#imagine him writing poems about alastair

[thomaslightwoodenthusiast]

WHY IS THE FACT THAT THOMAS IS CANONICALLY A GREAT SINGER AND WRITES HIS OWN POETRY ALWAYS FORGOTTEN. WHY DOES NOBODY TALK ABOUT IT. WE SHOULD DEFINITELY BE TALKING ABOUT IT.

[littlx-songbxrd]

I have a lot of autistic tlh headcanons-

Alastair:

-stims by walking and playing piano. occasionally taps his fingers against any hard surface

-avoids velvet anything. he'd rather die than touch it

-gets sick from anything with the alcohol smell ie most hand sanitizers, perfume, certain cleaning products

-hyperfixates on poems, calligraphy, and his bf

-he doesn't know what his special interest actually is so he just says it's bantering with matthew and hating james

Thomas:

-stims by popping his knuckles, playing guitar, and swinging his legs in opposite circles while sitting on a tree branch or the edge of a roof

-will gag violently if he eats a mushy/soft carrot, squash, cucumber, or a soggy sandwich

-cant stand strawberries or lemons. both a texture and a smell problem

-special interests include alastair, anything to do with his latine heritage, and persian culture

Lucie:

-rarely stims

-she likes to swing her axe around when she's bored, anything that makes her arms move is fun and scratches brain

-is ok with velvet but much prefers it in cake form

-hates silk. h a t e s.

-hyperfixates on persian culture and the paranormal

-special interest is writing

Matthew:

-does not know he's autistic

-thinks he's severely broken inside

-stims by hitting his head and scratching his arms

-gets defensive easily because he's worried that if someone gets too close they'll discover how "broken" he is

-self medicates(canon)

-hyperfiates on fashion and romance

-special interest is oscar wilde

Grace:

-science autistic

-stims by throwing stuff, typically darts and hair pins but occasionally knives

-as much as she hates how many bad memories are tied to her hair, she'll never cut it because n o

-randomly taps her thigh with her palm in various speeds

-special interest is chemistry

Christopher:

-sciene AND math autistic

-plays with his fingers in different ways

-deals with really bad and negative thoughts

-nightmare disorder

-hyperfixates on psychology so he can help grace with her ptsd

-special interests are chemistry, physics, algebra, geometry, engineering

Kamala:

-also doesn't know she's autistic

-is incredibly emotional and sensitive

-she thinks it's because she's a woman

-needs constant touching

-stims by pacing and humming

-special interests are bees, butterflies, doves, and roses

-hyperfixates on how people perceive her and needing to be perfect

I am SO READY OK. Im not autistic so im mostly giving you reactions as i go but fbfjfjjfjfjfjfnf

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Alastair supremacy pls bantering with mathew and hating james is always the goal here.

P o e m s c a l l i g r a p h y

Actually my friend really got into caligraphy and its so cool to watch them i can imagine alastair

I ALSO LOVE HIM WALKING AS A STIM

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Thomas hcs are all so true and so real and can we PLEASE TALK ABOUT HOW HORRIBLE STRAWBERRIES ARE THEY FUCKING SUCK GOD THOMAS IS SO CORRECT FOR THAT OPINION.

Also i know these are your hcs. But for latine heritage thing may i suggest magic realism? Its a latin american literary movement based around bringing fantasy elements to normal settings with little to no explanation that are usually a critic to society. It is one of the funnest most spectacular literary concepts in latin america.

----

ARMS MOVING SCRATCHES BRAIN

Justified hatred

Persian culture and the paranormal is so LUCIE GOD VDJDJD YEA

----

It all very much sounds like mathew. The part where he thinks they'll all just realize how broken he is hurts

----

THROWING STUFF >>

The hair thing damn.

CHEMESTRTYYY

---

Tbh id kill to see you write christopher centric stuff. I dont think ive seen that very much and im so intrigued by this interpretation

---

Kamala 🤝 Isabela Madrigal / lh

BUT ANYWAYS OMG YES I SPECIALLY LOVE THE HUMMING PART

[anarmorofwords]

I'm obviously not the previous anon, but your answer got me thinking. Firstly, I'll say that I do like what cc's doing with tlh, so this isn't hate per se? But I think her biggest mistake tlh-wise is how much of her original writing process she's shared with us.

That's what's prompted most of the 'show and not tell', in my opinion. Look at the characters's wiki pages. There's lots of trivia we've never been shown. Thomas's songwriting? Never even mentioned. James's passion for poem-making? Never heard of her. The Carstairs were going to be white (possibly half-french) ffs.

I'm an amateur writer; I'll by no means try to compare myself with a woman that has been an author for almost two decades, but I do know that characters change. Heck, my main characters changed a fuck ton in the few months it took me to come up with a plot; imagine how much cc's characters changed since 2013.

The thing is, cc overshared a lot of stuff about these foetus characters that she --ultimately-- must have realised had no true purpose to the story she was creating. That's completely normal, but nevertheless, it's information that should absolutely not have been shared with her big-ass following; who in turn came to expect something (or is currently expecting something) that simply won't happen for logistic --thus valid-- reasons.

Leaving original expectations aside and focusing on canon, I do think what she says is shown; but not to the necessary degree. This, however, is for obvious reasons concerning the plot.

Take TMT. We've seen they care for each other --we've seen them together as a friend group arguably quite often-- but:

1) James's drama with the gracelet, which we've seen greatly dampens his emotions (one of the first things he does after getting the damn thing off is try to go to Matthew to explain himself and basically tell him he loves him and say sorry)

2) Matthew's alcoholism and the secretiveness that came after his sibling's death

3) Thomas's massive crush on Alastair, who has bad blood with Matthew and James (I could talk more about this situation, because I have FEELINGS)

4) Christopher's probable fixation on Grace (there was actually no problem with him pre-coi, but oh boy will we have drama because of Gracetopher)

Are factors that greatly damage the confidentiality of a group, no matter how close they are. If we took them away, we'd see how J+M+C protested against T going on patrol alone, how TMT had a hiding out of sorts, how J trusted in them his marriage arrangement with Cordelia, how M+C+T are among the few J tells about his shit with Belial and accepts help from, or simply their interactions. We'd see all those things, and (possibly) think they are --indeed-- close.

I'd like to take a vote of faith, and say cc will resolve these issues satisfyingly in chot, but only time will tell.

(Concerning Matthew and Anna, I do have something to say, but I'm afraid this ask is getting too annoyingly long for you, lol)

(And this is clearly just my humble opinion)

hii!!! I'm probably repetitive, but, uhm, sorry for taking forever to answer!!

While I have issues with TLH (especially CHOI) that go far beyond the inconsistency between showing and telling, I do think you have a point and that might be part of the problem.

What makes this worse, however, is that for all her interacting with fans,CC never disproved any of that. It would make things so much easier.

And you know, she does rely on information included outside of books. She expects fans to know the short stories, she sends out Musicale and other bonus content, so it's not that we're being unreasonable trying to catch up with her additional content/info.

She doesn't, however, care enough to tell us which of those are still relevant and what changed, so it's all a little bit like wandering in a mist.

Concerning TMT, I kinda agree, and I personally don't hate their friendship, the dynamic between them, or think they can't be friends. Maybe it's because of my own experiences or the ones I heard about, but I don't think friends (just as other relationships) can't have problems without immediately being written off, especially when we consider how many truly intense things they're struggling with atm. I don't doubt that they love each other and have the potential to be amazing friends again, it's just that currently their dynamic is really lacking, and while some of that is understandable considering ~the plot~, some of it seems unnecessary to me?

The four months between ChoH and ChoI were apparently rather uneventful plot-wise, and while that didn't change gracelet, or erase Matthew's alcoholism, we could have been shown some of their interactions then?

The thing about writing is, I get that there needs to be conflict and issues and all that. But you need to also get it across that this wasn't always the case, you need to show that default state (aka them being good friends) as something believable, not just say it was the case. It's a challenge, but CC is an experienced author, she should be able to pull it off.

I hope I'm making sense - to provide another example, I read a book this year where MC's loved ones were murdered at the beginning. And I get it, in that case you can't see them interacting in the plot, but you still need to show how important they were to her, sell it to the reader. That's kinda the whole deal with writing.

Well, we certainly agree here, I also hope she can still resolve all that in ChoT. Hope dies last or sth.

If you feel like it, go ahead and share what you have to say about Matthew and Anna!

Oh totally! As you can see, I don't necessarily agree, but I get that we can see those things differently, that's absolutely fine.

Have a nice day/evening/night! <3

[chriskarrtravelblog]

Summer reading: British book settings

We visit the places that inspired iconic summer scenes in the works of some of our favourite authors.

It is the brightest day you ever saw. The sun is sparkling on the water… The tide is in, and the fishing boats are dancing like mad.” Charles Dickens, writing to a friend in 1841, simply loved Broadstairs and nearly every summer from 1837 to 1859 he escaped to the Kent seaside resort in order to work on his bestselling novels away from London’s bustle. 

Most notably he put the finishing touches to David Copperfield while ensconced at cliff-top Fort House – now known as Bleak House – and modelled his character Betsey Trotwood on local resident Miss Mary Pearson Strong: the latter’s aversion to donkeys passing in front of her home on Victoria Parade was transformed into Betsey’s “incessant war” against the donkey-boys. “Jugs of water, and watering-pots, were kept in secret places ready to be discharged on the offending boys; sticks were laid in ambush behind the door…”

Broadstairs in Kent with a view of Charles Dickens’ cliff-top Bleak House. Credit: Credit: Andrew Beck/Alamy Stock Photo

You can follow a town trail around Broadstairs’ cobbled squares and fishermen’s cottages to discover Dickens’ haunts, and tour Bleak House, today offering luxury B&B-style accommodation that includes the author’s original bedroom, with use of his study overlooking the fabulous horseshoe of Viking Bay. Miss Strong’s cottage has become the Dickens House Museum, where Copperfield fans will recognise the square gravelled garden and old-fashioned parlour.

With sun and warmth (hopefully) filling our days, now is the ideal time to visit the places that have inspired iconic summer scenes in the works of some of our most popular authors: from picnics on the Cornish coast with poet John Betjeman (“Sand in the sandwiches, wasps in the tea” – ‘Trebetherick’) to walking amid woods with Wordsworth.

Jerome K Jerome originally intended Three Men in a Boat (1889) to be a serious guide to the Thames, “its quiet backwaters, its sleepy towns and ancient villages”. But the tale quickly turned instead into a classic of British humour charting the accident-prone rowing holiday of the eponymous three men and Montmorency the dog. Heading upriver from Kingston, London, the heroes niggle about ‘loud’ blazers and burnt breakfasts; sense the centuries slip back to 1215 and imagine themselves waiting to witness King John set his seal on Magna Carta at Runnymede. 

Passing Cliveden Woods in Berkshire (“In its unbroken loveliness… perhaps, the sweetest stretch of all the river”) and Cookham, they rejoice in feeling “like knights of some old legend, sailing across some mystic lake into the unknown realm of twilight, unto the great land of the sunset…” and crash into a punt of disgruntled fishermen. 

You, too, can cast off for all sorts of excursions on the Thames (without the mishaps), including from London, Windsor, around Cliveden, Henley and Oxford: hiring rowing boats or picnic punts, going on sightseeing trips or themed cruises (www.visitthames.co.uk). 

And while Jerome’s not-so-doughty heroes, dampened by a little summer rain, abandon their holiday at Pangbourne, you would do well to explore further. As the Water Rat says in children’s favourite, The Wind in the Willows (1908), “there is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats”.

Mapledurham House, the inspiration for Toad Hall in The Wind and the Willows. Credit: © Neil Cameron/Alamy Stock Photo

Kenneth Grahame’s tale of Mole, Badger, Ratty and Mr Toad grew from bedtime stories he told his son Alastair while living at nearby Cookham Dean, plundering his own dreamy childhood memories of the river, woodlands and wildlife; Grahame lived his final years at Pangbourne.

Summer is made for children’s adventures, and for Winnie-the-Pooh fans an ‘expotition’ to Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, where A A Milne set his whimsical tales in the 1920s, is a must. Or share a slightly later era of innocence and adventure Swallows and Amazons style with Arthur Ransome: boating in the Lake District or Norfolk Broads.  

Romantic poet William Wordsworth famously wrote of spring daffodils in the Lake District, but for a summer ramble head with him to south Wales where his ‘Lines composed a few miles above Tintern Abbey’ recall a return visit with his sister Dorothy in 1798. 

The cult of walking tours taking in Picturesque ruins, Nature and dramatic scenes of beauty was in full swing, and these delights are still on offer today on the Wye Valley Walk through the wooded gorge along the river to the medieval abbey, with: 

“…steep and lofty cliffs, 

That on a wild secluded scene impress

Thoughts of more deep seclusion…” 

For Wordsworth, memories of such scenes refreshed the soul with “sensations sweet” long after visiting. 

A 40-mile drive from Tintern into the Cotswolds and the Slad Valley reveals another walk through unforgettable summer scenes: of Laurie Lee’s Cider With Rosie (1959), his bittersweet memoir of the sunny uplands of a vanished youth and semi-feudal way of life. 

The hauntingly lyrical book gave the world its image of the Cotswolds as the epitome of quaint, rural England, “with cattle, brilliant as painted china, treading their echoing shapes” and beech trees sunlit “as though clogged with wild wet honey”.Wander the Laurie Lee Wildlife Way through village and woodland of the Slad Valley, dotted with posts inscribed with Lee’s poetry; visit Holy Trinity Church where the author is buried and the ancient Woolpack inn where he liked to drink – real ale rather than cider!   

There is more honey and nostalgia in one of the most famous couplets in English poetry:

“Stands the Church clock at ten to three?

And is there honey still for tea?” 

Rupert Brooke posed the question in 1912 while abroad and pining after ‘The Old Vicarage, Grantchester’: conjuring up visions of lying “flower-lulled in sleepy grass”, gazing at the Cambridge sky as hours and centuries blur. Two years later he would write of dying in “some corner of a foreign field / That is for ever England”, but ‘Grantchester’ is suffused with the idyllic summer happiness of a quintessential English village.

Brooke lived in The Old Vicarage (now home to novelist Jeffrey Archer), gathering luminaries like Virginia Woolf around him while pursuing a fellowship at King’s College, Cambridge three miles away.

Grantchester Credit: © Rolf Richardson/Alamy Stock Photo

You can walk or punt along the River Cam past Grantchester Meadows to the village and visit the church, which dates from the 14th century. Then take afternoon tea including sandwiches, cakes and scones in The Orchard Tea Garden, the pavilion where Brooke and his friends tucked into refreshments when it was too rainy to sit outdoors (booking required; the village also boasts numerous good pubs).  

For a memorable finale to your summer reading, bask in the evocative descriptions of the ‘Author’s Prologue’ to Dylan Thomas’s Collected Poems (1952):

“This day winding down now

At God speeded summer’s end

In the torrent salmon sun,

In my seashaken house

On a breakneck of rocks…”

The “seashaken house” is the Dylan Thomas Boathouse below the cliff on the water’s edge of the west Wales town of Laugharne, where the author enjoyed a purple patch of creativity in his Writing Shed in the four years before his untimely death in 1953. 

After peeking into the cluttered shed, relax over bara brith (Welsh fruit bread) and tea on the Boathouse terrace. Then revel in views over the Taf estuary as dusk hovers towards “dogdayed night” and:

“My ark sings in the sun

At God speeded summer’s end

And the flood flowers now.” 

8 For more literary travel ideas, see http://www.britain-magazine.com

The post Summer reading: British book settings appeared first on Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture.

Britain Magazine | The official magazine of Visit Britain | Best of British History, Royal Family,Travel and Culture https://www.britain-magazine.com/features/history/british-literature/british-summer-book-settings/

source https://coragemonik.wordpress.com/2019/09/02/summer-reading-british-book-settings/