into witchcraft and norse paganism,, although i am struggling to find the right books to read. i was wondering if you could give me a few suggestions ?? about general history,, legends and myths ??

Oh yes, I have plenty! Maybe too much to be honest, so I’ll share a few of my top picks that could help you get started. Not sure how much you've looked into it, so I figured it would just be easier to start the list from square one:

Primary Sources

Prose Edda – Anthony Faulkes* trans. Jesse Byock is also an accessible version but leaves out the Hattatal

Poetic Edda – Carolyn Larrington* for staying true to the original meaning, Lee Hollander for focusing on the accuracy of the poetic form, and Jackson Crawford for ease of readability.

Retellings

The Norse Myths – Kevin Crossley-Holland*

D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths

Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman

For a Deeper Dive (note that these are listed more for cultural context so... do with that as you will)

Saxo Grammaticus’ Gesta Danorum

Sagas of the Volsungs

Ibn Fadlan’s Accounts – Richard Frye trans.

Beowulf – Chick Chickering trans.

Kalevala: The Epic of the Finnish People - Friberg 2021 trans.

History

The Lost Beliefs of North Europe – HR Ellis Davidson

Behind "Heathendom": Archaeological Studies of Old Norse Religion – Andres Andreson

The Norns in Old Norse Mythology – Karen Bek-Pedersen (awesome for clarification on the parts of the soul)

Norse Revival: Transformations of Germanic Neopaganism – (Free on JSTOR)

Seidr and Magic

The Viking Way – Neil Price

Archaeology of Seidr – Neil Price

Shamanism in Norse Myth and Magic – Clive Tolley

Elves, Witches, and Gods – Cat Heath (Excellent for modern seidr with its basis in historical practices. Includes trancework, galdr, and fiber crafts. AND SOURCES! I’m long overdue for my review of this but I’m a huge fan of Cat Heath and she absolutely did not disappoint. Seriously, I would have paid double for this. ANYWAYS)

Death and Spirits

The Road to Hel – HR Ellis Davisdon

Women in the Viking Age: Death, Life After Death and Burial Customs - Christina Spacatean

The Tradition of Household Spirits – Claude LeCouteaux (he has a ton of works out there including an encyclopedia on Germanic Myth, Magic and Folklore)

Wights and Ancestors – Jenny Blaine (note that this is impossible to find… if this is something of interest let me know as I’ve managed to get my hand on a copy)

Elves, Wights, and Trolls – Kveldulf Gundarsson

Runes

Rudiments of Runelore - Stephen Pollington

Nordic Runes - Paul Rhys Mountfort

Queer and Gender Studies

Kyngervi Journal - Academic Journal with 2 Issues currently. An excellent issue to skim through

EXTRA: Norwegian Folk Tales

d’Aulaires Book of Norwegian Folktales

The Complete and Original Folktales of Asbjørnsen and Moe

[phantaloon-books]

Things about Tower of Nero that I want to highlight to remember them forever:

Lu being an absolute badass woman, I just love her too much

Piper McClean being canon wlw, she was actually kissing another girl, we really fell in love in october

Chaos being canonically female (just chaos being mentioned as a deity rather than what's below tartarus)

nobody DIED, like no one on the good side at least?? yes plenty of beings have died throughout TOA, but nobody died in TON?? so many died in TLO and BOO, I expected to mourn someone and I didn't have too??! it made me so happy

solangelo. that's it. solangelo makes me happy.

will being incredibly supportive of nico, and instead of stopping him, going with him on dangerous adventures because he doesn't want to leave him alone. also them treating Nico's PTSD for what it is

WILL SOLACE CANONICALLY GLOWS IN THE DARK. HE'S A GLOWSTICK BABY.

also will just appearing at the gates of the throne room, glowing in rage because someone touched his boyfriend (and tried to kill his dad), and him just marching through everyone (everyone else letting him), just to pick up his hurt precious boyfriend and take care of him.

meg McCaffrey got her happy ending. she's baby, she deserves her family and her happy ending. also Lu being the mother and the 12 children being siblings?? that's one hell of a way to tell nero to fuck off and right his mistakes. we love meg.

dionysus being the best olympian after apollo. the duo content we needed, and now will never get

nico mentioning bob and how he wants to go look for him, because he can still be in tartarus

rachel still being a Total badass and hitting people in the eye with her blue hairbrush thus being iconic

meg acting as lester's anchor and only reason why he didn't let go of the ledge, not falling into chaos, is top tier 'reasons why I cried reading', because if you think about it, Meg is the first ever friend apollo ever had, and them being best friends is everything to me

also apollo choosing to go looking as lester rather than apollo because lester feels like home is on top tier 'reasons why I cried reading' too

again, the only thing apollo did in the end (once he was god again) that could be described as 'godly' was be in several places at once, fly his chariot, and get meg her unicorn

but apollo shooting fucking fire out of his hands is crazy asf, it was so cool. he really got amazing godly powers this book.

rick being bold enough to showcase abusive parenting knowing that a huge porcentage of his readers are minors, helping many realize that they could be in abusive households, and giving them a tool to reach out for help

apollo defeating nero was so satisfactory, because you realize in the end, that nero wasn't really a monster, he was monstrous, but still very much human (if only with some godly power), and pretty useless once he couldn't hide behind props and weapons, his being wasn't powerful, he was just under layers of protection

the jackson/blofis scene was so warm and loving, they really are willing to put their family in danger, baby estelle in danger, to help 'percy's friends' even tho she knew percy didn't like apollo, but she still takes in everyone who needs help, and paul being a loving and accepting husband

sally working on her SECOND novel, she really is having her best life

none of the big heroes from other series having protagonism, besides nico and will, instead giving the other kids from camp halfblood their chance to show they're just as worthy as the "heroes of olympus"

(still I would have loved to see a scene with everyone else, like the heroes of olympus guys, fighting together one last time, just for nostalgia's sake - I legit hoped to see percy and annabeth arriving with chiron in triumvirate tower, but yeah)

the arrow of dodona may have been a dumb, cringey, and slightly ridiculous thing at first, and I personally rolled my eyes everytime it said anything, but it knew what would happen from the start, and without its sacrifice, apollo would have achieved nothing. we stan one arrow

nico wearing a white cowboy hat. idky but it makes my heart swell with joy. he a gay cowboy

y'all know I love Apollo's arch, and I just gotta point this out. his trials, his time as lester, started with him falling to earth, and ended with him getting up after purposely throwing himself off the earth, towards tartarus, almost falling to chaos. that's really clever writing.

the olympians watching over him, and some actually being concerned for him rather than his progress.

poseidon not really giving a fuck about the world or council meetings anymore because percy's not there anymore

athena being the only one apart from artemis who trusted apollo could do it makes me warm fsr

lester deciding that the best way to retell his adventures is by singing is hilarious to me, he really thinks it'll solve everything

Grover not telling percy and annabeth jason died seems so funny to me, he really said "nah it doesn't matter much, field trip, yes"

"hey man" my heart broke in twenty million pieces. like I don't know where I expected to see jason. but that wasn't it. and it hurt me as much as it hurt apollo man.

(also I kinda hoped we would see nico summon his spirit or smth, but I'm actually happy nico realized that jason went by his own choice, and he was in peace, so he decided not to summon him, because it was alright. that hurt too)

kinda love how lester passes out after literally every battle. it reminds you that even tho he's apollo, his body isn't. I'm sure we all would pass out too if we did a quarter of what lester did in the span of 4 days. his body isn't made to endure that, it doesn't even have a halfblood endurance, it's a weak mortal body

the trogs were fucking hilarious. their screeches and grrs, idk there's something ridiculous and so childish about them, it's so fun

really happy that apollo never had a /real/ love interest (reyna doesn't count), cause that wasn't what his story was about. instead he got to make so many friends, and have quality time with them and his children, it's amazing

apollo being thankful people were telling him he'd grown, and was more human, because he realized that was the best thing he could have learned from his time as a mortal

also him saying fuck you man to zeus and his speech, like "no asshole dad, I did learn, I'm not going to see this as punishment, it was a great time in which bad things happened but I enjoyed it." yes, we love apollo not letting zeus win

getting to see what everyone will do now. nico and will figuring out rachel's prophecy, probs saving bob. rachel living her best life away from her parents. leo doing what leo does, always helping those who have no one else. the hunters' open storyline about this fox, possibly hinting at content? piper settling down in a quiet life is what she deserves tbh, she's earned quiet life with a cute gf, wish her the best. Frank and hazel being the best praetors, and I bet they will continue to be so. And annabeth and percy, who chose their happiness over all, at last

kinda wish we got to see someone still really miss jason after apollo becomes god again tho lmao like apollo missed jason more than the others, nico and piper being the exception. I mean, leo is fine and dandy, hazel and frank are okay, percy and annabeth are done mourning... I just we got to see any of them really mourning, rather than reading they mourned. it would have made it feel more emotional

the last conversation and the last words in general. "the sun always comes back" and "we're friends now. call on me. I'll be there for you" that shit got me sobbing my heart out. rick really managed to do right by the books and end it like he should have, unlike BOO. he took what made TLO good and used a similar formula. it's very different from "and for once I didn't look back", but it still fills you with warmth and the feeling that even though it's over, it's okay.

I'm just really emotional, this is all I can think about, but you bet I'm gonna add more when I remember

[impala1967dwinchester]

Sam Winchester: Disney

*Credit to gif owner*

Pairing: Sam W. x Reader

Pov: Sams

Warnings: fluffy!Sam, The reader having an addiction to Disney movies, movie night, Sam quoting Disney movies, ( I think it's like one word) swearing, quick interaction with Dean.

Summary: Movie night rolls around and this time it's just Sam and Y/n. Letting Y/n choose pretty much just turns into them watching Disney movies. And maybe Sam knows a few quotes from each movie.

Word Count: 2k

A/N: This is for band--pyschos 1.5 followers Bingo Challenge. I'm so excited o be a part of this writing challenge.

Square- Movie Quote

Masterlist

Sams Masterlist

Taglist: @band--psycho @sweetdetectivequeen

If you keep sliding on the floor with those damn socks on, you're going to land on your ass, Y/n" I finally said after watching her pass by the library at least ten times within five minutes.

Y/n huffed and crossed her arms dramatically, but stopped. Standing there for a few moments, before once she thought that I wasn't paying attention she continued.

"Shit" I heard Y/n in a rather loud voice. So, I got up from my library seat, closing the lore book I was reading through. "Did you fall?" I asked as I rounded the corner.

Seeing Y/n sitting on her ass. She looked up at me, doing the thing I taught her. "No, No puppy eyes. I told you. I told you that you were going to fall on your ass." I said putting my hand out.

In moments like this, I noticed how much bigger my hand was compared to Y/n. She gripped my hand and I lifted her up from the floor. "Hey, you two, y'all okay?" Dean asked passing by the two of us in the hallway.

I knew he was going out; it was Saturday night and we were home at the bunker. "Yeah, we're fine. I was just sliding on the floor with my socks." Y/n said patting down her sweatshirt that used to be mine.

"That must have been the 'oh shit' I heard. We should totally do that, I'm heading out." Dean said. "Don't have too much fun," I said interlocking Y/n and I's fingers together.

Dean skipped up the bunker stairs and was gone within minutes.

"Babe, can we do something fun?" Y/n asked dragging me into the kitchen. I let her drag me into the kitchen before answering her question.

"I guess so since you've dragged me into the kitchen," I said, not letting go of Y/ns soft and small hands clasped around mine. "Well since we are in the kitchen, can we get some snacks together?" She asked.

Y/n had the tendency to always ask before doing anything around the bunker. It sometimes made me feel as if she was my student in school, and I was her jailer of a teacher.

"Y/n, honey you don't have to ask me every time you want to do something. This is your home, your home to do as you please, get snacks as you please. You aren't a student here and I am most defiantly not your teacher." I said, wrapping Y/n in a hug from behind.

"I know, but still I don't like the idea of just doing without asking," Y/n said leaning her head back up against my shoulder. We stood like this for a while, in the presence of each other was nice, it was always nice to just be together.

Nothing trying to get in the way, no Dean trying to tease me, no monster ruining dates, anniversary, or having to hunt monster worried about each other safety.

This was the most normal we could get. The most normal we would ever have. "So what are the snacks for?" I asked Y/n as she started to release herself from the embrace we had.

"I thought that maybe we could have a movie night since Dean is out," Y/n said rummaging through the cabinets and through the fridge. Her shorter stature giving her a problem as she tried to reach things on the higher shelves.

"Do you want some help? Also, what are you looking for?" I asked coming closer to hear what she had to say. "MMMH," She said, her face pensive and thoughtful about what she was going to say.

"I was trying to grab some popcorn for me, and some more healthy choices for you, but as you can see, I've failed miserably." Y/n said shrugging her shoulders.

Taking a moment to get an idea of the hand situation at hand. “You haven’t failed, and if I’m honest with you dear, I'm in the mood to snack on junk food and be lazy.” I spoke. Grabbing junk like food off of the shelves and from the fridge.

I’m rather glad that just a few days ago we needed to go shopping because Dean tends to pick up the junky food and tends to forget he has such an abundance at the bunker. Throwing a pint of ice cream on to the kitchen island, gently placing a twelve-ounce bottle of soda-pop, Y/n had already put out the over flow of candy that we had, so all that was left was really just making the popcorn.

“Movie night is going to be hella fun!” Y/n said dancing around the kitchen, as I looked for a clean useable big bowl for the popcorn. I think she noticed my struggle because she stopped dancing and come over to me. Taking the popcorn out of my hands.

“Just nuke the popcorn’ she said placing the popcorn bag into the microwave and pressing popcorn, ‘see now you can go look for your bowl” She said finishing her sentence and backing away to let me continue trying to look for a bowl.

Once that entire process was done, we migrated towards the Dean cave which had just turned into a living room slash movie room at this point. Not that either one of us would ever tell Dean that what it’s used for now.

We ended up having to make multiple trips back to the kitchen since we honestly did have a shit ton of food. But once we finally had all our food and snacks placed out in front of us, we sat down, well it was more like we sank down into the couch.

Dean was a rather lazy person and didn’t like to spend money which never made much sense to me seeing as we used fake credit cards, or the very bold answer which was credit fraud. We could have totally gone out and bought a brand-new couch, but instead Dean just saw this one and decided on the side of the road that he had to have it.

So, like I said we almost every time sink into the couch.

“Since it was your idea for a movie night, I’m giving you the honors of picking the first movie we watch!” I said handing her the remote that I had just fished form between the seat moments ago.

“Aww, you’re so sweet baby.” Y/n said kissing my cheek before she went on and searched through Netflix. After only a short time, I heard a frustrated groan come from Y/n. After being with Y/n for as long as I have, I’ve noticed different groans, and huffs have completely different meanings.

The groan thought meant that she was about to give up, frustration taking over her mind and her body. “Honey, is everything okay?” I asked deciding best to intervene before the remote ended up stuck in the TV screen. My girl has one hell of a throw.

“No nothing is fine!” She said huffing rather louder. “Give me the remote and tell me what you want to find.” I suggested. Plopping the remote into my lap Y/n crossed her arms and leaned in to the back of the couch.

“Baby you gotta tell me what I’m looking for, or should I already know?” I asked. I feel like I was poking a bear, or maybe a balloon just waiting her to explode. But she never did, I could hear her taking a deep breath in and then exhaling. “You know me enough to know that you let me choose, so Disney movies and I’m sorry for getting so upset so quickly.” Y/n said fidgeting with her finger nails.

“It’s okay love. You’ve got nothing to worry about. Now let’s see about watching some Disney movies.” I spoke.

I ended up having to go to Disney plus which held all of Disney's movies. “I’m figuring you want to watch their princess collection first, right?” I said, I received a hum in response.

Watching the movies in order for Y/n was the most important thing, so we started off with Snow white and the seven dwarfs. Watching through Y/n sang almost every song, and would sometimes nudge me to join in. I’d deny and she give me her doe eyes and I'd join regardless. Once the movie was over, I clicked around trying to find the next movie.

“Lips red as the rose, Hair black as ebony, skin white as snow.” I repeated as I looked around for the movie CInderella. I was interrupted before being able to click on the movie title. “Hey, that’s the phrase that the mirror says the queen. How do you remember that?” Y/n asked.

I honestly think she was totally surprised. “Because in a way it reminds me of you.” I said winking and clicked on the title of the movie. Cinderella played through, I had to pause a few times letting Y/n tell me when she was a young girl how much she wanted to be a princess but not just any princess she wanted to be Cinderella, and how her parents had bought her Cinderella dresses and she wear the plastic glass slippers and clink around her house.

Somethings you just always forget. Somethings like that are worth forgetting though, just so she can retell the same story and have the same cute and exciting look on her face. That was why I was okay with sitting down and watching Disney movies with her, because they made her so extremely happy and that’s all I needed to be happy.

We watched through that movies. “On the stoke of twelve, the spell will be broken, and everything will be as it was before.” I spoke. “Who said it though?” Y/n said questioning me. “Cinderellas fairy godmother!” I spoke.

I hadn’t realized how much this was now turning in to a game between Y/n and I. The next movie in our now marathon was sleepy beauty, so far, I had quoted every movie at the end.

So, this time Y/n was ready for it, “Now father, you’re living in the past, this is the 14th century.” I said a little laughed came out. “Oh, come on, there are so many better ones to choose from!” Y/n said dramatic.

“Yeah, like which ones? "I said, knowing Y/n knew a lot more about Disney movies then I did. “I’m awfully sorry, I didn’t mean to frighten you, Make it pink, Oh dear, what an awkward situation. And that to name a few.” Y/n said totally sassy me, but whatever. This was her guilty pleasure. There was no reason to tease her about it.

We watched through ariel, I only stopped the movie once since Y/n said she need a peep break and I most defiantly needed a good stretch. When she came back, I said “Don’t underestimate the importance of body language!” I said as I shimmied my hands down my sides and winked at her as Y/n sat down on to the couch.

“Haha, very funny. Come on now. Sit with me.” She said giving me grabby hands. I sat down and we continued our watch through, unfortunately we only made it another two movies seeing as Y/n had fallen asleep with her head in my lap and a blanket covering the rest of her body.

Beauty and the Beast was the second to last movie we watched before Y/n fell asleep, she had cuddled closer and reminded me that she sometimes thought of this movie when she saw us together. “Take it with you so you’ll always have a way to look back... and remember me”

She cuddled in closer as I quoted that and looked for the next movie. Yawning I asked Y/n “Do you want to stop? We can always pick up tomorrow.” I said She shook her head and said “Please continue.”

Looking for the next movie, I found that was a musical now about the movie, Aladdin was the next movie, this was an upbeat movie. I remember vaguely seeing this as a young boy, something that Dean had taken me to do, while he sat in the back making out with whatever girl he was with at that point.

“Y/n, I do love you, but I gotta stop pretending to be something I’m not.” I said kissing Y/n temple and shutting off the tv, and the lights before grabbing the underneath of Y/n knees and carrying her to bed.

Compelted on: 04/15/2021

[binwoo-knock-24]

A.C.E Favourite Boys (도깨비) K-pop theory

Album: HZJM: The Butterfly Fantasy

This took really long so please enjoy. I'm attempting to write one for higher because I think there two definitely have a clear link.

Mythological Background

The Korean title for Favourite Boys (I use British English and spell favourite with ou) is Dokkaebi {도깨비}, which roughly translates to Goblin. Korean folklore states that a Dokkaebi is an old spirit that takes form after possessing an inanimate object that has been previously stained with blood. Dokkaebi have always been portrayed as fear-inducing and powerful beings. They are the defenders against evil spirits and are capable of helping but some could also be the cause of the evil.

Symbolism in the concept photos

Junhee and Yuchan are underwater for their unit concept photos. They are connected by a red string of fate so it seems that they are meant to have met or a destined to be together (not in the romantic relationship sense). And that's why they are the only ones underwater and that has a meaning behind it that I will explain later on. The red string doesn't only appear in the concept photos but also the music video and I've also seen something resembling it in some stages. Junhee is wearing a blue hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and Yuchan is wearing a red one. In the Korean dynasty blue was typically the colour used in maidens clothes and palace vessels. A brides dress and the thread decorations hind during marriages were also red and blue in colour.

Analysis of symbols

This comeback is, as I mentioned, heavily inspired by Korean folklore from the red string to the myth of Habaek and Haemosu (expanded on later). Butterflies (what's the album name again?) Have been used in a.c.es MVs very often and their meaning is leading a long life full of luck. They could be expressing their with to lead such a life or wishing us choices such a life. Each member also has symbolism in this mv.

Kim Byeongkwan

Byeongkwan is seen to be wearing two outfits in the mv. One is white in colour, associated with good mostly, and one in red, associated mostly with evil. Those two colours could be a reference to the duality of the Dokkaebi He is made to seem to have shape-shifting abilities which can be seen from the hair accessory behind his ear making it look like his ear was changing into a wing shape when the scene with his face starting to glow happens.

Lee Donghun

Rivers in folklore are viewed as a border between life and death, reflecting human perceptions of the divide between the human world and the world of the gods. Donghun seems to be sitting and walking around in front of the prop that looks like the flowing river.

He also seems to take on the role of a grim reaper, Jeoseung saja {저승 사자} in Korean. Grim reapers are most often portrayed as a person wearing black clothing and a traditional gat hat. This could also link to the belief about the river. Since grim reapers are known as the ones that takes souls to the afterlife, the Donghun that was sat in front of the river looking prop was a human that was waiting to get a visit from the grim reaper.

Kim Sehyoon

Sehyoon takes on the role of a shaman, which is given away by the prayer beads that he has. Shamans use trance inducing using techniques and an altered state of mind, kind of like hypnosis, to interact with the spirit world. Both of his outfits for his solo shots seem to be modernised versions of traditional shaman clothing. Laid back in a chair and shrouded in smoke, he gives off the impression of being in an altered state of mind. In my opinion, he could be trying to communicate with the now dead Donghun.

Kang Yuchan

I have two theories for Chan and Jin so we will go through them separately. In the music video we see a beautiful picture that depicts the Ilwol Obongdo, which is the traditional symbol of couriers kings. It is made up of the sun, the moon, 5 mountains, pine trees and waterfalls. When the king sat in front of it the positioning of the components showed that he was in the centre of it all. Yuchan wear's something that resembles a gonryongpo which is a Korean kings everyday outfit. Red is a colour that is reserved for the king while his first son, the crown prints, wore blue. Hear Chan depicts a king.

Park Junhee

Junhee and Yuchan have a much more important role in the second theory then being a king (Chan) and the crown prince (Junhee) which I will go through in the minute. Since Junhee is dressed in blue in the underwater concept photos, it makes me think that he is king Yuchans first son, making him the crown prince. Now this was a bit vague because I don't see how it would fit in the music video exactly but it's a theory. Now on to the second more interesting theory.

Habaek and Haemosu

After reading a ton of Korean myths and tales, I came to the conclusion that a large part of the music video is a retelling of the tale of Habaek and Haemosu. Habaek is the Korean river god while Haemosu is the Korean sun god. The tale states that Haemosu fell in love with one of Habaeks daughters and wanted to marry her. In order for Habaek to approve, Haemosu had to go through 3 trials against Habaek himself. The trials included shapeshifting into water common land and air creatures to prove himself worthy of Habaeks daughters hand.

BYEONGKWAN as the air creature

Before I moved to the main two characters, let me go through how the other three members also seem to fit in with the theory. Byeongkwan, I believe, is the embodiment of the air creature trial. When his ear changes shape it seems to resemble something like a wing as I mentioned before.

DONGHUN as the water creature

Because a lot of Donghun scenes are centred around The River, I think that he is the embodiment of the water creature trial.

SEHYOON as the land creature

Because in a few of his soloshot he is surrounded by trees and stuff that resemble land, I believe that he is the embodiment of the land creature trial. Also the general shrouded in mist concept of his solo shots just gives off land vibes.

YUCHAN as Haemosu

Yuchan seems to embody Haemosu, the Korean sun god. Haemosu is usually depicted as wearing a giant head dress made out of crows feathers. According to folktales a giant chrome managed to steal the sun so you had to kill it and bring it back. The whole vibe that Yuchan chosen this music video is very goodly and the red colour could be associated with the son. He has a few solo scenes and which he seems to be showing his skills as he would in the battle. And that could link to the three trials.

JUNHEE as Habaek

It would only make sense for Jun to embody the river god. The colour of his concept photo dressing. The proper behind him on his solo shoots also seems to depict a Riverside. His concert photos are taken under water full stop and in the concept photos it can be seen that Chan is closer to the surface of the water which could mean that he went to ask the river god for his daughter's hand in marriage. In the music video in his solo scenes, Junhee also seems to be showing of his abilities like in the battle which also could link to the three trials.

The last chorus scene

The background of the last chorus dancing shows a thunderstorm going on behind the members. And many old mates from many cultures, thunderstorms are a sign of god's wrath and anger. This could be linked to the battle that the two gods were undergoing. The lyrics of the song as well as multiple choreography movement also portrayed fighting as a theme.

A/N: god this took so long to write up. I had it all in note for on paper and hd to make sense of the notes and all. Also I didn't want to post this before but I believe that the new comeback could be linked to Goblin in the way that because of all the water concept photos and now underwater concepts and the whole siren theme, it could be that they are showing the water trial that Habaek and Haemosu took part in.

[gffa]

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark, coming August 25, promises to be a beautiful tribute to the just-completed animated series. The anthology will collect 11 stories by 11 authors — Lou Anders, Preeti Chhibber, Zoraida Córdova, Jason Fry, Rebecca Roanhorse, Greg Van Eekhout, Tom Angleberger, E. Anne Convery, Sarah Beth Durst, Yoon Ha Lee, and Anne Ursu — including 10 retellings of memorable episodes and arcs and one original Nightsisters-based story.  So if you loved the tales of Ahsoka, Maul, and clanker-busting clones, Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark will give you the chance to experience them again in a whole new way. Like Captain Rex on a recon mission, StarWars.com reached out to each author to learn why they love The Clone Wars, and which stories they’re telling. Lou Anders (“Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General,” based on the episodes of the same name): I love The Clone Wars for expanding the story of Anakin’s fall from grace. Skywalker really shines in the series, and we see what he truly was, and what he could have been, and by giving him so many opportunities to excel in the early season, his ultimate fate is that much more tragic. I also love the series for gifting us my all-time favorite Star Wars character, and one of my favorite characters from any universe — Hondo Ohnaka!      My chapter is a retelling of the first season story arc that plays out across the episodes “Dooku Captured” and “The Gungan General.” I wanted to explore this storyline because I find Count Dooku a fascinating character. Sometimes pure, mustache-twirling, mwa-ha-ha evil can actually be boring to write, but a villain who feels they are justified, either because of perceived slights or intellectual superiority or the failure of their rivals or birthright are much more interesting, and Dooku is a bit of all of this. For research, I obviously watched tons of Clone Wars. But I also read up on everything about Dooku I could find, and I listened to Christopher Lee and Corey Burton’s interpretation of the character over and over, trying to internalize their speech patterns. Dooku is so gorgeously supercilious. It was just a blast to get in his head and see the world from his perspective. (And the fact that the storyline gave me another chance to write for my beloved Hondo Ohnaka was an added bonus!) Tom Angleberger (“Bane’s Story,” based on the episodes “Deception,” “Friends and Enemies,” “The Box,” and “Crisis on Naboo”): There’s a lot to love in The Clone Wars, but I think it’s Ahsoka’s arc that really stands out the most. Ventress’s arc does, too, and the way that these arcs cross at the just the right moment is really great Star Wars!      My chapter is based on the “Crisis on Naboo” story arc. It’s basically a Space Western. The baddest bounty hunter of them all, Cad Bane, is hired to kidnap the Chancellor. What he doesn’t know is that almost everyone is lying to him, especially a fellow bounty hunter who is really Obi-Wan in disguise. In the TV version, we see it all from Obi-Wan’s point of view, so we know that Bane is getting played. In this retelling, we see it all from Bane’s point of view and, boy, is he going to be mad! To prepare I watched both The Clone Wars AND old spaghetti Westerns starring Bane’s inspiration: Lee Van Cleef. Preeti Chhibber (“Hostage Crisis,” based on the episode of the same name): I love the story that the prequels tell, but because of the nature of what they were trying to do — tell a decade and a half worth of story in three films — we’re missing major moments in what the war really means to the galaxy at large, and in the Skywalker saga itself. The Clone Wars tells us that part of the narrative, it gives us the shape of what entire populations of people had to go through because of this war manufactured by the ultimate evil. And within that scope gives us the hope and love and beautiful tragedy we associate with Star Wars on a larger scale. (Also, Ahsoka Tano — The Clone Wars gave us Ahsoka Tano and for that I will be ever grateful.)      I’m writing Anakin’s story during “Hostage Crisis” — an episode in the first season of The Clone Wars. I decided to write the story entirely from Anakin’s perspective, which meant being inside his head before the fall, but where we are starting to see more of the warning signs. And then there’s also the romance of this episode! Anakin’s love for Padmé is real and all-consuming and, as we eventually find out, unhealthy. So, this is a romantic episode, but one that shows us Anakin is ruled by his heart. And that that’s a dangerous thing for a Jedi. In order to best wrap my own head around what was going on, I watched the episode itself several times, and read the script, and then I watched the chronological episodes of Anakin’s run-ins with Cad Bane, so I could get a real feel for where he was with his understanding of Bane’s character. E. Anne Convery (“Bug,” based on the episode “Massacre”): I love it because I think it’s a story that manages, while still being a satisfying adventure, to not glorify war. It does this mainly by following through on the arcs of wonderful, terrifying, funny, fallible, and diverse characters. From the personal to the political, The Clone Warsredefines the ways, big and small, that we can be heroes.      My chapter is the “original” tale, though it still touches on The Clone Wars Season Four episode “Massacre,” with brief appearances by Mother Talzin and Old Daka. If I had to boil it down, I’d say that it’s a story about mothers and daughters. Honestly, it felt a little like cheating, because writing new characters meant I got to be creative in the Star Wars universe somewhat unencumbered by what’s come before. I did, however, have several long text chats with Sam Witwer because I was interested in Talzin’s motivations. We talked about stuff like her capacity (or lack thereof) for love. I think I came away thinking she was more a creature driven by issues of power, control, and the desire for revenge, whereas Sam was a little kinder to her. I mean, he is her “son,” so you can’t really blame him for wanting to think better of her! I always love a story within a story, and I was interested in the space where the high mythology of Star Wars and the home-spun mythology of fairy tales could intersect. I drew on my own background in mythology, psychology, and the language of fairy tales, plus I did my Star Wars research. Re-watching the Nightsisters episodes was just plain fun. Zoraida Córdova (“The Lost Nightsister,” based on the episode “Bounty”): The Clone Wars deepens the characters we already love. It gives us the opportunity to explore the galaxy over a longer period of time and see the fight between the light and the dark side. Star Wars is about family, love, and hope. It’s also incredibly funny and that’s something that The Clone Wars does spectacularly. We also get to spend more time with characters we only see for a little bit in the movies like Boba Fett, Bossk, Darth Maul!      My chapter follows Ventress after she’s experienced a brutal defeat. Spoiler alert: she’s witnessed the death of her sisters. Now she’s on Tatooine and in a rut. She gets mixed up with a bounty hunter crew led by Boba Fett. Ventress’s story is about how she goes from being lost to remembering how badass she is. I watched several episodes with her in it, but I watched “Bounty” about 50 times. Sarah Beth Durst (“Almost a Jedi,” based on the episode “A Necessary Bond”): I spent a large chunk of my childhood pretending I was training to become a Jedi Knight, even though I’d never seen a girl with a lightsaber before. And then The Clone Wars came along and gave me Ahsoka with not one but TWO lightsabers, as well as a role in the story that broadened and deepened the tale of Anakin’s fall and the fall of the Jedi. So I jumped at the chance to write about her for this anthology.      In my story, I wrote about Ahsoka Tano from the point of view of Katooni, one of the Jedi younglings who Ahsoka escorts on a quest to assemble their first lightsabers, and it was one of the most fun writing experiences I’ve ever had! I watched the episode, “A Necessary Bond,” over and over, frame by frame, studying the characters and trying to imagine the world, the events, and Ahsoka herself through Katooni’s eyes. The episode shows you the story; I wanted to show you what it feels like to be inside the story. Greg van Eekhout (“Kenobi’s Shadow,” based on the episode “The Lawless”): What I most love about Clone Wars is how we really get to know the characters deeply and see them grow and change.      I enjoyed writing a couple of short scenes between Obi-Wan and Anakin that weren’t in the episode. I wanted to highlight their closeness as friends and show that Anakin’s not the only Jedi who struggles with the dark side. There’s a crucial moment in my story when Obi-Wan is close to giving into his anger and has to make a choice: Strike out in violence or rise above it. It’s always fun to push characters to extremes and see how they react. Jason Fry (“Sharing the Same Face,” based on the episode “Ambush”): I love The Clone Wars because it made already beloved characters even richer and deepened the fascinating lore around the Jedi and the Force.      I chose Yoda and the clones because the moment where Yoda rejects the idea that they’re all identical was one of the first moments in the show where I sat upright and said to myself, “Something amazing is happening here.” You get the entire tragedy of the Clone Wars right in that one quick exchange — the unwise bargain the Jedi have struck, Yoda’s compassion for the soldiers and insistence that they have worth, the clones’ gratitude for that, and how that gratitude is undercut by their powerlessness to avoid the fate that’s been literally hard-wired into them. Plus, though I’ve written a lot of Star Wars tales, I’d never had the chance to get inside Yoda’s head. That had been on my bucket list! Yoon Ha Lee (“The Shadow of Umbara,” based on the episodes “Darkness on Umbara,” “The General,” “Plan of Dissent,” and “Carnage of Krell”): I remember the first time I watched the “Umbara arc” — I was shocked that a war story this emotionally devastating was aired on a kids’ show. But then, kids deserve heartfelt, emotionally devastating stories, too. It was a pleasure to revisit the episodes and figure out how to retell them from Rex’s viewpoint in a compact way. I have so much respect for the original episodes’ writer, Matt Michnovetz — I felt like a butcher myself taking apart the work like this! Rebecca Roanhorse (“Dark Vengeance,” based on the episode “Brothers”): I always love a backstory and Clone Wars was the backstory that then became a rich and exciting story all its own. The writing and character development is outstanding and really sucks you into the world.      I chose to write the two chapters that reintroduce Darth Maul to the world. We find him broken and mentally unstable, not knowing his own name but obsessed with revenge against Obi-Wan and we get to see him rebuild himself into a cruel, calculating, and brilliant villain. It was so much fun to write and I hope readers enjoy it. Anne Ursu (“Pursuit of Peace,” based on the episode “Heroes on Both Sides”): The Clone Wars creates a space for terrific character development. The attention paid to the relationships between Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Anakin and Ahsoka make for really wonderful and resonant stories, and give so much depth to the whole universe.      I was at first a little scared to write Padmé, as her character felt pretty two dimensional to me. But the more I watched her episodes in Clone Wars, the more dimension she took on. She’s such an interesting character — she’s both idealistic and realistic, so when corruption runs rampant in the Senate she doesn’t get disillusioned, she just fights harder. She has an ability to deal with nuance in a way that is rare in the Republic — and it means she’s not afraid to bend a few laws to make things right. In this chapter, the Senate is about to deregulate the banks in order to fund more troops, and Padmé decides to take matters into her own hand and sneak into Separatist territory in order to start peace negotiations. Of course, neither Dooku nor the corrupt clans of the Republic are going to allow for this to happen, so the threats to the peace process, the Republic, and Padmé’s life only grow. This arc is the perfect distillation of Padmé’s character, and it made getting into her head for it fairly simple. But I did watch all the Padmé Clone Wars episodes and read E.K. Johnston’s book about her, as well as Thrawn: Alliances, in which she has a major storyline. I really loved writing her. Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Stories of Light and Dark arrives August 25 and is available for pre-order now.