thepickpocketofdreams

[thepickpocketofdreams]

so many things try to emulate the Beatrice/Benedick relationship and so few of them get it right bc they’re like ‘oh it’s about the banter’ and YES, obviously, but if you make it JUST about the banter you’re going to fail! it’s about the RESPECT!!! it’s about the scene after Hero’s shaming where Benedick drops the banter entirely and sits there with Beatrice as she rages and weeps and then chooses to side with HER instead of the boy’s club that he’s been hanging out with for the entire play, both because he loves her and because she’s RIGHT!

like, it’s not some impulsive thing to make her like him, and it’s not just talk; he asks her if she’s sure and then he agrees and then he remains cold and determined when he meets Claudio and Don Pedro and they try to get him to joke around with them like old times.  i think that’s one of the things that gets me the most; that there’s a scene that you half-expect to fall into that same sort of joking, where Claudio and Don Pedro are specifically like, “Huh, we inexplicably feel kind of sad after ruining this woman’s life and reputation, I bet Benedick will cheer us up!” and he just. utterly refuses to engage. and it’s so powerful and it’s such a tonal shift and such a strong indication of just how much he loves and values Beatrice and!! anything that gets the banter but doesn’t get that completely fails to understand their relationship! THB!!

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Here’s a list of over 100 buildings to populate your fantasy town, covering everything from essential structures to more whimsical or thematic additions

Essential Buildings:

Town Hall

Guard Tower

Marketplace

Blacksmith

General Store

Tavern

Inn

Apothecary

Bakery

Butcher Shop

Tailor Shop

Stables

Schoolhouse

Library

Carpenter’s Workshop

Cobbler’s Shop

Farmer's Market

Fishmonger

Mill (Windmill/Watermill)

Well

Church/Temple

Chapel

Watchtower

Post Office

Barracks

Armory

Courthouse

Prison

Cemetery

Mortuary

Alchemist’s Shop

Magic Academy

Smithy

Herbalist

Potion Shop

Farrier (for horse shoes)

Brewery

Distillery

Granary

Butcher’s Block

Tailor’s Guild

Weaver’s Hut

Shipwright

Pottery Shop

Fletcher (Arrow Maker)

Tanner’s Yard

Brewery

Spice Merchant

Jeweler’s Workshop

Scribe’s Office

Civic & Public Spaces:

Fountain

Park

Courtyard

Arena

Theatre

Amphitheater

Bathhouse

Gardens

City Gates

Bell Tower

Archives

Magistrate’s Office

Observatory

Town Square

Auction House

Guildhall

Lighthouse

River Dock

Public Forum

Clock Tower

Residential Buildings:

Farmstead

Manor House

Noble’s Mansion

Townhouses

Cottage

Merchant’s House

Apartment Building

Caravanserai

Worker’s Dormitory

Boarding House

Hunter’s Lodge

Shanty House

Fisherman’s Hut

Vineyard Estate

Barracks

Witch’s Cottage

Trade and Craftsmanship:

Glassblower’s Workshop

Painter’s Studio

Sculptor’s Workshop

Clockmaker’s Shop

Musician’s Hall

Candlemaker’s Workshop

Florist

Basket Weaver

Soapmaker’s Shop

Bookbinder’s Shop

Toymaker’s Workshop

Carriage House

Leatherworker’s Shop

Metalworker’s Foundry

Dye House

Taxidermist’s Workshop

Cartographer’s Shop

Engraver’s Workshop

Mystical/Unique Buildings:

Wizard’s Tower

Enchanter’s Hall

Potion Brewery

Astronomer’s Tower

Fairy Grove

Dragon Stable

Rune Reader’s Tent

Crystal Shop

Elementalist Shrine

Oracle’s Hut

Druid’s Circle

Sorcerer’s Guild

Griffin Aviary

Necromancer’s Lair

Portal Room

Seer’s Observatory

Other:

Windmill

Grain Silo

Wine Cellar

Salt House

Ice House

Brewery

Tinkerer’s Workshop

Puppet Theater

Public Bathhouse

Art Gallery

Falconer’s Lodge

Cheese Monger

Guild of Shadows (Thieves’ Guild)

Adventurer’s Guild

Dungeon Entrance

Gambling Den

Spymaster’s Office

Assassin’s Guild

Beast Trainer’s Arena

Exotic Pet Shop

Stablemaster

Forge Temple

Graveyard Keeper’s Hut

Fishermen’s Wharf

Oracle’s Shrine

These structures can shape the town’s story, culture, and atmosphere. You can adapt or add to the list depending on your town's specific fantasy setting and its unique vibe.

[thepickpocketofdreams]

last minute thing for @feuillyweek <3!! Modern! AU (naturally), and they WERE hanging out and making zines but it’s devolved into just hanging out 😔💞

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Many, many years ago, when Geocities pages were very much still a thing, a young me online stumbled across a parody work continuation of Malory Towers following Darrell, Sally, Alicia and Betty to St Andrews.

The problem my younger self faced was it was written in Dutch. As far as I know, no translations exist, even to this day.

But, I was curious (and autism probably played a role in hindsight), and a little barrier like it being written in a language I didn't know wasn't going to stop me. (cont. after cut)

So, I borrowed a Dutch dictionary and a Dutch grammar book from the library and unravelled what the landing page of the website and the summary said. (In hindsight, I do wonder what my parents thought I was learning Dutch for... Maybe they were used to my oddities)

Through my arduous translation efforts, I was able to learn that it seemed to involve the four going off to St Andrews where Darrell fell for and got involved with an older female student called Artemis. This caused problems with Sally, who was in love with Darrell, and nearly ruins all Darrell's other existing relationships, too. Then, Darrell gets her heart broken by Artemis and has to try and make things right with Sally and everyone else.

Of course, after seeing that, I went on to slowly translate my way through the entire book, which was available online, over the course of about a year. It was a painful process. Even the discovery of and using Google Translate (which was very much in its infancy) did not help substantially. There were sections that only just made sense and there was certainly a lot I missed details of.

But I got the gist of it. It was as delightfully ridiculous as anticipated. Gwen was a librarian?! Miss Peters was...just at St Andrews for some reason. Darrell is engaged at the start of the book to some dude, but then he came out as gay, too, so there was wlw mlm solidarity. Chaotic parody made all the more chaotic by being via terrible translation.

Then, Geocities websites started to go down and, for all I knew, the site was lost. I did not know about the Wayback Machine until a number of years later, when I used it to try to find an archived version of Kanna-Ophelia's 'Rumour Chain' which fanfiction.net had the audacity to delete (Still annoyed to this day. I only ever found chapters 1-3, and chapters 4 and 5 were where the glorious angst really ramped up 😭). Anyway... I digress.

So, what prompted this thought today?

Well, while checking old discs in storage, I found my truly terrible translation from when I had to back up the dying family computer years ago. And, today, a few things are true:

1. My language reading skills are Much better these days thanks to self-teaching and necessity for work.

2. DeepL and other translator are so much better at filling in the gaps.

3. I had all the original text in Dutch saved on those discs, not just the terrible translations and the original website is also backed up on the Wayback Machine.

So, I am going to newly translate this chaotic parody that is 'Pitty naar college'. I've been meaning to continue translating the German continuations (which I've been advised are very het, the disappointment...) anyway, so what's another book to add to the translation pile 😁

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Can’t believe Jane Austen wrote Pride and Prejudice in the 2000s

And in 2015 Emily Brontë released literary clsssic Wuthering Heights

Thank God someone paved the way for them…

[thepickpocketofdreams]

reblog if you need a hug

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Random Ithacan Citizen #1: *Regaling people with how he saw some dude from a distance stab the shit out of Poseidon*

Random Ithacan Citizen #1: And so he stops and Poseidon asks this guy "After everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?" And do you know what this dude says!? He-and I kid you not-he says "With my wife!"

An entire town square somewhere in Ithaca: BRRRRR OOOOO!

[thepickpocketofdreams]

The candles are still burning in my IRL jack o lantern and the boopometer on my dashboard is still ticking, so Halloween ain't over yet! But I am a tired nerd and going to bed soon, I think.

These three are just getting started though! Don't worry if you see a floating head outside your window , it's just Gavroche, Prouvaire and Bahorel getting up to a little mischief. Or a lot. Depends on how the spirit takes them :D

Happy Halloween for a few more hours, and thank you everyone who came by my door to share treats and tricks!

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Sooo...did you intend to have the ghost men be naked or did you just not think too much about it when drawing them?

I'm not complaining I'm just asking because I noticed Polites wasn't...um...wearing anything

i'mma be so real with you, i was so focused on finishing it in time, that i forgot they were naked until the near end, and at that point i was too tired to clothe them. so uh yeah, canonically the ghosts just left their robes at home i guess. consider it an unintentional treat lmao ALSO IT'S SO FUNNY Because yesterday i posted Poseidon and Polites being cute, and now i'm posting Polites bout to break Poseidon's fuckin back

it's the "inside of me are two wolves" meme, but it's two different vibes of Polites instead

OwO and "I'm gonna remove your spine"

[thepickpocketofdreams]

waking up, head in my hands: the kids. the kids. theyre going to hand in the essays. theyre going to think odysseus rode into ithaca on a jetpack

[thepickpocketofdreams]

[thepickpocketofdreams]

If you had to sing a child to sleep RIGHT NOW what would you sing and it CANT BE a lullaby it has to be a regular song

[thepickpocketofdreams]

RIP Odysseus of Ithaca you would’ve loved FaceTime

[thepickpocketofdreams]

yep. we all need a little bit of Telemachus's optimism. especially if you're a jaded, traumatized, lonely, strong Goddess.

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Odysseus' Strategy Notebook

PLAN TO DEFEAT THE TROJANS

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

PLAN TO DEFEAT THE CYCLOPS

Build giant wooden horse spear and hide inside it stab the cyclops with it

PLAN TO ESCAPE THE CYCLOPS' CAVE

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

Build giant wooden SHEEP and hide inside it

Build a bunch of normal-sized sheep and hide in those

Skin real sheep and use them to make incredibly realistic sheep costumes

Ride the sheep out of the cave but upside-down so he doesn't find us

PLAN TO DEFEAT THE LASTER LAESYTR LESTRYG CANNIBAL GIANTS

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

Build giant wooden cannibal giant and hide inside it

Build giant wooden RUN

PLAN TO DEFEAT THE WITCH

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

Build giant wooden pig and hide inside it?

Build giant wooden d go with Hermes' plan

PLAN TO DEFEAT SCYLLA

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

Build wooden decoy sailors and hope she eats those DID NOT WORK

PLAN TO STOP MEN FROM EATING SACRED CATTLE

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

Build giant wooden cow and trick the men into eating it

Take a nap and come up with a better plan

PLAN TO ESCAPE CALYPSO'S ISLAND

Build giant wooden horse and hide inside it

Build wooden decoy statue of me and put it in her bed

Build giant wooden d

PLAN TO KEEP ODYSSEUS HERE FOREVER

Steal strategy notebook

Check for splinters just in case

PLAN TO SNEAK BACK INTO THE PALACE

Build giant wooden h

Disguise self as giant wooden beggar normal old beggar OKAY I GET IT NOT EVERYTHING HAS TO BE A GIGANTIC WOODEN REPLICA I GET IT ALREADY sheesh Athena

GET THE SUITORS OFF MY BACK, PLAN B (THANKS A LOT MELANTHO)

Announce that I will marry whoever can string my husband's bow and shoot through wait this isn't my notebook

PLAN TO KILL THE SUITORS wait who scribbled in my notebook

[thepickpocketofdreams]

Essential Readings for a Serious Writer

(revised)

Literature is a dialogue between story-tellers that has gone on for about six thousand years. Unless an author knows the conversation thus far, it is nearly impossible for that poorly read author to contribute anything meaningful to the dialogue. Serious writing requires serious reading. All great authors have been great readers.

Pre-19th Century

Homer, The Iliad, The Odyssey

Sophocles, works

Aeschylus, works

Euripides, works

Virgil, The Aeneid

Boccaccio, The Decameron

Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, Troilus and Cressida

1001 Nights

Dante, The Divine Comedy

Cervantes, Don Quixote

Shakespeare

King James Bible

Spencer, The Fairie Queen

Milton, Paradise Lost, Paradise Found, Samson Agonistes

19th Century

Goethe, Faust, Sorrows of Young Werther

British Poets - Byron, Shelley, Keats, Coleridge, Burns, Blake, Wordsworth, Browning, Tennyson, Yeats

Pushkin, Eugene Onegin

Gogol, Dead Souls

Turgenyev, Fathers and Sons

Dostoevsky, works

Tolstoy, works

Hardy, works

Dickens, works

Galdos, Fortunata & Jacinta

Mary Ann Evans (George Eliot), Works

Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights

Charlotte Bronte, Jane Eyre

Jane Austin, works

Melville, works

Hawthorne, works

Poe, works

Stoker, Dracula

Hugo, works

Dumas, works

Zola, works

Balzac, works

Flaubert, works

Scott, works

20th Century

Woolf, works

Joyce, works

Lawrence, works

Hardy, works

Proust, La Recherche de la Temps Perdu

Musil, Man without Qualities, Young Torless

Mann, works

Boll, works

Nabokov, works

TS Eliot, works

Martin Amis, works

Gaddis, works

Pynchon, works

Durrell, works

Byatt, works

Burroughs, works

Faulkner, works

Hemingway, works

Fitzgerald, works

O'Neill, works

Anouilh, works

Grass, works

Garcia Marquez, works

Chekov, works

Ibsen, works

Shaw, works

Shepard, works

Fante, works

Maugham, works

Delillo, works

McElroy, Women and Men

Kundera, works

Anderson, Winesburg Ohio

Henry Miller, works

Barnes, works

Broch, works

Nadas, works

Genet, works

Gide, works

Tennessee Williams, works

Bellow, works

A few words of advice:

Reading chronologically makes later allusions to earlier works available. Know your Homer, your Aeschylus, your Virgil. Lots of things won’t make sense at all if you don’t.

Reading all the important works of literature is the work of a lifetime, so don’t fret about how few you’ve read. What matters most is what you read next, because nothing will influence your writing more than what you are currently reading. 

Reading is writing.

Memorize Shakespeare, the plays, the sonnets, the poems. You won’t regret a word. Nothing is more important to a writer’s education than Shakespeare.

I am only including works and authors I have read in this list. It will continue to evolve as I continue to read. I’m sure there are many thousands of important authors still unlisted. As well, sometimes we learn the best lessons from terrible writers. Reading is too important to only read well.

[thepickpocketofdreams]

What are some chronic illnesses that can only occur in a fantasy setting?