#or write a poem of a similar theme

[pahorans-letter]

some church poetry

[softambrollins]

mox doesn't trust anything unless it's painful. that's his whole life. that's his one constant. wrestling fucking hurts, especially his brand of wrestling, and maybe if he sacrifices enough of his blood to it, it won't be taken away from him. before he could really have his family, he had to experience devastating loss, heartbreak, betrayal. i don't think he really understood what seth meant to him before he lost him. and i think some part of him almost expected that to happen. it was almost a relief. of course it would happen. only after they spent years trying to kill each other do they really get to love each other. he doesn't get to have the good without the bad. pain and love, always right next to each other. i don't stand side by side with nobody until i bleed with them first. when he thinks about family now, all he tastes is blood.

he failed so many times before he finally won the wwe title. the one steady, uncomplicated friendship he ever had was almost taken away from him. he sacrificed so much that he almost fucking died. but he didn't and now he's left to ask himself, would it have been worth it if i did? he's always the shield, the weapon, the soldier, the one being hammered and pounded and ground down into the dirt. he's always rolling that boulder up the hill. nothing has ever been easy. he can't really earn it, it can't really belong to him, unless he experiences pain to obtain it. he's always losing something before he can have anything.

he had to leave the two people he cares about the most to really find himself and his own path and his own freedom.

seth's the only one who turns it around on him and says okay i get it, give some of your hurt to me instead. when he was still heartbroken from his betrayal, he was willing to take all the punishment dean could give him. when dean was drowning in his own grief and rage and pain, he told him it's okay, and let him take it all out on him. seth telling him, it's always you. you're always the one hurting for your own happiness. but not anymore. i'm willing to hurt for your happiness. it's okay.

[felassan]

Thread: Sylvia Feketekuty on the influences of Emmrich and the Mourn Watch

The rest of this post is under a cut due to length and possible spoilers.

Sylvia Feketekuty: "I think I've gotten to most people’s questions, and I promised I'd talk about influences on Emmrich and the Mourn Watch before wrapping this up. So here we go! It took me while to figure out Emmrich's character voice. I'm happy with where I landed, but he was a tough one. A few books helped me out. MR James' Collected Ghost Stories (1890-1930) My favourite ghost stories of all time. James excels at building dread, at writing people finding strange things in books, or around the corner, or in the old lane at night."

"He was also an antiquarian and a scholar at Cambridge. I wanted Emmrich and the Watchers to feel formal, but not like they were from another epoch. James’ language, polished by a rich academic career, was an excellent benchmark for 'older, but not ancient'. E.g.: if using contractions was appropriate for James' time, it was appropriate for Emmrich. It freed me up, mentally speaking, to deploy them whenever they improved cadence or flow. Thomas Ligotti's Songs of a Dead Dreamer Fellow Ligotti fans may already be thinking Emmrich doesn't really share the philosophy underpinning Ligotti's work, and they’re right. However!"

"Songs of a Dead Dreamer is filled with fantastical imagery that’s a bit lusher than that found in Ligotti's later works. It was really good at bringing to mind the kind of moody, expansive dreamscapes I think our necromancer mentally occupies. It’s from a different book (Noctuary), but Ligotti’s “The Spectral Estate” also merits a mention. If you plunked it down in front of Emmrich to read, he’d know exactly what it was on about. The Romantic poets (or any poetry on similar themes: overpowering swells of emotion, the grandeur and awe of nature, love and loss and grief.) Palgrave's Golden Treasury was usually in reach."

"If I was in a jam, or psyching myself up for a scene, sometimes I’d read a few poems to get into the proper head space. Or just for the pleasure of it. Poems are great! Please take a link to Shelley's "A Dream of the Unknown", one of my favourites. [link] I also read a few books by morticians and funerary directors. A friend lent me Smoke Gets in your Eyes and From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty (probably the most famous mortician on the internet?) I also checked out Nine Years Under: Coming of Age in an Inner-city Funeral Home by Sheri Booker."

"These books were full of lessons about how people react to death, how different cultures treat it, how anger and grieving express differently but come from the same wellspring. Very humane looks at how we deal with loss and other people. Moving on to non-books: My First Cadaver, a podcast of stories from medical students and medical professionals."

"I listened to a few episodes My First Cadaver, and there were some incredible tales in there. Gross (I could never be a doctor) but incredible. And I was struck by was how much students working on donated cadavers got attached to them. I can’t remember if it was in MFC or not, but there was one story about a medical student introducing his date to the cadaver he was working on like she was a beloved aunt. It was very sweet! Peter Cushing in Horror of Dracula (1958) and The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) These films are filled with handsome costumes, ominous sets, and the oversized passions I associate with gothic melodrama. Cushing's perfect in them."

"His portrayals of Van Helsing and Baron Frankenstein are brisk, determined, obsessive, and brimming with energy; they’re scholars who are experts in their field, yet still men of action. They felt like natural touchstones for a professor suddenly called to grand adventure. I also ended up reading Cushing's memoirs. In a bit of strange synchronicity, there were similarities between his life and traits I'd already decided to give Emmrich. Cushing came from a working-class family, had an intense phobia (his was of the dark), was vegetarian, and so on. I'd had no idea."

"(Humans tend to pattern-match, but it was a little eerie.) A side note: I've seen people speculate Emmrich was based off of Vincent Price. There’s a bit of the good Mr. Price in there, but Cushing got to play more heroic roles than he did. He felt more right to me. A second side note: did you know Vincent Price was a gourmand who loved to entertain? He and his wife Mary put out a beautiful cooking book, A Treasury of Great Recipes, filled with warm and charming commentary. If you're interested in that kind thing, highly recommended!"

"One influence when I was pitching the Memorial Gardens to the rest of the team was Swan Point cemetery in Rhode Island. It's where Lovecraft was buried, and like many a Weird Tales nerd before me, I was curious and wanted to see it."

"I wasn't prepared for was how lush the plants and flowers were, and how beautifully landscaped everything there is. Swan Point is a historical burial place, and also a carefully tended garden and arboretum. It stunned me. I'd never been in a cemetery like it. Emmrich complains about Hezenkoss making him play complicated wargames when they were students, and that one in particular had three separate rulebooks."

"I've seen people guess whether I was referencing D&D or Warhammer 40K. D&D was formative, and I know a frankly embarrassing amount about WH40K at this point (No regrets. Necrons and Admech 4-ever.*) But the origin is even sillier. *Why yes, Mechanicus 2 IS my most anticipated upcoming game. I used to own the first edition of a board game called Mansions of Madness, and was supposed to learn the rules so I could lead my friends through it. But come the day, I’d procrastinated, and was running short on time."

"Fantasy Flight's previous game in the same vein was Arkham Horror, and AH is not a simple game. But I remember being hopeful, as I peeled the shrinkwrap off, that maybe MoM would be easier to learn than AH. Have streamlined rules, or fewer things to remember. Then the top popped off, and three separate rulebooks fell out and slithered to the floor. (The DAV game’s not meant to be MoM, but the absurdity of that moment stuck with me.) (It's not the game's fault, by any means, that I was unprepared, and the session went as well as it could have with me flipping through the books going "Okay wait...hold on...I think that was here...no, wait.") The Nevarran hazelnut torte recipe is actually a family recipe from my grandmother, on my father's side. I’m beyond delighted people have actually made it. (Our recipe uses metric measurements, but the DA style guide uses imperial, so I was worried about the conversion. Looks like it went okay.)"

"On my mother's side of the family: my grandmother cooked and cleaned for a living, and my grandfather was a butcher. He passed away before I was born, and my grandmother when I was very young. So I gave Emmrich’s parents those professions as a little nod to the grandmother I only knew very little, and the grandfather I never met at all. I would’ve liked time with them both. And to end on a lighter note, "Ever thought of becoming a hat person?" is an extremely oblique reference to a line spoken to one of gaming's greatest characters: Murray, the demon skull from Curse of Monkey Island. (Curse is the first Monkey Island game I ever played, and therefore my favourite.)"

"Small bonus: here’s the music I listened to most while working on Emmrich and the Watchers. Some of it probably only makes sense to me, some of it seems thematically obvious. (I don’t have Spotify so best I can do is an itunes screenshot.)"

"Not on the screenshot because I changed PCs halfway through, but I also listened to a lot of music from Cryo Chamber, a great dark ambient label. [link] And their sister label, Cryo Crypt, which does "Dark Fantasy Dungeon Synth." [link] And also Allicorn IS on the screenshot but I think I've listened to his stuff on every game I've worked on by now. [link]"

[thread source link]

---

Bonus: follow-up comments and exchanges -

User: "I KNEW the torte was somebody’s family recipe!!" // Sylvia: "My only regret is that the icing was originally a stove-boiled icing made with eggs and chocolate and butter emulsified together. I couldn't get it working, however, these past few years. I think we lost some crucial part of the steps when trying to write out a clean copy. So I went with ganache for the game, because I didn't want to print something that didn't work, and I've used ganache myself. It's good! But I'm going to try to replicate the original again one day." [source, two] // User: "I noticed that sometimes, ingredients doesn't react the way they used to and part of that is probably due to some "industrial" changes in the recipe for ingredients like chocolate or butter to cut the cost of making them, imho. It's sad because it means we lost a very specific way to do things..." // Sylvia: "Yeah, that was the first thing a friend who bakes a lot suggested. I wonder if I was a victim of "Buttergate" when Canadian cows were being fed so much palm oil butter was harder to spread as a result. After a long search, I found a local place that makes butter that actually tastes good, which is an incredibly sad sentence to have to type out." [source, two]

Sylvia, re: Vincent Price being a gourmand and his cooking book: "It's extremely cool. My library had a copy and I remember it being pretty big, too." [source]

User: "I was following this thread and I'm delighted about all of these facts and information. Thank you for sharing!" // Sylvia: "Aw thank you! And thanks for reading, it was nice to unpack all the stuff kicking around my mental attic." [source]

User, re: MFC: "Sorry to post again but this one got me- my mom is a doc, and i remember her telling me stories of the cadaver she worked on (evidence of different surgeries she had, the cancer she had, etc), and mom always ended her stories saying how thankful she was to her. It really does stick around." // Sylvia: "No need to apologize, I liked hearing about your mom's reaction! It's exactly what I kept hearing and reading about, a sense of reverence for the gift." [source]

Sylvia: ""The irony that I had to convert the measurements back to metric" Haha. I tried to get as close as I could. Here's the written down metric version of the cake batter. It's an older recipe so I had to try to guess what a "knife tip" ended up as." [source]

A user on the torte being a family recipe: "Oh my gosh 🥹 that makes it all even lovelier!" // Sylvia: "Thanks! I was really excited to share the family recipe, it's a bit of work but it's one of my favorites." [source]

A user under the post about MR James' Collected Ghost Stories: "So you're probably the one behind the mysterious bronze whistle, I take it?" // Sylvia: "Haha, guilty. Cameron Harris, our editor, helped me figure out a phonetic guide to the latin. (If it fails anywhere it's very likely my fault.)" [source]

User: "As an avid Emmrich lover & someone trying to write some Emmrich POVs in my Emrook fanfictions, I can not thank you ENOUGH for this wealth of info / music inspo to go off of" // Sylvia: "Thank you! (Seriously though some of those songs probably only make sense to me, they're not all thematically on point, but some are. Hope you enjoy!)" [source]

User: "As another "needs a million hours of droning ambient music to write" writer I appreciate these greatly" // Sylvia: "We both have good taste! 🎶" [source]

User: "Thank you for writing out this list!! Peter Cushing makes so much sense as an influence. I love the variety of media here, it gives me so much new stuff to check out!" // Sylvia: "Thank you for reading! If you do check out some of this stuff, hope you enjoy!" [source]

Sylvia: "thanks so much, and for reading the thread! It was fun to write." [source]

User: "Thank you for sharing these books!I was looking for a good ghost book" // Sylvia: "Thanks! Hope you enjoy James. "Oh, Whistle, and I'll Come to You, My Lad" was the first story of his I read and I'll never forget that experience." [source] // Sylvia: "I just love the mood James could create, so much." [source]

User: "ELECTRIC SIX MENTION" // Sylvia: "My greatest favorites, now and forever." [source]

Sylvia: "Please archive away, I am intent on deleting the account eventually but it'd be nice to know people could look this stuff up later if they're curious. (Future generations need to know which Atrium Carceri tracks I listened to!)" [source]

User: "Amongst many things, not the least of which is the gratitude and delight of having your fantastic insight into the writing process of Emmrich, my grandmother’s hazelnut torte is fantastically close to the Nevarran version which was a delightful discovery." // Sylvia: "Ah now nice. I assume she was also central/eastern European then? I suspect it was a popular recipe at a certain time." [source]

User: "As an ex-mortician turned game writer, this was a FASCINATING read!" // Sylvia: "Haha, I definitely took inspiration from morticians! (Thank you for checking it out, that thread got long)" [source]

User: "ATRIUM CARCERI - Such a perfect band for the Mourn Watch!" // Sylvia: "I stumbled on Atrium Carceri when I was a student, and there's happily so much dark ambient available now, but Simon Heath's particular vibe can't be beat." [source]

User: "Rockefeller Street is just like that, man. It's sticky." // Sylvia: "Yes! It's so good, it just hits a certain mood dead center." [source]

Sylvia: "Ginkys of BlueSky has created a Spotify list of the music I listened to when writing Emmrich and the Watchers! Almost everything's on there. Thank you Ginkys. (FYI: Not everything I listened to matches the MW vibe, sometimes it was just a song that got stuck in my head for a few weeks.) - [link]" [source]

User: "I appreciate Replay being on here so muuuuch" // Sylvia: "My favorite song on the album! Though 911 was also real solid." [source]

User: "Love that there's Lady Gaga" // Sylvia: "Friend just sent me Abracadabra, I'm excited for the Gothic Camp here." [source]

Sylvia, about the torte recipe: "If it's useful, here's the full thing in metric. WARNING: Last two times I tried this cooked icing, it failed. I'm not sure whether I miscopy a crucial step, or if changes to local butter were the culprit. Either way, proceed with caution. A ganache is way safer, and very similar." [source]

^ User: "Thank you! That's helpful. I haven't baked many cakes before so I'll do some research about icing/ganache before trying. Hopefully looking at local (Swedish) recipes will give me a hint of what to be careful with." // Sylvia: "Ganache is SUPER simple (you basically heat cream and pour it over chopped chocolate), so I lean even more towards recommending you go with that instead of the cooked icing. Hope you the baking." [source]

[thread source link]

[literaryvein-reblogs]

How to Edit Poetry

A poet’s work is a personal expression that uses figurative language to create imagery with words. But as with any creative writing process, poetry requires careful editing to ensure you’ve conveyed the theme you envisioned in a clear, concise way. Once you’ve finished your first draft, it’s time to begin the poetry editing process.

Tips for Editing Your Own Poems

Whether you’re submitting your first book of poetry to literary agents or self-publishing your own poetry collection, editing your work is an important part of writing poems.

Put the poem away once you’ve written a draft. Just like writing fictional short stories or novels, poetry writing is hard work. When you’ve put all the words down on the page, the first thing you should do is put your poem away and take a break from the creative process for a few days. Come back to it with fresh eyes and a fresh mind. This helps you approach your poem more objectively as you begin to edit.

Review your whole poem. One of the first revision strategies you should do is simply to read the poem in its entirety. When you’re done, jot down the first thoughts that come to your mind, like any words or lines that feel off. Think of the reader’s experience with this poem. What would they come away with? Did your theme come across? Is your writing clear? Whether you wrote in a particular poetic form—like haiku or free verse—determine whether the poetic structure worked or if you want to rewrite your poem in a different form altogether.

Read your poem aloud. Editing poetry is as much about revising for readability as it is for its oral quality. How does your poem sound? Listen for rhythm, flow, and the placement of breaks throughout each line. As you scan the lines, see if the meter works well with your words. As you make changes, read your edits aloud to make sure the revised poem is good on paper and pleasing to the ear.

Go over every line. Good poets craft verse that is unified by a central theme. As you read, make sure you’ve crafted lines that support the meaning of the poem, creating a consistent point of view. If a line doesn’t fit, rework it until you find the best words to create a strong, coherent verse.

Begin and end with powerful lines. Pay particular attention to your first line and last lines of your poem. The opener will set the tone and mood of your poem, the last line should leave a lasting impression.

Look over your language. Poetry is a medium of few words, but each one contributes to the bigger picture a poem creates. Review your word choice to make sure each one is a fit for the theme, structure, rhythm, and rhyme. If you have to, pull out a thesaurus to find the right words for the story you’re trying to tell.

Incorporate poetic techniques and devices. When writing poetry, get creative and take different approaches in how you put words together. Use poetic devices in your work—like alliteration and consonance. Play around with language to assemble words in ways that give your poem new meaning.

Test your line breaks. Look at the end of every line. Review how one line ends and a new line begins. If each thought is complete at the end of a line, marked with a period or semicolon, your lines are end-stopped. If one thought continues from one line to the next, you’re using enjambment. Read the poem through to hear how your poem flows from one line to the next. If the poem feels clunky, try the opposite type of line break to see if it’s a better fit with your words and rhythm.

Look at your poetry on the page. Poetry has an aesthetic quality in addition to the imagery and emotions it evokes. Print out your poem and look at its layout on the page. Notice the amount and shape of white space around the poem. Look at the stanza breaks. Poems that follow a metric pattern should have lines of similar lengths.

Do a final pass. You might have to work through several drafts before you finally feel like every word and every line is in place and your poem is complete. Before you submit the piece to literary journals or get it published, do one last round of proofreading as the final step in your revision process, reading it aloud for good measure.

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[who-is-page]

Inky Paws #3 is out and available for download! 🖋️🐾

Inky Paws #3 is a collaborative fiction anthology written by nonhumans and alterhumans on nonhumanity, alterhumanity, and similar, related themes. It contains 20 different stories, poems, songs, and comics by various alterhuman authors, with genres ranging from fantasy, to sci-fi, to horror. It is 81 pages long and was inspired by Tsu Swanblood's The Forest Voice zine. For past issues, click here: Inky Paws #1; Inky Paws #2.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed and to our friends and family who cheered us on while we worked on the zine. We sincerely hope you enjoy!

[worldof3ntertainment]

I've seen a few people try to guess what Lenore's nickname for Annabel was in life, and I always enjoy reading those, so I thought I'd make my own.

In the stories I've written for them, I've been using "Ann" because it moves nicely with the flow of dialogue and I like the way it sounds, but I actually think it's "Annie" for a few reasons.

Firstly and most obviously, there's an EAP poem titled "For Annie". But going deeper into that poem, there are so many similarities to White Raven's themes. For one, the narrator of the poem spends a significant amount of lines discussing lying in a bed, no one wanting to look at them, and seeing Life as a plague. I think we can all see the parallel there. They go further and talk about how Annie saved them from this terrible, hopeless feeling, and gave them life even as others still saw them the same way. These are very common themes to Poe's writing, and even to the gothic genre in general, but the similarities. They haunt me. And I hope they haunt you a lil now too. But lastly, in case they don't yet, here is one more White Raven theme mentioned in the poem - flowers. Rosemary, rue, and pansies (the flowers of Annie) outweigh the sent of myrtles and roses ("old agitations") and allow the narrator to let go of past grievances, "forgetting, or never regretting". Annabel's flowers are peonies, sure, but several types of flowers - and even just flowers no matter the kind - have been used throughout the story to depict different stages of Lenore's mental health and the ways they perceive each other and themselves during the course of their evolving relationship.

I know this is very unrelated to the current episodes, but it's been on my mind a lot, so here you go. :)

[nostalgiclittlespace]

50 Things to put in your Agere Journal

An ‘About Me’ Page

A collage (I like using stickers and magazine clippings!)

A page full of your favorite stickers

List of reasons you like regressing

A list of all your stuffies

Possible names for new toys

Favorite affirmations

Character profiles for your stuffies (eg, their jobs, favorite things, etc)

Write a regression/kidcore themed poem

A letter to your Big, Little, or Future Self

Little Space Wishlist

Bedtime Routine

Sticker Chart for chores or work

Your favorite movies and TV shows

Big you VS Little you (chart, drawing, list, etc)

Glue in an envelope to keep important things in, such as stickers, notes, and small toys

Places you want to go

Note your favorite memories

Agere headcanons for a character

Draw yourself as an animal. Which would you be and why?

Draw a genie, fairy, or wizard—who have granted you 3 wishes! What are you wishing for?

A list of new foods you’d like to try

Write a review of your favorite picture book

Draw your dream paci

Write a story

Design matching outfits for you and your favorite stuffie

Make up a new game and its rules; note it all in your journal

Write a new, happy message to yourself every time you regress. You’ll eventually have a long list of positivity!

Glue pipe cleaners, buttons, yarn, and other craft supplies into a picture! (My favorite is making houses and people with them)

Top 10 Disney movies

Rules for Little Space

Lift the flaps using post-it notes (I tape the top/sticky end down so they don’t fall off)

Make a page for each color. How does this color make you feel, your favorite things of that color, stickers, etc

Uses beads, glitter glue, scented stickers, and more to make a sensory page

Make an OC. Are they from your favorite agere show? Are they an imaginary friend? What do they like to do?

Plan your ideal Little Space day

If you were a superhero, what would your costume and powers be?

Your regression triggers

Your favorite things to do at each age you regress to

Video games to play in Little Space

Make a word search (come back to it after a little while to make it trickier!)

Your favorite recipes

A page for each season—your favorite holidays, activities, the weather, stickers etc

A self-portrait

Trading cards (namely Pokémon or similar)

An invitation to your toy’s party

Little Space nicknames

A menu for playing restaurant

Signs you are regressed

Crafts you’d like to try

[maxleyrosebud]

Is there LGBT subtext in the Poetry class scene? Wilde/Douglas and Max/Bradley comparison.

During one of Max’s classes in AEGM , the teacher is reading out loud a poem called “Panthea by Oscar Wilde”. 

At first the camera is focused on the teacher reading the poem to the class. 

“We who are godlike now , were once a mass…” - Teacher 

Then the camera focuses on Max who is writing notes but turns around annoyed after Tank spits a spitball at him , 

leading the camera to pan up to a smiling Bradley looking back at Max as the teacher says the line.

“Of quivering purple, flecked with bars of gold.” 

( A bit ironic with how this line goes so well with Bradley due to the colour of his sweater and how he can be associated with Gold due to his high status )

So why am I bringing this scene up? 

Reason 1, is that “Oscar Wilde” , the poet of this particular poem, was secretly a Homosexual man who had an ongoing affair with a high elite man named “Lord Alfred Douglas.” 

And reason 2, is that one of the themes presented in the poem “Panthea” , is about pursuing desire/pleasure ( the physical kind ). 

So , with these two points in mind It makes you question if this scene in the movie could be interpreted as some subtle LGBT subtext between Max and Bradley , as it’s a very interesting choice of poem and poet for the production team of AEGM to choose from to use briefly for this  particular moment between these two characters. 

Now , I do understand that the scene overall is meant to be an introduction to Goofy attending Max’s class/college but when doing research on the poem/poet , the relationship between Wilde and Douglas and the theme around the poem doesn't relate to Goofy and Max’s conflict between father and son whatsoever,

nor does the teacher continue to recite the poem when Goofy enters the room. 

So it begs the question, why out of all the poems/poets at the production team's disposal , was the poem “Panthea” by Oscar Wilde  used in this scene in the first place? Why not choose a poem/poet that related to the father son conflict between Max and Goofy instead as that is the main focus of the movie?

Well that’s what we're going to explore here today so strap on in Maxley fans as we're in for one hell of a ride.

But before I continue there will be mentions of Homophobia/discrimination and mentions of passionate acts but don't worry, nothing explicit. 

Okay so 3…2…1…Let's start off with Wilde and Douglas' relationship. 

A quick Summary of Wilde and Douglas relationship.

Oscar Wilde was a famous Irish Poet and playwright who was later known for engaging in relationships with men. 

Wilde was described as someone who was witty , flamboyant and a believer in individualism.

“Wilde’s struggle for his own autonomy and individualism became a theme in his plays, he wrestled with his own need for radical personal freedom and a need for society itself to be radically different” - poetryschool.com 

Lord Alfred Douglas was also a poet and came from a wealthy and aristocratic background, whose father was the Marquess of Queensberry. Douglas had a strained relationship with his father who was a very vile brutish man. ( Honestly , the things he said to Douglas was brutal )

Unlike Wilde , Douglas was described as someone who was privileged , selfish, spoilt , reckless ,insolent and extravagant.

His Mother called him “Bosie” (a derivative of "boysie", as in boy), a nickname which stuck for the rest of his life and was a nickname that his friends affectionately called him. -The love of Oscar Wilde and Bosie - Historical Snapshots , -Lord Alfred Douglas - Wikipedia

They both met in 1891 at a gathering of literacy figures and despite homosexuality being illegal in England at the time, they were both infatuated with each other and engaged in an ongoing forbidden love affair where they wrote many love letters between each other. 

Okay…

So I think you can already see from this quick summary that there are a few similarities between both Wilde/Douglas and Max/Bradley.  

Similarities 

Both Bradley and Douglas are Aristocats, where they are both wealthy men with a high social rank. Bradley being “Bradley Uppercrust the Third” and Alfred being “Lord Alfred Douglas.” 

A bit of a Coincidence ... isn't it  ??????...

Bradley was given the nickname "Brad" while Douglas was given the nickname “Bosie”. ( Ironically both nicknames begin with B )

Personality wise , Bradley is very similar to Douglas and Max can be seen similar to Wilde due to their wit and their need for personal freedom.   

Max and Bradley share a common interest in skateboarding as their both skateboarders whereas Wilde and Douglas shared a passion for literature as their both poets.

Bradley and Douglas could both share bad relationships with their father’s. Even though it's not 100% confirmed in the movie , I do think that due to Max and Bradley being parallels to one another and how Bradley reacts to Goofy’s statement towards him- “I’m not sure you understand the bond between a father and his son.”

that it can be interpreted that Bradley doesn't have a close relationship with his own Father. So it is possible that both Douglas and Bradley share similar strained relationships with their own dad’s.  

Both of their Dynamic’s.  

When it came to Wilde and Douglas real life Dynamic , their relationship was full of conflict due to societal pressure,  financial problems, discrimination , religion , family disapproval , and homosexuality being illegal in their time period and so their relationship would sometimes become resentful and strained because of these factors. 

“But no matter how much they loved each other they embodied that romantic paradox that serves as a curse, no matter how much heartfelt swoon and tender care surfaced, even with the friendship that remained steadfast and gripping: they continued to hurt each other out of spite, peer pressure, and protection of themselves.”- poetryschool.com 

“Douglas was Wilde’s literary muse, his evil genius, his restless lover, and together they make one of history’s greatest creative and intellectual power couples. Beloved of Wilde, betrayed by Wilde, betrayer of Wilde, Douglas raged at his fate and grew more vindictive in his disputes. Despite this, and all the arguing and blame-throwing, the men decided to reunite and try again after all the ‘wide abysses now of space and land’ between them.”-poetryschool.com 

“They often argued and broke up, but would always be reconciled.”- wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Douglas 

A real Love , Hate relationship going on between them , you could say.  

So when you compare this Dynamic to Max and Bradley , they both seem to share a similar relationship that is filled with conflict. That being for different reasons of course . 

When they first meet in AEGM , Max and Bradley do have a admiration/respect for the other,

but due to Max rejecting Bradley’s offer to be a Gamma and therefore making them rivals in the X games, their relationship becomes a back and forth of conflict of trying to outwit/outdo the other. 

When you compare both Dynamics , it seems rather poetic that they mirror each other so well. Maybe even intentionally so? 

Like I said before , Wilde and Douglas dynamic fits very well with Max and Bradley , so it feels like a conscious choice that they decided not to focus on Max and Goofy's father and son relationship when choosing a poet/poem for the class room scene. Maxley takes priority I guess.

And considering how Wilde’s relationship with Douglas was a same sex relationship , it begs the question if Max and Bradley’s relationship was meant to mirror this also???

Like did someone on the production team just really ship Max and Bradley and just so happened to be a fan of Oscar Wilde and knew Wilde's relationship with Douglas would fit so well between them ;)

LGBT presentation.

Back in the early 2000’s LGBT representation in media was often sub textual , very censored , and unfortunately homosexuality was associated with being something bad , hence why Disney villains tended to be rather queer coded. ( This is one of the reasons why Bradley’s own sexuality is debated with in the fandom ) 

So if someone on the production team of AEGM did want LGBT representation between Max and Bradley but had too many restrictions against it , what better way to do that than them subtly adding in a Gay poet who just so happened to have an affair with a gay wealthy lord as a parallel to Max and Bradley.   

Again , the production team working on AEGM could have done something relating to Goofy and Max’s dynamic but for some Unknown reason they chose to choose a poet that had a relationship similar to Max and Bradley’s ??? 

The Poem’s Themes 

Moving on to the poem itself , one of the ongoing themes in the poem is about passion and desire. Down below our quotes about the theme.

“explores the themes of the transient nature of human life, the pursuit of desire, the beauty of nature, and the idea of an interconnected universe.” - www.sevenov.com/panthea-by-oscar-wilde/ 

“Embracing Passion and Desire - The poem opens with an exhortation to move from “fire unto fire”, suggesting a journey through intense experiences and emotions. The speaker claims to be too young to live without desire, emphasizing the importance of passion in life. This sets the tone for a celebration of youthful vigor and the pursuit of pleasure.”- www.sevenov.com/panthea-by-oscar-wilde/ 

“Rejection of Conventional Morality- Throughout the poem, there is a subtle rejection of traditional moral and social conventions, favouring a more liberated, passionate existence that is in harmony with nature and primal desires.”- www.sevenov.com/panthea-by-oscar-wilde/ 

Here is one of the verses of the poem that they are referring too. 

NAY, let us walk from fire unto fire, From passionate pain to deadlier delight,-- I am too young to live without desire, Too young art thou to waste this summer night Asking those idle questions which of old Man sought of seer and oracle, and no reply was told. For, sweet, to feel is better than to know, And wisdom is a childless heritage, One pulse of passion--youth's first fiery glow,-- Are worth the hoarded proverbs of the sage:10 Vex not thy soul with dead philosophy, Have we not lips to kiss with, hearts to love, and eyes to see!

Another theme within the poem is how Wilde wants to reject social institutions ( religion ) in order to pursue his own desires ( subtext for his own homosexuality) and that we shouldn't worry about judgement from religion/god but instead live our lives how we see fit as life is short.

O we are wearied of this sense of guilt, Wearied of pleasure's paramour despair, Wearied of every temple we have built, Wearied of every right, unanswered prayer, For man is weak; God sleeps: and heaven is high: One fiery-coloured moment: one great love; and lo! we die.

“The Gods appear to be too absorbed in their own comings and goings to care too deeply about the humans beneath them. But , as Wilde says , the people are tired of the gods disinterested attitudes:”

“ It is a statement about the church and the government's position on homosexuality. Wilde is railing against his inability to express affection for his lover outside of closed doors.” - Oscar Wilde's Poems: Analysis & Quotes | Study.com  

Throughout the poem there are other themes such as the beauty of nature and the transcendent nature of life and death which ill be bringing up again shortly. But it is clear to see that the theme of desire is prevalent and that Wilde wants the reader to question their own pursuits of pleasures.  

So when you relate this to Maxley , where you have a scene where a poem about desire is being read in the background while we focus briefly on Max and Bradley, it becomes rather suspicious, doesn't it? Especially when Oscar Wilde's same sex relationship has similarities to Maxley.

It just makes you wonder if the theme of the poem was deliberately chosen to sub textually say that these two college boys ( or even just Bradley) have some hidden desire for the other ???         

Now , I know how all this sounds. Trust me , I know...

But from Wilde being a gay poet to the parallels between Max/Bradley and Wilde/Douglas ,  to the theme of desire in the poem , you can’t help but speculate can ya. It just seems suspious dont it?

Beret Girl’s Poetry slam

Now , Like I said earlier, one of the themes in the poem is about the beauty of nature and the transcendent nature of life and death.  

Ironically , Beret Girl recites a poem about how Life is like a Lime.

“Life is like a Lime  Hmm. It’s tart and tangy Sweet. Oooh, so sublime. Quiet, speechless like a mine. Bold and noisy , like a crime. Don't you dare waste my time.  Cause life can stop…on a dine.”

This is an interesting comparison to make as it feels like Beret girls poem was intentionally made to be inspired by "Panthea". Both Beret girl and Oscar Wilde's poem try to convey how short life can be , hence why Beret girl states that you shouldn't waste her time as Life can stop on a dime.

Some may even see the beginning of Beret girls poem to have a "suggestive" tone to it from the way she speaks and the focus on her lips.

That being said , both poems seem to be intended to relate to one another for an unknown purpose where both Max and Bradley are shown to be listening in to her poem. It’s also right after she tells her poem that the scene focuses on Bradley introducing himself to Max after Bobby faints from emotion.

Interesting how both the Beret girl poem scene and the class room scene have Max and Bradley as a focus ? Perhaps life is too short for them to let their rivalry get in between them?

Another point that I wanted to make relating to the scene is that both Wilde and Douglas met at a social gathering with other literacy figures.

This is ironic, as the first time Max and Bradley talk to each other in person is in the Bean Scene.

A Coffee Shop which is filled with people who have a love for poetry slams. 

Guys , I swear I'm not making this up. The comparisons to Wilde and Douglas just keep pooping up for some reason. 

It's like poetry , it rhymes.

And like I mentioned earlier , it's straight after Beret Girls' poetry performance has ended , that the focus is put back on Max and Bradley, where Tank points out Max from across the room ,

to which Bradley happily goes over to Max to introduce himself. 

Now I can't 100% confirm this but according to Patrick Marano , when Wilde was at the event and saw Douglas for the first time , he set eyes on him from across the room. 

“Almost immediately Oscar sets eyes on a young beautiful creature standing at the end of the room casually talking to another man. The object of his desire , is Lord Alfred Douglas”- Patrick Marano

If this is true then when it comes to Maxley , it becomes the opposite of what happened between Wilde and Douglas where it’s Bradley setting his eyes on Max , to which Max is talking to a Barista from across the room. 

It really is starting to feel like there's LGBT subtext between these two dont it?

Homosexuality in the 19th century compared to the early 2000’s.

Unlike Wilde and Douglas , Max and Bradley dont live in the 19th century in AEGM and would legally be able to be together but both relationships would still share themes of discrimination if you are to be historically accurate. 

Because of the time period , Wilde and Douglas' relationship was a real life tragic love story and so as you can already guess , the relationship between Wilde and Douglas was greatly thwarted and didn't end happily ever after. 

Their relationship started to grab the attention of the public and became a subject of gossip and speculation. It also didn't help that Douglas’s father , the Marquess of Queensberry also questioned their relationship and was hugely Homophobic. 

Wanting to stop their relationship , he threatened his son Douglas with disowning him and stopping all money supplies and later sabotaged Wilde's career just when Wilde's career was at its peak. 

Wilde was then sent to jail for two years of hard labor, being accused of gross indecency when evidence of Wildes relationships with men came to light. 

After Wilde was released from prison , both Wilde and Douglas briefly reconciled and lived with each other for a few months but due to financial problems and the consequences/trials of their relationship , they ultimately separated. They both then tried to pursue religion ( Catholicism ).

“the two reunited in August at Rouen but stayed together only a few months due to personal differences and various pressures on them.”- wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Douglas 

“With all the pressures the distance, the financial bickering, the punishments, the hearsay and the passing of time, the two separated and went on crusading different paths.”- poetryschool.com 

“In 1911, Douglas embraced Catholicism as Wilde had done earlier.”- wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Alfred_Douglas 

“Though Wilde's health had suffered greatly from the harshness and diet of prison, he had a feeling of spiritual renewal. He immediately wrote to the Society of Jesus requesting a six-month Catholic retreat; when the request was denied, Wilde wept.”-  wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_Wilde

When it comes to Max and Bradley however , they are instead fictional characters that are set in the early 2000’s within AEGM timeline and like i said before , their relationship wouldn’t be illegal if they chose to pursue a relationship with one another. 

That being said though , despite progress having been made,  LGBT groups still had to face challenges in the early 2000’s such as fear of coming out to their strict/religious parents in case they were disowned, same sex marriage not being allowed in America yet , bullying , Homophobia from bigots etc.  

Goofy of course wouldn't care if Max was attracted to guys or not as he's just a good dad but when you keep in mind that Bradley comes from a high elite background where he was raised in an upper-class American Household , it can be easily assumed that Homophobia would have been prevalent. Furthermore , Bradley is a member/descendant of royalty so being openly gay could easily be frowned upon.  

There’s also a lot of Religious/catholic imagery within the Gamma house during Goofy’s inauguration scene such as the Gamma’s looking like Monks , 

Bradley looking like a priest , 

the wine , the candles etc. 

And due to the Gamma house being a visual representation of the upper class  , you can easily interpret that Bradley could have been raised in a religious household/upbringing. 

Therefore, the comparison between both relationships mirroring each other becomes more noticeable as both time periods had their own obstacles to overcome when it came to being LGBT.   

Even the comparison between Bradley and Douglas can be seen as more prominent due to them  both sharing themes of discrimination in high elite social circles and the religion of Catholicism .  

You can even head canon that Bradley could face a similar situation to Douglas where if he wanted to pursue a relationship  with Max , Bradley’s father could potentially threaten to cut him off or disown him and even plan to sabotage Max’s career/future right when Max is at the peek of his popularity if he does not approve of their relationship. 

This isn't to say that Max and Bradley’s relationship would end tragically like Wilde and Douglas though. They are fictional characters after all. This just means that both relationships would face different kinds of discrimination in their own respective time periods. 

Conclusion 

So all in all , there are a lot of comparisons and similarities to be made here.

It's just interesting that someone on the AEGM production team consciously chose the poem “Panthea by Oscar Wilde” to be presented in this scene when they really could have done anything they wanted. When making a movie , every choice has to have a purpose as it needs to impact the story or it’s going to get cut.

So with all the points I’ve mentioned above , I can see how the poetry scene in the class room between Max and Bradley can be interpreted as gay subtext between them even if the moment is very brief. 

Of Course this can all just be one big happy coincidence or maybe it is indeed something intentional going on behind the scenes but will never know for sure. 

Regardless though,  this is just something fun to theories over and an interesting point of discussion. Everyone has a right to their own interpretation of a source of media and I’m more than open to criticism/other interpretations. 

I Hope I was able to get my points across properly and that it was at least entertaining enough to read. 

I'll leave my sources down below. If anyone wants to cheek them out for yourself then feel free to do so.  :)

Sources

www.sevenov.com/panthea-by-oscar-wilde/

The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name: Oscar Wilde & Lord Alfred Douglas • Poetry School

Little Motel: Panthea by Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's Poems: Analysis & Quotes | Study.com

Was Oscar Wilde Gay? Gender And Sexuality

Lord Alfred Douglas - Wikipedia

Oscar Wilde - Wikipedia

The love of Oscar Wilde and Bosie - Historical Snapshots

Oscar Wilde's Forbidden Love ❤️ (Gay Love Story) | Patrick Marano - Youtube 

Unusual Historical Romances: Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas - Youtube 

Oscar Wilde's lover - Youtube

[whencyclopedia]

The Ancient Greek symposium is often considered an important part of Greek culture, a place where the elite drank, feasted and indulged in sometimes decadent activities. Although such practices were present in symposia, the writing and performance of poetry is perhaps the most interesting and thought-provoking element of the ancient sympotic tradition. This essay aims to investigate the interestingly varied relationship between the symposium and poetry by approaching it on a number of different levels: the first exploring poetry's capability to inform its reader about the symposium and its associated practises; the second probing poetic relationships with and similarities to other key sympotic components, such as wine; the third questioning the suitability of poetry as a source for establishing the nature of such a relationship. From a modern perspective, that the symposium was a context for the performance of literature immediately and incontrovertibly implies a connection between poetry and the symposium. This then raises questions of the nature of said relationship: did poetry simply sing of sympotic activity, opening up the exclusive and elusive world of the Ancient Greek elite? How was the environment of the symposium particularly suited to the performance of poetry, and did this setting determine or in any way influence the kind of poetry performed? Xenophanes, a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and critic, provides a splendid account of sympotic customs, noting the setup of the wine mixing bowl, the food available, and the prayers and libations to the deities before proceedings begin, insinuating that there was a heavily ritualised character to the symposium. In addition, though writing almost a century earlier, Alcaeus, a Greek lyric poet, wrote the line, 'from Teian cups the wine drops fly,' which indicates the playing of drinking games of sorts. It is interesting to note the different times within which each poem was written; the large chronological gap between the two shows that the tradition of depicting sympotic events in poetry was not only maintained, but important. Although in many cases, as examined above, sympotic poetry seemingly provides descriptions and depictions of activities and events during the symposium, it has been argued that pictures of moderate drinking parties may not necessarily mirror reality but are rather a guide as to how to drink 'properly'. Considering also that the symposium was considered a centre for the transmission of traditional values, it seems logical that poetry should reflect not only the happenings but also the aims and intentions of the symposium. For example, Anacreon, writing in the 6th century BCE, provides not only guidance regarding the proper ratio of mixing water to wine: 'come boy, bring us a bowl so I can drink a sconce. Pour in ten ladlesful of water, five of wine, so I can bacchanize once more with no disgrace,' but he also advises on the manner in which one should consume wine, ' come now, this time let's drink not in this Scythian style with din and uproar, but sip to the sound of decent songs.' In addition, Alcaeus, a poet from around the 7th-6th centuries BCE, warns of the dangers of wine, 'if wine fetters the wits, often he hangs his head and blames himself, regretting what he's said, but its too late to take it back.' The occurrence of such guiding themes in poetry written almost 100 years apart emphasizes their importance and hints that such a relationship between the symposium and poetry was strong and continuous. These three instances demonstrate this poetic role and highlight a mutual exchange between the symposium and poetry; while the symposium may provide the subject matter, poetry can provide the constraints and guidance for such subject matter. This shows that already, although only following a brief investigation, the relationship between poetry and the symposium is more intricate than meets the eye. It has been established that a key aspect of the relationship between the symposium and poetry is poetry's ability to depict sympotic activities - the 'seen' components of the symposium, so to speak. However, the relationship assumes a new dimension when one considers the portrayal of the 'invisible' sympotic atmosphere through, rather than imagery and words, the very nature of sympotic poetry. The symposium as an exclusive gathering of elites implies an intimate and sheltered environment for the recitation of poetry. Pottery carrying depictions of the symposium show a keen focus on internal events amongst the participants, and an inward facing layout is suggested by Xenophanes, who points out 'the altar in the middle bedecked with flowers', which gives rise to the idea that the symposium was a gathering separate from the outside world. The repetition of this imagery in different kinds of sources lends strength and credibility to the case for an inwardly directed symposium. From here, parallels can be drawn between sympotic poetry and the arena in which it was performed for and written in. Exemplifying the notion of sympotic isolation, it has been suggested that Theognis, a sixth century BCE Greek lyric poet, saw the themes of sympotic poetry and the symposium as providing refuge from the corruption of Megara, which supports the idea of the sympotic environment as being very sheltered from the outside world. Similarly, although in a slightly lighter-hearted manner, Alcaeus shows the symposium to be an escape from the outside world, but in this case from the weather, 'defeat the weather; light a fire, mix the sweet wine unstintingly and put a nice soft cushion by my head.' Furthermore, although the earliest sympotic poetry may have actually been contemporary with early epic, the content of the respective genres varies widely, due in part perhaps to the different performance environments and audiences of each genre? Having investigated the more straightforward features of the relationship between the symposium and poetry, the time has come to direct attention to its more subtle and elusive constituents. Possibly the most interesting fact about this increasingly intricate relationship, is that poetry finds itself not only associated with the symposium as a whole, but linked in a labyrinthine manner to key elements within the symposium itself, such as wine. In other words, the connections between poetry and the symposium represent relationships within a relationship. It hardly needs to be said that wine was a key component of the symposium. What is curious is the way in which the characteristics of wine and poetry are closely related and in some cases interwoven. On the one hand, one could almost go so far as to argue that, poetry is the literary compliment of wine, and that in the context of the ancient symposium, poetry was approached in a manner not so far removed from the way in which wine was viewed. However, on the other, it could be claimed that poetry was the sympotic antithesis of wine, revealing a more complicated relationship between poetry and wine than may have previously been appreciated. It is evident that many characteristics of wine and poetry are intimately linked in the symposium. Alcaeus remarks that 'wine puts cares out of mind,' and that 'wine is a window into a man' properties shared also with poetry, especially that within the sympotic context which played upon particularly pleasurable themes, as aforementioned. Although parallels between the effects of wine and poetry have begun to emerge, this is not to say that wine and poetry work in the same way. Parallels can also be drawn, establishing a relationship, between wine and the composition of poetry. The historian Whitmarsh states that solids and liquids are not the same as food and drink, which require artfulness and cultivation. It is well established that wine was very much a cultivated and refined product, having been brought from outside into the home, drawing many parallels to the god Dionysos, a key player in the symposium. The writing and 'cultivation' of poetry by the author seems to reflect closely the winemaking process. Additionally, the heavily ritualised and controlled practice of mixing water with wine, mentioned previously in Anacreon's verse, can be interpreted as a mirroring of the careful art of fitting words into a regularly repeated meter then singing them to a tune of a similarly repetitive nature to the meter. Thus it is not unreasonable to suggest that poetry could in fact masquerade as the literary equivalent of wine. Despite the appearance of a harmonious and close relationship between poetry and wine, it can be seen that while poetry may hypothetically offer itself as the literary equivalent of wine in the symposium context, it can simultaneously act as a literary antithesis to wine, almost as a sympotic antidote. The fact that poetry and wine share similar capabilities, as expressed above, raises the question of whether poetry could be interpreted as a medium providing all the benefits of wine, yet without the risk of social embarrassment. The usefulness of ancient poetry as a source for studying the symposium cannot and should not be denied. However, it is important not to let this usefulness get in the way when trying to establish the relationship between the symposium and poetry, as the modern perspective of the relationship could cloud the ancient relationship. On the one hand, as shown above, poetry has a great deal to tell the reader, both implicitly and explicitly about the ancient symposium, demonstrating that it is a good source for establishing the relationship between the symposium and poetry. Yet on the other hand, the fact that a relationship can be seen between poetry and the symposium without much in-depth investigation into the matter raises the question of whether it would be better to consider other sources, such as pottery for example, so as to gain a wider and clearer perspective on the relationship. Lastly, it is interesting to ask why poetry is considered such a suitable source for establishing the relationship between the symposium and poetry; is it because, like the symposium, poetry was a key element of Greek culture which endured through time, therefore, the modern scholar is keen to link the two together in the aim of figuring out their method of survival? The relationship between poetry and the symposium was complex, increasingly so the deeper into individual sympotic elements one delves, finding more subtle connections and similarities all the time. There was also almost certainly a degree of mutual exchange between the two, with one influencing and inspiring the other and vice versa. One thing in particular stands out; that interpretations of the relationship between poetry and the symposium will continue to change and evolve over time, in much the same way that poetry and the symposium can be seen to have helped one another develop in the ancient world. The fact that an active relationship between two aspects of Ancient Greek culture can still be seen today is very exciting.

[deminetly]

୨NOT SO DEEP JOURNALING PROMPTS୧

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if somebody were to make a love potion for you, what should they add in?

make a collage about your dream future

describe how you imagine pictures in your head

your fig tree

the loot you would drop in a video game

what are you currently feeling, wearing, thinking, loving, needing, wanting, hating, regretting, missing?

write down every single thought that comes up until the page is full

whats in my bag collage

write down a guide to having a good/productive day

your life story as a playlist

3-5 things you would save in a fire

“maybe I was born to…” (and add things that make you happy)

random and specific things that would “fix” you (ex: a new journal, a really sweet cup of tea)

what were you interested in as a child? go out and do those things and write down how you felt. did it feel the same as it did when you were younger?

if you could switch lives with someone forever then who would it be?

what kind of planet would you want to live in if you were an alien? (weather, gravity, nature, magic, creatures etc)

ask people you know for movie recommendations, watch and analyse the movies. why do you think they like the movie?

make up totally useless superpowers for superheroes

write down all of the lives you would be happy living

make a resume

deep dive on why you’re always sad on your birthday

write down small things that make life worth living

think of the coolest person you know. what makes them cool?how are you guys similar?

write down all of the best feelings in the world but make them really specific

instead of writing about your day, make a comic

plan a party. who’s coming? where is it? is there a theme?

draw your emotions as people

write down all of your favourite lyrics and analyse them. how are they similar? why do you like them? how do you relate to them?

write down a few things you’re never tried and don’t think you would like then go out and try doing one of them. write about how you felt. were you right about not liking it?

would you enjoy living on a boat?

what was the last risk you took? do you regret it?

which lessons are you learning at this stage of your life?

do you believe in magic, miracles and coincidences?

whats something that younger you wouldn’t believe about your current life?

how do you want people to feel around you?

think of a plot for a movie

list your favourite sensations (smells, sounds etc)

try to explain your favourite movie or show that someone who’s never seen it

write about your favourite spot in your city 

choose a random word concept and write a silly poem about it 

list small things that make you happy 

list different ways to say I love you 

make a maze

make a word puzzle

write about your day like chapter in a book or newspaper article 

list your favourite childhood memories

invent something new (music genre, word, gum flavor etc)

draw monster, give it a personality and name 

your starter pack

what would you do if you were rich?

list random facts you’ve learned recently 

write an essay/letter to God listing reasons why you should get what you want

where would you live if you were a fairy?

list fictional places you would visit 

list random life lessons you’ve learned 

rate every song in an album 

where would you live if you were a fairy

if you were cartoon character, what would your catchphrase be? 

if you were to write a book or a movie, what would it be about? 

list features that ‘arent beautiful’ according to the beauty standard but you find unique and gorgeous

your solutions to the trolley problem

whats your favourite form of art and why?

if you were a perfume, what would be the top, middle and base notes?

draw yourself then write down everything thats been on your mind lately just floating around you

if you were to participate in a talent show, then what with your talent to be?

if october was a man

write a poem about pomegranate

“im easy to please, all i need is…” and list random things you like

search up “what do you see? draw it” from pinterest and draw what you see

read a book and write down some new words you learned or just words you thought sounded nice

what do you think your energy/aura looks like?

write down all the songs that remind you of yourself

whats something that loves and kills?

would you like living in the universe of your favourite movie/show? why?

how does your favourite song make you feel?

write daily entries about an imaginary royal life you live

go on a walk, write down all the locations of the prettiest places, capture them (print or draw pictures and write about how they make you feel)

imagine you’re hosting a tea party for your past, present and future self. what stories or secrets what they share with each other?

if you could bottle up any feeling from a specific moment in your life to keep forever, what would it be?

try to remember a wish that you made a long time ago, how would you feel if it came true now?

what memory do you revisit the most and why do you think it holds such power over you?

what piece of advice would you give to a traveller who was about to embark on a journey inside of your mind? 

do you think dreams have meanings?

if your personality was a landscape, what would it look like? would it be a forest, desert, a bustling city or something entirely different like a magical kingdom?

imagine your life is a book and a new character enters in this chapter, who are they and what role do they play in your story?

if you could speak directly to the moon tonight, what would you say or ask and what do you hope she would reply?

if your life was a fairytale, what would be the reoccurring magical object and what does it symbolise for you?

write a new ending to a significant chapter of your life, changing one key decision or event. how does this ending shape the person you become? 

write about a dream you wish you had while sleeping but never did

you find a golden key in your pocket that opens a door to a parallel universe where one aspect of your life is completely different. what is it? how do you feel in this new version of your life?

if your life had a colour palette what would it look like? what does each colour represent? 

write a message, seal it in a bottle and toss it into the sea of possibility. what do you write? who do you hope finds it?

write a letter to your current self from the perspective of your inner child. what advice, reminders or dreams do they want you to remember?

trace your hand and in it draw things youre holding onto even though you know you shouldnt

“me core” page (add lyrics, characters and pictures that represent you, your vibe)

start labelling every day like a TV show episode

make a sticker pocket

write the whole page in a fun font

instead of writing, draw how you feel

make bingo cards

write something with every pencil and pen that are in your pencil case 

put your playlist on shuffle and write down every lyric you relate to until the page is full 

design a tattoo you would get

draw how you think different peoples fridges would look like (ocs, characters, celebrities, your friends)

write down as many (good) memories from your childhood as you can remember 

get three random words and write a story or silly poem, including all of them

write about someone or something that keeps occurring in your dreams. why do you think that is?

who are your favourite and least favourite characters? why? how do you see yourself in these characters?

if you had to get a tattoo right now, what would you get? what meaning does it have to you?

where is the most ideal place to read a book?

write a short story about how the stars were created

what have been the biggest changes you have noticed in yourself in the span of a year?

would you be okay with your life if it stayed exactly how it is now? if no, what would you want to change?

would you want to live in your favourite show/movie? why?

who brings out the best in you? what about the worst?

write about your life events this month like a chapter in a book

“this reminds me of me” page

make up a different personality for each letter of the alphabet and assign people that you know letters according to their personalities

list all of the songs you know by heart

are you a dreamer or a realist?

whats the first thing you notice about people?

define beauty

do you think your name fits you?

design a dress while in a high vibrational state and then design another (different) one while in a low vibrational state

how would you explain dancing and singing to an alien?

what are the first things you notice about a person?

define beauty

have you ever found a writer who thinks just like you? who?

do you think your social media profile is an accurate representation of you?

do you think your appearance is an accurate representation of you?

what’s the exact opposite of you? which qualities do you like and which ones do you not?

what do you think people that have had a big impact on you would say about you?

format a page like a tumblr post

draw a song

if you were to switch places with someone and they had to pretend to be you, what would you tell them?

analyse people you have liked. what do they have in common? why did you like them? why do you not like them anymore?

write about a time you realised youre no longer a child

lets say you created one thing into this world before being born. what do you think it is? why?

deeply analyse and overexplain something random

meeting with your younger self trend - when did both of you arrive? what did both of you order? what did they tell you and what did you tell them?

if you lost all of your memories what would you want to be the first thing someone reminds you of?

what kind of character would you best perform as if you were an actor?

which topics would you write a really good essay on?

design the house you would live in if you were a mouse

make a word search

make an iceberg about a topic of your choice

when was the last time you did something for the first time?

make a bingo card

make a list of ways to say "I love you" without saying it

write a letter to your future lover

make up fun jobs youd like to work but they dont exist

do you think you're the muse or the artist? would you wish to be the opposite?

find an old photo of you as a child and try to remember as much as you can about the moment it was taken (credits to dottygoth for this one)

find a random painting you like and write about it, whats the meaning? how do you see yourself in it? why did you choose that one?

make a list of very specific things you like about yourself

do you believe in love at first sight? why?

list things you wouldn’t be you without

write down every person you dislike and why, then try to find something you like about each one

what makes someone interesting?

make a whole list of positive "what if."s

whats the most impressive thing you think you could do with your eyes closed? try it and see if you really can

whats the coolest place youve ever been to? why? would you visit again?

make a mind map - draw the enterance to your mind and all of the places (ex: the kingdom of ideas

if you were to be taxidermied, which position would you want to be in? draw it

compare your dream job to your younger selfs dream job. what changed?

make a levels of intimacy triangle

choose 3 different jobs that you would like working and write a short description of your day if you did work there

what are the main differences between you right now and you one year ago?

rate/rank all of your past friends

start collecting hair from people close to you in a page

write about why your favourite song/movie is your favourite

if someone were to go through your youtube search history, what would they think you like? is it accurate to what you actually like?

list some "embarrasing" phases youve gone through

how do you show love to a partner? what about a friend? how about family? how are they different? how are they similar? give examples for each one

if you could ask one question and be guaranteed the absolute truth, what would you ask? what does that say about you?

what makes you fall in love with someone? why?

which apologies are you still waiting for? who might be waiting for an apology from you?

plan an ideal wedding/ birthday party (whos coming, where is it, what are you wearing, whats the theme, what kind of food, which presents are you getting, what time does it start, etc)

rank weekdays, months and seasons

what are your favourite and least favourite times of day? why?

draw your favourite song

list things you have lost or forgotten

list your favourite words

if you were to be famous, what would you be famous for?

what's the first thing you notice about someone and what's the first thing you hope someone notices about you?

write about your favourite childhood memory

if you could find out the truth about any mystery, which one would it be why? what do you think the truth is?

why is your favourite (color, song, movie, person) your favourite? what makes it so special to you

what did your dream life look like as a child versus what does your dream life look like now? have you achieved some of your old goals?

how would your pet describe you?

make a list of things you love about yourself

make a list of things you love about life

think of stuff that is currently having a negative impact on you and what you could do to change them

list people that always make you laugh

describe your first love and yourself during your first love

draw a movie character from a movie youre about to watch then write down your favourite quotes they say

draw the solar system but make it your own (make up new planets)

write secret messages in mini envelopes you glued in the page

bingo card for the day/ week/month/year

list things you want to get better at

draw whats in your bag

make up stain log

teabags + ratings

draw your dream wardrobe



[queerprayers]

Hi! This advent I really want to honour my faith rather than just celebrating christmas in a secular sense. I found your post about advent and the liturgical new year inspiring, and I was wondering if you could point me towards some ideas or resources for advent practices or ways to go about worship specifically for this period - everywhere I've looked just talks about lighting candles, which I'm not able to do in my current housing. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you for your blog and everything you write here, and I hope you have a wonderful new year <3

Happy Advent, beloved! Candles are great (including fake ones or felt/crafted ones)—or you could recreate a similar weekly/daily thing, like hanging another star in the window. But that's not your only option. Here are some thoughts! (I also said some similar things last year you might find interesting.)

One of the most meaningful things about my Advents growing up was the fact that it was visibly not-quite-Christmas. We put up our tree maybe a few days before but we didn't decorate it until Christmas Eve. We didn't listen to Christmas music till Christmas—we listened to Advent music. We put our nativity set in the window, but gradually—we would set up Mary and Joseph traveling to it, and I remember waiting to unpack the baby Jesus until Christmas Eve. (The wise men were on the bookshelf until Epiphany.) I've put a painting of the Annunciation on my altar, but Christmas stuff will wait. 

It's very important to me to make each season distinct materially. The things around me, the music I listen to, the books I read, the prayers I say, change tangibly—in Advent and Lent especially. My emotions come and go, what I'm thinking about is different every day, but it's Advent because I am doing Advent—and not yet doing Christmas, no matter what the music in the grocery store or the parties I'm invited to tell me. (I don't refuse to find joy in them, I'm just conscious about the fact that I'm in a different season. It's not as big a deal to me as the Lent/Easter divide, though, which I will defend with every part of me.)

I love liturgical colors for this reason, too—my church isn't very extravagant and mostly looks the same throughout the year, but the altar cloth is a different color. I know exactly what season it is just from that. (Our Advent is blue to honor Mary, but most people's is purple like Lent with maybe a pink Gaudete Sunday.) My home altar also changes color, so I have that visual in my room as well.

So do it on purpose, candles or no. Maybe wait on a few Christmas-y things, like ornaments or music (don't worry, Christmas has twelve days and then you can keep doing it all through the Epiphany season if you want). Make it Advent, whenever you start! 

Historically, Advent traditions have been very similar (or identical) to Lenten ones. The Orthodox church calls Advent the Nativity Fast. It's been a penitent preparation. Things we may associate with Lent, like going without things or structured prayer, can find a home in Advent as well.

Secular celebrations and consumerism have affected Advent as well as Christmas, with countless calendars and just in general by filling our lives with Christmas themes that might make us forget Advent has its own themes. (To be clear, I support anyone celebrating Christmas—once a religion evangelizes/colonizes/rules, it has no right to accuse people of appropriating its holidays. I am simply talking about how the cultural practice differs.) Advent has themes of peace and love and hope, but it's got more specific themes than that, scarier stuff than that. It's about Christ's coming in the Incarnation, but it's also about Christ coming all around us every day, and Christ's promised future coming.

Spend some time with Isaiah, spend some time with meditations on Mary (I just read some of Catherine of Siena's words which are here as a reading for March 25.). From the poem I posted, you can tell I spent some time with Joel last year. Here's the Revised Common Lectionary daily readings for these seasons—you could start a habit or do it for a season or explore some passages every once in a while. You can find the Book of Common Prayer's traditional Advent prayers here (The Collects >> choose Traditional or Contemporary language >> Seasons of the Year). The ancient "O Antiphons" accompany the Magnificat starting Dec. 17 (here's a booklet with commentary & Latin chant). Forward Movement has several podcasts, if you want to pray daily while commuting or taking a walk or right before bed.

There are a million Advent devotionals out there—you can find one from an author you like, or search your/a denomination + "advent devotional" or "advent prayers" and you'll probably find something. For some social justice oriented ones, I've found Red Letter Christianity's Reflections from Bethlehem (by Palestinian authors), Justice Unbound's Boundless: An Anti-Colonial Advent Devotional, and the UCC's Abolition Advent Calendar. Cole Arthur Riley (Black Liturgies) is doing an Advent series on her Patreon. Jan Richardson posts art and poetic blessings throughout the year.

In terms of books, I recommend:

Watch for the Light: Readings for Advent and Christmas

Preparing for Christmas (Richard Rohr)

Celtic Advent (David Cole)

WinterSong (Madeleine L'engle & Luci Shaw)

Advent for Exiles (Caroline Cobb)

If you want poetry: Accompanied by Angels (Luci Shaw). 

I'll tell you a secret—most devotionals are meant to be read every day, but no one will know if you don't do that. You can start them at any time and read as much as you like whenever you like. Don't not start one because you don't think you'll be regular about it. 

And of course, you don't need a book to say "Advent" on the front for it to be an Advent book—or music or anything else. I'm about to start God Hunger: Discovering the Mystic in All of Us (John J. Kirvan) which I picked up at a book sale but it's on the Internet Archive! I'm drawn to poetry and Marian hymns in this season, and things that talk about the end of the world and prophecy. Whatever Advent is to you, surround yourself with it—and anything you're just starting to think about, you can explore.

The beautiful news is? The years spiral on, and Advent returns. Every year we're confronted with it, and every year I never do exactly what I wanted. But I've found some stuff to bring with me, some books to reread, things I know further my practice and things that don't. And when the spiral returns to this distinctive place of waiting for something already in our hearts, of hoping for something we don't understand, of inviting in someone who has already snuck in like a thief in the night, we can try again.

So happy Advent, and may yours be visibly, tangibly, purposefully Advent. May you be the impractical kind of hopeful and the holy kind of scared. Christmas is a miracle slowly being tended (rather than Easter's miracle erupting from the ground)—not that there's no blood, no surprise, but that for nine months Life itself grew quietly. So keep watch. Make your life a womb, make your Advent a narrowing toward the humanity God enters. Tend the darkness and bring in some light—a candle is just a way to do that, but there's so much light in the world. Here's to finding it.

<3 Johanna

[noctivagant-corvid]

noctivagant’s guide to writing poetry (that isn’t just keep writing/practice)

(its a lot of different types of practice)

because every single one of you can write amazing fucking poetry and i will not have you pretend you can’t. here’s my tips on how to hone yr skills

read a lot of poetry. yes, this is what everyone says, but it’s important! reading poetry helps you find the things you like in poetry! speaking of which…

~plagiarize~ don’t actually. but a good method to honing your craft is to try and emulate or mimic the style of authors you like! a good way to practice this- in my opinion- is to take a poem you love and rewrite it to be about you! it helps you get a feel for what it feels like to write in different ones, which ones you like, and which ones you don’t. (if you’re confused on how to do this, here’s an old rewrite of richard siken’s unfinished duet i did a while back as an example!)

be ok with making bad poems. be more ok with showing them to people. i’ve been writing poetry for 5 years now. i only started liking what i wrote about a year and a half ago, but i’ve been putting it online for 2 years and making my friends read it the whole goddamn time. you’re gonna make bad poems! you’re probably not gonna like the poems you make! but the only way to make good poems is to keep writing them and keep getting feedback. (my inbox is always open for poetry feedback, btw :3)

stay out of boxes a common misconception is that poetry has to rhyme. spoiler alert: no, it doesn’t. don’t try to rhyme your poems when you’re just starting out. it makes life so much harder. i’d recommend staying in free verse or prose poetry while you’re just starting out. trying to keep rhythm schemes and beat patterns might be helpful for some people, but it my experience, it makes everything more tedious. break lines where it feels right, not where a beat ends.

find your tone just like there’s different poetry forms, there’s different tones- or voices- authors use while writing. (and no, i don’t mean “regretful” or “optimistic”- think more stylistic than mood.) some opt for more raw, visceral tones, while others like to let their lines flow and bounce. (these are just two examples- each author has their own tone, and there’s almost infinite amounts.) there isn’t one right tone to write in- a raw poem can be happy and loving, and a flowing poem can twist your heart. it’s all about what sounds good to you- your writing style.

i meant it when i said plagarize again, don’t actually pass someone else’s work off as your own, but try to write a poem in the tone/style of your favorite poets. try to write a poem in the style of a poet you only kinda like, just to see how it feels! it helps a ton.

reality is bendable, but don’t get lost your poems don’t all have to be about real things. i wrote a. poem about a girl who’s best friend drunkenly confessed taht she loved her and then took it back in the morning. none of that happened to me, but. really like the poem! that being said, don’t forget what you’re writing about. sure, that series of loosely strung together metaphors might sound cool, but does it mean anything? would a reader be able to pick up on the themes, the meaning behind the metaphors? is there meaning behind the metaphors?

it doesn’t have to be whole have a line in a poem you really like, but the rest of it sucks? write it down! come back to that line later! write a little something before or after that line! mix it with some other similar lines! hell , blend whole paragraphs like taht! patchwork poems aren’t just allowed- a lot of teh time, they’re teh best ones.

mix and match speaking of patchwork, use a mix of the techniques all your favoriete poets do! instead of just emulating one, emulate two or three! chances are they all have similar tones, and blending them together helps develop your own.

KEEP WRITING!!!! PRACTICE MAKES MOTHERFUCKIN PERFECT. ANYONE CAN BE A POET, JUST LIKE ANYONE CAN BE AN ARTIST!!! KEEP WRITING!!!

good luck and happy writing :3

[the-impulse-to-love]

on a more lore-related note. the breakdown w/ the lyrics at the end of infinite baths almost feels like an exchange between sleep n vessel to me...

particularly, a furious sleep:

"all this glory you did not earn, every lesson you did not learn, you will drown in an endless sea, if it's blood that you want from me, you can empty my arteries will you halt this eclipse in me? will you halt this eclipse in me?"

kinda tying into the idea that sleep promised him "glory," yk? also the endless sea reminds me of the Big Black Wave in the graphic novel as well as the themes on TPWBYT. i see this response to like. basically everything from TMBTE that's interpreted as vessel declaring freedom from sleep.

the bit w/ the "halt this eclipse in me" honestly could go either way. not sure if it's more vessel or sleep.

and then the final bit feels like vessel's final fuck you declaration in a sense:

"teeth of god, blood of man, i will be what i am"

i'm. so happy about the teeth of god mention but anyways yeah. i’m sure we’re mostly familiar with the teeth of god poem introduced in TMBTE so to have that reiterated here feels like a reaffirmative “fuck off” from vessel to sleep. vessel declares he is in charge of his own fate (kinda in relation to the EIA lyric of “i have paid my penance kindly well in time for judgement day” and the LTW lyric of “damned by fate as i can’t deny”.)

we see the director write similar notes in the teeth of god:

"i am so scared will you let me be the last human I understand now i am the teeth of god"

and then he writes "i am the teeth of god" over and over in madness. something something vessel is the director theory maybe?

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Notes: Poetry

Poetry

A type of literature that conveys a thought, describes a scene or tells a story in a concentrated, lyrical arrangement of words.

Poems can be structured, with rhyming lines and meter, the rhythm and emphasis of a line based on syllabic beats.

Poems can also be freeform, which follows no formal structure.

The basic building block of a poem is a verse known as a stanza.

A stanza is a grouping of lines related to the same thought or topic, similar to a paragraph in prose.

A stanza can be subdivided based on the number of lines it contains.

For example, a couplet is a stanza with two lines.

On the page, poetry is visibly unique: a narrow column of words with recurring breaks between stanzas. Lines of a poem may be indented or lengthened with extra spacing between words. The white space that frames a poem is an aesthetic guide for how a poem is read.

Meter

A poem can contain many elements to give it structure.

Rhyme is perhaps the most common of these elements: countless poetic works, from limericks to epic poems to pop lyrics, contain rhymes.

But equally important is meter, which imposes specific length and emphasis on a given line of poetry.

Stanza

In poetry, a stanza is used to describe the main building block of a poem.

It is a unit of poetry composed of lines that relate to a similar thought or topic—like a paragraph in prose or a verse in a song.

Every stanza in a poem has its own concept and serves a unique purpose.

A stanza may be arranged according to rhyming patterns and meters—the syllabic beats of a line.

It can also be a free-flowing verse that has no formal structure.

Rhyme Scheme

There are many different types of rhymes that poets use in their work: internal rhymes, slant rhymes, eye rhymes, identical rhymes, and more.

One of the most common ways to write a rhyming poem is to use a rhyme scheme composed of shared vowel sounds or consonants.

Types of Poetic Forms

Some of literature’s most enduring types of poems.

Blank verse. Blank verse is poetry written with a precise meter—almost always iambic pentameter—that does not rhyme.

Rhymed poetry. In contrast to blank verse, rhymed poems rhyme by definition, although their scheme varies.

Free verse. Free verse poetry is poetry that lacks a consistent rhyme scheme, metrical pattern, or musical form.

Epics. An epic poem is a lengthy, narrative work of poetry; typically detail extraordinary feats and adventures of characters from a distant past.

Narrative poetry. Similar to an epic, a narrative poem tells a story. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” and Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” exemplify this form.

Haiku. A 3-line poetic form originating in Japan. The first line has five syllables, the second line has seven syllables, and the third line again has five syllables.

Pastoral poetry. A pastoral poem is one that concerns the natural world, rural life, and landscapes. These poems have persevered from Ancient Greece (in the poetry of Hesiod) to Ancient Rome (Virgil) to the present day (Gary Snyder).

Sonnet. A sonnet is a 14 line poem, typically (but not exclusively) concerning the topic of love. Sonnets contain internal rhymes within their 14 lines; the exact rhyme scheme depends on the style of a sonnet.

Elegies. An elegy is a poem that reflects upon death or loss. Traditionally, it contains themes of mourning, loss, and reflection. However, it can also explore themes of redemption and consolation.

Ode. A tribute to its subject, although the subject need not be dead—or even sentient, as in John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn”.

Limerick. A 5-line poem that consists of a single stanza, an AABBA rhyme scheme, and whose subject is a short, pithy tale or description.

Lyric poetry. The broad category of poetry that concerns feelings and emotion. This distinguishes it from two other poetic categories: epic and dramatic.

Ballad. A form of narrative verse that can be either poetic or musical. It typically follows a pattern of rhymed quatrains. From John Keats to Samuel Taylor Coleridge to Bob Dylan, it represents a melodious form of storytelling.

Soliloquy. A soliloquy is a monologue in which a character speaks to him or herself, expressing inner thoughts that an audience might not otherwise know. Soliloquies are not definitionally poems, although they often can be—most famously in the plays of William Shakespeare.

Villanelle. A nineteen-line poem consisting of five tercets and a quatrain, with a highly specified internal rhyme scheme. Originally a variation on a pastoral, the villanelle has evolved to describe obsessions and other intense subject matters, as exemplified by Dylan Thomas, author of villanelles like “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.”

Imagery

In poetry and literature, imagery is the use of figurative language to evoke a sensory experience in the reader.

When a poet uses descriptive language well, they play to the reader’s senses, providing them with sights, tastes, smells, sounds, internal and external feelings, and even internal emotion.

Blank Verse & Free Verse Poetry

Free verse poetry has been popular from the 19th century onward and is not bound by rules regarding rhyme or meter.

Blank verse poetry came of age in the sixteenth century and has been famously employed by the likes of William Shakespeare, John Milton, William Wordsworth, and countless others.

Unlike free verse, it adheres to a strong metrical pattern.

Mimesis

Copying is something writers usually strive to avoid.

And yet, the literary theory of mimesis says that artists copy constantly, as a matter of necessity.

Does this make their art bad?

Centuries of thinkers from Plato and Aristotle onwards have attempted to answer this question by debating the nature of mimesis.

Onomatopoeia

Usually, how words sound bears no relationship to what they mean.

That’s not true in the case of onomatopoeia, where words sound like what they are. The English language is littered with these mimicking words, from meowing cats to babbling brooks.

In poetry and literature, the onomatopoeic effect is something writers can harness to create vivid imagery without verbosity.

Enjambment

Poetry is a structured literary form, with patterns and rhythms that dictate the flow of verses.

Lineation in poetry is how lines are divided and where they end in relation to a clause or thought. Having a line break at the end of a phrase or complete thought is a regular and expected pattern in poetry.

Poets subvert this expectation by using a technique called enjambment.

Dissonance

The human brain instinctively looks for harmony.

When it is denied harmony, it can create a powerful moment—whether that’s for the purposes of creating tension, capturing inner turmoil, or bringing a bit of levity.

Injects discomfort into text through inharmonious sounds and uneven rhythms.

Consonance

In poetry, rhyme isn’t the only way to introduce memorability and musicality.

Consonance presents poets with the possibility of playing around with the repetition of consonant sounds.

Assonance

Assonance, the repetition of vowel sounds, is distinct from consonance, which refers to the repetition of consonant sounds.

Along with rhyme and alliteration, it is a powerful poetic device that writers can use to make their words stand out.

Alliteration

Sometimes called initial rhyme or head rhyme, alliteration is one poetic device that’s unmissable in our everyday world.

Poets, advertisers and headline writers all regularly take this approach of repeating initial letter sounds to grab people’s attention.

In poetry, it also injects focus, harmony, and rhythm. 

Source ⚜ More: Notes ⚜ References for Poets ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[archive-of-the-lost]

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 @fliestraps

Your ideal match is…Rook Hunt!

♡ Rook would be attracted to your independent and ambitious personality, wanting to know you better at all costs. Given how outgoing and persistent he is, he would have won you over at some point, even if his personality is a bit...eccentric. He admires your drive to be a strong leader and desire to make the world a better place. Though he doesn't share the same goals as you, he can appreciate your values, and is happy to stand by your side and support you.

♡ Rook finds beauty in everything and everyone, seeing the world with an infectious zest for life. Naturally he appreciates all facets of your personality as well. If he had to choose a favourite one of your more positive traits, he'd go with your observant nature. As a hunter and someone who easily takes interest in others, Rook would consider himself more observant than most, so he's happy to be around someone observant like him. It's nice to talk about things with you that others don't usually notice, almost like inside jokes.

♡ Even though you're independent and don't need him taking care of you, he'd still like to help you when you're in one of your easily distracted or unmotivated moods. Wanting to be productive, but being unable to, can be very frustrating. He wants you to work towards achieving your goals and be happy, so depending on the situation, he will either encourage you (it's easier to stay focused and motivated with your own personal cheerleader, right?) or advise you to take a break and come back when you're feeling better. Life requires balance after all. But rest assured, he always wants the best for you.

♡ The both of you would easily bond over your shared interest in art and the sciences! Rook is obviously passionate about art, given his passion for poetry and all things beautiful. It's also his best subject. The both of you having an appreciation for art indicates a similar worldview that makes for great compatibility. Rook is also a member of the Science Club, and well, he wouldn't have joined if he didn't find at least some aspects of science interesting. Since you have an interests in lots of sciences, perhaps you'd like to try joining a Science Club meeting with him? He promises you'll find yourself liking it.

♡ He's been more interested in fashion ever since he joined Pomefiore, so he's always happy to engage in your interest in fashion! If you want his opinions when buying clothes, he's happy to go shopping with you, and will give his honest opinion when something isn't flattering on you, but still make sure you're feeling happy and confidant. He makes it very obvious when you come out in something he likes. Once he starts showering you in compliments, he won't stop.

♡ The both of you are fans of horror! Date nights where you both watch horror movies or play horror games would be common. If you like talking about the genre itself, you both could have such riveting discussions about common tropes, themes and character archetypes. Rook is partial to the gory and/or artsy stuff, but he's happy to talk about any other horror subgenres you're more into.

♡ So you like receiving words of affirmation? That's great, because Rook is all for giving words of affirmation! Besides the praises and compliments that he constantly showers you with, there's also the poems and love notes he likes to write to you for fun. He's so extra, but you'll never have to doubt how much he loves you.

[hasallherducks]

Sunrise on the Reaping and Greif *spoilers*

After reading Sunrise on the Reaping I've been listening to a lot of creators give their takes on what the main theme is. Obviously the core of the book is propaganda and that in itself has novels of analysis potential on its own, but Magic by Mikaila on YouTube (@mikaila-orchard) made an observation that really resonated with me. The Raven is a poem about grief. The narrator is driven mad begging the raven for answers, desperate to see his lover Lenore again and the raven, the voice of grief, says only "nevermore." Haymitch is similarly incapacitated by his grief in the aftermath his games, the excerpts from the poem in the book illustrating this decent as it happens. Snow weaponizes grief regularly in order to keep rebels in line and so do many real world modern governments.

We will not have the emotional energy for rage and rebellion if we are consumed by our despair and our loss. That is not to say that prolonged debilitating grief is a weakness. Far from it. I know myself how impossible it can be to dig yourself out of that hole once you've been tossed into it. But it remains true that grief is oppressive and is thus employed to bolster systems of oppression.

On a much smaller scale, I've been dwelling lately on a similar theme on a personal level and i just didn't have the words to pin it down until I heard Mikaila say them. I am debilitated and disabled by the actions of my father, of the adults that turned a blind eye, of the other monsters from my childhood I know only from hazy flashbacks; these adults caused so much loss in my childhood, loss that extends into my adulthood. They stole things I didn't even have yet. And now I have escaped my father's house, his church, and the village in my hometown that neglected to protect me, I am still numbing myself to my past, and consequently to the world around me. I continue my submission to these people and ideas that have only my opinion to hold over me because I allow my grief to enforce their power over me.

I have seemingly by accident but truthfully by fighting tooth and nail, built a new village around myself, one that does fight my demons with me, one that does watch over me at night in the dark, when I'm sick and when I'm fragile. I have this village and I still cling to my grief like it's a vestige of what is lost and not simply the acknowledgement of it. There are new powers to believe in and that shift itself is all it takes to choke out those that be.

Collins writes so many times between Songbirds and Snakes and Sunrise "nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping" and I'm not sure I know what that means yet.

I have lost much. Knowing these losses cannot return the things lost. My grief will be the raven and I can beg and plead and despair, but there must be another way. Haymitch confides in his village in the end. And his village provides. Surely there are geese for me in my village too.