#unfortunately this book for me is Moby Dick

[partangel]

look what came in the mail 🥺🥺🥺. very small october book haul due to the amount of time its taking me to read what i already have (mainly war and peace, which has been proven to be a very enjoyable but slow journey)

[curiositykilledtheradiostar]

blorbo from my emails why do you write like this

[tele-mesmerism]

i finished 4 books in 24 hrs just by them being short and/or already nearly finished and it always feels GOOD to clear up my currently reading by a lot. but now im gonna try to finish orv bc albi sped thru it so fast & is posting spoilies.

& then for work audiobook im gonna try name of the rose but had to um. watch a video explaining the plot bc i could immediately tell im gonna struggle to follow whats actually happening

[leonsrightarm]

methinks my body is but the lees of my better being. in fact take my body who will take it i say, it is not me.

[amphibimations]

okay so idk how much people have already told you but anime boy Heathcliff seems to be in that 3-year timeframe in Wuthering Heights where he disappears to become rich and he stole some hair coupons to make his hair look nice for when he sees Cathy again. Unfortunately the coupons belonged to a high-ranking member of one of the biggest gangs in the world so he got the shit beat out of him. He's fine now though. He also has parallels with anime girl Ishmael which is interesting because she had parallels with Captain Ahab who had a thing about obsession... also anime girl Don Quixote had the idea to go track down Santa and steal his clothes and Heathcliff went along with it (they did not succeed)

Yeah!! I’ve had a few people tell me about that 3 year theory i think thats very interesting!! It makes a lot of sense for them to use that time frame because literally the book just goes ‘idk what he was doing for those 3 years, it could be anything!!!’. Perfect opportunity to add their own anime heathcliff story in there. And after heathcliff gets back from being away for 3 years he just starts getting more and more evil so it would be harder to use him as a protagonist at that point.

Ive never read moby dick but just from the vague things i know about it, yeah the whole obsession thing sounds like a really cool parallel to make… :0

Its fun that even just by hearing broad details about anime heathcliff’s story i can see the connections they’re making to the book, like people helping him look nice for cathy. I wonder if they’re going to have an anime nelly dean when it gets to heathcliff’s chapter…

ALSO YEAH… SOMEONE ELSE ALSO TOLD ME ABOUT THE SANTA THING … APPARENTLY THEY WERE GOING TO GET HYDRAULIC PRESSED INTO CHRISTMAS PRESENTS?!?!??!??????? THATS THE FUNNIEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD IN MY LIFE…

[bracketsoffear]

Moby Dick (Moby Dick) "Okay, look--let's get this out of the way. I know that the whale is big. That is not an insignificant thing about whales in general and this whale in particular. It's not even an insignificant factor in nominating him today. Except, it's not the size that matters--it's what Herman Melville does with it*.

*(Sorry, the dick joke was obligatory. It should be the only one unless my love of bad puns runs away from me.)

There's a post floating out there on tumblr calling Moby Dick the OG eldritch terror. Unfortunately, we all know how the hellsite's search "function" is (exasperated but affectionate), so I'm not going to be able to link it. What I can do is pull out a few rusty tools of literary analysis to show that at his Vast heart, Moby Dick represents the terrifying insignificance of humanity in the face of the grandness and terror of the sea.

First, it's crucial to point out that the book opens with quotes about whales, including several Bible verses, some Pliny, something purported to be copied down by a ninth-century king, Shakespeare, and so on. Right out of the gate, the book connects the Whale with the idea of the mythological Leviathan. By quoting Genesis in particular, Melville creates the idea of the Whale as a beast that has existed alongside humanity since its inception. Just as the fears are ancient and have tormented humanity since prehistory, the Whale/Leviathan has represented a "dragon of the sea" that mankind cannot conquer.

Sailors who make their living killing the whales are aware that " all the other things, whether beast or vessel, that enter into the dreadful gulf of this monster’s (whale’s) mouth, are immediately lost and swallowed up" and that "[t]he great Leviathan […] maketh the seas to seethe like boiling pan." They can't escape, though, because as the extracts also make clear, the booming economy of the nineteenth century depends on whale oil for everything from healing bruises to heating rooms in the dead of winter. The sailors are therefore helpless in the face of the dangers that the Whale's sheer size escapes, but also the vast and impersonal economic machinery that reduces them to commodities to be sacrificed to the Whale's wrath, Ahab's vengeance, and the Industrial Revolution's greed. Simon Fairchild probably had a field day with this one.

I realize I'm nearly 400 words in, so in the interest of sparing people's eyes, I'll wrap up by pointing out: --There is a whole chapter devoted to the crew standing knee-deep in whale fat while they dissect a smaller whale. --There is another chapter where Ishmael rhapsodizes about the size of a whale's skeleton. --Then he goes on for another chapter about whale fossils. --And then chapter 3 in this trilogy (which began in chapter 103, btw), asks outright in the title. "Does the whale's magnitude diminish?" --Ishmael sees the sea, and by extension, the Whale, as an irresistible, almost compelling force that terrifies and awes him. This is similar to noted Vast victim Robert Kelly, who also feels a draw to the Vast. --The book closes with Ishmael as the only survivor of the Pequod, having barely escaped the whale's vortex that pulled the ship and all her crew into the depths of the ocean, floating alone on his subtextual lover's coffin for a day and night before finally being picked up by another ship."

Joy Wang/Jobu Tupaki (Everything Everywhere All At Once) "Jobu is able to comprehend the entire scale of humanity in every corner of the multiverse, and it's all… Meaningless. You see when you put literally everything on a bagel when you're bored one day - every report card, every breed of dog, every ad on Craigslist, every grain of salt or seed - it collapses in on itself and you realize… We are all so small and insignificant that nothing we do matters. And when nothing matters, all of the pain and guilt you feel at your life going nowhere just goes away. It's sucked into a bagel.

A cult is formed around this bagel - all the other people that Jobu has shown the truth to - but what she really wants is her mother to understand how empty she really feels."

[thiefbird]

Despite all my better judgement, I appear to be into Boat Media. Having thoroughly enjoyed Temeraire and Aubrey-Maturin, I am now looking to broaden my horizons. Do have any recommendations for further reading?

I do!

I don't think CS Forester has quite the same voice as an author as Patrick O'Brian, but the Hornblower series holds a fond place in my heart - I actually recommend the TV series with Ioan Gruffudd, Jamie Bamber, Richard Lindsey, and Paul McGann before the books, if you like the Aubreyad, which I rarely do; it has a bit more of the feel of daily life added to it than the books originally did, which may well have been the influence of O'Brian's writing, and it is an affectionate adaptation.

I have not read this yet, but @gabrielnovakgoestomyschool has been badgering me to read a Boat Media, the name of which escapes me, so I will have them give propaganda for it in the notes.

I do not know if this is based on a book, but the miniseries To The Ends of the Earth was very good!

Similarly, I have not read The Terror, and I have heard that the show is better than the book, but I really enjoyed the first two episodes of The Terror! Unfortunately it is a show that requires me to actually pay attention, so it is taking a long time for me to watch it because I don't often have the spoons+time I don't want to be writing rn, but I have heard many good things and few bad.

I haven't read Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, or Moby Dick since high school(and I'm not certain I finished Moby Dick as that was right when my very severe adhd/autistic burnout started) but I very much enjoyed them then!

My last, but certainly not least, recommendation is Gone To Weather, an absolutely stunning webcomic by @focsle (beg pardon for the tag!)!

(And finally, watch this space - I'm working on an original Napoleonic War Boat Media novel, and I hope to have a finished first draft by the end of the year!)

[hiddenlife-manager]

Kinktober 5

Portgas D Ace x Fem reader NSFW

Author note: So unfortunately I was late with the post for yesterday and I knew I had to get it done today even if I’m swamped with work. So I wrote something good ish and it is not edited so I apologize

Extra: Nsfw, Dom Reader, switch Ace, masturbation, cunt and pussy

MINORS DNI, AGELESS BLOGS DNI

~~~

Ace hands slowly teased at his pink tip. His hands gently rubbing his tip with soft moans leaving his lips. He knew it was wrong masturbating to the thought of your mouth wrapped around his pulsing cock. He couldn’t help it, everything about you made him crave you more than ever. Even worse here he was in a closet full of cleaning supplies his cock out as he pumped it, attempting to quickly ride his high.

What Ace didn’t know was your attempts on finding him. You ran around the Moby Dick calling for Ace and asking around for your lover. He disappeared suddenly right after you bent over and picked up several books that Marco dropped. Minutes passing as you spoke to Marco about the books he was carrying. Immediately after finishing the conversation you noticed the disappearance of your lover.

Quickly running to the back of the Moby Dick where no one was you looked around. One step into the dark halls your ears picked up the sound of a whimper. Your ears perked up rapidly trying to figure out where the sound came from.

“Ace!” You screamed not wanting to stay in the dark halls any longer. Only seconds after did you hear boxes falling harshly onto the ground and a groan of pain leaving someone’s lips. You head to the cause of the sound, your hands pushing the door open to see your lover. His chest out like normal yet his cock puffy and red out for all to see.

“Y/n! It isn’t what it seems.” Your hands flew to your lips and giggled into your hand. Walking past the door your leg kicked the door shut.

“Ace at the moment all I see is your cock out crying for attention.” You unzipped your clothes and removed it from your body. Ace’s face turned red quickly and tried to crawl away from you. He grabs a box and tries to get up but in a matter of seconds you pushed him back onto the floor. Your legs hovering over him. You lowered yourself onto his lap and cradled Ace. His cock gently placed right under your pussy, the only thing preventing him from touching your folds were your underwear. Your hands caressed his cheek.

“My poor Ace.” You muttered lovingly. Ace could no longer look you in the eye his cock poking at your underwear. With a small raise of your hips you lowered a hand and moved your underwear to the side. “I’m not prepared so go easy on me.” You whispered into his ear. Moving his cock to your entrance you hovered over it your hands raising up to his cheeks once more.

You pressed your lips against his and sunk yourself onto his pulsing cock. Your arms wrapped around his neck holding your lover tightly. You bounced up and down your chest against his.

“My naughty little Ace fucking himself knowing well you could ask.” You let out a soft cry your cunt pooling juices out. Ace cried holding onto your waist tightly his whimpers being muffled as he held his head between your neck. He bit at the skin of your neck trying to stop himself from cumming right there and then. He had too even if your gummy walls clenched at his skinny yet long cock. You held control over him and he knew it. Even if he had his hands on your waist you were the one bouncing up and down at your own pace.

You picked up the pace and started to bounce vigorously on his beautiful cock. Ace whimpered louder leaving your neck opened, he swung he head back sweat finally appearing on his perfect face. His freckles started to glisten under his own sweat, heavy breathes left your soft lips and all he could do was grip at your hip dips the very thing that he loved.

“D-don’t don’t stop.” He mumbled, the one mistake he made was saying that it gave you the idea to stop. You were in control. He wanted to masturbate and not ask you for any help. With those words your hips dropped onto his cock a loud moan leaving you.

“Too bad.” You said and laughed at his shocked and frustrated face. He kissed you deeply and with a sudden movement he slammed you onto the ground your legs were moved to the side his cock still in you.

“I need this.” He slammed himself into your sopping wet cunt. Your brain going crazy with thoughts only about pleasure running though you. He raised your leg up high into the air his cock rammed into you tears starting to appear at the edge of your eyes.

[fujoshiwarrior]

limbus company 1 am (edit: now 2 am) ramblings (massive spoilers abound for canto v)

these are just some quick sleep deprived thoughts, and my analysis could be better, but i feel like talking about it anyway

i saw a post in the main tag talking about why the op really disliked canto v, and i don't wanna get into an argument and i don't want to vague the op in a way that makes it seem like im attacking them because im not, i just wanna talk about why i disagree with them

i don't think canto v was perfect or the best canto but i thought it was absolutely incredible (yes i did cry during the final boss fight), and i agree that starbuck and queequeg deserved way more screentime and development than they got (i also think the adaptation of queequeg from moby dick to limbus was woefully clumsy, which might have have been remedied by more time with her, though i still love limbus!queequeg)

however, i wholeheartedly disagree on ahab as a villain. i thought she was amazing. even if she doesn't really have any shades of gray to her, i think the point is that a lot of horrible, evil, selfish people genuinely believe what they are doing and their behavior is right and justified. furthermore, she was completely and utterly steeped in delusion and obsession to the detriment of herself and every single person remotely in proximity to her.

i need to say first that i've never read moby dick unfortunately, so i can't comment too much on limbus!ahab vs book!ahab. what i do know is that just like in limbus, ahab's obsession leads to the demise of every single crew member with ishmael as the sole survivor. since i haven't read moby dick, i had to consult sparknotes for a profile of book!ahab, and it describes him as much of a victim as he is an aggressor---however, i'll touch on that in a bit.

what i want to bring attention to is that both book and limbus ahab are characterized by sheer hubris, pride, and a god/savior complex. i want to bring attention to another classical literature character who is characterized by hubris and who also spends the entire novel on a ship: victor frankenstein.

this comparison might seem like it's coming from left field, but i promise i have a point. also, while i don't think limbus!ahab was overtly inspired by victor frankenstein, considering how obsessed pm is with literature i think there is a very low chance that kjh or at least one of the writers haven't read frankenstein. see also the parallels between angela and the monster/ayin and frankenstein in lobotomy corporation and library of ruina (especially library of ruina, where there is a direct connection between angela and lucifer related imagery, who the monster is also associated with). frankenstein ends with victor, after telling his, encouraging the sailors not to give up on trying to find a new passage channel in spite of the fact they will probably die doing so---victor has not learned his lesson, and now he's luring a group of sailors to their deaths.

ahab is so full of herself and so egocentric that even when she was facing the death of her very "self" (or...ego) she did not falter in her delusions, not even at the very, very end, and was happy to continue the cycle. the point i'm trying to make here is that a character being unambiguously bad and selfish doesn't necessarily make for a bad or uncomplicated character. i will concede though that op again has a point with the lack of screentime with ahab means that she didn't have the time to prove her complexities.

this brings me to canto v's ending. in the post credits scene, we saw the ahab somehow survived the collapse of the white whale (this is just speculation, but i think it has something to do with her ego awakening---judging off the cg art, i would guess the ego fused with the pallidification from the whale or nullified it entirely...or both maybe). i was initially disappointed by this.

however, we know very little about hermann's crew. as op touched on, and as i have touched on, ahab had little screentime and not a lot of character development. her now being a member of hermann's crew gives ample opportunity for further development of her character---i think we'll see why exactly she became so obsessed with the whale and why she is the way she is (the aspect of ahab as a victim, i imagine there's a deeply personal reason why the decided the whale was the source of all evil)

this leads to me another point op mentioned: ishmael sparing ahab.

op talks about this as a bad thing. i STRONGLY disagree.

the name of the game here is obsession. ishmael's new ego for this season is even named "blind obsession". from the 4.5 event, we saw that this obsession has been tearing her apart. several people theorized after that event, and during this canto, that she was for sure going to distort. the fact that she had a distortion effect behind her battle sprite made lots of people (including me) extremely confident that she would distort and be the boss of this chapter (outis said in part 1 that lcb doesn't need all 12 sinners to operate and you only use half in battle anyway).

if ishmael had killed ahab, she would have given into her obsession and may have *actually* distorted if she did. and she would have proven ahab completely and utterly right.

ishmael stealing away the opportunity to be the one to kill the pallid whale from ahab and leaving her to rot inside the collapsing whale with that knowledge is the best possible punishment ahab could have gotten.

that's why i didn't like the fact that ahab had survived, it felt like it defeated the point of ishmael's development and the canto itself. i changed my mind because the point of ishmael's character development was letting go of her obsession and being free from ahab, and ahab doesn't need to be dead for her to do that. and her involvement with hermann's group means an opportunity for a bigger and better comeuppance since she's probably going to have a new obsession soon enough.

[delusinalandpassionate]

Okay so I looked at passives of Base Sinners trying to understand what their sins mean and suddenly realized that each of them had very specific name. Like their skills mostly just a simple description of attack like "thrust" "chop" or "slash", but their passives have unique names and it kinda looked (to me) as if they are recalling to sinners backstories or cantos like

Gregors' passive is "Forced to Survive" and we know that half of his story based on that desire to stay alive and survival guilt following it.

Rodion has "Split Evil" and it kinda a straightforwardish description of what she thought she was doing when she killed tax-collector.

Sinclair has "Determined" whish this time is less about past and more about his position in III Canto when he wanted to murder Kromer no matter what

Yi San has "Information relay" and this may sound as stretch, but their league propose was about sharing information with each other, and hid main work "Mirror" was made in cooperation. And he was kidnapped to share his knowledge, too

So if I am right, than we can use Sinners personal passive to theorize about their past or thier cantos, which I'm going to try right now

Ishmael has "Last-ditch Struggle" and I think it tells about her Canto where she will do something extremely dangerous to avenge her fallen comrades(trying to kill Moby Dick or Ahab I guess)

Heathcliff has "Ressentiment" whish is definitely tells us about his past, or at least about his emotions about it.

Don Quixote has "Righteous Retribution" and I am not sure what it’s about, but if we consider that theory Sancho!Don is true then maybe her Canto will be about revenge to Doctor Carrasco, who was a person mainly responsible for Don quixote death in book.

Hong Lu has "Entertainment" ...and unfortunately I'm not familiar with Red Chamber to make any theories about him, but I would definitely like to read your ideas

Ryoshu has "Indiscriminate Art" and well...I am pretty sure it's about how she was ready to hurt anyone for her Art. Even her own daughter.

Meursault suddenly also has "Determined" just like Sinclair, which makes me think that in his Canto he will also have to be ready to meet past?

Outis has "Executor" and there is a problem, because there was plenty of times when Odysseus executed someone, but I guess it most likely allusion on handmaidens hanged in the end of Odyssey, because of that official art of her with hanging corpse. Or in her Canto we could find out that her final order is to execute Dante.

Faust has "Analytical Eye" which is kinda too vague for me, and just like in Hong Lu situation I know almost nothing about her book. So if you have ideas, please share.

So yeah, that's my dumb theory. Or a bunch of theories. Hope it was interesting

[metamatar]

February Reading Round Up! In reverse chronological order of finishing

Reinventing Revolution: New Social Movements and the Socialist Tradition in India by Gail Omvedt

Been meaning to read for a long long time, was serendiptiously a reading groups' choice and on my tumblr dash. Very good, detailed tour of movements that have complicated "class first" - caste, gender, peasant, tribal and their evolution theoretically and historically. Enjoyed how obviously socialist and critical Omvedt is of regressive trends and fair to the demands of popular organising that trouble us. I made so many notes, and intend to revist her perspective later when I've studied more. Where I was familiar with secondary literature like, caste I think she did an excellent job illustrating the limitations and need for Ambedakrite movements.

The Final Question by Chattopadhyay, Sarat Chandra

Bengali literature written in dialogue with the anti colonial movement's understanding of the new role of the Indian woman, this book is angry in the best way. Something very Dostoyevsky like in the arguments between the characters, but, instead of a religious worldview you have a deeply modern, materialist worldview being sharply advocated for against revanchist cultural trends in the novel's heroine Kamal. It holds up really well for a book in 1936, and its tenderness in handling every character's hopes and despair is deeply touching.

The Play Of Dolls Stories by Narain, Kunwar

Tumblr Mutual Book Club pick! Short Story collection by Hindi experimental poet and writer. Very evocative stories that have the best onion like layers of thematic interests. Oft satirical but never bleak, with the exception of the last story which felt like an odd addition to the set.

Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Machado, Carmen Maria

Short Story collection as well, feminist and queer themes. I'd already read the Husband Stitch and was interested in what else the author could do, unfortunately not a lot more thematically. The stories are tightly written and gripping, only that they don't reveal much to me.

Dumb Luck by Vũ, Trọng Phụng

Tumblr Mutual Book Club pick as well. Relentlessly, satirically bleak, also colonial writing. This one is set in Vietnam when it was in French Indochina. Tetra said that every character is an antagonist and FR. Vicious, and a little too bleak for my taste, this is a more traditionalist critique of Vietnamese elite aping the French. The gender politics are absolutely bonkers, the translation I read does a pretty decent job of transferring the text's humor to modern idiom.

Vita & Virginia: A Double Life by Gristwood, Sarah

Biography of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackwille-West, picked up on a whim because of my interest in Woolf's 'madness' and her romantic letters. Really enjoyed reading the complicated polyamorous love lives these literati had. Virginia's struggles with her illness are quite movingly portrayed. Illustrated with pictures of the beautiful homes and gardens the subjects spent their time in so fun for me! Enjoyed how conversant the author was with their literary output and its critical reception and impact. Made me want to finish reading my Woolf books.

The Stranger by Camus, Albert

I thought I'd like this more. The distanced narrator is very poorly executed, so the protagonist's redemption? revelations? towards the end of the novel kind of fell flat. Style over substance problem I think.

The Horizon (Sumer, #2) by Gautam Bhatia

Conclusion to The Wall, also one of those I wish I'd liked a lot more than I did. Very fast paced in its third act, well plotted but weakened by its repeated revelation of this character is ACTUALLY on this SIDE. Like, its done with every family member of the protagonist. Worldbuilding remains memorable if a bit predictable. Would make a better movie.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

Personally I love an old man vs a fish, even if it does not have the gay content Moby Dick promised. Excellent use of the novel for investigating the interiority of a man. It's been a short story kind of month I suppose.

Lady Chatterley's Lover by Lawrence, D.H.

I have already complained about how fascist this book is. Why does modern commentary elide on its very violent racism and sexism and homophobia? I don't think its erotic worldview offers much to not fascist post sex liberation readers lol.

The Idiot by Batuman, Elif

Sorry. Girl at Harvard was not compelling as expected, but I did get a lot from the third act where the protagonist confronts her love interest for real - honest writing that doesn't shy away from difficult conversations.

The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, Mikhail

Stalin era Soviet satire (its a month for it!) Very conversant with Faust, which I had not read so that I think diminished my understanding of the book. Absurd, very Christian and very funny about the comedic aspects of Soviet life. Loved the ending, almost Tolkein like in its hope for pretty broken characters.

The World in a Grain of Sand: Postcolonial Literature and Radical Universalism by Majumdar, Nivedita

Postcolonial Lit: The Takedown. Incisive, excellent, gave me a lot of books I want to try that the author points to as bucking the trend of compliance to particularist, oft parochial and usually defeatist understandings that dominate the genre.

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

also Bookclub pick. Devastating. Very effective use of the limited POV to illustrate the way shame damns love. Every few pages wrecked me. Tight and sparing with characterisation + description, but delirious with how emotionally close you ride with the protagonist. Best book I have read in a while.

[saltedsolenoid]

also my english teacher hates moby dick with a passion so my one goal before i inevitably fake my death and recite soliloquies to everyone who's ever loved me about how unfortunate and horrible they all are is to get her a premium copy of the book . like i'll just leave it on her doorstep. i know where she lives.

[mossy-rainfrog]

[ID: A digital drawing of Ahab and Starbuck from Moby Dick having an intimate moment. Ahab is a tall, chubby Arab man with short curly dark hair and a thick beard, and a lightning scar across his face. He wears a red coat with a tall collar. Starbuck is a shorter muscular white man with short red hair, a short mustache, and multitudes of freckles. He wears a black coat over a white shirt, and holds a musket in one hand, visible in front of both of them. The pair are leaning into one another, pulling each other close and nearly kissing, with eyes closed and parted lips. They stand before a sunset, and the words “Oh, Captain, My Captain” are written faintly in the clouds behind them. End ID.]

so @pocketsizedquasar has infected me with an unfortunate case of Insane About Tragic Old Whalers and ive been rotating them in my head too much to not get this out of my system. they threaten to kill each other with the same musket for God’s sake. help me hsgdnnfnd. the designs are from the aforementioned Mx. Quasar’s Moby Dick comic, which is an absolutely stunning ongoing work of art, even if you don’t know anything about the original book, I highly recommend

[wulfhalls]

Well I gotta know what did you think of Moby dick? Is it truly top tier man becomes obsessed and it eventually destroys him?

Congrats to finishing moby dick😹 i read it in january and the only reason I was able to finish was that half way i started listening to the audio book along with reading it… even though I really enjoyed the book and was impressed. Perhaps it was also cause English isn‘t my first language. There really isn’t a book like it..

THANK U. well seeing how it took me like. two years to get thru I can safely say its not one of my fav reading experiences ever 😭 half of it is just melville going I've done a tone of fucking research on wales and u will fucking hear about it. soooo much nautical terminology I had to switch to german because there were just strings of sentences in there I couldn't understand a fucking word of (couldnt understand them in german either but i just felt saver regardless lmaoo). the like ⅓ of actual story and exploration of obsession to the detriment of everything else and the breakdown of one man's psyche and his conscious descent into his own destruction and that of everyone else around him was 👍👍👍 but unfortunately it felt like this took up approximately 12% of the book. so. yeah. some really nice language use in those sections as well tho

[bracketsoffear]

Moby Dick (Moby Dick) "Okay, look--let's get this out of the way. I know that the whale is big. That is not an insignificant thing about whales in general and this whale in particular. It's not even an insignificant factor in nominating him today. Except, it's not the size that matters--it's what Herman Melville does with it*.

*(Sorry, the dick joke was obligatory. It should be the only one unless my love of bad puns runs away from me.)

There's a post floating out there on tumblr calling Moby Dick the OG eldritch terror. Unfortunately, we all know how the hellsite's search "function" is (exasperated but affectionate), so I'm not going to be able to link it. What I can do is pull out a few rusty tools of literary analysis to show that at his Vast heart, Moby Dick represents the terrifying insignificance of humanity in the face of the grandness and terror of the sea.

First, it's crucial to point out that the book opens with quotes about whales, including several Bible verses, some Pliny, something purported to be copied down by a ninth-century king, Shakespeare, and so on. Right out of the gate, the book connects the Whale with the idea of the mythological Leviathan. By quoting Genesis in particular, Melville creates the idea of the Whale as a beast that has existed alongside humanity since its inception. Just as the fears are ancient and have tormented humanity since prehistory, the Whale/Leviathan has represented a "dragon of the sea" that mankind cannot conquer.

Sailors who make their living killing the whales are aware that " all the other things, whether beast or vessel, that enter into the dreadful gulf of this monster’s (whale’s) mouth, are immediately lost and swallowed up" and that "[t]he great Leviathan […] maketh the seas to seethe like boiling pan." They can't escape, though, because as the extracts also make clear, the booming economy of the nineteenth century depends on whale oil for everything from healing bruises to heating rooms in the dead of winter. The sailors are therefore helpless in the face of the dangers that the Whale's sheer size escapes, but also the vast and impersonal economic machinery that reduces them to commodities to be sacrificed to the Whale's wrath, Ahab's vengeance, and the Industrial Revolution's greed. Simon Fairchild probably had a field day with this one.

I realize I'm nearly 400 words in, so in the interest of sparing people's eyes, I'll wrap up by pointing out: --There is a whole chapter devoted to the crew standing knee-deep in whale fat while they dissect a smaller whale. --There is another chapter where Ishmael rhapsodizes about the size of a whale's skeleton. --Then he goes on for another chapter about whale fossils. --And then chapter 3 in this trilogy (which began in chapter 103, btw), asks outright in the title. "Does the whale's magnitude diminish?" --Ishmael sees the sea, and by extension, the Whale, as an irresistible, almost compelling force that terrifies and awes him. This is similar to noted Vast victim Robert Kelly, who also feels a draw to the Vast. --The book closes with Ishmael as the only survivor of the Pequod, having barely escaped the whale's vortex that pulled the ship and all her crew into the depths of the ocean, floating alone on his subtextual lover's coffin for a day and night before finally being picked up by another ship."

The Kraken (Folklore) "It personally terrifies me. The Kraken is described as a massive sea monster, large enough to take down ships with ease. Here's an excerpt from it's wikipedia page.

"According to his Norwegian informants, the kraken's body measured many miles in length, and when it surfaced it seemed to cover the whole sea, and "having many heads and a number of claws". With its claws it captured its prey, which included ships, men, fish, and animals, carrying its victims back into the depths."

[lesbianboyfriend]

HI JULES. 25 27 and 50!!!!!

HI CALEB!!! love you forever 🩷

25. favorite middle grade books: i’m the number one middle grade book fan okay!!!! especially fantasy!!! here are some of my most beloveds: howl’s moving castle, dragon slippers series, the lands of elyon series, the mighty heart of sunny st. james, the enchanted forest chronicles, the keeper of the lost cities series, ella enchanted, the wide awake princess series, tales of the frog princess, septimus heap series, the castle glower series, the percy jackson series, the fablehaven series, the mysterious benedict society, princess academy series, the series of unfortunate events, half upon a time series, ruby holler, the girl who could fly, edgar & ellen, beyonders series, the candy shop war, the tapestry series….okay i HAVE to stop somewhere. but there are so many. i love middle grade fiction!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

27. first book i remember reading as a kid: okay so i have this really clear memory of reading a picture book about bunnies. they were very cartoon style bunnies and one of them was pink. they might have been racing (?). unfortunately i have no clue what this book is called. honestly i don’t really have very linear memory from that time so idk if that was the memory that comes first chronologically. another book that i know u read very early and a lot was are you my mother? (the picture book not. the alison bechdel comic. but that would be crazy)

50. what book have i never read but always hope to find at some point in the future: can i be honest im not quite sure what this means. i have three interpretations…

1. type of book i have always been looking for but never found a book that fits: in this case the answer is hehe the two wips (<- they say as if they have actually begun working on them) that exist in my head. the terrible lesbian girls in my brain <3 one day i will make you real….

2. book i have never read but want to read: in this case there are. so many answers. but one that has been particularly haunting me (heh) is the haunting of hill house. this summer will be my time okay!!!!!

3. book i have never read but want to find a copy of: i mean this is also a pretty long list. it lines up pretty neatly with the one above. i will say i have been specifically looking for copies of moby dick and the brothers karamazov the last couple times i’ve been to the used bookstore but have not found them yet….alas

anyways hopefully one of those answers the question !!

the ask game 📚