#satan's palimpsest

[weirdlookindog]

Weird Tales - September 1937 (Popular Fiction)

Cover art by Margaret Brundage.

[palimpsestproductions]

Sometimes Abby needs a strong cup of coffee before she has the strength to pick up her axe. 🪓 Be like Abby. Head to our merch store to grab your own Junior Satan mug. Join the club!

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[inkinmyskinandsoul]

Fascinating insights into the nature and reality of the early missions can be had from sources such as Widukind’s History of the Saxons, written around 968, which describes the conversion of a later Danish king. From the ambiguous way in which he charts the context of the royal baptism, it is clear that while the Danes are in many senses Christians, they also happily retain many of their earlier beliefs. The task of the missions was not conversion, as such, but the practical demonstration of Christ’s power through action.  

There is a remarkable glimpse of how this worked in practice through a document known as Heliand, ‘The Saviour’. Written in Old Saxon during the first half of the ninth century, it is a paraphrase of the gospel for a Germanic audience, tweaked for their sensibilities and pitched almost as a Norse saga though with biblical heroes. Thus we read of Jesus’s birth in Galileeland, his later travels to Jerusalemburg, and how the Lord lives in a great hall in the sky (clearly Valhöll). The Lord’s Prayer is in ‘secret runes’, Peter is given command over the gates of Hel (with one L), and so on. Satan’s temptation of Christ takes place in a northern wilderness filled with vague forces, ‘powerful beings’ that seem to live among the trees, and one wonders what this implies of the traditional Northern beliefs that were known to the Christian clerics. By the same token, Jesus’s disciples are ‘warrior-companions’, framed in the language of a warlord’s retinue, and the Last Supper is the ‘final mead-hall feast’. Even God is called by Odinnic epithets such as ‘Victory-Chieftain’ and ‘All-Ruler’. This is the kind of message that was taken into Scandinavia by the first missionaries-a doctrine meshed with the ancestral stories of the North and following a model found in many other conversion histories.  

It has sometimes been suggested that the Scandinavians’ adoption of Christianity was mostly a veneer-lip service to the outward trappings of belief combined with regular church attendance, but in reality merely a thin covering over the old ways that persisted beneath. In all the debate concerning afterlives and the varying destinations offered by the traditional customs and the new religion, one wonders whether Viking-Age people might actually have decided where they wished to go after death. If so, what did they make of a faith in which the fate of a person’s immortal soul was dependent on living a certain kind of life? It is hard to overstate how alien this concept may have seemed, although a cornerstone of many world faiths today.  

The religious context of the sources is crucial here and affects the material culture as well. Much of what is known about the pre-Christian thought-world of the Vikings comes to us through the writings of, precisely, Christians. Even the framing story of this book-the creation of Ash and Elm-is relevant to the retrospective filter: how much of a coincidence is it that the ‘first couple’ in Norse cosmology have names beginning with A and E? Although the meaning of Askr/Ash is unequivocal, Embla is less certain. ‘Elm’ is the most commonly accepted translation, but the actual noun for an elm tree (almr) is masculine, and the etymology is convoluted. ‘Vine’ is another possibility, though this requires an ultimate derivation from Greek, and from there the scholarly debate starts to meander into the thickets of postulated Indo-European linguistic heritage. This kind of unresolved confusion-the ambiguities, contradictions, and possibilities-are all typical of the Viking-Age spiritual palimpsest, as we see dimly in the rear-view from more than a millennium in its future.

Neil Price, Children of Ash and Elm

[mcmpics-reedsretromags]

Please check this out!

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 1

Meet the Maidens

It is back to school baby, both for D20 and, funnily enough, myself as well (something I hope will give me more time to get the recaps out in a timely manner fingers crossed). 

As I’m sure you all know if you’re reading this, this season of D20 takes place in the world of Fantasy High but with a focus on Aguefort’s OTHER most badass adventuring party who we’ve so far only seen on the sidelines, the Seven Maidens! You’ll recall, they’re made up of the seven girls who were captured by Penelope and co. to fulfill the prophecy that would let Kalvaxus rule the world freshman year. And, in fact, we start with a flashback to freshman year so let’s just jump right in.

We find our seven soon-to-be heroines chained in the Red Waste in front of what we know and they will shortly learn in Kalvaxus’ lair--a crucial part of the prophecy that was the subject of season 1. The structure of this episode is sort of like 2 rounds of introductions--first here with the maidens meeting each other for the first time and then again at home with their families a la the first episode of Freshman Year so I’ll be glossing over certain things that we’ll get to later in their second intros.

Anyway, the first two to wake up are Danielle (aka Yelle: half-elf, druid) and Zelda (satyr, barbarian as we know). Zelda is her usual, adorably nervous self in contrast to Yelle who is no less sweet but in a super chill, granola girl, fuck the system kind of way. We actually learn that Penelope had her on board with the plan for a hot second when she thought it was just “overthrow the government” but didn’t know about the “install a just as bad if not worse evil dragon overlord” part. 

Ostentatia (dwarf, cleric) wakes up next and is, as Izzy--her player--describes her “Jersey Trash.”, all blinged up with jewelry that she secretly made herself and didn’t buy. She wakes up pissed and ready to bodyslam Aelwyn which are both extremely valid emotions as much as I love Aelwyn. By the way, all of the girls recognize each other as girls who go to their school but none of them are really friends though they very quickly start throwing the label around because that’s what you do when you wake up chained with 6 other people in front of a dragon’s lair in a place called the Red Waste. 

Katja (half-orc, fighter) wakes up and immediately cares about nothing more than the status of her beloved horse, Cinnamon and declares that if Cinnamon dies, she’ll die. This is a fantasy world so Ostentatia and Danielle are a little concerned that might literally be true via a soul bond or something but it’s more that Katja just really, really loves that horse. Danielle tries to cast a spell to locate the horse but can’t get the somatic components quite right with her hands manacled. 

They all get into a discussion about the fact that everyone for a fact knows they’re all virgins now (you know, the real issue here) and what exactly counts as “virginity” for the purposes of this prophecy (like, does second or third base count or only traditional home runs using the baseball analogy) when Penny wakes up and is, just so excited to be here gang! Penny (halfling, rogue), who is one of the girls who has been kidnapped the longest, is adorably and honestly a bit concerningly exuberant to be surrounded by all these new friends, totally disregarding  the fact that they are clearly in some deep shit. Zelda mentions that Riz, her old babysitee, knows they’re kidnapped and is trying to help and she lights up. 

Next up is Sam (water genasi, sorc/bard) who immediately starts thrashing to get out of her chains and, when she can’t get free, is devastated by the fact that her ex betrayed her (!?) Finally Antiope (human fighter/ranger) wakes up all out of sorts having started her growth spurt while in the crystal and also having needed to pee right before she went in which becomes a problem all over herself (which Sam helpfully cantrips away).

With all of them awake, the stones they’re chained to light up and some of Kalvaxus’ minions (the ones who tied them up) show up to do minion speechifying. Yelle does a horrifying Animorph style morph into a waterbear (a tardigrade if you wanna get all Bio 101) to get out of her bonds but then Sam who has a serious one track mind re: getting out of here (Correct) and has exactly zero patience for these guys casts Tidal Wave and just knocks them off the cliff. Yelle frees Ostentatia who frees everyone else with Animate Object on their chains. Hands free, Yelle also casts Locate Animal and tells a very pleased Katja that Cinnamon is doing a full Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron down the highway searching for her. 

The girls decide to explore the cave which has recently had most of its treasure moved (it’s currently in the gym for the Prompocolypse fight which is currently happening). Penny and Sam (who are in insanely different emotional places) find all these broken mirrors which Sam takes as a cue that they need to GTFO (which is what she was already doing) and Penny thinks would make a great material for friendship bracelet making which she starts doing as Sam physically pulls her away. Sam hears someone doing post-cry sniffles and is like, “Not today Satan,” still trying to leave. However, Penny sees that there is one mirror left and, inside, sees a ethereal looking human with flowing, preternatural, black hair who senses their presence and asks if Penny is someone named Anima. She asks for their names though she declines to give hers (hmm, feels very fae) and the girls give the fake names of Kelly and Cecelia which the figure says she will guard and not misuse. The figure says she is looking for her sisters (who she says when Penny asks are at Aguefort which...hmmmmm) and, all of a sudden, Sam and Penny are having a bad feeling about those mirror shards. 

They ask her a question about the mirror and she gets really aggro when it’s referred to as “her” mirror as she would very much like to be out of it. The woman really wants to get out and says she can give them lots of power if they help. Sam pulls out her compact Mirror of the Past (magic item that does basically what you’d expect--shows you info from something’s past though in a cryptic way usually) to try and get some info on this thing and just barely avoids losing her mind in the process because this thing is ancient. Like eons old. She also learns the woman’s name (or maybe title): The Ending of Things (will be calling her Ending for now).

Yikes!

Right around now the other girls come in and can see at the angle they’re looking at her at the woman in the mirror is Not Really A Person and Antiope points at her and reflexively casts a ranger sense spell to try and clock its weaknesses and stuff but Ending grabs the spell energy like a lasso and tries to drag her into the mirror. She does however find out that she’s stacked with hella resistances (total immunity to necrotic damage and non-maj weapons, resistance to most elemental damage, and more).

Sam briefly considers using Lightning Lure to pull Antiope back before deciding on a much less ouchy Counterspell. Unfortunately, it’s not strong enough and now she’s being pulled in by her spell energy too. Yelle casts Erupting Earth which has some pros and cons.

Pros: Antiope and Sam are saved! Yay!

Cons: The mirror breaks and whatever was in it is fully freed. Not yay!

Shortly after (but not before Penny gives everyone their new friendship bracelets), someone calls into the cave looking for them--it’s Fig’s mom, Sandra-Lynn (with new art)! She’s happy and impressed that everyone is OK (also, Katja and Sam both have little lines that foreshadow their ~parental issues~ for the season--Katja being very moved by the simple act of Sandra-Lynn showing up for them and Sam saying that in her experience moms can be very evil).

As they all leave the cave, they all do checks and get some info:

Ostentatia: The mirror was kinda like a palimpsest (the crystals they were trapped in) and whatever this thing is is ancient and powerful. 

Yelle: Gets the above info and the fact that when the thing left it wasn’t quite a bad vibe, just the vibe that something big and important is at play.

Penny: On an Arcana check she knows that what Danielle did 100% saved Antiope and Sam’s lives from whatever and wherever was on the either side of the mirror but the contact marked them in some way. 

Katja: With History she sees some Primordial writing which is the writing of elementals (one of the things Ending has resistances to which might be relevant; also Sam reads Primordial but doesn’t get to read what it says)

Antiope: She knows that she and Sam are connected to Ending now somehow but it’s a two way connection which means they can also use it to their advantage. 

Ostentatia casts Mending on the mirror shards which I think was to reconstruct the mirror but what it actually does is someone link their friendship bracelets. Cute!

And, with that, we cut to the present a year and a half later (which is Jr or Sr year for everyone). 

We hop from kid to kid as they get ready to head in to school and get glimpses into their homes lives! Let’s do a quick rundown for each girl:

Antiope Jones

We see that Antiope is the youngest of five in what is essentially a military family full of basically every kind of fighter (she says she basically lives in a “Crossfit box”). There’s an 8 year gap between her and her sister Corsica who is the second youngest so her parents are kind of already living like empty nesters. When she comes downstairs she is promptly handed a protein smoothie and told two pieces of info: (1) from Corsica she learns that she overheard at school --where she teaches--that Aguefort needs to talk to her for some reason but she won’t say why which annoys the crap out of Antiope and (2) her parents lined up an internship for her at the Ministry of Adventure. She and her mom verbally spar a bit about them being all up in her life and how stressed she is and how she likes what she has going now with the Seven but her mom wins ofc because she’s a Mom and also a master tactician with a deft hand for loving mom guilt. On the way to school her bros (who include a gunslinger and an eldritch knight cause they run the whole gamut of fighter classes) Facetime her like, “Yikes Ant, heard about what happened with Mom, this is why you don’t fight her lmao.”

Sam Nightingale

This is a heavy one so strap in. 

We check in with Sam who isn’t at her own family’s home but at Penelope’s family home which is off the bat eyebrow raising. It’s an upper middle class house and, on the way down, she has to pass Penelope’s bedroom which is conspicuously empty. Downstairs she’s greeted by Penelope’s human mom Rebecca who she learns is moving out soon because her elf husband is both cheating on her while away in Falinel and starting the divorce process. Sam clearly sees Penelope’s mom as a surrogate mom (for reasons we’ll learn in a second) and goes full ride or die assuring her that her ass is better than the ass of the woman he’s cheating with and offering to help burn his stuff even though drowning is more her specialty (she’s so cool). She also is a little stricken at the thought of Rebecca leaving her in the house alone but Rebecca says she can come with if she wants, she just didn’t want to disrupt her school life.

She also tells Rebecca that her bio-mom called recently which immediately sets Sam off. Through the convo we learn a couple of things:

Sam used to be an actor it seems.

And it seems like she was kicked out of the house after she transitioned or something similar which is why she lives with the Everpetals. 

Now that it’s more “fashionable” to to be trans (her mom’s words, not mine) she wants Sam to talk to her so they can get her back in the game.

Sam is having none of that and tells Rebecca to just delete her mom’s number. Then they have a cathartic session of burning her cheating husband’s shit before Sam leaves in Sebastian--her sentient, seafoam blue, self-driving car with a very hot male voice which I am extremely jealous of. She picks up Zelda on the way to school and they commiserate a little and have a heart to heart about adults and change and how much Zelda wants to body slam Sam’s mom. 

Penny Luckstone 

Penny’s house is a whirlwind of activity and her harried parents get her and her 19 young siblings ready for school (no wonder she’s such a good babysitter). We see where Penny gets her type-A ness from as her mom and dad both have this cheerful but overworked energy of “EVERYTHING IS FINE” like that Good Place sign. Her mom spares a second to tell her that she recently got a letter for The Society of Shadows which is like a super secret rogue college (which her parents assume is legit even though they haven’t heard of it cause they’re Mumple people and also, if you've heard of a rogue school, how good could it really be?) Penny is excited except that it would mean she’d have to move and leave her party. Her mom is like “hey it’s a full ride and there are 20 of you guys so just take that into consideration but it’s ultimately your decision” before she dashes away to get to work because it is always Go Go Go with the Luckstones. She texts Sam for a ride and Sam swings by to grab her. This is not plot relevant but she has a booster seat in the back of Sebastian with her name carved into it and it’s important to me that you know that. 

Katja Cleaver

Next up is Katja who lives in a Richie Rich style mansion and comes from very old money as she is descended from one of the first adventurers in Solace. She is in the barn with Cinnamon and the bugbear farrier they have employed (her name is Gertrude and a farrier is someone who does horseshoes). She eats the same breakfast as Cinnamon (hot dry oats and berries baybee) wo she loves so so dearly. Cinnamon is a magical horse--basically like a Find Steed spell that’s on all the time. She’s modeled the horse in her fave book series--the Babysitter’s Horse of course. Lockwood, the staff’s hobgoblin butler, is also there and they get a fantasy Zoom call from Katja’s dad who is in the middle of the insane 20th level adventurer stuff which he says might make him miss her graduation. She is extremely disappointed but just barely hides it from her dad (who seems to really care despite his not being around). She can’t hide it from the staff or Cinnamon however and Cinnamon offers to give her a ride to school via the scenic route. 

Note: We also learn two sad facts about Katja from the conversation with her dad.

Her mother is Disney Princess dead* and

She wears one half of a friendship necklace and it seems like she’s waiting for someone to give the other half to. It’s implied earlier that the way Penelope got her was by promising to be her best friend. Sad!

*Edit: Well, she’s gone and we’ll leave it at that until next recap. 

Ostentatia Wallace

Ostentatia wakes up and goes downstairs to have a very high energy in both directions interaction with her very fantasy-Italian mom and grandma. Her grandma is concerned her beard isn’t coming in--not knowing she shaves it on purpose which her mom is like, “Listen it’s fine but don’t tell grandma it’ll kill her.” She clocks very quickly that her dad isn’t there and his mithril working tools are gone. Her mom tries to play it off but she knows she’s being lied to and her mom relents. Her dad is at a meeting with the other workers of the shut down mithril factory and negotiations have ceased. It looks like he’s gonna be long term out of work. That explains where her dad is but not why the tools are missing. She decides to go do some investigating on her own and ambushes her dad in his car where, with the inaugural nat 20 of the season, she realizes he pawned his tools to get her 5 revivify diamonds. She's upset by this and he’s upset that she’s, in his eyes, questioning his ability to take care of his family. She’s like, alright, you did a thing for me, I’ll do a thing for you and she casts Animate Object to make his stuff steal itself back in a sequence that involves an animated crowbar using another crowbar which is just wild.

Danielle Barkstock

I’m gonna be real, Danielle’s life is exactly how you assume it is based on Who She Is As A Person so this one will be real short. Eco-friendly off the grid geodesic yurt. One super chill peace and love elf sorc mom and one rough and tough human ranger mom. She also knows and helps the Cubbies with their anarchist machinations because yeah, duh. She gets some messages from school on her crystal--one being a message from the principal saying that she and the rest of her party have first period off to meet with him and the other being a newsletter from the school showing, among other things, a photo of the Druid class doing a project but she’s not in it for some reason. She texts one of the other druids to see if she can figure out why she wasn’t invited but fully gets left on read. Brutal. Of course, she hasn’t messaged that person in 6-8 months so maybe that’s why.

Anyway, with that, all seven of our maidens make it to school and are all exuberant to see each other in a very teen girl way before getting to the principal’s office and learning that their party will be broken up at the year! 

Bad!

Superlatives 

I wanted to do something a little different for these recaps than the Bad Kid ones so instead of Honor Roll/Detention we are doing Superlatives and the inaugural one goes to...

Sam: Most Like To Survive a Horror Movie

Man she woke up chained in a ritual magic circle and she was Ready To Go Immediately. You will not catch this girl doing horror movie victim BS like exploring the spooky house or giving the creepy obvious ghost the time of day. She is hyper-competent and her goal is making it out alive and dragging her friends with her. Love her.  

Random Thoughts

The season immediately starts with a bang or I should say a bing with Izzy trying to say “bling bang” and accidentally saying, “bling bing” and immediately getting roasted by everyone. I love the authentic girl group vibes (which include everyone clowning on her then immediately hyping up Zelda to the max after being way more awkward). 

Handshake meme with Danielle and Moonshine from Naddpod. Also, Cinnamon and Horse from Centaurworld. 

I love that Rekha and Erika just straight up were like, “Our characters are Asian”. Like obviously, make your characters Asian coded in your fantasy world--all my D&D characters are black like me--but it’s funny that they completely disregarded the, “There’s no Asia in this world so I guess they’re this world’s equivalent to--” Nah just, “I’m a half-elf and I’m Asian.” You love to see it. 

I absolutely LOVE the choices the cast made to flesh out their characters based on the little info Brennan had about them, none moreso than rich horse girl Katja. Rekha is a genius. 

“I only want one thing and he’s working” KATJAAAAAAA

Man if I was in that flashback I would have been wilding out so much with my flashback plot armor. 

I appreciate that the first thing that Aabria has Antiope do is extremely uncool. I love it when players aren’t concerned about just being cool and on point all the time. Sometimes (read: often) that’s the less interesting choice. 

But on the exact opposite side, she’s a ranger and an arcane archer which I think is extremely cool. Lmao also I didn’t mention in the recap but she HATES dragons now which, understandable. I’m guessing they're her favored enemy. 

I can’t wait to see another group of kids interact w/ madman Aguefort. 

Also, as a known Aelwyn-stan, I am very excited for the possibility of the Seven interacting with her cause as much as I love her they are under no obligation to acknowledge her redemption arc and I would love to see them throw hands. 

I love the Greek myth naming scheme of Antiope’s extremely cool family as with her on the spot nickname “L-Cab” short for long caboose since she’s the youngest by a mile. 

Also this is out of character not in character but Sephie is an extremely cool nickname for Persephone. 

I wonder why Brennan didn’t let Sam read the Primordial in the cave. He just glossed right past her saying that she speaks it and she didn’t push it. Would it have solved his entire plot in the span of a flashback or was he just keeping things moving?

Sidenote, if I was married to an elf man and worried about aging like Rebecca, I would simply become a druid (or a monk or up my wizard levels so I could learn True Polymorph or Wish or something). 

I wonder what the deal with Ending is. She seemed relatively sincere in the mirror but that doesn’t mean anything. She could be sincere and also Very Bad News. 

There is an offhand comment by Brennan about how the dwarf forge god gives spells but doesn’t talk to his followers which I think means that Ostentatia is gonna be getting a direct god call soon enough. 

Also she mentions that her dad is doing some criminal activity on the side which seems like a Problem for later. Honestly all of the kids have some pretty rich parent drama happening which should be interesting to see explored. 

No nat 1s this ep and 1 nat 20 as I mention from Ostentatia. 

[stephen-bliss-blog]

#painting #palimpsests #addiction #satan #rippedpaper #art #artist #ink #advertising #posters #cartoon #collage #decollage https://www.instagram.com/p/B1PDJ0fFcwv/?igshid=1dfj4vjemvr2l

[starrywisdomsect]

Illustration for Seabury Quinn’s short story “Satan’s Palimpsest” as it appeared in the September 1937 issue of Weird Tales.

[pulpsandcomics2]

“Weird Tales”  September 1937  cover by Margaret Brundage

The Lake of Life [Part 1 of 3] by Edmond Hamilton

Satan’s Palimpsest by Seabury Quinn

The Ho-Ho-Kam Horror by Bruce Bryan

The Death of Ilalotha by Clark Ashton Smith

The Abyss Under the World [Part 2 of 2] by J. Paul Suter

School for the Unspeakable by Manly Wade Wellman

McGovern’s Obsession by August W. Derelth

When the Graves Were Opened by Arthur J. Burks

[seuzz]

Story: “The Very Devil to Prepare”

"There will be an extra place for dinner tonight, Matilda," said Mrs. Chilton, "and I want no backtalk about thirteen being an unlucky number." She bustled over to her writing desk. "Dr. Chilton has been planning this dinner since— Oh!" She struck her thigh. "Why on Earth did I have Eliza tidy up in here? Now I can't find anything!"

She brushed past the cook and out of the parlor. Matilda—her heavy face as round and red as a beef-steak tomato—followed, her brow and mouth lowering darkly.

"I know it wasn't on the menu I gave you yesterday," Mrs. Chilton called behind as she swept into a spacious study, "but Emma Turner's given me the recipe for a lovelycustard. It's very easy to prepare so there's no use your glowering at me. I'll just write it down"—she snatched up a blank sheet of parchment and a fountain pen from her husband's desk—"and if you'll just pop round to the market— Oh!"

Black ink squirted onto the parchment. She glanced around, but there wasn't so much as a sheet of blotting paper at hand, and Mrs. Chilton—her hands fluttering— was reduced to glancing inside an ornate silver snuff box that she couldn't recall ever seeing before. She found it filled with a soft, black dust, and after a moment's hesitation she sprinkled some of it over the pooling ink. It soaked up the blot beautifully, and she shook the detritus into the grate.

If she noticed the pentagram embossed on the snuffbox's lid, it made no impression on her mind. But few things did.

"There it is." She pushed the list at Matilda. "Now I must get my hair done. I won't be back until three at the latest, but I expect to find things well underway when I do."

Matilda growled in the back of her throat.

"Well, it's your own fault!" Mrs. Chilton snapped. "If you hadn't scared Penelope into giving notice last week, you'd have help. Honestly, Matilda! I think I'm demanding, but next to you I'm a pussycat!"

Then she fled before her nerve could fail entirely in the presence of her terrifying cook.

Thirty minutes later Matilda, a black bonnet on her head and a wicker shopping basket in the crook of her arm, was marching down the sidewalk. She squinted at her mistress's recipe as she walked, so preoccupied that she failed to notice that every horse as it passed her swerved and whinnied sharply. Instead she muttered and glared at the paper. Her mistress's handwriting was growing worse every day, and as for the ingredients for this "lovely custard"—

The eye of a blind goat? The tongue of a bat?

She also failed to notice that the ink was darkening still on the yellowed parchment, and that other words—words such as "milk" and "tapioca"—were fading away to nothingness.

"Good heavens, what is that racket?" Dr. Chilton demanded as he stepped from the parlor with the afternoon paper in his hand. The walls were still rattling from a boom like artillery fire.

"Oh, Henry!" His wife flew to him. "It's Cook! It was five o'clock before she got home from the market and she was in such a frightful temper! She only said that if I wanted that custard for tonight I should get out of her way!"

Dr. Chilton glared past his wife. "Perhaps we should think about getting a new cook."

"Oh, but Henry!" His wife put a hand to her gaping mouth. "I'm sure it's only on account of tonight's menu!"

"And what's wrong with tonight's menu?"

"Nothing! Only I did add a custard to it. And usually Cook is so ... so stolid! A mite mulish, perhaps, and unimaginative—"

"We can always find another cook."

"Not one with her solidity. Henry." She clutched him. "Remember Elmira and the fits she used to throw."

Dr. Chilton made a face.

"Very well, my dear. But tell Matilda she's used up her last chance. And if tonight's dinner doesn't go off—"

But it did go off. Despite all expectation dinner was rolled out at the appointed hour—excepting the custard which, Cook told Mrs. Chilton, hadn't turned out as expected—and consumed with great relish.

Would that the ritual Dr. Chilton wanted to perform in the study with his guests immediately after had been as successful!

"Oh, my dears." Mrs. Chilton sniffed at Mrs. Pultney, and dabbed at the corners of her eyes. "Henry has been such an ogresince the dinner party the other night. He— Yes, do take the last of the plum cake. Isn't it heavenly? But his friends have broken with him completely, and his club has revoked his membership. On account of— Oh, I don't understand his business. I only know something went widdershins at their last dinner."

"Didn't I hear he'd lost a valuable manuscript?" Mrs. Bradford said as she helped herself to a third seed cake. "Something with invisible writing they'd meant to decipher? I don't mean to pry, Gertrude."

"I really don't know." Mrs. Chilton sighed. "He had a most frightful tantrum that night, but I got nothing out of him except that he and his friends had been expecting an important visitor, who failed to turn up."

"Important visitor?" Mrs. Pultney frowned. "Emma Crackstone told me they were to interview a new secretary, and that your husband had lost his references. Or had otherwise failed to arrange for him to show up."

"Well, he says the subject is closed." Mrs. Chilton sipped her tea, then smiled into her cup.

"But things do have a way of working out. We have a new kitchen maid—or servant, I should say. Matilda brought him home from the market the afternoon of the dinner party. He's rather frightening to look at," she added nervously, "dusky all over, and his eyes are very red, and he swears most profanely. But his cooking is divine!"

Prompt: Satan's Palimpsest

[rhianna]

Fragrance & Divinity

Perfumes , it was believed, not merely pleasured the gods ; it was believed that they were tokens of their presence . Witness Aphrodite. How ever humid her breast may be with the salt of the sea, always she brings with her a whiff of ambrosia . So it was with Isis . The atmosphere in which she dwelt was charged by her divinity with fragrance . In appealing to her perfume and prayer mounted conjointly , and the more readily because of the conjunction .

The circumstance is worth noting . It elucidates obscurities of Muhammad , of Solomon , too , and helps to an understanding of the real significance of perfumes . But we will come to that in a minute . Meanwhile we may offer a conundrum : What were the charms of Circe ? Ovid told, but his work , like many another , was turned into palimpsests . There let it rest.

Source: Saltus, E. (1906). The pomps of Satan. New York: M. Kennerley.

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/007939788/Cite

#94 (p.82)

[azalzalsramblings]

I don’t read enough

Says man who’s about to list the 52 books he read this year

In an insignificant order bellow the cut.

1.The Steerswoman  by Rosemary Kirstein

Fun Adventure, mildly generic but refreshing.

2. Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente

Holy fuck this book is absurd, it’s great.

3. Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente

Portal fantasy where sex is the portal, it’s great.

4. The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente

Can you tell I like this author? If you like comic books you should read this.

5. All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders

This book has some of the most interesting magic I’ve ever read and the best depiction of modern culture I’ve ever read.

6. The Tombs of Atuan By Ursula K. Le Guin

Ursula K. Le Guin is amazing, the “protagonist” of this series doesn't’ show up until half way through this book.

7. The Farthest Shore By Ursula K. Le Guin

The Protagonist in this book shows up in the beginning but he’s mostly being Gandalf and the focus is on his companion.

8. Tehanu By Ursula K. Le Guin

Revisiting characters and pointing out the problematic elements of a book that came out 20 years ago, bravo.

9. Who Fears Death  by Nnedi Okorafor

I need to learn more about African mythology.

10. A Closed and Common Orbit  by Becky  Chambers

Really fun ride, great companion piece to current QC, well Antho PC focused elements of QC.

11. Ever Fair  by Nisi Shawl

Interesting if not greatly carried out book.

12. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

Read this fucking book. (It’s the Sequel to “The Fifth Season” Read that First)

13. The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin

This better win the fucking Hugo (mostly so N. K Jemisin gets the first hat trick in Hugo history)

14. Woman On the Edge of Time  by Marge Piercy

I can’t decide if this should be read as companion piece to “Slaughter House 5″ or “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest” probably both.

15. Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

OH MY GOD I GET IT, IT’S ABOUT SLAVERY! Still good though.

16. Minaret by Leila Aboulela

Good book, it provides a compelling immigrant story.

17. Northern Lights (I read the UK Version)  by Philip Pullman

One of the best YA books ever written, re reading this series was an excellent idea.

18. The Subtle Knife  by Philip Pullman

See above.

19. The Amber Spyglass  by Philip Pullman

SPOILERS: Prepubescent sex saves the multiverse. Also there’s like, four or five lines that are different between the UK and US versions, I had too look up what they were.

20. Who Could That Be At This Hour? by Lemony Snicket

Different enough from “Series of Unfortunate Events” to be necessary, still has nice call backs.

21. When Did You See Her Last? by Lemony Snicket

Good book, probably not as strong as “Series of Unfortunate Events” but worth the read.

22. Shouldn’t you be in School? by Lemony Snicket

Uh, there will be a spoiler tag on the next book.

23. Why Is this Night Different from all Other Nights? by Lemony Snicket

SPOILER: Having an eco terrorist as the main villain in a children's book is fucking brilliant. The end is telegraphed but then again I’m probably a decade older then the expected audience for this book.

24. The Children of Hurin by J.R.R Tolkien

Interesting book, it’s probably has the most direct evidence of Tolkien stealing from other mythology (As you only have to mildly well read to see exactly what he’s stealing).

25. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman

It’s just good. It’s nice to have a modern version of all these legends. I hope he continues to rewrite legends, especially lesser known ones. ((This is elaborating on the last point) Yes I know having a white man write a book about African Mythology is can be somewhat problematic but I’m sure he’d do it respectfully) Also saw him read from this.

26. Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

Favorite factoid about this book, Tom Clancy played table top war games to help outline some chapters. That said it is kind of hard to get though and problematic at times. It does have a female fighter pilot who shots down satellites so that’s cool.

27. The Iliad by Homer

SUPER GAAAAAAAY

28 The Odyssey by Homer

The famous part of this is like, four chapters in the middle, mostly it’s “Where fuck is Odysseus and how do we deal with these dickwads in my house?”

29. The Symposium by Plato

See note for The Iliad .

30. Dragons of Spring Dawning  by Margaret Weis , Tracy Hickman

Fun adventure book, not 100% satisfying end to the series (I would have preferred a huge show down with I’m not looking up the name for Dragonlance Tiamat)

31. Dune  by Frank Herbert

There’s a reason this book is legendary, it’s that good, also read relatively quick if you read it while you’re taking a week off work.

32. The Lurker at The Threshold  by H.P. Lovecraft, August Derleth

It’s Lovecraft.

33. Hamlet by William Shakespeare

Not about tiny pigs, still good though. I’m probably still not smart enough to understand all of it.

34. The Prose Eda by Snorri Sturluson

Read this after/before/with Norse Mythology, seeing the various versions of the tales is interesting. Also the version I had went into a lot of the Norse literary elements which is fun (Viking is a kenning I think, it might be a synecdoche )

35. The Library at Mount Char by Scott  Hawkins

Holy fuck this book is amazing, it might be my favorite book I read this  year.

36. The Quran by Muhammad/ Gabriel/Allah 

My favorite part of this book is the part where Muhammad throws shade on his Uncle. 

37. Women Without Men by Shahrnush Parsipur

This is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever read.

38. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy  by Douglas Adams

Timeless classic, I don’t know how many times I’ve watched/read/listened to this work.

39. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe  by Douglas Adams

Not as good as the  first, but still good, the Zaphod plot doesn’t 100% work in my opinion idk.

40. Life, The Universe and Everything  by Douglas Adams

Apparently started life as Doctor Who script, it’s a departure from the others b/c of this to some extent.

41. So Long and Thanks for all the Fish  by Douglas Adams

I’ve read this is considered rushed by some people, and I’ll admit it’s certainly different but I think it’s as good as any of the others.

42. Mostly Harmless  by Douglas Adams

Multiverse stuff is crazy in this. Also Elvis is in it.

43. How the Marquis Got His Coat Back by Neil Gaiman

Fun little romp in the Neverwhere world. The Neverwhere world is really great. I heard form his mouth he’s working on a sequel so that’ll be great.

44. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

MY FUCKING COPY WAS ABRIDGED, still, it has its moments, I should reread it one day. I think I liked “A Tale of Two Cities” better.

45. A Portrait of the Aritst as a Young Man by James Joyce

Good book? I don’t think I’m smart enough to get this book. It’s certainly worth the time, I wish I understood it better.

46. Beren and Luthien by J.R.R. Tolkien

Holy fuck this book. First it has Christopher Tolkien giving very interesting commentary (is probably his last book he’s in his fucking 90)  second Luthien figuratively fucking bitch slaps Morgoth (Tolkien’s Satan), it’s great.

47. Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer

I’m convinced the author wanted to write an 18th century court drama or a science fiction book and decided “Por que no los dos”

48 For Whom the Bell Tolls  by Ernest Hemingway

Fuck Fascists (Note: This book is about killing fascists, I’m not implying anything about Hemingway although he’s basically the definition of an alpha male although he has some progressive moments like advocating for the elimination of fascism apparently, also has both a bad ass women and a one dimensional women)

49. Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch

Compelling read, I can see why it was controversial in its time but it’s tame by modern standards. It has its issues but is still a fun read.

50. Venus in Fur  by David Ives 

Sexy, funny, commentary on the above, can be read in like, 2 hours. If you don’t wan to read “Venus in Furs” at least read this.

51. Her Smoke Rose up Forever by James Tiptree Jr

If you read one thing from this read “The Screw-fly Solution” it’s on of the most effective short stories I’ve ever read.

52. Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

This book isn’t about why playing god is wrong, in my opinion that view is 100% indefensible by the text. It’s about why men need to take responsibility for the life they bring into this world. 

[cherry-coal]

76, 77, & 80

76: What do I think is Satan’s last name is? honestly never thought about it but you’ve forced my hand so i’m going with Smith. good alliteration.

77: What’s a song that always makes me happy when I hear it? already answered but i’ll give a second one: The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us! by Sufjan Stevens

80: What is my favorite word? palimpsest (although I don’t like how it sounds)

thanks!

[taurnada]

📚 Les Boënnales 2017 📚, c'est aujourd’hui ! Une quarantaine d'auteurs vous invitent à découvrir leur univers, dont Florent Marotta avec « Le Visage de Satan » et « Yzé et le palimpseste »...

[stephen-bliss-blog]

#details from a #painting #collage #palimpsest containing scribbles from my 6 year old son and sketches from my brother @robblissconceptart that I gave to the don @tristaneaton #art #experiment #pinups #satan #demons https://www.instagram.com/p/BwfPM6OF4ZR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1rxtkh9eaed68