#however it is indeed a story that has a beginning middle and end

[clowningaroundmars]

miles g fic first draft is DONE. 30k words in case y'all wanted to know 😪

all i have to do now is just edit it andddd uh hopefully its up on ao3 before long!! :)

[jedimandalorian]

Ahsoka Episode 6 “Far, Far Away”: The Story, the Symbolism, and the Score

Episode 6 of Ahsoka begins with the sound of distant purrgil calls as Ahsoka and Huyang travel through hyperspace, crossing the void between galaxies. During their discussion of the tales Huyang used to tell the Jedi younglings there is no music.

I loved that Huyang said such an iconic line in this episode, reminding us that this is indeed a fairy tale, a children’s story.

The Title Card for Ahsoka appears, and then the episode title, “Far, far Away.”

We hear ominous music when Sabine is in the brig onboard the Eye of Sion. The window to her cell is shaped like an upside down triangle.

The sinister music continues during the scene with Baylan, Shin, and Morgan on the bridge. Morgan’s Theme (the Nightsister theme) is heard when the Eye of Sion exits hyperspace.

The line “Peridea is a graveyard” reminds us that this is indeed a “descent into the abyss” a stage of the hero’s journey which I have discussed on this blog before. Ominous music plays here.

The characters who are aligned with the dark side are on a quest for more power to dominate others. They have followed the Path to Peridea as a kind of path to perdition as I have mentioned in my previous metas. But Sabine, our heroine, is descending into the Underworld on a more noble quest. She hopes to find her beloved Ezra Bridger, echoing the story of Orpheus, the hero of Greek myth who descends into the Underworld to find his beloved Eurydice.

Morgan’s Theme continues when they board the shuttle and descend to the planet Peridea.

The landscape of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth is suggested by the giant statues and the Nightsister fortress, which resembles an evil version of Minas Tirith.

The characters encounter three Nightsisters, analogous to the Three Fates of Greek mythology, the Moirai. (Note the similarities between this word and the name of Ahsoka’s owl, Morai, a creature I predict that we will be seeing again soon.)

The three Fates were the personification of destiny in Greek mythology. The three sisters were known as Clotho (the spinner), Lachesis (the alotter), and Atropos (the unturnable, a metaphor for death). The end credits for this episode name these three Nightsisters as Klothow, Lakesis, and Aktropaw, clearly indicating the intended symbolism of these three characters. As George Lucas said back in the late nineties, “Well, when I did Star Wars I consciously set about to recreate myths and the — and the classic mythological motifs. And I wanted to use those motifs to deal with issues that existed today.” (From billmoyers.com) Lucas’ apprentice, Dave Filoni, has learned this lesson from the master himself.

The music is quieter in this scene, with sounds of low vibrations being heard. Morgan’s Theme continues when Sabine is imprisoned by the Nightsisters’ three orbs, which held her bound within a triangle made of red cords of energy.

Outside of the fortress three wolf-like creatures howl as ominous music plays. Choral music suggesting the mysticism of the fallen Jedi Order is heard as Baylan speaks of Peridea being a realm of “dreams and madness” from old “children’s stories come to life.” Once again, the viewer is reminded that we are being told a fairy tale, a myth. The musical score subtly teases the listener with three notes from Ahsoka’s Ronin theme in this scene.

Sabine is imprisoned inside the Nightsister fortress as the Chimaera arrives with the sound of ominous metallic rumbling. Thrawn’s flagship Star Destroyer was named after the female fire-breathing monster in Greek mythology which was part lion, part goat, and part dragon.

I am no Freudian, but the Chimaera’s open docking bay hovering over the phallic tower of the Nightsister fortress seems to be the most overtly sexual symbolism I have seen in Star Wars in a long time. However, I’m not here to discuss that visual metaphor.

Organ music which anticipates but does not present Thrawn’s theme is heard as the Nighttroopers muster under Enoch’s command. These undead stormtroopers have cracked armor repaired with golden seams suggesting the Japanese art of kintsugi, as well as armor pieces bound with bands of red cloth. They are heard chanting “Thrawn! Thrawn!” as the Grand Admiral makes his dramatic entrance. For me this chant was reminiscent of how the orcs in Return of the King chanted “Grond! Grond!” when using their mighty battering ram against the walls of Minas Tirith. (You can do your own Freudian analysis of that scene. I’m not going there.) What was Grond?

“Grond, also known as the Wolf's Head, was a one hundred-foot long battering ram with a head in the shape of a ravening wolf, used in the arsenal of Sauron in the Third Age. Though named for Grond, Morgoth’s warhammer, it was created in the likeness of the Wolf of Angband, Carcharoth.”—from lotr.fandom.com

Creepy music accompanies the Nighttroopers as they transfer of cargo from the catacombs beneath the fortress. What is inside them? Dead Nightsisters, waiting to be revived by dark magic?

Thumps and low pitched sounds accompany Thrawn’s conversation with Baylan.

Thrawn speaks of Sabine’s desire to be reunited with her long-lost friend. (The word desire is a very intentional word choice, with the connotation that the connection between Sabine and Ezra has potential to be more than just friendship.)

Sabine: I’m sure he’s doing just fine.

Thrawn: You gambled the fate of your galaxy on that belief.

Sabine: You wouldn’t understand.

Thrawn: Perhaps not.

Evil does not understand love and loyalty. (See my previous post about the Path to Peridea.)

Enoch returns Sabine’s weapons to her, and she is provided with provisions and a wolf-like howler for a mount. He tells her to “die well” as she embarks on her “fool’s errand.”

The line about a “fool’s errand” calls to mind this scene from Tolkien’s novel, The Return of the King:

'Tell me,' he said, 'is there any hope? For Frodo, I mean; or at least mostly for Frodo.'

Gandalf put his hand on Pippin's head. 'There never was much hope,' he answered. 'Just a fool's hope, as I have been told…”

“A Fool’s Hope” was also the title of the penultimate episode of Star Wars Rebels final season.

Once again, Thrawn’s theme is only hinted at by the organ music at the end of the scene.

Sabine’s scanner is destroyed during her fight for her life with the red-armored bandits in the wastelands. Her life is saved by her Mandalorian armor and weapons, Ahsoka’s training, and Ezra’s lightsaber in this action sequence.

Baylan and Shin ride out on howlers. Nighttroopers load coffin-like cargo containers onto the Chimaera as uneasy music plays. Thrawn decides to dispatch only two squadrons of Nighttroopers. His disdain for Jedi, light or dark, is apparent: “It matters not whether Wren and Bridger are killed or stranded here. The same can be said for your two mercenaries.” Ominous music plays.

The scene with Sabine and the howler is accompanied by gentle music played upon wooden flutes. Sabine processes her abandonment issues and her complex feelings for Ezra in this scene by taking out her emotions on the howler. “You. You abandoned me. I should have known you are a coward.” She tries to make the howler stop following her, but the loyal animal comes back as soon as she walks away. “Okay. Fine,” she says. “I’ll give you another chance, but you better not bail on me this time.” The gentle flute music continues. A motif of ascending perfect fifths suggests Ezra’s Theme.

The howler stops to drink water and sniffs the air. The thing that Sabine and the audience assumes to be a rock is revealed to be a sentient little hermit-crab-like creature called a Noti. Gentle music plays when Sabine kneels, puts down her blaster, and extends her hand to the creature. The Noti recognizes the Rebel Alliance symbol (an evolution of her own Starbird design) on her pauldron. The creature has a medallion of his own, marked with a similar symbol.

“Do you know Ezra Bridger?” Sabine asks, touching her heart. “He’s my friend.”

Ominous music plays as Baylan and Shin discover the dead bandits. Once again choral music is heard when Baylan reminisces about the Jedi Order.

It is also revealed that the Nightsisters are fleeing from a power that is greater than their own.

Baylan and Shin see the red Bandits in the distance. “The enemy of our enemy is our friend,” says Baylan, “for now.”

Peaceful and noble sounding music is heard when Sabine sees the Noti encampment. She smiles at the mother Noti rocking her baby in a hammock.

With Sabine in the foreground, the camera pans to show a now adult, bearded Ezra Bridger wearing a red robe and leaning against the wall of his home. “I knew I could count on you,” he says as joyful music plays, music which features the piccolo, flute, and other woodwind instruments.

The closed captioning for this episode says that there is captivating music playing when Sabine and Ezra finally embrace. We hear a beautifully orchestrated rendition of Ezra’s Theme on the French horn with a new countermelody in the strings to heighten the emotional impact of this long-awaited scene.

Ezra’s Theme is heard again when he says “Sabine, thanks for coming. I can’t wait to go home.”

When we return to where the Chimaera is docked with the Nightsister fortress, a suggestion of Thrawn’s Theme is heard at a quick tempo suggesting the urgency of the situation that is about to unfold. Ahsoka Tano is coming. “The thread of destiny demands it” is a line that further emphasizes the three Nightsisters playing the role of the three fates. We finally hear Thrawn’s Theme presented in an obvious way as the episode ends.

I have blogged about the magnificent end credits music in previous blog posts, so this time I am going to discuss something different: the alchemical symbolism in Ahsoka.

The central focus of alchemy was to transmute base metals into gold and create the elixir of life, as any aficionado of the lore of the philosopher’s stone knows. The process is a metaphor for the purification and transformation of the human soul to a state of perfection.

Three colors symbolize this process, black, white, and red.

First there is the nigredo (blackening) stage of the alchemist’s work, representing the breaking of the human spirit. This is where both Sabine and Ahsoka are at the beginning of the series.

Second is the albedo (whitening) stage, which involves washing away impurities or vices, and being ready to grow and learn again. This is most clearly illustrated by Ahsoka the Grey’s “death” and transformation into Ahsoka the White.

Third is the rubedo (reddening) stage, which is where we are in the story right now. It represents the purified and awakened spirit reaching its highest and purest form.

“The symbols used in alchemical writing and art to represent this red stage can include blood, a phoenix , a rose, a crowned king, or a figure wearing red clothes.”—Wikipedia.

The color red, of course, is symbolic of Nightsisters and their magic in this series, as well as symbolizing the red thread of fate.

Baylan Skoll’s line about having to “destroy in order to create” is an example of the alchemical concept of “solve et coagula” meaning to separate then join together. Nothing new can be built without destroying the old. Perhaps this is really telling us about the destruction and rebuilding of the Jedi Order.

In the completion of the rubedo stage there must be a union of sulphur and mercury, also known as the wedding of the Red King (the sun) and the White Queen (the moon). Sulphur represents the masculine principle, the soul, and the fire of life. (Remember Ezra’s red robe?) Mercury represents the feminine principle and the mind, flexible and changing. (Sabine is a clever young woman who lives inside her head, sometimes too much. Lately she’s been distracted by her heart.) Mercury also represents a state that can transcend death.

Is the much-discussed Ezra and Sabine hug the union of Sulphur and Mercury? Or should we expect something more than that?

Much has been written about Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati as the mythological wolves who chase the sun and the moon. This episode ends with the pair in pursuit of Ezra (sulphur, the Red King, the sun) and Sabine (mercury, the White Queen, the moon). When Skoll and Hati catch the sun and the moon, Ragnarok begins.

Besides sulphur and mercury, there is another element present at the rubedo stage of alchemical transformation: salt.

Ahsoka the White is coming.

Please reblog and comment on what you think of my musical and literary analysis of this episode of Ahsoka. I am looking forward to reading your replies.

[yanderes-galore]

Can I request yandere Michael Afton with Henry daughter that was protected by platknic yandere lefty?

Sure! Lefty is Charlotte in this, so Lefty is referred to as (She/her).

Yandere! Michael Afton with Henry's Daughter! Darling protected by Lefty

Pairing: Platonic/Romantic (Michael)/Platonic (Lefty) - Rivalry

Possible Trigger Warnings: Female Darling, Overprotective behavior, Rivalry implied, Violence, Jealousy, Violence, She/Her Lefty, Trauma/Trauma bonding, Michael is a corpse, Death, Attempted murder, Forced companionship.

Alright, you were the sister of Charlotte.

You, Charlotte, and Henry were originally an okay family.

However, William ruined your life.

William killed your sister and your father became obsessed with revenge.

So, honestly, you and Michael already have similarities.

Dead siblings… horrible dads… life ruined by William…

You'd get along.

You probably both met due to Henry, too.

Henry assigned you to help Michael with luring the animatronics into one place to end this.

Which, of course, allows you to meet Michael.

It's weird and slightly nauseating for you though due to Michael's… state.

He's a corpse that tries to hide that fact with too much cologne, makeup, and a strange bear mask.

The way he talks is raspy, too.

This is where the story takes place.

You work with Michael and you soon lure Lefty/The Puppet into your Pizzeria.

You no doubt know what Michael is even when he tries to hide it.

Despite this you still strike up conversation about your past and how the job is going.

Michael probably begins to have a soft spot towards you due to your shared trauma.

You're more closely linked than you think, y'know?

This makes Michael begin to see you not just as a coworker… but a friend, maybe even more.

Although he probably tries to hide such feelings due to what he's become.

So while you “bond” with Michael through your shared past and the job, there's someone lurking in the darkness.

Lefty, who in this concept is indeed possessed compared to my other ones, remembers you.

To be more specific, Charlotte remembers you as her sister.

She still hates Michael… but not you.

She remembers you in a good light.

You and her father were no doubt devastated about her death.

I also think Charlotte has missed you since she's died.

What she doesn't enjoy is the fact Michael is with you.

Charlotte, who I will now call Lefty, associates Michael with William.

She wants him dead.

Even more so with him so close to you.

The sight of Michael trying to bond with you more than her, or the possibility that you can get hurt, sends her into a rage.

So while Lefty tries to kill Michael, she is actively doing it to try and protect you

She doesn't want you falling prey to a similar fate to her.

She still cares for you too much for that.

I can see the dynamic of this being Michael trying to protect you from Lefty, with Lefty trying to protect you from Michael.

It's like a game of tug o'war between you.

Michael assumes since Lefty is after him, Lefty will kill you too.

Meanwhile Lefty thinks Michael will hurt you like William did to her.

You have a hard time trusting either of them.

Michael seems to have a strange fascination with you due to shared trauma while Lefty keeps trying to isolate you. 

You're caught in the middle.

They both probably mean well, but you don't trust it.

You also might not know Lefty's true identity.

Which only concerns you more when the black bear keeps trying to get close to you.

The rivalry between the two only makes this whole job harder.

During the day you work with Michael to gain money.

During the night you end up tracking Lefty.

Lefty would probably tell you her identity once she has a chance, which shocks you.

Yet Michael wouldn't take it well for a few reasons.

One, Lefty may be your sister but she's still trying to kill him.

Two, Michael wants all of your attention on him.

The fighting no doubt continues right up until Henry's plan hits its end.

Michael keeps trying to keep you in the office with him while Lefty/Charlotte is trying to coax you to stay with her.

Lefty knows of the dangers in this pizzeria.

Michael does too.

So, it's just a decision of who will protect you each night.

Does your choice even matter in the end?

You'll probably all burn by the end of this.

[charlidos]

"With Mr. Mortensen, Bloom "lost" himself in the New Zealand wilderness. 14 hours later they both returned to the LotR set bruised and thirsty and with a photo that's reputed to be the best ever taken of Orlando. If Mortensen would only release it."

In the myth of Viggo and Orlando's adventures in New Zealand and Middle Earth, this is my favourite legendary tale; two men getting lost and spending a night in a New Zealand rainforest, a "moonless night" 24 years ago. The leader of the pack taking the eager young pup on an adventure, Viggo the romantic renaissance man and Orlando's I'll-follow-you-on-any-adventure adoration. It is indeed the stuff of legends. And like all legends, the story changes over time.

So here's all we know, all we can guess and all we can blissfully imagine.

To begin with, the video interview is from 2004, and the info that Orlando was the "friend" accompaning him is from 2005. However, when Viggo told the same story back in 2003, he was alone, no friend mentioned.

"One time, I was in the rainforest near the west coast of the South Island. It was on a shooting break, one of those incredibly rare weekends where I actually had a Saturday off. So I just went down there for a day and a night to a place that I'd been to before. I wanted to get to the coast, so I headed into the woods, but it was a bit of a hike and it suddenly got dark. I hadn't brought a flashlight with me, which was a bit stupid, because I thought I knew the trail really well. But then I got lost. There was no moon and it was overcast, so it was just completely pitch black, especially as the vegetation was really dense and thorny. But I did have a camera with me, which had a flash, and a couple of rolls of film. So I used the flash to try and find my way out. For a second you could see everything around, so I was using the flash to try and find the trail. I kept thinking, 'It must be around here somewhere', but I never did find it. And then I ran out of film. At some point I was just getting really tired and ended up in a marshy area. I was falling down all the time, getting cut by thorns and I thought, 'This is stupid'. So, I found a piece of relatively high ground and lay down for a little while, until the moon came up. Luckily, when the moon arrived I managed to get my bearings and eventually I was able to figure out how to get back to where I started from. It was a huge relief, but when I showed up back on the set, I really alarmed everyone because it looked like I'd been through a grinder."

How come Orlando joined him on this trip into the wild? I can only speculate (it's what I'm here for, making an epic mountain of a molehill), but Orlando is famously very keen on adventure, so I'm sure he was eager to join. Moreover, he obviously worshipped the ground Viggo walked on (his "guardian angel" who has the skills to basically manage anything. Orlando probably thought "what could possibly go wrong?") and took any opportunity to follow his king. In other words, I don't think Orlando was hard pressed about coming along.

Why did Viggo ask Orlando then? Because he knew Orlando would say yes? Because he knew Orlando would appreciate it, more than the others? Because Orlando was the only other actor having a day off? Because Viggo felt a strong urge to share this beautiful and amazing place with him? Because of the chance to spend quality time with his sweet elf boy?

In Viggo's excellent plan for the hike, they'd be back soon, "in time for dinner". But instead they got lost. Maybe the prescence of the pretty elf prince distracted him? Or maybe he was being overly confident in his abilities, and perhaps wanting to show off a little? Even Viggo will want to impress people he likes, I'm sure.

Viggo brought his camera, photographer that he is. But he also brought an extra roll of film, suggesting he was planning to take a lot of pics. Maybe he wanted to photograph Orlando out in the woods; a beautiful elf in his natural element. But then he seems to quite quickly spend all the film on finding the way, running out before they were even remotely near home. Maybe he panicked a bit? Or maybe he really just wanted to get cool, impromptu photos for a book.

"When I developed the film, which was black and white, there were some really interesting images. The flash had lit up the ground, the foliage and these ferns which are typical of New Zealand. Some of them are almost like negatives because there was this fog and the flash was bouncing off them creating a really strange effect. It's quite unusual because there are these delicate ferns with their little tendrils and all the whiteness around them which makes them look like Japanese prints. I printed off four of them, which I've called Lost 1, 2, 3 and 4. You can see them on the internet."

(This is the first rendering of the tale, in 2002.)

The fact that Viggo apparently also took one - at least - photo of Orlando, suggests that Viggo either took some photos before getting lost, or he took photos of Orlando, furtively (or mistakenly?), while he was supposed to flash their way home. (But who is it who claims this photo is the best ever taken of Orlando? Orlando himself? Does he have it framed at home, as a treasured memory?)

As it got dark out with no moonlight, they started bumping into things, falling over and getting scratched by thorns and bruised by trees. They obviously didn't get seriously hurt, but maybe Viggo did start to worry for their safety. Like he said, he felt responsible for bringing Orlando out there, if he also got injured, it would have been disastrous. (Not sure if this rainforest also has dangerous animals and insects. Trampling on a deadly snake, walking into a poisonous spiderweb, getting prowled upon by a wild animal.)

The way Viggo tells it, the whole thing has an air of romantic adventure. Just picture them finding a piece of dry land for them to stay for a while. waiting for the moon and the stars to come out. (Or until the sun came up?) Imagine them lying on soft grass in a glade, talking softly, just waiting and enjoying each other's company.

Orlando can't have been used to being out in the wilderness, particularly in a foreign country, so Viggo was likely feeling protective. And I imagine Orlando keeping close to Viggo at all times, feeling safe as long as he could feel Viggo's warm body near. Trusting Viggo to keep them safe. If it was "pitch dark", how did they keep track of each other? I imagine Orlando grabbing hold of Viggo's hand, clutching it hard, his only anchor in a foreign, scary place. When they laid down in that glade, maybe they snuggled in close to each other to keep warm (since any night will most likely be a little cool). Maybe holding each other, for comfort and safety. Dirty, bruised, thirsty, completely lost and sharing a beautiful night together.

I can also see them finally seeing the first light of day, and being able to find their way back, hiking back to civilisation. Returning dishevled, exhausted yet very happy. I can see them, two crazy and adventurous nutters laughing about that night in the rainforest of NZ. And living to tell the wild tale, for years to come.

It's such a beautiful, romantic image. No matter what, I feel sure such an experience is one you keep with you for a long time. Bonding to the two together, forever. And creating a mythical legend to boot.

[adarkrainbow]

The art of Perrault (2)

Continuing from this post, there is another segment of the article which is absolutely delightful: the one about the "Fairy tale salon" of Jean Veber

Because Perrault didn't just inspire paintings and drawings - furniture too!

In the beginning of the 20th century, Jean Veber (a student of both Alexandre Cabanel and Robert Delaunay) was doing a lot of fairy-themed expositions, and when he was asked by Rosemonde Gérard (the wife of Edmond Rostand) to create her "boudoir" at their Arnaga villa (Cambo, Pays Basque), he chose "fairy tales" as his theme. He notably composed there beautiful wall paintings that attracted the attention of both Léon Bérard (under-secretary of state of the Beaux-Arts) and Gustave Geffroy, the administrator of the Gobelins Manufacture.

(Here is a Sleeping Beauty mural):

In 1912, Gustave Geffroy paid Veber to create an entire salon themed after Charles Perrault's fairy tales - tapestries and various sitting-furnitures. The plans for the salon were originally ambitious, but it was restricted due to limited money - else we would have had five tapestries and thirteen furnitures, including a bed, and many more "chairs" of various models (chaise, fauteuil, bergères). Instead, the "Contes de fées" salon gathers three tapestries, four armchairs, four regular chairs, a sofa, and a fireplace screen - now all preserved in the Mobilier national collection. (The two additional tapestries would have been Puss in Boots and Donkey Skin)

(Here's the Puss in Boots armchair)

(And the Bluebeard sofa)

After the newspapers mediatized madame Rostand's boudoir in the beginning of the 1910s, the Gobelins immediately asked Veber painted preparations of the Sleeping Beauty and Little Thumbling tapestries. In the 1914 he was commissioned the drawings for the various chairs by the Beauvais manufactury - specialized in chair tapestry. The project was interrupted by the First World war, but it began agan in 1919, year where the drawing for the Bluebeard sofa was made. The project got faster by the 1920s, thanks to the collaboration of the cabinet-maker Paul Follot. The entirety of the furniture was delivered by the end of 1922, after the Little Thumbling and Sleeping Beauties tapestries had been completed (1919-1920). The Cinderella tapestry (prepared by 1919) and the Beauty and the Beast screen won't be woven until 1923 and 1926.

(Sleeping Beauty silk-and-wool weavework)

The aesthetic of Veber's paintings evoke the paintings that cover the walls of the Arnaga villa: frize disposition and very colorful.

(Preparation work for the Cinderella tapestry)

These creations appeared half-a-century after Gustave Doré's illustrations, and in many ways oppose them. Here we have a sentimental, idealized, almost childish view of Perrault's story. Everything is light-hearted and funny, and the terror of the tales is removed - even the most frightening characters are merely grotesque. This is due to how, in this era, fairytales had been massively shared and spread as children literature, as well as to the nature of Veber's commission: indeed, the creation of a salon requires a peaceful and comforting ambiance, where someone can rest. He can't possibly put Doré images in there. After the First World War, this literary theme allows one to find back a sort of lightness - the tapestries of Beauvais being in harmony with the walnut-wood furniture, all golden and in curvy shapes.

(Beauty and the Beast fireplace screen)

Far from doing a "composition monotony", Veber makes sure each of the tapestries has been conceived in a different way, to offer a large palette of movement and dynamics. For Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella he chose specific moments of the tale. In the first, we have the prince charming rushing to the side of his beloved, in the middle of a thick vegetation filled with asleep characters. In the second, we see Cinderella fleeing the ball, her rushing carriage preventing the prince from stopping her. However, for Little Thumbling several key moments of the tale are presented side-by-side, so that in one glance the whole story is offered in a condensed version.

(Little Thumbling silk-and-wool weavework)

The "Contes de fées" salon of Veber is another example of the universality of Perrault, which can extend further beyond the world of the page, and into the decoration of walls and furnitures. The originality of this project seduced people at the time, and the Beauvais manufecture immediately demanded a new work from the artist: an "Animals in the forest" project for which he created four chairs, three armchairs and a screen. Delivered in 1925, this set can be considered a continuation of his "Fairy tales" salon.

(Armchair of the Foxes)

[berlynn-wohl]

i wonder if you plan to continue the adventures of sir loren and sir aiken. it is probably the loveliest thing ive ever read on ao3. took me nearly a year to read it all, but every word of it was 10000% worth savoring. i just wanted to say i adore those not so little guys and wish you the best.

Thank you so much for taking the time -- I am thrilled whenever anyone lets me know that they have enjoyed the adventures of The Gay Knights Who Solve Mysteries And Are Gay.

So, I actually have two more stories in mind, one 100% sketched out (i.e. I know what will happen in the beginning, middle, and end) and one maybe 50% sketched out (I know how they get into trouble but I haven't figured out how they get out yet).

As for "will I actually write them," I'm sure I will eventually. But when you're writing OCs, you have to rely far more on internal motivation -- readers are just not going to get as excited about OCs as they are about fanfic, so when you post content about your OCs, you have to accept that after working for weeks on a 30-50k story, you will get fewer comments, fewer kudos, fewer hits. And having been in fandom for over 20 years, I've gotten used to the external motivation.

(Also I have a million hobbies, so sometimes I won't write for eight months, and then I'll suddenly be like "hmm what if I wrote forty thousand words RIGHT NOW")

However, your Ask has reminded me that people did indeed enjoy those stories, and did leave some lovely comments, and there are folks who would appreciate my adding to the Loren/Aiken omnibus. I'll see what I can do, just because you asked so nicely. ;)

And for anyone reading this who is not already familiar with Sir Loren and Sir Aiken's adventures, here is a gorgeous cover by the amazing Max Kennedy to give you an idea of the vibe:

[une-sanz-pluis]

I recently read Esther Cohen's The Modulated Scream: Pain In Late Medieval Culture, which is a study of the various ways pain was represented in treatises on torture, stories of martyrs, saints and mystics, and medical/surgical treatises and more. I read it for fairly obvious reasons which naturally resulted in me having Even More Thoughts On Henry V's face hole.

(n.b. 1) Bradmore's treatise nor the Middle English translation is not discussed by Cohen. 2) I do not have access to a full translation of Bradmore's treatise in modern English nor the Middle English translation, only his case histories.)

John Bradmore's treatise makes little to no mention of pain associated with wounds or pain management, at least as far as it relates to his case histories. The one exception is not Hal's wound but a case of an unnamed London carpenter "careless with his chisel" that left him haemorrhaging. In this case, Bradmore tries a variety of methods to arrest bleeding - first a pressure bandage, then cauterisation and then, seeing no other alternative and that his patient was in danger of dying, he used a "secret corrosive powder". He explains he resorted to this powder last as it is "so furious and harsh that it is most oppressive" to the patient, i.e. painful and possibly life-threatening. S. J. Lang suggests that the reference to pain served two functions - to warn other practitioners of the powder's nature and to explain why he did not use it to begin with.

Bradmore's otherwise lack of reference to his patients' pain is not unusual. Per Cohen, university-trained surgeons "often completely ignored the problem of pain" when they wrote about surgical procedures. Cohen describes a "purely technical instruction" for the removal of an arrowhead that has "no mention of sedation" and concludes that pain alleviation was "applied far more often in cases of illness or wounds" than during surgery.

So, what did that mean for Hal? I want to come back to the question of sedation, so I'm just going to focus on pain management of the wound for the moment.

Bradmore's account deals not just with the surgical removal of the arrowhead but with the management of the wound after. Implied, but not stated directly, is any care he did for Hal before he began enlarging the wound in preparation for the arrowhead's removal - I assume Bradmore spent some time devising his cure before attempting it and it's been suggested (I can't remember who by or find the reference offhand) that Bradmore may have been one of the "divers skilled doctors" who first tended to Hal at Kenilworth and attempted and failed to remove the arrowhead through the use of "potions and other cures" but, when writing his treatise, excluded himself from their number and thus their failure. Bradmore does note, however, that from "from the beginning of the cure to its end", his treatment involved an ointment known as unguentum neruale (or unguentum nervale) placed twice daily on Hal's neck which was then covered with a hot plaster.

Bradmore writes that this part of Hal's treatment was done "because of the fear of spasm, which was my greatest fear". Lang suggests this was a reference to tetanus. Michael Livingston, while not disagreeing with Lang's suggestion, also notes that the arrowhead was "embedded in bone bordering the sixteen-year-old’s brain" and notes the threat of "temporary seizures and even permanent neurological damage", regardless of what part of the brain was potentially affected. In other words, the spasm Bradmore feared may have been neurological, rather than tetanus. Livingston also suggests that the use of the ointment and plaster on the neck might be suggestive of where the arrowhead came to rest:

... the placement of the ointment and hot plaster upon the neck might well indicate that it was indeed at the base of the skull that the point had become lodged.

But let's focus on the ointment itself. Unguentum neruale was made up of "more than twenty herbs, with wax, butter, and some resins" and used for "'chilled nerves and sinews ... and for all cold causes". However, reading through Cohen's section on pain alleviation makes me wonder if it was also intended to have a pain-killing effect because Cohen notes that almost all medieval analgesics (painkillers) were external, used in salves and plasters, or (less commonly) for inhalation or fumigation, rather than being something to be ingested. Thus, unguentum neruale could potentially have been analgesic properties as well as the more treatment-oriented properties of reducing the risk of spasm and warming "chilled nerves and sinews". It does seem that a lot of medieval medicines served multiple purposes so Bradmore's statement that this was used to avert "spasm" doesn't necessarily preclude the possibility that it also had a analgesic effect.

Per Cohen, analgesic unguents could be hot or cold, presumably in the humoral sense, and "surgeons from the learned tradition preferred hot poultices", which would fit in with the description of it being used for "all cold causes". Bradmore also likely ensured that "that no cold air should be allowed near the patient" in his treatment of Hal, as he records on his chapter on spasms (n.b. I do not have a translation of his chapter on spasms).

I don't have access to the full recipe Bradmore to know what herbs were used to compare them against the examples Cohen gives (or to another reference) of plants used for pain alleviation to try and determine whether the herbs used had or were believed to have analgesic or anaesthetic properties.

Bradmore also mentions one other specific ointment used on Hal: unguentum fuscum, made up of resins and gums, which he claimed to use to regenerate the flesh. Lang notes the ingredients would have had a "mildly antiseptic effect" but no effect on regeneration of flesh (or, presumably, skin as Livingston suggests). Neither Lang nor Livingston gives any indication they could have an impact on pain. Again, I don't have the full recipe to try and determine whether some ingredients could have alleviated pain.

Bradmore does not mention using any ointments on or around the wound itself prior to the removal of the arrowhead. The tents he used to enlarge the wound were dipped in rose-honey, which would have kept the wound dry, delayed healing, prevented the tents from sticking inside the wound and had an antibacterial effect. After the removal of the arrowhead, the wound was washed out with white wine which would have had "a powerful, though shortlived, antiseptic effect" according to Lang. Then, for a period of 20 days, Bradmore used tents made of tow fibres with a cleansing medication made from white breadcrumbs, flour, honey and turpentine. The latter two ingredients would have had an antibacterial and antiseptic effect respectively. These tents were probably a precursor to modern wound-packing, which allow a deep wound to heal from the bottom up and mitigate the risk of infection by ensuring fluid and bacteria are not trapped inside the wound that has healed over at the top (i.e. skin level) but not the bottom of the wound.

Purgation, per Cohen, was also used as part of the health regimen and in some cases was believed to have an analgesic effect. This included emetics (inducing vomiting), blood-letting, diuretics, sweat-baths, fumigation and clysters (enemas). Bradmore doesn't make mention of using any of these on Hal but, iirc, he mentions it in another treatment. He may not have included it because purgation was a facet of basic health care that any surgeon would naturally not need prompting to perform and perhaps would be not be uniformly prescribed but tailored to the patient's needs and humours on a day-to-day basis. I suspect emetics were out due to the risk of aggravating the wound. Depending on how much blood Hal lost from the wound and the possibility subsequent blood loss (i.e. during early attempts to remove the arrowhead, when the wound was enlarged or the surgery to remove it), blood-letting may not have been seen as a necessity. If so, Bradmore's preferred methods of purgation would be the use of enemas, diuretics, sweat-baths and fumigations.

But then, what do I know? I'm not a medieval surgeon.

Though Bradmore is silent on Hal's pain, historians have often spoken of the pain Hal would have been in, often framing it as unimaginable or horrific. I have no doubt it was. As I've said before, the location of the wound would mean that even attempting to express that pain vocally or through tears would have likely added to the pain Hal was going through.

Livingston, in a more recent work, suggests Hal was given "ample doses" of Venice Treacle or theriac, "a closely guarded and very expensive concoction of 64 ingredients that included opium among its roots, leaves, barks, herbs, fruits, oils, and various other elements". Neither Cohen nor Lang make reference to Venice Treacle. However, the Middle English translation of Bradmore's treatise, changes Bradmore's recipe for the cleansing medication used during the wound-packing. The translator advised the use populeon instead of turpentine. Populeon was made of poplar buds or leaves, smallage, poppies, henbane, ribwort, brooklime, groundsel, watercress, deadly nightshade, black nightshade, plantain, pennywort, ribwort, tallow, lard and butter. Lang suggests this may have been intended to have a painkilling effect. However, the translator wasn't Bradmore so the use of populeon to manage Hal's pain must be doubted.

In terms of plants used to alleviate pain, Cohen notes that plants like poppy, henbane, crocus, hemlock and mandrake were not analgesic "since they put the person, rather than the pain, to sleep". These were very sparingly used as they "could just as easily kill the patient as anaesthetize the pain of surgery". Opium, due to the expense, "appears only in the writings of surgeons and physicians, but even these avoided it if at all possible". Cohen mentions at 14th century French physician and surgeon, Guy of Chauliac, who was only willing to use these plants when "all other painkillers had failed to arrest and the patient was in danger of dying from the pain". However, in such cases "one must use them only in suppositories for this method was safer than ingestion" and giving patients opium to drink was "even more dangerous". What influence Guy of Chauliac had on Bradmore, if any, and what Bradmore thought of the use of the stupefacients is unknown. But if Hal's wound was aggravated (and the pain was worsened) by the act of opening his mouth and/or swallowing, then using stupefacients in the form of suppositories rather than potions may have been the preference of both Bradmore and his patient.

On one hand, we can assume that Hal had the best medical care that money could buy. The cost of opium was likely no object and Bradmore (and any other surgeon or physician who attended) would have been eager to keep the Prince of Wales and heir to the throne as comfortable as possible. On the other hand, we can also imagine that they were very well aware of the warnings about the use of stupefacients and didn't want to risk accidentally killing the Prince of Wales through the use of a pain alleviating potion or plant that the literature was rife with warnings about.

Let's return to the question of anaesthesia. Some historians have referenced dwale or the use of "a basic anaesthesia, based on plasters of opium, henbane, laudanum or hemlock" (as suggested by Juliet Barker) when discussing Hal's surgery. Cohen notes that the "possibility of total anesthesia does crop up in various sources, but in no clear prescription".

A "soporific sponge" appears in various medical treatises from the ninth century on. In its earliest form, this involved a sea-sponge being soaked in opium, mandrake, henbane, and hemlock that had been ground together and mixed with water, then allowed to dry out. Theoretically, when about to perform surgery, the surgeon would re-moisten the sponge and place it under the patient's nose, where the inhalation of fumes would render the patient unconscious. To wake the patient, the surgeon would switch out the sponge for one soaked in "warm vinegar". However, as Cohen notes, "there is no evidence for any surgeon having used such a sponge". Guy of Chauliac heard of it and its ingredients but didn't have the quantities or recipe and warned against its use. It has been suggested that the sponge was "no more than a literary tradition", and Cohen agrees that its existence is unproven.

If not a sponge, was there another form of anaesthesia that Bradmore could have used? Cohen mentions a "very stubborn tradition" of an anaesthetic drink on the British Isles. In the twelfth century, there was "Letargion" or "the drink of oblivion" - the example Cohen cites is from the vita of St. Kentigern and provides no details of what it was supposed to be made of, much less how it was prepared or used. However, recipes for dwale, which Cohen describes as a "a milder concoction, containing minor quantities of hemlock, poppy, henbane and lettuce mixed with a gallon of wine" appear in several manuscripts, while John Arderne describes an anaesthetic ointment that is similar to the sponge in composition. Presumably, Arderne's ointment was what Juliet Barker was referring to. Cohen seems doubtful that these were anything more than a literary tradition and doubts they were actually used.

Cohen cites drawings of late medieval surgery that depicted surgical patients "tied down, held down by stalwart assistants, and thrashing and screaming with contorted faces" as being suggestive that neither the anaesthetic sponge, drinks nor ointments were effective - or if they were, so rarely used. They may have been a literary tradition. Cohen concludes that "there is no question that surgery under those circumstances were difficult for the surgeon but gravely traumatic for the patient".

As I said, I don't have a full translation of Bradmore's treatise to check for myself but neither Lang nor Livingston make reference to Bradmore including recipes that could have have an anaesthetic function in his treatise. He may have excluded them because, like other physicians, he distrusted them and/or considered the risks too great.

It's tempting to say that the delicacy of the work Bradmore had to do and the status of his patient meant that he was willing to try these unproven methods. But Bradmore must have been aware of the risks expounded by other healers and the potential disaster that awaited should his attempt to anaesthetise Hal result in accidental death. To me, it's the final point that's the deciding one for me. It'd one thing for Hal to have died as a direct result from the wound or during surgery, which would be understood and accepted as a risk and a potential outcome. It'd be another thing altogether for Hal to die because Bradmore used an experimental anaesthesia whose ingredients other physicians had warned about.

(I feel I need to emphasise here that I'm not saying that Henry IV would have chopped off Bradmore's head had Hal died of the result of the use of an experimental anaesthesia. I'm saying it would have had a devastating impact on Bradmore's reputation and career.)

I think the fact that Bradmore doesn't seem to include a recipe for or reference to anaesthesia is suggestive that he may have followed Guy of Chauliac (regardless of whether he knew Guy's work) and seen them as too risky or that Bradmore believed that the soporific sponge, Arderne's ointment or dwale would not work. Having said that and as I keep saying, I don't have access to a full translation of Bradmore's treatise so I could be wrong.

So, just how aware was Hal during the removal process and how did Bradmore prevent movement? Bradmore gives us no answers. I doubt full sedation was sought, much less achieved. I suspect that Bradmore used whatever methods of pain alleviation he had been using, perhaps increasing the dosage a little but still trying to keep it at a safe level. This likely involved an analgesic salve and perhaps a potion or suppository that included the dangerous stupefacients like opium, hemlock, henbane etc. I suspect Bradmore also restrained Hal, through the use of ropes and a "stalwart assistant" to keep him still. One hopes Bradmore was quick but the work must have been delicate and with little margin for error. Bradmore, frustratingly, is silent on the time frame for much of his treatment, including the actual surgery.

Were Bradmore and other surgeons sadists? Probably not. Medieval healers, Cohen says, saw "distinguished between different types of pain". Pain caused or signifying illness "required alleviation" but "pain that was part of the healing process required restraint and fortitude on the part of the patients. The healer was correct in inflicting it". Bradmore's concern in the case of the haemorrhaging carpenter suggests that he employed methods that were less painful in effort to avoid causing the patient more pain than necessary. It is also likely that very real concerns about the dangers of using stupefacients that could kill a patient as easily as sedate them for surgery played a role.

So, in summary:

Like other surgical treatises, Bradmore's makes little reference to pain management or sedation

Bradmore's unguentum neruale possibly may have had painkilling properties as well as the warming effect intended to reduce the risk of Bradmore's greatest fear, "spasm".

Bradmore's care regimen very likely included purgation. I suspect emetics were unlikely due to the risk of aggravating the wound and blood-letting, enemas, fumigation, sweat-baths and diuretics were more likely, though blood-letting was likely sparingly used due to the blood less Hal would have suffered at various points of his injury and its treatment.

Medieval healers were well-aware of the risks of using stupefacients like opium, henbane, hemlock, mandrake, crocus and used them sparingly. If any of these were used on Hal, this would have been known and the risk attempted to be mitigated.

This might have involved sticking them up in his ass instead of having him drink them.

Total sedation appears to have been a myth and it is unlikely Bradmore had a reliable anaesthetic on hand.

I suspect that Hal was given a safe dose of a stupefacients and restrained for the arrowhead's removal. I don't think he was entirely knocked out for it.

References Mentioned

Juliet Barker, Agincourt: The King, The Campaign, The Battle (Abacus 2015)

Esther Cohen, The Modulated Scream: Pain In Late Medieval Culture (University of Chicago Press 2003)

S. J. Lang, The Philomena of John Bradmore and its Middle English derivative: a perspective on surgery in late Medieval England (PhD thesis, University of St Andrews, 1998) (this includes translations of Bradmore's case histories)

Michael Livingston, ‘“The Depth of Six Inches”: Prince Hal’s Head- Wound at the Battle of Shrewsbury’, Wounds and Wound Repair in Medieval Culture, ed. Larissa Tracy and Kelly DeVries (Brill 2015)

Michael Livingston, Agincourt: Battle of the Scarred King (Osprey 2023)

[sk8termikey]

Chapter 8 of 21 Questions

better interface on wattpad

It was time for Matt and his brothers to film another car video. This would be entitled WE RATE YOUR PETS (very scary or cute) and although people could guess from the title what it would be about when the video would come out on a Friday, Matt started explaining the point of it:

“Well, actually a fan said ‘rate our dogs’ so Nick said ‘oh my god, let’s rate people’s pets’. And then he put on the Instagram story ‘rate all different types of pets’ so you guys sent your birds, your cats, your dogs, your lizards, your cows, your horses, your mice–”

“YOUR MOM!” Chris interrupted Matt as the latter let out a small laugh and covered his mouth when doing so while Nick widened his eyes in the backseat.

As Matt pulled out his phone to start looking through the pictures of animals they’ve been sent, Chris and Nick warned their viewers that they should not be hurt by whatever they could say about the pets they would rate.

“It’s just like a funny game, we actually love all animals”, Chris clarified in case people would start criticising them for being too harsh and honest during the video.

~~~

The triplets had started rating a couple of animals when the camera cut – funny enough – due to them talking about their new project coming soon:

“We’re interrupting today’s car video to plug Cut the Camera Podcast on all platforms”. Nick was indeed promoting what would be released in a few days as Matt added that a trailer giving a preview to their fans was already out since the beginning of the week.

~~~

After being brutally honest towards every dog that they saw, the mood changed in the car as Nick announced with a frown that the next dog they were about to rate had died recently.

“Rest in peace, Sam.”

The brothers let out an aww when looking at Sam’s picture as they found the dog adorable. Nick was still acting considerate of Sam the dead dog as he concluded:

“Well, I’m happy that Sam had owners that loved him”.

“Me too”, Matt agreed.

However, Chris decided to ruin the sweet moment:

“What if they neglected Sam–”

“No.” Nick immediately stopped Chris from saying more as he knew his youngest brother would just talk shit.

~~~

After rating a horse that they really badly judged, the triplets did a 180° when they came across a picture of a pug and a cat, which they were all enjoying. Although the three were ecstatic while looking at the photo, Matt was the most fascinated out of them as he took the phone to admire the two pets more closely.

“Oh. My. God”, Matt gasped at the picture. “Wow.”

The triplets kept admiring the picture and couldn’t stop smiling at how cute they thought the two animals were.

~~~

“Oh wow…” Matt started as he was frowning at the new picture he was about to show his brothers. “Look at Bernard, who names their pet Bernard?”

“Well, it’s your middle name so you don’t have any right to judge this poor animal Matt”, Nick retorted.

“That’s– that’s a Google search”, Chris immediately reacted as the cat looked weird to him. “Ain’t no way that’s her dog”.

The triplets all started laughing at Chris’s comment. Although the picture was a bit funny, it was still obvious that Bernard was a cat – his owners will probably feel outraged when they hear what has been said about their beloved pet, but then also over the moon that he appeared in car video, and finally amazed at the coincidence that Matt was the one to choose the photo amongst what might have been thousands of others.

“I mean, I thought that was a hamster so–” Nick nervously laughed as he and Chris were just weirded out by the pet.

“I think he’s a cute cat”, Matt said to try and hype up the pet. “It’s just the angles”.

~~~

After having rated a dozen of pets – a certain favouritism towards dogs was to be noticed, Chris chose to end the car video by asking his brothers which animal they would be. As Matt replied that he wanted to be an owl and Nick had no answer to give, Chris announced with a serious face that he would be a serpent as the camera went closer to his face. Then as this is how they usually ended their Friday videos, Matt brought the camera to his mouth and let out a small scream to conclude.

“No but”, Matt started as he turned to face his brothers after turning off the camera. “I wanna know who the fuck names their cat Bernard. Poor thing is not a middle-aged man.”

“Yeah like, did they do that because of you or is it just a coincidence?” Chris wondered.

“Honestly it sounds like a huge coincidence to me”, Nick tried to find the most reasonable explanation. “But in the very little possibility that they did it on purpose, they didn’t choose the best triplet. I think we can all agree that out of our three middle names, Owen would be the least worst for a pet.”

“Well thank you Antonio”, Chris turned to the backseat and gave a genuine smile to his brother. “Bernard, you can suck it.

Thank you for reading. Votes and comments are always appreciated if you like this story :) The story is co-written w @/little_grapejuice on wattpad

[proton-wobbler]

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

There are (currently) four subspecies within Setophaga coronata:

Myrtle Warbler (S.c. coronata)

Audubon's Warbler (S.c. auduboni)

Black-fronted Warbler (S.c. nigrifrons)

Goldman's Warbler (S.c. goldmani)

Our story (my rambling) begins with Myrtle and Audubon's Warblers being described as separate species, until a study in 1973 found evidence that the two routinely hybridized within a small strip of Western Canada. The Biological Species Concept* defines a species as any members of a population which can interbreed and create fertile offspring, and with the limited genetic evidence of the time, this concept was used to lump Myrtle and Audubon's into the Yellow-rumped Warbler. (*keep in mind there are many ways to define a species, so this single concept isnt a "be all, end all" argument)

This hybrid zone, however, is only 80 miles across, and has been shown to be stable over the past 50 years, suggesting the hybrids may not be as viable as previously thought. This, coupled with a new and overwhelming comparison between the birds' genomes, suggests that Myrtle and Audubon's Warblers are indeed separate species.

So the story goes back even further, because this story is really about bird populations and not our human ability to categorize them. The most likely situation is that the Myrtle Warbler was separated from the other three forms of the species during the Pleistocene glaciation, over the last million years or so. This pattern can also be seen in other "paired" species from East to West, such as Baltimore and Bullock's Orioles, or Rose-breasted and Black-headed Grosbeaks. The glaciers cut off the breeding population of Myrtle Warblers, and only after their receding could they move West to meet in the middle again.

In an interesting twist, the leading idea is that Audubon's Warbler is not only a separate species, but is actually a hybrid species which arose from Myrtle meeting the Black-fronted Warbler once it expanded back West. This hypothesis is supported by mitochondrial DNA of a sedentary population of Audubon's being very similar to Black-fronted, rather than to Myrtle Warblers. There needs to be more study into the genomics of these birds to confirm whether or not Audubon's would stand as it's own species, or if it and Black-fronted are more closely related.

Off to the side of all this is Goldman's Warbler, which makes sense when you take a look at the breeding range of these warblers. Black-fronted and Goldman's Warbler are both non-migratory birds, and the population of Goldman's Warbler is located almost entirely in Guatemala, with possible populations to the west in Chiapas, Mexico. In the same genomics study above, Goldman's Warbler stood out as unique when compared to both Myrtle and Audubon's DNA.

To sum this up: more study is needed between Myrtle, Audubon's, and Black-fronted to confirm previous findings, but a three-way species split from this single species seems to be supported. The International Ornithological Congress (IOS) has already done so, splitting Yellow-rumped Warbler into Myrtle, Audubon's (with Black-fronted as a subspecies), and Goldman's Warbler.

While we're on the topic- hybridization between Setophaga warblers is not unheard of, and Yellow-rumped Warbler has multiple documented hybrids in the Macaulay library. I won't post all the pictures, but the best are linked as follows: Cape May, Magnolia, Palm, Yellow-throated, Grace's, Townsend's, Hermit, Black-throated Green). Other than it's own species-complex, Yellow-rumps are most closely related to Yellow-throated and Bahama Warbler.

Sources Below

Wikipedia (for ease of summarization)

Birds of the World (for the more in-depth story)

Barry the Birder (for the compiled image of all four birds, and for talking about the All About Birds article so I could find and link that)

All About Birds (for the range-pic, and for summarizing the study from The Auk- way better than I did, I may add. Go read their article if this intrigued you.)

Papers cited in Birds of the World:

[on 'lumping' YRWA] Eisenmann, E. (1973). Thirty-second supplement to the American Ornithologists' Union check-list of North American birds. Auk 90: 411–419.

[on the hybrid zone] Hubbard, J. P. (1969). The relationships and evolution of the Dendroica coronata complex. Auk 86:393-432.

[hybrid zone] Barrowclough, G. F. (1980). Genetic and phenotypic differentiation in a wood warbler (genus Dendroica) hybrid zone. Auk 97:655-668.

[hybrid zone] Brelsford, A., and D. E. Irwin (2009). Incipient speciation despite little assortative mating: the Yellow-rumped Warbler hybrid zone. Evolution 63:3050-3060

[on mtDNA between auduboni and nigrifrons] Milá, B., Toews, D.P.L., Smith, T.B. and Wayne, R.K. (2011). A cryptic contact zone between divergent mitochondrial DNA lineages in southwestern North America supports past introgressive hybridization in the yellow-rumped warbler complex (Aves: Dendroica coronata). Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 103: 696–706.

[on the 'hybrid origin' of auduboni] Brelsford, A., Milá, B. and Irwin, D.E. (2011). Hybrid origin of Audubon’s Warbler. Molecular Ecology. 20(11): 2380–2389.

[on 'splitting' YRWA] Toews, D.P.L., Brelsford, A., Grossen, C., Milá, B. and Irwin, D.E. (2016). Genomic variation across the Yellow-rumped Warbler species complex. Auk. 133(4): 698–717.

[onlyhereforturtles]

20 Questions For Fic Writers

So, I am brand new to the posting fics online scene and don't have much to back up these questions with. Most of what I've written are personal WIPs I will probably never release if finished, and I don't release much due to my inability to finish stories as well as my writing mostly being personal. So, since I've only got two released fics out due to this, I'm going to use my WIPs to answer some of these.

Thanks so much to @daboyau for the tag! This was fun!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

2 at the moment. Much of what I write is personal or I don't finish it, so I haven't released many.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

29,684, though with all my countless WIPs it's around 500,000

3. What fandoms do you write for?

TMNT, TF2, Creepypasta, MLP, and Hetalia, though I've only posted one of the TMNT fics and the others will never see the light of day!

(They're not finished and won't be).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Of the two that are on there, the 2003 Lighthouse AU ranks above Work or Death in kudos.

5. Do you respond to comments?

Of course! But I'm also a bit (a lot) antisocial, even on the Internet. So I know there's going to be comments I want to respond to but don't know how to 😅

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

So, I tend to fail no matter how hard I try at writing bad or angsty endings. Somehow everything always ends up going well for the characters, even if I want them to fail. I'm great at giving trauma, just not giving bad endings. I also don't finish a lot of what I write, so there's a small pool to pick from here.

That being said, there is one I know of where both of the endings were planned before I even started writing it, (and no, I'm not finished with it yet), and one of them is a "bad" ending, so to speak. I don't want to talk too much about it, since it is a personal project, but essentially the main character has traveled to a different time and place where an alternate version of her family exists, except all of them are dead but one of her brothers. A lot happens, of course, but it eventually ends up with him being so injured he's rapidly dying. She has the ability to heal him, but he tells her not to because he wants to be with his family again. They have a whole emotional conversation and he dies in her arms. And then she's reunited with her real brothers hours later and won't let the one who died in her arms go for days afterwards. So, like, a bittersweet type of thing.

And that is quite literally the only angsty ending I've ever written. Angsty middles, however, is all I do, and angsty beginnings are a specialty of mine.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

The good ending of the one above! After years of battling through several different places on the way home, most of which consisting of alternate versions of people she knew, she finally got to make it back to her real family! They thought she was dead, so the reunion is of course filled with tears and group hugs and a lot of feelings. But that technically happens in both endings. The thing that makes it the good ending is that she was able to save her alternate brother and take him home with her, so he had a new family to love. (Yes I know the new family being his old family is a whole thing that could be psychologically bad. I assure you there's circumstances in place that change that whole perspective, but it'd take forever to explain).

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not as of yet, but we'll see what happens! If I do, it's fine by me because I loved it enough to release it and that's all that matters to me.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have indeed tried to write smut before. My brain apparently doesn't do that. But that was also a super long time ago when I didn't know as much about that whole subject as I probably should if I want to write it properly, so maybe I'll try again and see how it goes. Not really interested in writing it now though, with all the WIPs I have putting me so far away from that mindset.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I've never been super interested in crossovers. Official crossovers are cool to see, but I don't usually look beyond that. I've found a small handful of crossover fics I liked, but have never written any. I guess my brain just prefers to stay within the world I'm working with.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope! I hope I never do, but I'm aware it's always a possibility, unfortunately.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but if anyone ever wanted to, I'd be honored.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No, but I was once writing an original story (that I still hope to finish one day) and was telling a guy I was talking to about it. He came up with his own character to help me beef up the story background a bit, and we had a whole storyline about his character meeting the MC. We were going to determine how he fit into the main plot once I'd developed it more. Sadly, I lost inspiration for that story and fell out of touch with that guy, so that most likely won't happen. But that's the closest I've come to co-writing anything, except for a little back-and-forth with @allyheart707. That was fun!

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

Uhhhh I'm not really into shipping? I enjoy seeing other people's ships, but I'm not majorly into the romance part of watching or reading things unless it's the main point of the story. So, if a ship isn't canon, then I'm not obsessed over it or looking for or making content for it.

On a side note, I was very happy for Lyra and Bonbon when-

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Every. Single. One of them. There are a couple from my high school years I could care less about now, but all the others are still interests and still things I want to get finished. I have two original stories I already started writing, but got lost in the plot so I had to pause. I've got at least eight that I'm working on right now, all TMNT related except for two, and there's probably a couple more somewhere but I've lost track. But yeah I want to finish all of them. Once I can get them straight enough in my head to do so.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good with dialogue and character/world building. I tend to do a lot of go-with-the-flow with conversations, and I've been told they feel very natural. And I always know everything about who is in my story and why they are where they are and why the world or area is the way it is before I even start writing, which makes everything fall into place a lot easier.

I'm also pretty good at making small points, forgetting about them, and somehow coming up with something later on that connects perfectly with it in a way that makes it seem like that was the plan all along, even if it was done mysteriously enough the reader couldn't figure it out but the clues were all there. I really don't know how I do that, but I'm not complaining.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Plot. I'm horrible at developing a proper sequence of events or, you know, what we're even doing here. Are we fighting someone? Uh, maybe, but why? What'd they do? What are we trying to to stop them from doing? If we're not fighting someone, what world-saving quest are we going on, and what exactly are we meant to do on it? I have no clue. But everyone here is super developed and has a backstory and detailed list of powers if you need them. My go-with-the-flow attitude is a hindrance here because I can't connect everything if there's no greater picture to weave the threads through. Lighthouse is some strange outlier and I have no idea how it came together so cohesively.

I'm also not the best at describing things in a not straightforward kinda way. I can explain to you in detail how something looks and how the characters are moving and acting in the scene, but I can't do it in a fun way with analogies or flowing descriptions of emotions or any kind of whimsy to fill the scene out and immerse the reader further.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

If I specifically want the words spoken in the other language for a particular storytelling purpose, I'll do so. But only for, like, a couple words. If there needs to be longer sentences or conversation in another language, I'll clarify that that's happening and just write it in English. Unless I'm trying to make the reader feel like they're in the room but and don't know what the other characters are saying, maybe that'd work. But the couple times I've done it, it was the MC speaking in another language, so it felt more important to see it from her perspective and put it in English so the reader would understand her.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

TF2! My main character from one of my original works was originally my TF2 OC, but she ended up having such a complex story built around her that I pulled her out and gave her her own world. However, my first ever story was inspired by my uncle's book, and I believe it was meant to exist in his world. It doesn't have a fandom around it, as far as I know, but it was the first time I wrote within someone else's world. It was the first time I wrote at all, I'm pretty sure.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

My favorite one I've released is the 2003 Lighthouse AU, because it features my favorite turtle boys and took a lot of research to develop properly, and I love the way it came out. My favorite one I've written out of everything is the one I mentioned in 6 and 7. It's so complex and takes place at the almost end of a very long journey MC has taken to get home. So emotions are high, back stories are long, characters are tired and don't want to be here but still have to do this thing, and new bonds are created.

There's a lot that happens before the start of that story, but it's a personal work so I don't care too much for writing all that out. But it creates such a cesspool of history and emotion, all negative and positive mixed together, leading to certain character development moments I just constantly come back to and watch over and over again in my brain. And then there's the two endings that create whole separate sets of overwhelming emotions. I just can't get enough of my MC and her relationship with her alternate brother. They're perfect to me.

So it got a little wordy, whoops. I love talking about the stuff I write, and probably a little too much. And I would love to see @wendigomahana or @allyheart707 try this for themselves. Or just ignore it if you want. If anyone else happens to see this and wants to give it a shot, go for it!

[doctorstrangereview]

Strange Tales #127

Cover Date: December 1964 On-Sale Date: September 8, 1964

For such a significant story, Doc has little real estate on the cover this month. However, it's nice little postage stamp depicting the battle. Clea occupies the center of the splash page with the question "Who is the mystery girl in the diabolical dimension?" It doesn't get answered. We won't even know her name for another year and a half. Her origin will take another decade. On with the show!

We begin with a brief recap of last month's story. This is like the recap of a 60s Doctor Who episode where it was too difficult to edit in the end of the previous episode so they just acted it out all over again and it was a bit different. Dormie gives Doc some time to reconsider being blasted to atoms. Doc takes a stroll. Just as we find out that Doc's cloak can stand up all by its lonesome, Clea reappears to once again plead that Doc not face Dormie. She has a mysterious warning for Doc.

Clea conjures a floating portal to a mystery danger and, ignoring his stranger danger instincts, Doc follows her. Here we're introduced to a concept that will haunt the Marvel Universe on and off for decades to come! We meet The Mindless Ones! These creatures do nothing but fight 24/7. Of course we don't know if The Dark Dimension has a 24-hour day or a 7-day week so maybe they rest every so often. They're basically big, gray, rock-like creatures with Cyclops' eye-beam. And Clea plops them right in the middle of all this. We know this because Doc needs to rescue the two of them when they get too close.

Clea explains that these creatures are held behind a barrier erected by Dormie eons ago and is the only thing that keeps them from overrunning the rest of the dimension. Now, Clea's level of power and accomplishment hasn't been well defined until recently. Here she is able to conjure a portal that breaches this supposedly impenetrable barrier with relative ease. When things get to hot in Mindless Ones land, they scoot behind the barrier with no issues whatsoever. How are they able to get back and forth so easily?

Clea pleads that Doc must not defeat Dormie as she disappears into what looks like an icing sleeve. What the hell was Ditko thinking? This presents Doc with a moral quandary. Defeating Dormie may doom all the inhabitants of this dimension, but if he doesn't, Earth may be doomed. Seems it wasn't much of a quandary. In the next world balloon he decides "Earth it is!" Dormie summons him something that looks like The Rolling Stones logo on acid.

Entering Dormie's throne room, (maybe, everything here is constantly shifting so it's hard to tell) we see where Clea went. She is Dormie's prisoner. She's imprisoned in crystal and chains in one panel and only in chains in the next. This is some Suspiria level dream logic here! "WTF, Dormie?! She was trying to stop the fight!" yells Doc. "Tough!" he replies. "I'm gonna kill you while she watches and them I'm gonna kill her!"

The battle begins and Ditko draws some whacky stuff indeed!

The Ancient One is spying on them the whole time.

Dormie has the upper hand as he presses Doc who is realizing it's only a matter of time before he goes down. Clea thinks that she's doomed no matter what. Out comes Chekov's gun. Remember that important barrier we saw earlier? The one that was conjured by one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse? {That Clea seemed to pop around with impunity?) Yeah, that one. Well Dormie is throwing so much power at Doc it begins to weaken. Uh oh!

And suddenly they are literally inches away from Clea.

Ditko's sense of distance is questionable at time. Dormie turns away from the battle to erect an emergency barrier, but it's not enough. Doc must use the All-Purpose Amulet to bolster the Dread One. It works! It's followed by a literal fist-shaking moment.

Doc extracts two promises from Dormie. And always remember the order of these promises! First, he has to leave Clea alone. Second, he has to leave Earth alone. That's right! Earth came in second! Dormie agrees, begrudgingly. He follows this up with more fist shaking and what amounts to "I'll get you yet, my pretty!" We get a sense of why Doc put Clea first. He invites her to come back with him. Is love or lust in the air? Has Clea excited Doc's loins? That's a story for the future.

Doc reappears in The Ancient One's pad. He's not in his throne. "Where, o where could he have gone?" muses Doc. He's floating nearby. "WTF? How are you doing this, you frail old dude?" It turns out Dormie put a spell on the old dude that was broken when Doc 'beat' him. And, like a member of an Oprah audience, Doc wins a prize. Well, two prizes actually.

"Do me a favor and drag that big, heavy chest over here, would you?" "Can't you do it? You've got all these newly restored powers now." "Oh, all right." The chest opens and out float a pair of objects. Doc gets his now familiar cloak of levitation and All-Purpose Amulet upgrade. The cloak is yellow in it's first appearance. Fortunately it's yellow only in these couple of panels. It'll turn red next issue and then it's familiar red with gold trim in a few more months. The Ancient One congratulates Doc who leaves. While he was teleported there, the old dude, with his increased power is gonna make his favorite student walk the thousands of miles back home. The he thinks something about unbearable loneliness. Maybe shouldn't have made Doc walk!

An satisfying conclusion to last month's story, but I think it was just a little less exciting. Fortunately Ditko didn't make this a nine-page battle and made an interesting resolution to a dilemma that keeps both worlds intact and has far reaching implications for Doc's story and the entire Marvel Universe for years to come. Lee and Ditko probably didn't realize how entrenched Dormammu would become to the Marvel story, but I'm glad they created him. Dormie's story will get better and richer with each appearance.

[stephensmithuk]

The Man with the Twisted Lip

There were probably a couple of opium dens in London, but they were far common in France or the western United States.

London Bridge was the easternmost fixed crossing a vehicle could use in 1889. Tower Bridge was under construction and the Thames Tunnel was used by trains by this point. The latter still is, part of the London Overground. So, it was ferries east of that.

The wharves and docks stretched (mostly) on the north of the river east of London Bridge to Beckton. There were some smaller older quays to the west, like the now Hays Galleria shopping area. The docks at Tilbury also existed and they would take over as ships got bigger, leading to the gradual closure of the old docks, deprivation and then gentrification.

London's Chinatown consisted of less than a thousand residents and was in Limehouse. It is now in Soho, an area that was historically a red-light district but is mostly gentrified now, with a somewhat larger population due to immigration from Hong Kong.

The East End had a reputation as "a wretched hive of scum and villainy" fuelled by stories like this (also the Ripper murders of 1888), but was mainly just very poor. Slum clearance efforts were beginning, but not in any coordinated or effective manner at this point.

Threadneedle Street, in the City of London, is best known as the location of the Bank of England.

Lee was a middle-class suburb that sat on the edge of London in 1889; it had just been taken from Kent and incorporated into the new County of London. But suburban residents in London will still frequently identify with traditional counties.

However, the massive expansion of the city in the first half of the 20th century put Lee in inner London and it today sits in Zone 3 for public transport fares. Indeed, the opening of the railway station in 1866 is what made Lee a desirable area and it still is.

Bow Street police station was a famous police station in London, sharing the building with an equally famous magistrate's court - the building was pretty new, finished in 1881, but the Bow Street Runners before that (set up in 1749 by judge and author of Tom Jones Henry Fielding) were the first effective law enforcement force in London. The former closed in 1992, the latter in 2006 and there is now a museum on site.

"Hugh Boone" would have been charged and fined for breaking the Vagrancy Act of 1824, a piece of Georgian-era legislation enacted because the British government decided that the best way to deal with a surge in poverty and homelessness after the Napoleonic Wars, along with a massive internal influx of economic migrants, was to make rough sleeping and begging illegal, with a maximum sentence of a month's hard labour. This act also covered prostitution, but was in practice mostly used against gay men.

The act remains on the statute books, albeit heavily amended - and somtimes used against homeless people; with 114 people charged in Greater London in 2019-2020. The currently Tory government has pledged to repeal the act and passed legislation in 2022 that will allow for that once a replacement act is enacted to cover some of the other offences in the still-extant text, like hiring children as beggars.

[rusakkowrites]

For the DVD commentary, the part of Not Quite so trifling that I just LOVE to think back on:

“But I should like to – that is, it would make me feel closer to you.” The colour in Emma’s cheeks deepened as she spoke, and she pressed his hand. “Will you not let me help you?”

What man could have resisted such a plea, when presented in such a manner? Mr Knightley, assailed by a rush of helpless fondness, was certainly not capable of it.

“Very well – if you are certain. Allow me but a moment to situate myself so that we may both be comfortable.” He shifted so that he was sitting in the middle of the bed, pulling the sheet across his legs and propping a pillow behind his back. “If you will sit here – Perry has advised me to begin from the calf and work my way upwards…”

Emma, still blushing, but with a determined look in her eyes, settled beside him. She poured a generous measure of liniment into her hand before slipping it under the sheet – but scarcely had her fingers grazed his skin when she abruptly withdrew them with a shocked squeal.

The mortification suffered by Mr Knightley at that moment can scarcely be described. It was his worst fear come true: that Emma should be disgusted by his altered appearance; that his lameness should come between them in the most intimate moments of their lives.

“I am sorry, Emma – I should not have allowed—” he began, hardly knowing what he was saying for wretched humiliation. “It is perfectly natural that you should be repulsed – the effects of my illness—”

“No,” Emma interrupted him, looking exceedingly flustered, “it is not that! Merely that I had not expected – I had not known—” She gestured towards his still-covered leg. “It is so very hairy!”

For a fraction of a moment, Mr Knightley could only stare at her in utter incomprehension. Then, as understanding dawned, he burst into hearty laughter.

“Oh, my Emma! Forgive me – I should not laugh at you” – he wiped at his eyes – “but it had not occurred to me that that would alarm you.”

“Indeed, it is very unjust of you,” replied Emma primly, looking very embarrassed but also a little affronted. “You can hardly expect me to be familiar with what gentlemen conceal under their trousers!”

“I am exceedingly glad that you are not,” replied Mr Knightley, still struggling to contain his amusement, “but I assure you that I am by no means anomalous in this regard. Men are, in general, rather hairier than women. I am sorry if you dislike it, but so it is.”

(Oh, and can I send more than one ask? 😇)

Ooh, I'm so glad you asked about this scene, because I have a lot to say! (And you're more than welcome to send more than one snippet if you want. I'm very happy to ramble on! :D)

First of all, this entire chapter risked never being written. The idea for this specific scene popped into my mind when I had already written quite a lot of the story and planned out the ending. I knew that adding this scene to my intended last chapter wouldn't really work - I wanted more of an epilogue vibe there, with some time skips and more narrative distance. Still, I really liked the idea of this scene, so eventually I decided that I would add it as a sort of bonus "missing scene".

However, I was writing Not Quite So Trifling for a multifandom event that had a deadline, and I wasn't sure if I'd have time to write this extra chapter. The fic had already grown longer than expected, as fics tend to do. It actually became one of the things that motivated me to get through some tricky parts earlier in the story: if I manage to finish everything else in time, I'll get to write the fun bonus chapter!

Now for some more detailed thoughts:

“But I should like to – that is, it would make me feel closer to you.” The colour in Emma’s cheeks deepened as she spoke, and she pressed his hand. “Will you not let me help you?”

This is a reference to canon, where Mr Knightley wants to comment on Frank Churchill's letter to Emma while he's reading it because it makes him feel he's near her. I also felt that helping Mr Knightley in this pretty intimate way would be important to Emma as a sign of partnership and trust - and because it would provide some physical closeness, of course.

What man could have resisted such a plea, when presented in such a manner? Mr Knightley, assailed by a rush of helpless fondness, was certainly not capable of it.

While Mr Knightley can be pretty critical of Emma's behaviour at times, he's definitely not immune to her charm. We also see in canon that he's ready to do a lot to make her happy and comfortable, including moving in with Mr Woodhouse, which is a pretty big sacrifice. That also helps him overcome his embarrassment in this scene.

“Very well – if you are certain. Allow me but a moment to situate myself so that we may both be comfortable.” He shifted so that he was sitting in the middle of the bed, pulling the sheet across his legs and propping a pillow behind his back. “If you will sit here – Perry has advised me to begin from the calf and work my way upwards…”

I remember thinking that I needed to give readers a clear enough picture of the scene and the positions of the characters. I didn't want to suddenly go into a lot of "he sat here, she sat there, he did this, she did that" type narration, though, so I decided to make it part of the dialogue instead. It also felt realistic that they'd have to talk a bit as they shifted around - being in love doesn't turn people into mind readers.

Emma, still blushing, but with a determined look in her eyes, settled beside him. She poured a generous measure of liniment into her hand before slipping it under the sheet – but scarcely had her fingers grazed his skin when she abruptly withdrew them with a shocked squeal.

This whole chapter is from Mr Knightley's point of view, but I wanted to try to show what Emma was feeling, too. She's pretty nervous about all that's supposed to happen during the wedding night but also more than a little curious about the new intimacy that she and Mr Knightley are suddenly allowed - and on top of that, she's trying to navigate his insecurities about his body. She's been doing really well, but now her nerves get the better of her.

The mortification suffered by Mr Knightley at that moment can scarcely be described. It was his worst fear come true: that Emma should be disgusted by his altered appearance; that his lameness should come between them in the most intimate moments of their lives.

“I am sorry, Emma – I should not have allowed—” he began, hardly knowing what he was saying for wretched humiliation. “It is perfectly natural that you should be repulsed – the effects of my illness—”

One of the things that initially got me thinking about this fic idea was the fact that Mr Knightley is, all things considered, a pretty confident suitor. He's in despair as long as he thinks Emma is in love with Frank, but after that's cleared up, he immediately puts himself out there. He doesn't seem to consider the age difference to be much of a problem, nor does Emma. This is probably partly due to the fact that bigger age differences in marriage were more common at the time, but I also think it's interesting how the narrative emphasizes Mr Knightley's good health and fitness. He's seen by himself and others as a man in his prime. I started wondering how their dynamic would change if he suffered an injury or fell ill... and this fic happened.

Of course, Emma's reaction to touching his leg is straight from Mr Knightley's worst nightmares. I think there's something to be said for the writing philosophy of picking the worst thing that could happen to a particular character, considering their background and personality, and putting them through it. I think, at this point in the story, the worst thing that could happen to Mr Knightley (at least emotionally) would be being rejected by Emma due to the changes to his body. He's struggling with his self-image and masculinity, and she seems to be confirming all his doubts.

But of course, because he's the kind and responsible Mr Knightley, he's still trying to put her feelings and comfort first. However, based on the proposal scene in canon, he seems to have a tendency to become somewhat incoherent when in the grips of strong emotion - lots of interrupted sentences and broken-up speech. I wanted to reflect that here.

“No,” Emma interrupted him, looking exceedingly flustered, “it is not that! Merely that I had not expected – I had not known—” She gestured towards his still-covered leg. “It is so very hairy!”

For a fraction of a moment, Mr Knightley could only stare at her in utter incomprehension. Then, as understanding dawned, he burst into hearty laughter.

“Oh, my Emma! Forgive me – I should not laugh at you” – he wiped at his eyes – “but it had not occurred to me that that would alarm you.”

A piece of storytelling advice I heard long ago that has stuck with me is (more or less) "include a touch of sadness in happy moments and a touch of happiness in sad ones". I feel like the same principle often works well with romance or drama and comedy. I don't really like writing scenes that are pure serious romance. I want to include something embarrassing or funny to mix things up a bit and provide contrast. That's what's happening here.

I also wanted to show how differently Emma and Mr Knightley are perceiving the situation. He's so focused on worrying about his disability that he imagines everyone else is focused on it too. Meanwhile, she's all caught up in the novelty of being in an intimate situation with a man and sees his leg as a side issue. Mr Knightley has made his bad leg into a big thing in his head. Emma, on the other hand, is thinking more about another - ahem - big thing that he's got.

The revelation that Emma was just surprised by his leg hair helps Mr Knightley snap out of it and direct his attention to reassuring his inexperienced bride. Hairiness, after all, is something that he considers perfectly normal. Maybe it's even a reminder of his continued masculinity and therefore something to be a bit proud of.

And of course this moment functions as a release of tension for the characters and (hopefully) also for readers. After all, laughing tends to put people more at ease.

“Indeed, it is very unjust of you,” replied Emma primly, looking very embarrassed but also a little affronted. “You can hardly expect me to be familiar with what gentlemen conceal under their trousers!”

“I am exceedingly glad that you are not,” replied Mr Knightley, still struggling to contain his amusement, “but I assure you that I am by no means anomalous in this regard. Men are, in general, rather hairier than women. I am sorry if you dislike it, but so it is.”

Emma is not someone who enjoys admitting that she doesn't know something. She wants to be perceived as being confident and in control. Like Mr Knightley, she's forced to show her vulnerable side here, and this puts them on more equal ground. I wanted to show them getting back on the same page and getting over the awkwardness by returning to their familiar dynamic of playful bickering and banter. Learning to be at ease together again in this new situation is key to the success of their marriage.

Thank you again for asking about this scene! <3

[mtdthoughts]

Migi & Dali Character Analysis Pt. 4 (Eiji)

This is the fourth part of my exploration of the characters of Migi & Dali.

Click here to return to the top of the thread.

As always, *spoilers* throughout the whole story will be discussed.

Here, I want to talk about one of the most important characters in the story, the dark-haired and (very likely) middle triplet... Eiji Ichijo!

Eiji is the son of the Ichijo family, and later it is revealed that he is the twins' triplet brother and Metry's biological son. He has wavy black hair like his father Akira and has the same blue eyes as his mother and his brothers, and was noted by the people around him as very handsome and attractive.

He is a model student and athlete, a well-respected boy scout, the class representative of the advanced 1-1 Class, and likely the most popular boy in Origon Village as everyone saw him as the image of perfection. This isn't too surprising, since Reiko did raise Eiji to be perfect. Eiji seems to enjoy a variety of intellectual and high cultural hobbies (e.g. listening to and playing classical music, reading, etc.), but above all he seems to enjoy being a good son because he truly loved and admired Reiko, and even sought to become a psychiatrist like Akira.

On the outside, Eiji seems like a pleasant and polite boy, but he can be quite prickly and condescending, especially towards those he looks down on (e.g. Hitori) as he does not want anyone to drag down his perfect image. Due to his position as the perfect son of an elite family, he feels comfortable resorting to underhanded tactics to protect his image, as he and his mother lured Hitori to his house to ask about the pajama button under the pretext of celebrating Hitori's test scores, and he was prepared to bribe Sali after the latter discovered that he had vomited in the school toilet. For this reason, Eiji could be seen as the antagonist of the first half of the story.

Yet, he's not really an antagonist in the traditional sense as he's more of an unaware villain, as in the first half of the story he doesn't seem to think that he's doing anything wrong, and he most certainly does not know any of his mother's designs. He even possesses a hidden soft side (like Dali), as was able to let his guard down around Sali. Once the twins awakened Eiji's repressed memory and trauma regarding Metry, his self-image begins to crack as he experienced an identity crisis, and became completely broken with guilt once he fully remembered that night. He then saw himself as a sinner deserving punishment, which motivated him to go against his mother for the first time in his life, discover the truth for himself, and even tell Sali (Migi) about it. Indeed, beneath Eiji's elitism is a fundamentally decent boy who just wants to do the right thing.

However, once Reiko discovered Eiji's defiance, she (likely) knocked him out and subjected him to age regressive therapy to "raise him from scratch/zero". It wasn't until Reiko attempted to take a hypnotized Eiji back from the banister when Eiji fully awakened his memory of that Christmas night, specifically that Metry was trying to take him back to his brothers. Eiji, now having the full truth, pushed Reiko instinctively and was willing to join the twins as he accepted his identity as Metry's son. Howevever, a confused and angry Dali reminded Eiji was but a stranger that killed Metry, which shocked Eiji and reminded him that he would always be Reiko's son. Yet, knowing Reiko's nature and her sins, he couldn't accept this, and so chose to reject his identity by destroying everything related to him and Reiko as he symbolically walked into the darkness. Now, his identity as the perfect son was completely destroyed as he killed his mother.

Despite this, he still loved Reiko and saw her as his only mother that he always wanted to emulate, and felt guilty that he wasn't able to help her and instead killed her. Thus, Eiji decided to "end things beautifully" by burning everything and everyone so that no would know about him, Reiko, or the terrible sins they committed, giving themselves a perfect death that kept their perfect image. However, Akiyama managed to rescue everyone, and once Dali realized how similar he and Eiji were (more on this later), he decided to give Eiji a second chance, as Eiji was never truly in control of his own life. Dali understood Eiji's suffering and attempt to die perfectly just like his own, and sought to bring Eiji happiness by telling him to "live disgracefully".

Eiji then accepted this choice once he realized he wanted this type of imperfect happy life all along, wanting to be loved by others as himself rather than the "perfect boy". Of course, he realized that he had to atone for killing his beloved mother and accepted imprisonment as punishment. Fortunately, he still had everyone to support him, and he seemed to have came out of prison well-adjusted as he came to terms with who he was, what he did, and how he can live on happily to make his late mother proud.

Eiji was truly a central figure in the story as he was a driver for many of the story's events, but more importantly, he serves as a parallel to both of the twins since he shares similarities with them; this makes sense considering he's (likely) the middle triplet. By using these parallels, Eiji's character development in turn emphasizes the twins' developments and makes them clearer.

In the first half of the story, Eiji was like Migi, as he was emulating Reiko just as Migi was emulating Dali. This makes sense considering that both of them were subjected to age regression and were forced to act as babies. They even both fell for Sali, which likely reminded Eiji of his own mother just as it did for Migi. Then, Eiji rebelled against Reiko after finding out the truth just as Migi rebelled against Dali. These similarities serve to accentuate their differences as foils as they walked different paths (i.e. Migi toward happiness, Eiji toward perfection and unhappiness).

But more importantly, just as Dali pointed out, Eiji was like Dali throughout the entire story. They both forced themselves to be perfect for the sake of their mothers, and were willing to do whatever it took to maintain this. They both have similar tough and prickly personalities, but also possessed a hidden soft side. As a result, they isolated themselves as they were burdened with perfection, loneliness, and eventually guilt, and they both suffered as they began to realize their dark nature and the darkness of what they were pursuing (e.g. them vomiting in the toilet). They eventually realized the truth (i.e. Eiji pushing Metry, Dali losing Migi) and sacrificed themselves due to guilt. Towards the end of the story, Dali chose to live (and die) in obscurity as Migi's shadow due to his guilt over revenge, just like how Eiji tried to end his own life after killing Reiko. However, thanks to Migi, Dali was able to find redemption in living despite his many sins, and was able to extend this love towards Eiji to save him.

Because of these similarities, one could view Dali's development as a journey of self-understanding and acceptance, which can be a very important lesson for our daily lives.

[pellaaearien]

6, 7, 8, and 13 for the writer asks? <3

6. Do you have your work beta'd? How important is this to your process?

I definitely feel more comfortable getting a once over from someone else before I post, it's like a comfort blanket for me. I can post fic unbeta'd but it feels bad LOL

7. How do you choose which POV to write from?

Whoever is speaking in my head at the time! Though sometimes I will pick a POV specifically because I want a conversation with someone who has/does not have access to certain information. On extremely rare occasion, I'll start writing in a POV and then realize it's the wrong one and switch.

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

Middle! That's where all the fun stuff happens. Starting is hard. Ending carries a lot of pressure. Middle is where it's at.

13. What’s a common writing tip that you almost always follow?

Here's a fun fact: Most common writing tips are extremely subjective and situational, and no tip is going to work for every writer (or indeed most). However, one that I've sort of accidentally fallen into is "having a set time to write" which for me is usually late at night. I can definitely write at other times too, but there's something to be said for getting your brain into "this is writing time" mode.

[get to know your fic writer]

[celestialmechanic]

Okay so here's my interpretation of the ending of Almost Nowhere. It may even be half-fanfic. This is the Long Straight Path Ending. Spoilers follow the cut.

She thinks of Cordelia. And she thinks: It is actually you, that I value, and wish to preserve.  And not another one like you, even if she is better, and happier. She thinks of her ruined sisters. And she thinks: I harmed you, once.  I will do you an honor, now, by refusing to repeat my mistake. She comes to the central point, from which the spokes of the tracks diverge.  She feels the familiar Annes there. My sisters, she thinks.   Not some other ones, like them.

She sits on the toilet, and opens The Long Straight Path, to a page somewhere in the middle.

She feels the worlds fall over her hand, and senses the fineness of their grain.  Not a countable multitude, but a continuum.

This reminds Anne of something.  A passage she knows by heart. “Many a novice, writes Ratleak, wondering at those feats of daring and industry most esteemed by his fellows and wishing to emulate them, imagines that each was achieved in a single grand saltation, an atomic act of heroic will not decomposable into any constituents.  Many a novice, therefore, turns his back on the mean and muddy world of daily toil, and busies himself in the refinement of his soul, so that he may one day clear the distance between himself and his goal in a single bound of titanic proportion.  Such efforts, however, are vain, for every thing of worth in our grand civilization has been made piece-by-piece, out of the meanest cloth, strung up mile after mile with care and humility by a traveller on the Long Straight Path, which any fool can follow, if he only takes care to watch where his feet are going, and to work by steady step and never by rash leap.”

In a world perhaps infinitesimally different from Twenty-Seven's own, and perhaps truly identical to that which Twenty-Seven knew, she sees, remembers, and knows The Long Straight Path, and what it taught her. Perhaps Michael's tutelage has a use after all! The Knife-Power threatens to separate her from the friends she knows, in one grand saltation, a rash leap from here to some alternate history.

But, as Azad once said to her, "To snatch and seize, to split wholes with the sword, to divide and be divided in the the endless thankless agon: this has been the way among our kind, but among the anomalings there is another, a finer, a more beautiful way."

She will travel as slowly as she likes, step by careful step, ensuring that it changes imperceptibly, that the world is always as she remembers, that the difference is so minute as to be undetectable in principle.

It would take a book just as long as ours, to relate it in full.

It would take uncountable insufferably small variations on this book to portray the entirety of what occurs, so I ask the reader to instead imagine all of these recurrences for themselves, verbose, obsessive, with no clear divisions in topic or theme, slight ripples in the repetitive — but never identical — sentences.

Twenty-Six then walks a hard path, indeed, through countless repetitions of her journey to the beginning and the end of her story, ferrying the ones she loves — who she knows deserve better, or she'd not have had the impulse to leap — across the uncountable worlds, to some unseen and unwritten future. Reality is always, in some way, what we make of it.

Perhaps it still bears the scars of the origin, gaps between left and right that cannot be mended pathwise. But anything that might expand or contract by infinitesimals might then be made that little bit better, over stack-time, step by careful step, on everyone's Long Straight Path.