#<- so there's this haunted historical epic

[catilinas]

pinned post 👍 #beeps -> my posts #five consecutive vowels -> queue tag. count the vowels in 'queueing' #epistulaeposting -> translating cicero's letters and then letting his ghost email them to people. (also on tumblr @e-pistulae!)

44 bce is going to be my year

[empty-dream]

Just watched Orb: On the Movements of the Earth

Anime about heliocentrism.

Yes I know that sounds boring and at first I was like, "An anime about heliocentrism? What, are they gonna animate ancient classes discussing it?" then I recalled "Wait, wasn't the church really against heliocentrism so they, like, thrased Galileo and others for supporting it?"

Yeah that's basically the plot.

Story time! My first contact with this show was with a tweet that said "this is the hidden gem of the season!" to which I was ok maybe I'll check it out later. I forgot about the tweet but later, I saw the OP credit MV for the show and watched it (simply because I was looking for a new song to listen to) and iT WAS GOOD, like HAUNTING GOOD.

The OP gave me the impression that it is some epic historical work like Vinland Saga, just mellower with far less action scenes. I remembered that tweet right then and decided to watch the series immediately. This was when there were still 2 episodes.

THANK GOD I didn't decide to read the manga until episode 3 was out because GODDAMN EPISODE 3 SLAPPED ME HARD.

It was right then when I realized what this story is actually about and why the OP credit is like that. Even the OP and ED credit in EP4 are modified slightly to reflect the shift in the story.

Copernicus, the father of heliocentrism, probably was able to avoid inquisition only because he delayed his publication and died soon after. (And apparently it was so technical only advanced astronomers could understand, clever move but also typical academia.) And it was more than 50 years later until Galileo openly supported his idea and got the church hot on his tail. 50+ years. You'd think there are a lot of things happening in that time. A lot, generation after generation, until mankind could accept the truth.

I won't say more on this post so I'll leave it at that.

I love Rafal so much lmao he's such lovable little shit.

By the way, the series' title is probably a homage to Copernicus' heliocentrism work "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres)." As for "Orb", the Japanese title uses the katakana "チ" (Chi) which in kanji is also how you say "地" (earth/ground), "知" (wisdom/knowledge) and "血" (blood). These are all connected in the story. Incredibly clever and deep word play, I must say.

I am so conflicted like I want to read the manga ASAP but the anime is so profound and well-directed that I just want to keep watching it with full anticipation without knowing what's gonna happen. I'm so gonna suffer and be insufferable again every week.

*frothing at the mouth* Sakanaction, when will you release Kaiju full version????????

I love Yorushika's Aporia chirpy melody at the beginning of the song. It sounds like a child song, but the lyrics is basically a poetic story of curiousity towards the unknown.

*frothing at the mouth even more* OOOH SO THAT AMAZARASHI'S CASSIOPEIA MOORING MV COLLAB WAS WITH THIS SERIES????!!! If Amazarashi got their hands on it then it must have been some philosophical heavy hitter. Source=trust me.

Please tell me there will be a second cour just so Amazarashi can sing on the second cour too

Tl;Dr: Flat earthers have it easy, back in the day you got burned at stake for saying something different about the universe.

[incesthemes]

happy (late) wincest wednesday!! what do you think sam and dean's favourite books are? which books do you think they would have inexplicable (or explicable) beef with?

i'm sure after moving around twice a month for fifteen years and having to read the same books over and over again gave them a few rivalries, lol! -lizzy :)

omg happy wincest wednesday thursday!!!! thank you, this is such an awesome prompt.

ok i think they've both probably read a lot of classic lit and stuff from the literary canon because it's the kind of thing you can find anywhere, right? it's always available in some form or another, at school or in libraries or even just as movie adaptions.

based on vibes i really want to say dean's favorite book would be on the road, both for the metatextual nod to mister eric kripke and because i think dean would relate to it (well, obviously)—and the main character is dean too :) it's cute :) i also think he'd be really into westerns; the one i've read the most of is the titus bass series by terry c. johnston so while it's not quite what i imagine dean's tastes to be (too historically accurate, too little heroism) i'll go with that one. rough, gun-slinging action and lawless heroes are right up dean's alley. the trashier, the better.

on the other end of the spectrum, i see sam being quite into gothic literature. it's relatable to his feelings of exclusion and otherness, and like any child trapped inside a horrific queer narrative i think he would relate heavily to the monsters haunting the protagonists. i can see him really liking frankenstein especially, and i also definitely think he'd have a thing for kafka. it's horrible of me, but i also think he'd be drawn to rosemary's baby, imagining (subconsciously or not) his own mother as rosemary.

importantly, i think they'd both be most drawn to narratives they see themselves in, and i think they'd be rather disinterested in stories they can't directly relate back to their lives. as a result, they probably have a LOT of overlap in the books they enjoy, but the differences are marked and striking to an almost concerning degree. nevertheless i do think they've read through a great deal of the literary canon even if they don't personally love it, simply because it's what they can get their hands on. i can definitely see dean enjoying long, heroic epics like the iliad or beowulf, while sam has certainly read dante's divine comedy cover to cover (and of course, then they switch and read the other's pick, now hundreds of miles away from the library they stole the books from).

i really want them to have some kind of ongoing discourse about east of eden in particular, just because of HOW many similarities there are between cal/dean and aron/sam. i'm trying to figure out how to articulate the nature of that discourse (dean thinks it's just like them fr fr and sam insists it's not? the other way around, perhaps—though i can't see that as clearly. perhaps a simple debate as to whether it applies to them, or which generation they see themselves in most) but i really need to see something like that.

i think sam would definitely have petty beef with supernatural stories when they get the monster lore wrong. "we already KNOW what they do, how can you be THIS wrong about it???? open a book, dumbass," and the like. dean just thinks it's awesome no matter what (as long as the monsters are the bad guys) and they definitely bicker about it incessantly. on the flip side, dean would probably turn up his nose at gothic lit quite a bunch when the monsters are portrayed sympathetically (hello again frankenstein) and would, with his best Big Brother Voice, talk down to sam about the shit propaganda he's reading. sam in turn calls him an idiot in his best Little Brother Voice and doubles down on whatever he's reading. (naturally, the conflict here is that sam sees himself as the monster and therefore sympathizes with it, whereas dean sees "sympathetic monster" and shuts down entirely via john's unquestionable training. i can't imagine dean as a kid being able to comprehend the idea of sam viewing himself as wrong or bad in any way, so the thought of sam relating to the monster simply doesn't compute.)

anyway yeah THANK YOU for this ask, i LOVE well-read and self-educated winchesters so much 🥰🥰🥰🥰

[allwaswell16]

A fic rec of fics that I think should be movies (that are not already movie AUs) as requested in this ask. If you enjoy the fics, please leave the kudos comments and kudos. You can find my other fic recs here. Happy reading!

—Louis/Harry—

✧ Darling, so it goes by @disgruntledkittenface

(E, 195k, royal au) Harry Styles is a world-famous actor at the height of his career but a personal low point when he meets His Serene Highness Prince Louis of Monaco by chance. 

✧ Love After the End of the World by @mercurial-madhouse

(E, 168k, dystopian au) When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong.

✧ Wild And Unruly by gloria_andrews / @gloriaandrews , @100percentsassy

(E, 123k, farm au) Harry is a cowboy sitting on the biggest oil reservoir in Wyoming, and Louis is the paralegal assigned to pressure him into selling his land.

✧ I'll Fly Away by @juliusschmidt

(E, 122k, small town) Harry and Louis grew up together in Lake County, Harry with his mom and stepdad in a tiny cottage on Edward’s Lake and Louis in his family’s farmhouse a few minutes down the road. But after high school, Louis stuck around and Harry did not

✧ Have Love, Will Travel by @kingsofeverything

(E, 97k, road trip au) Rather than spend the summer working at their desks, Louis and Harry are given the opportunity to crisscross the country together in a tiny camper, filming their adventures for a YouTube series.

✧ Flightless Bird by audreyhheart

(E, 97k, ballet au) AU where Louis Tomlinson is a principal dancer with The Royal Ballet. When his rival from ballet school, moody dance prodigy Harry Styles joins the company, old wounds are reopened and old passions reignited.

✧ Black with Autumn Rain by whimsicule

(T, 93k, magical realism)  Harry is a journalist, Louis has lots of secrets and the moors aren't exactly the ideal place to rekindle a lost romance.

✧ After Dark, After Light by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird

(E, 71k, historical) Harry Styles is the laird of Clan Edwards who is just trying to keep his clan afloat when they get word that the Mackenzies have been cutting a swath through the Midlands and beyond, and their sights are set on the northern Highlands next. In an attempt to garner extra protection for his clan, Harry sets out to mend his father's past wrongs and ally with their neighbors to the west, Clan Sutherland.

✧ this charade (was never going to last) by @scrunchyharry

(E, 68k, spy au) As if the whole ‘industrial spy’ business was not stressful enough, Harry found himself in a hatred-at-first-sight relationship with one of his new coworkers, Louis, a man intent on detesting Harry.

✧ Adore You by @isthatyoularry

(M, 66k, historical au) Against his wishes, Harry spends the holidays at his family’s summer estate, and is reluctantly pulled into a courtship he didn’t ask for. 

✧  Unveiled by @phdmama

(M, 60k, a/b/o) There are no robes. And not a single one of them is veiled.

✧  Old Photographs & Times I’ll Remember by @jaerie

(E, 54k, time travel au) A camera, a suitcase, and a relationship forged through time.

✧ Tied Down by HamPalpert / @ham-palpert

(E, 48k, crime au) The most interesting case in Liam and Niall's careers falls directly into their laps, courtesy of an epic fuck-up of one Harry Styles, partner to the almost-infamous drug dealer Louis Tomlinson. 

✧ That’s What I’m Here For by @taggiecb

(E, 46k, farm au) Louis needs help running his business but has no idea where to even start looking. Luckily for him his children know just the man for the job.

✧  Counterbalance by YesIsAWorld / @louandhazaf

(E, 44k, racing au) Harry Styles loves two things: teaching ballet and racing motorcycles. Those two worlds collide when his greatest rival on the track, Louis “Tommo” Tomlinson brings his tiny siblings to Harry’s class.

✧ The Haunting of Louis Tomlinson by @helloamhere

(T, 31k, ghost fic) Louis is a plucky Gothic Heroine, Harry is a Mournful Spirit, and Big Country Houses are full of mystery and suspense, as Big Country Houses ever are!

✧ I Am the Blinking Light by @dearmrsawyer

(G, 19k, ghost fic) There is a legend of a lighthouse far out to sea. It can’t be found on any map, and those who do find it never return. 

✧ No One Like You by myownspark / @myownsparknow

(M, 19k, historical) Where Liam and Niall are art historians discovering the truth about two nineteenth century painters on opposite sides of an artistic divide.

—Rare Pairs—

✧ Untamed Hearts by Layne Faire  / @laynefaire

(E, 68k, Zayn/Liam) In the end, though, it all came down to two meddling friends, a touch of Prince, a bit of Keats, and the moon over the ocean. Its a recipe for disaster. Or love. Probably love.

✧ We Used To Wait by sunsetmog / @magicalrocketships

(E, 56k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw) Louis has an accident, but nobody even knows he and Nick are going out.

[hungergamesbookclub]

Poll for THG Book Club's First Read!

What book should we read for our first Suzanne Read? Summaries of each book and how it relates to THG under the "read more" after the poll if you need more info to choose.

Summary: In Thomas Hardy's first major literary success, independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, the soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy, and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. One of his first works set in the semi-fictional region of Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

How it relates to THG: "Katniss Everdeen owes her last name to Bathsheba Everdene, the lead character in Far From the Madding Crowd. The two are very different, but both struggle with knowing their hearts." Suzanne Collins, 2010

Summary: Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader Caius Marcius Coriolanus.

Coriolanus by William Shakespeare

How it relates to THG: The namesake of Coriolanus Snow (ft. Volumnia)

Frankenstein by Mary Shelly

Summary: Mary Shelley's timeless gothic novel presents the epic battle between man and monster at its greatest literary pitch. In trying to create life, the young student Victor Frankenstein unleashes forces beyond his control, setting into motion a long and tragic chain of events that brings Victor to the very brink of madness. How he tries to destroy his creation, as it destroys everything Victor loves, is a powerful story of love, friendship, scientific hubris, and horror.

How it relates to THG: Quoted in the epigraph of TBOSAS

Spartacus by Howard Fast

Summary: The story of a slave uprising in the ancient Roman Empire.

How it relates to THG: "There’s a basis for the war, historically, in the Hunger Games, which would be the third servile war, which was Spartacus’ war, where you have a man who is a slave who is then turned into a gladiator who broke out of the gladiator school and led a rebellion and then became the face of the war. So there is a historical precedent for that arc for a character.  But I think I needed the freedom to create elements that I wasn’t going to neatly find in history." Suzanne Collins, 2013

Summary: A plane crashes on a desert island. The only survivors are a group of schoolboys. By day, they discover fantastic wildlife and dazzling beaches, learning to survive; at night, they are haunted by nightmares of a primitive beast. Orphaned by society, it isn't long before their innocent childhood games devolve into a savage, murderous hunt …

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

How it relates to THG: "One of my favorite books - I read it every couple of years." Suzanne Collins

[instruth]

Hi,

I’m happy to announce today, 02 October 2024, the official launching of my latest book on Kindle Store, Amazon.

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON (A Hakka Story) - by J. P. Lee.

This latest book is a prequel to my earlier publication, Breaking The Curse Of The Green Dragon ( a hakka story).

Enjoy.

Order now.

Please feel free to comment and share.

Cheers and Blessing.

J. P. Lee

http://a.co/d/6BE7YVH

J.P. Lee

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON: (A HAKKA STORY)

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Book overview

TESTIMONIALS AND FOREWORD

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON (A Hakka Story), by J. P. Lee

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON

"J. P. Lee, a dental surgeon, who has written books about childhood trauma, peppers his story with words and legends from the dialect group. An interesting read for Hakkas and non-Hakkas alike" - Life! The Straits Times.

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON

"This book, Curse Of The Green Dragon, intrigued me to keep wanting to read on; it's the sort of book that would haunt me in my dreams. How I wish that more epic tales were written like this" - Book Review, The Sarawak Tribune.

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON

"This book is an easy read, language and plot-wise; the promised elements of 'legends, superstitions, love and betrayal' are all there plus the constant conflicts between good and evil" - The Star, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON

"The history of the Hakkas and the spirit of their people have been captured in this new book by J. P. Lee, who marries historical and cultural facts with a fictional story spanning five generations" - The Write Stuff, MediaCorp Radio Singapore International.

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON

"Where do the Hakkas come from? What do you know about them? Join Dr Johnny Lee at 10.10am to find out about the Hakkas and his book, Curse Of The Green Dragon (A Hakka Story)" - The Living Room, NewsRadio 93.8FM, Singapore.

CURSE OF THE GREEN DRAGON

"An excellent way to actually fuse fiction and facts by telling it through a story" - Passion 99.5FM, National Arts Council Singapore.

HAKKA STORIES

• 1/ Curse Of The Green Dragon (A Hakka Story)

• 2/ Breaking The Curse Of The Green Dragon (A Hakka Story)

- original novel and its sequel, by J. P. Lee.

"Though modestly subtitled as 'hakkas stories' we know that the books go well beyond the narrow confines of a clan, or a specific group or even a specific nation. The larger themes of good and evil which are at the very centre of Lee's preoccupations do not date and they have no specific locale: these are big themes inviting big attention and exploration ... But the focus is never too far from our gaze, for I believe in the end Lee wants us to read these books as fables, as allegories, as stories to not only enrich our lives but aid us in making the humdrum rich and colourful and clean. There is healing in simple cleansing. And as the good doctor of teeth knows so well, fronting and knowing are the first steps towards self-understanding. And these two novels do precisely that."

- Dr Kirpal Singh

Associate Professor

Singapore Management University

March 2004.

[streets-in-paradise]

Why were Achilles and Briseis written the way they were?

The following meta is a contextual analysis of the movie, not necesarily a ship defense post.

In this opportunity i am going to present my personal interpretation on a few factors that I believe can help explain what remains to this day the most controversial point of the film: the romance of Achilles and Briseis. Keeping it short and simple, my arguments here will be mostly linked to the conventionalities of the film genre and the specific time period in which the movie was created.

In this case, not to simply shrug shoulders and confortably claim " those were other times" and dismiss the problematic aspect, but to list a few sensical reasons I find behind the choice regardless of how potentially problematic it was.

The purpose of this analysis is understanding the movie in context, not changing anybody's mind in what comes to the moral sanction in its reception. The reader's approbal or dissaprobal of the film doesn't affect it, because the intention is to merely provide a contextualized explanation.

That being said, let's begin:

-The historical/epic films that served as inspiration for Troy often include a precise formula that the pairing emulates in a synthetical way.

As pointed out before, the list of epic films inspiring Troy (2004) is endless. From subtle references in the scenery and costume design to direct copy in the use of tropes or character archetypes, this movie is like a summary of the whole genre. However, the particular historical context in its release made three particular titles the core influencies of the film.

These are Gladiator, Braveheart and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Listing every single aspect in which Troy nurtured trying to replicate their success is worthy of an entire different meta, but here I will take one precise element to examinate.

In all cases, there is a warrior lead hero and a woman of nobility that find themselves tangled in political intrigue/war and have (or have had) some form of forbbiden love. Both Lucilla and Isabella find themselves contextually in between the movie's hero and villian, walking the thin lines of negociation while wishing for the insane emperor/asshole king's demise.

In Gladiator it's mostly a political alliance with a mere romantic undertone that comes from the fact that they had a past together, while in Braveheart the meeting through political matters is a gateway for romance. In contrast, Arwen's conflict comes from having to choose between her family and Aragorn in the middle of a war that has her kind leaving Middle Earth.

The Briseis of Troy is like an abreviated and more simplified synthesis for all of these. Outside conflict begins as soon as she is in the middle of Achilles and Agamemnon, the fighter-hero and ruler-villian that she equally challenges through their argument scene. Later, her inner conflict comes from having to choose between her family in Troy and her growing feelings for Achilles.

So subtle, yet so powerfull, the influence is so evident that we can even see a gender reverse of the Evenstar necklace moment.

The seashell necklace is a gift of his mother, who is rumoured to be a goddess. It's purpose on this scene is slightly similar yet very different as in lotr. Achilles is giving to Briseis a gift of possibly godly origins that represents him as he tries to compensate her for the pain that his vengeance has caused her. It's also an act of love, the last one they can share because he is allowing her to choose her family and leave to be with them.

This simple example ilustrates too well how far the similarities went in the strange mashup of formulas.

At the same time, one can point out that the principal deviation Troy took was having Briseis as the only woman arround. In both Gladiator and Braveheart a dead wife haunts the narrative and motivates the hero to seek revenge against the cruel ruler. In the case of lotr, the side love interest is the one that the context encourages in contrast to the one forbidden for the hero. The men of Rohan already respect Aragorn and Theoden shows himself supportive of a possible union between him and the obviously infatuated Eowyn.

Instead of a hero that oscilates between two women, the dead wife and the princess or the adequated love vs the impossible one, Troy presents the enemies to lovers dynamic product of Briseis' war captive status making her conflcted feelings oscilate through the story.

-The Sheik meets Titanic: iconic romances and sex symbols.

The casting of Brad Pitt in the role of Achilles was definitely an influence for the tone the romance adquired. If I had to describe the Achilles x Briseis romance without listing the influences I mentioned before, I would say " it's a bit like The Sheik with a Titanic ending" and I feel this is not entirely casual.

( Most evident paralel that can be made is that the Josh Groban song " Remember" feels pretty much like reverse" My Heart Will Go On". James Horner worked on both films, so maybe that played a part in this particular aspect but I am merely speculating.)

Valentino and Di Caprio were iconic in their romance performances, they made history in their roles, and both shared with Pitt the fame of being actors super popular with female audiences. I can't blame Troy for wanting to evoke a bit of that magic when the man doing the job is Brad Pitt. Back in the day, people used to popularly claim he was the most handsome guy in the world. His name is a synonym of male beauty.

I feel his Achilles does a good job balancing two contradictory goals the movie has for him: being the embodiment of an epic hero and seducing the audience through the romance scenes. In this point I want to add that the basic structure on the dynamic for the abduction romance is very similar to the one in The Sheik: civilized and outspoken lady that represents modern viewpoints gets kidnapped by a seductive man of savage ways. In a good kidnapper/bad kidnapper game with the antagonist, she discovers that she has fallen in love. In Troy it works as a sort of reactualization for this basic premise adquiring a different flavor when mixed with other elements of the film.

And here is when the most iconic moment makes so much sense:

This was the one part of the movie that made history. Not only the quote is beautifull, here is also where you get the distinctive flavor that is also a byproduct of the general themes in the film permeating the romance. Achilles proves himself to her above the mere act of rescuing her from someone worse.

While this is the response of Briseis.

She keeps challenging him because she was made aware that he can do better. Sure, she later sleeps with him anyways because that's almost an ineludible part of the charm in that scenario. In both cases, it is used as a sort of indulgent fantasy for the eyes of a (straight) fem audience expected to go crazy for the actor. Unlike in the 1920's, by the time troy came out spicy scenes are already a standard and I can distinctively point out those tend to be particularly prevalent on media about ancient greece and rome.

For tumblr censorship reasons I won't show a picture for the following claim, but the scene itself doesn't expose her as much as him. It's all focused on the beauty of Brad Pitt, in his seductive ways and how the girl slowly gives in to him. His naked body covers her from the camera, all we see its a glimpse of her legs and stomach as the lense follows the way of his hands undressing her. It's the same dangerous seduction feeling that turns the strong woman defenseless applied in an film age where you can show it on a love making scene.

Despite sticking to the basics, that oldass concept adquires a more unique modern feeling.

-For Plot Reasons: they work as a parallel with Helen x Paris.

From the beggining of the film, forbbiden love is the big topic of the film when it comes to romance. I know I have written in previous analysis that Achilles and Paris, through their selfish and romantic driven choices, become a parallel of each other. Helen, the willing runaway, and Briseis, the captive, are also made a parallel.

However, I want to go back a second on the specific way the behavior of Achilles directly mimics Paris triggering the war: he seduces the girl, sleeps with her, and decides he is ready to abandon his countrymen for her. While Odysseus tries to convince him out the rational way, the recriminations of Patroclus evoke the angry Hector who had just discovered the spartan queen in his ship. Fighting the war due to the reckless choices of their relatives, they die. At the end Achilles and Paris are on their own.

The trojan prince leaves Helen behind to fight and, when he gets the chance, avenge his brother, while the greek warrior is there for only love and remorse. Dreams of glory are behind him, he got inside the trojan horse seeking to rescue the woman of his affections.

It's a fascinating role reversal where, motivation-wise, Paris becomes Achilles and Achilles becomes Paris. This conclussion comes as evolution of the romances written parallelistically as side plots of the big family tragedy.

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries below (and bonus article by Sascha Stronach):

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. By all rights their paths should never cross, but Achilles takes the shamed prince as his friend, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles' mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But then word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus journeys with Achilles to Troy, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. Profoundly moving and breathtakingly original, this rendering of the epic Trojan War is a dazzling feat of the imagination, a devastating love story, and an almighty battle between gods and kings, peace and glory, immortal fame and the human heart. Fantasy, historical fiction, mythology, retelling, romance, adult

The Dawnhounds by Sascha Stronach (The Endsong series)

A police officer is murdered, brought back to life with a mysterious new power, and tasked with protecting her city from an insidious evil threatening to destroy it. The port city of Hainak is alive: its buildings, its fashion, even its weapons. But, after a devastating war and a sweeping biotech revolution, all its inhabitants want is peace, no one more so than Yat Jyn-Hok a reformed-thief-turned-cop who patrols the streets at night. Yat has recently been demoted on the force due to “lifestyle choices” after being caught at a gay club. She’s barely holding it together, haunted by memories of a lover who vanished and voices that float in and out of her head like radio signals. When she stumbles across a dead body on her patrol, two fellow officers gruesomely murder her and dump her into the harbor. Unfortunately for them, she wakes up. Resurrected by an ancient power, she finds herself with the new ability to manipulate life force. Quickly falling in with the pirate crew who has found her, she must race against time to stop a plague from being unleashed by the evil that has taken root in Hainak. Fantasy, science fiction, biopunk, adult, Māori-inspired*

*Additional context: I also want to share this article by Sascha Stronach that was posted earlier this week (literally perfect timing). Especially since I'm including words from the marketing copy like "Māori-inspired" on the polls in the hopes that it helps readers find their new thing, it felt important to add the author's own words on the difficulties of working with US-based publishers and the power they exert over the process

[marthawrites]

It's that time again 😁 Here's what I read during May! Thoughts below the cut!

Lone Women: This book was so refreshingly different! Wow! Set in 1915, the story follows our main character, Adelaide Henry, as she moves to Montana to try to make a fresh start (all by herself) on a homestead. She has a trunk with her the whole time and that's where the horror is. This story has monstrous humans, a haunting past, and a brighter future ahead. Historical fiction, women fiction, horror, this story was super interesting and had me hooked throughout!

1984: This is another "classic" book that I never read during middle or high school. It's been on my TBR list forever!! So glad I finally made the time for it. It was extremely creepy, unsettling, and horrific. The end had me both screaming with rage and laying in the rain crying. AGH. It's so hard to believe this was wrote in 1949! It hits a little too close to home on multiple occasions and... wow. Just, holy shit. Incredibly disturbing

Make A Scene: I keep an eye on the audible daily deals and bought this one for $1. It was a cute and entertaining read! It wasn't anything deep, or crazy, or thought provoking haha, but it was entertaining and sometimes I just love those kinds of stories so much!

The Serpent and the Wings of Night: Book one of the "Crown of Nyaxia" series. A mouthful of a title, I know! But dudes hooooly shit!!! I am OBSESSED with this book! I loved it so so so much and have NO idea why it doesn't get talked about as much as other books. I love the lore. It has brutal vampires, badass women, terrifying Goddess' (Nyaxia? Helloooo she's so scary and awesome!), and an epic story of all of them combined. HIGHLY recommend! Oraya is such a great character with layers of complexity, and Raihn is AHHH, I love him

The Ashes and the Star-Cursed King: This is the second part of the "Crown of Nyaxia". I loved it as much as the first! Book 3 when!?! I can't flippin wait to read more!

Slaying the Vampire Conqueror: This is a standalone book in the Crown of Nyaxia universe. With how much I loved the other two I knew I'd like this one also. I ate it up just as quickly! Again, there's brutal vampires, badass women, and you learn more lore about different parts of the world, Goddess', and characters. I'm invested in this world and will be reading any and everything the author puts out for it!!

-

Overall it was a great month of books and I recommend all of these!!

I've officially read 24 books so far this year and for me that's AWESOME. Loving it!

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3.5/5

Book Blurb: Bestselling author Ava Reid makes her YA debut in this dark academic fantasy perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Elana K. Arnold.

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.

But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

Part historical fantasy, part rivals-to-lovers romance, part Gothic mystery, and all haunting, dreamlike atmosphere, Ava Reid's powerful YA debut will lure in readers who loved The Atlas Six, House of Salt and Sorrows, or Girl, Serpent, Thorn.

Review:

A gothic dark academia mystery featuring two rivals-to-lovers who find themselves hunting down the truth about the author of a famous story... only to find themselves fighting against the Fairy King and other dangers as the truth will come at a price. Effy Sayre lives in a world where women aren't afforded the same opportunities as men, and as the only woman in the architecture college (when she wants to be a literature student but it is forbidden for women to be in the literature college), life is hard enough, especially since she is still reeling from the scandal with her advisor... the one in which people think she slept with him to get ahead when the truth is that she didn't want any of it. Effy's only solace from her haunted visions, her terrible childhood, and the assault she faced is her book Angharad, a book that tells the epic story about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and destroys him. Effy idolizes the author, Emrys Myrddin and the author himself is shrouded in mystery. Yet when the Myrddin family is offering to let a architecture student redesign the house, Effy knows its her chance to find out more about her author. What she didnt expect was that she would be going with Preston Héloury, a literature scholar who wants to expose Myrddin as a fraud and not the true author of Angharad. Things to also note about this universe is that Effy's home land is at war with its neighbor and one of Preston's parents is from the neighboring war land and he is also faced with prejudices. Effy immediately dislikes Preston because he rented all the books on Myrddin when she wanted them, she is also jealous that he is able to be a literature student. Though they both get off on the wrong foot they both find that they are hunting down the truth of the Fairy King, yet Effy is plagued by visions of the Fairy King and she doesn't know what's real and what's in her head. Yet the more they try to find answers the more danger closes in on them. Will they be able to find the truth before it's too late or will they die trying?

This is Ava Reid's third book and her first young adult novel, it features her gorgeous writing and its definitely an atmospheric read. The story deals with a lot of triggers: sexism/misogyny, a sexually-exploitative power imbalance, grooming, rape and dubcon, ableism, mental illness, an emotionally abusive parent, alcoholism, PTSD and intrusive memories, mentions of drowning, and child abandonment. Effy isn't really a likable character and comes off very very young and the writing feels a bit juvenile at times when it comes to her. I did like the overall mystery but I wish there was some character work on Effy and Preston, I wanted them to be a bit more fleshed out and kind of wished there was a better flow to their romance. I liked the book overall but it's definitely not my favorite of all her books. This is her first young adult novel and it definitely feels young as the characters read a bit more juvenile despite being in college. Overall, it's a beautiful atmospheric gothic read with a dash of mystery, romance, and fantasy!

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books, HarperTeen for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[queer-ragnelle]

I would love your opinion on Black Sails! I was never able to finish it (even though I want to). Seasons 1-3 felt linear and natural in the way the characters were driven and motivated. Season 4 changed so much... undoing character growth, scrapping character beliefs for new motives that were narratively weaker, and using way more shock/gore than there had been used previously. I would love to know your opinions on it, and if I'm talking out of my ass on this. Love the show! Would love to finish it. Would genuinely love to hear you do a character analysis, if you felt up to it. Ty!

Hi Anon! I'm going to put this below a cut since it's not strictly relevant to this blog and yet I have much to say about it lol

It's been over a year since I watched Black Sails in it's entirety, but I'll go on record saying it's the best show I've ever seen. I love the writing, the acting, the costuming, the filmography, the music, the everything. It is [almost] perfectly balanced. Ironically I felt season 1 was the weakest and didn't take the same issues with season 4 as you did. My biggest criticism of season 1 involves the plot regarding Max's captivity on the beach. I think connecting her with Anne could've been achieved some other way (or even a similar plot just overall less sexual violence/quicker resolution). But even so, I still stand by that I recommend it, particularly to those who love a blend of historical and fiction/mythic characters.

I would love to see an Arthurian retelling on that scale and with that tone. Starz had produced their show Camelot in 2011, three years before Black Sails, and while that first season also has some issues, I'll forever be heartbroken it wasn't renewed. I fully believe they would have developed Camelot into an epic tale ala Black Sails, particularly with strong female characters and queer storylines. We could've had it all....

On that note, Black Sails was absolutely vital in my journey as an author adapting Arthurian legend in a historical 6th century. The meta about ambiguous storytelling subject to biased perception or outright misinformation and thus misconceptions about people involved in historical events fascinated me. On one hand you have Jack Rackham's obsession with his legacy, almost uncannily aware he's in a story and his limited time to leave his mark. Then there's Charles Vane's hanging in Nassau, when the history books say he died at Port Royal. It circumvents expectations, not with shock value (looking at you, Game of Thrones finale), but in service to the narrative by calling into question the validity of our accepted reality. Beyond that, it seamlessly blends historical figures, the cast of Treasure Island, and original characters created to incorporate more women and people of color into the narrative. Everyone's developed and fascinating and complex with clear motivations and fleshed out backstories (except for Silver, lol, which itself makes him compelling). Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles does similar things. He utilized Saint Derfel as his point of view character to analyze the Arthurian legend through a [semi-]historical lens. But I think Black Sails does it better. It also seems to transcend genre at times. It's adventure and action, but it's got everything from romance between a network of characters in all different Stiuationships to the horror of Flint's past haunting him (literally). And yet it never feels like too much. It doesn't lose track of what it's doing. Nothing set up is dropped or forgotten about. It's frustrating when the goal post moves yet again, but in a way which draws us in closer to the characters and makes us all the more driven to see it through. When another hiccup arises we must overcome, or even a devastating and insurmountable shock (Miranda....), it feels earned. Of course that was liable to happen. How could we have been so foolish to think things would have worked out?

This show gave me permission, and frankly, the determination, to experiment with my own retelling. The people who made Black Sails knew when to stay true to the past, drawing on facts to develop the story in accurate ways (such as utilizing the colony of escaped slaves to bring Madi and her people into the story (which also ties into Treasure Island in which Silver had a black wife!)) and when to follow the rule of cool (Jack Rackham in his definitely-historically-unviable-but-undeniably-cool shades). Literally life changing.

I don't think I could narrow down the characters enough to do a full analysis of one of them, I love them all for different reasons. But I did name my borzoi Long John Silver, so, I kind of have to talk about him, right? Well I think the character's lack of a backstory, ie his unwillingness to disclose it, acts as a surrogate for the viewer. We ride the wave with Silver, thrust into this predicament with the map and the gold and the very culture of Nassau's pirate trade whilst Silver somehow remains a blank slate mystery as he navigates this dangerous world with a quick mind alone. While Flint could certainly be considered the main character, and we're quite often in his head, his memories, his nightmares even, I don't think the viewer's supposed to identify as him so much as with him. Flint is Flint. But we are Silver. (Scary thought lol)

If you couldn't tell already, I'm long winded. :^) So I'll stop here and the real deep dive character analysis happens in my books. Gawain is just landlocked Flint if you squint<3 Thanks for asking about Black Sails! Everyone go watch it.

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Attack on Titan: The Final Chapters

The impossible problem of reviewing the ending of Attack on Titan is that there's way too goddamn much to talk about.

How could there not be? After ten years and close to a hundred episodes, after almost single-handedly jump-starting anime's mainstream takeover back when the first episode dropped in 2013, after so many twists and reversals that completely flip your perspective on what kind of show you're ever watching, Attack on Titan has become, fittingly enough, one of the most colossal media properties on the planet. It's a story that bursts at the seams with ideas and messages and Things Worth Talking About, and far from putting a nice neat bow on things, the ending somehow only explodes further outward with discussion-worthy topics. I can pick out at least four separate moments just from the final 30 minutes that could support an entire thesis paper all on their own. I could talk about its portrayal of fascism and genocide, its ultimate statement on the nature of war, its portrayal of trauma bonds, its observations on the cyclical nature of generational violence, whether or not it's ultimately hopeful or cynical, how the characters' final choices echo all the way back to their first appearances... and I still wouldn't cover everything meaningful there is to talk about in this two-part two-and-a-half-hour showstopper finale. I could spend all week writing analyses of Attack on Titan's ending and there would still be more to cover. Even trying to figure out how to tackle this monstrosity feels as overwhelming as staring up at the Colossal Titan itself.

But perhaps that's only fitting. Over the years, Attack on Titan has remained one of the boldest, bravest, most staggeringly ambitious properties to ever come out of anime, swinging for the fences as relentlessly as the Beast Titan's rocky barrages of death, never taking the easy way out of an impossible question or desperate situation. It's survived a sea-chance in the landscape of the medium that it itself helped usher in, gone through so many permutations of genre and form and production, yet never once lost its luster. From the first sight of Eren's home being destroyed to the final, haunting shots of this finale, Attack on Titan has been one of the most important anime of all time. So of course its finale would demand just as much of us as the rest of the show. Of course it wouldn't be satisfied if it didn't go out with one last jaw-dropper outing that blew everything you thought you knew out of the water. Of course it would close out its domination of the anime sphere just as inescapable and undeniable as when it first stomped on our screens 10 years ago. After the incredible journey it's taken us on, I wouldn't expect anything less.

Still, I've got to try and say something. This is the end of one of anime's defining properties, the epic conclusion to a story that stands head and shoulders above all its contemporaries. I can't let that occasion pass without commemorating the way it chose to close things out. Just know that this review in no way captures the full extent of my thoughts on the finale, in no way portrays all the countless whirling ideas it inspires in me. There will be time in the future, perhaps, to explore all its nuances in more depth, to give proper space and weight to the thousand component parts making up this massive whole.

For now, though?

For now, I simply want to celebrate the end of one of my favorite anime series of all time.

For brevity's sake, I won't spend too much time on the first two hours of breathless action that make up the majority of these two super-long episodes. There are far more interesting things to talk about in the final act, and I simply don't have time to dig into anything more. All I'll say is that this final battle was Attack on Titan operating at the absolute peak of its powers, and it was truly something to behold. For all the chaos that's historically plagued this series' production, Wit and Mappa alike, this was an absolute masterpiece of a climactic showdown. Stunning action fit to stand with all the series' most iconic moments, heartwrenching grief and tragedy in the face of armageddon, characters barely escaping death and facing down the apocalypse with all their strength, refusing to yield against impossible odds no matter how many walls stand in their way. I can't count the number of times I cheered in delirious glee or broke down in tears from the sheer majesty of it all. As spectacle, as mission statement, as payoff for ten years of escalating action and human drama, it's an unimpeachable triumph.

And then we reach the denoument. The battle ends, the day is saved, the war is over, the bloodshed has stopped, the centuries of pain and suffering the world has endured finally takes a long, haggard breath of fresh air. The Rumbling has been stopped. Eren has been defeated. Peace, at long last, has prevailed.

And then the show throws one more curveball.

Ever since the manga ended, I've been hearing how much manga readers hated it. I've seen every insult under the sun slung its way, seen it called the worst ending of all time, an insult to the series and everyone who loved it. But I've always had my doubts. Considering how Loudly Wrong so many of these people were about many other things, how many of their criticisms seemed to boil down to being annoyed at Eren not being venerated as a gigachad and treated like the deranged psychopath he actually was, I had a sneaking suspicion the hate was overblown nonsense. And while I've heard the adaptation changes a few lines here and there to maybe make some of the final scenes less clunky, if the finale I watched in the show was anything like the finale in the manga, then I can only conclude my skepticism was right. Far from destroying the story or insulting the fanbase, this ending is one of the single most audacious and ambitious ways I've ever seen a mainstream anime conclude. It's an ending that could only come from a creative spirit dedicated not just to writing a cool story, but creative capital-a Art(tm). And long after the Twitter salt of the moment has faded, it will linger in my mind as the punctuation mark that seals this series' legacy until the end of time.

It's maddeningly hard to discuss why without spoilers, but I'll do my best. In short, Eren's plan actually kind of ends up succeeding... in a way that only reveals how pointless it was to begin with. The world is left irreparably scarred by the Rumbling in ways that we are told and shown, in no uncertain terms, will only ensure the cycle of violence will continue long after the concept of Titans themselves have faded from memory. The best way I can describe it is a dark subversion of Lelouch's famous gambit from the finale of Code Geass. In that show, Lelouch took all the world's evil upon himself to give the world a common enemy, sacrificing his own life to unite the warring nations in a desire to defeat him. Here, Eren does much the same thing... but it only leaves the world more broken and insecure than when he started. All the madness he inflicted, all the carnage he wrought, and in the end, all he accomplished was guaranteeing an uncertain, unstable peace that we have no way of knowing how long it lasted before things once again fell to ruin.

On the surface, it's a bitter, bleak ending that spits in the face of all our heroes' hard work. And yet, it's also the most strangely honest portrayal of humanity I've seen in a long time. What this finale gets right about Eren- what all those screaming fanboys were so pants-pissingly angry about- is that he's not some maniacal genius or machiavellan mastermind. In his own words, he's just a garden-variety idiot, an ordinary person with ordinary fallibility and biases and prejudices who was given far more power than he could handle. Right up to the end, he was a scared, lonely boy wearing the hollow shell of mature, stoic rage as a shield from the pain he could never process. He was weak. He was foolish. He was immature and scared and completely unequipped to handle the incredible responsibility of holding the world's fate in the palm of his hand.

Now you tell me: what end result could such a person achieve, if not this ugly, imperfect half-measure?

The truth is, violent individuals in our real world aren't grand schemers like Lelouch who always have the answers and make everyone dance in the palm of their hand. They're people like Eren; flawed, broken, consumed by hatred, making irrational decisions off imperfect assumptions and forcing everyone else to deal with the consequences. Eren doesn't fail because of character assassination, or because the mystical future sight be picked up from the Founding Titan told him so. He fails because no matter how many times he runs through the future in his head, his hatred leaves him incapable of seeing any path forward that doesn't involve annihilation. His fate was not set in stone by intangible destiny, but by his own inability to accept a peaceful path when his heart screamed endlessly for blood. This messy, transient, tenuous peace is the best that someone like him could hope to accomplish. It's a miracle he ended up with a result that good, and that's only because his friends were brave enough and strong enough to stop his hatred in its tracks before it could completely swallow the world whole.

But that messy, transient, tenuous result is what we're left with. All the chaos of the past ten years, and we're left not with closure, but uncertainty. How long will this hold out before the cycle of violence begins anew? How much peace did we earn through such miserable ends? What, if anything, can be done to ensure the next turn of the cycle doesn't end up like this? What better ways were there to keep this from happening in the first place?

What do you do when the answer you've been looking for only leaves you with more questions?

This ambiguity, in all its raw messiness, is the ultimate message of Attack on Titan. This is not a story where the heroes save the day and defeat hatred and save the world for good. This is a story where the heroes do the best they can and accomplish as much as they're able... and then leave us to reckon with the failures they left behind. It's not even really a nihilistic ending; as bleak as it seems on the surface, there are countless moments of hope and light that speak to humanity's desire for love over hatred. Like all the great tragedies of the world, it doesn't claim that humanity is irredeemable and we can never escape our flaws. Instead, it forces us to consider how easy it can be to fall short of our ideals, and how much pain and misery they leave in their wake. It shows us the consequences of giving in to hatred not as an inescapable fact of humanity, but as a warning of what we sacrifice when we lack the courage to prevent our darker instincts from directing our actions. It takes these characters and this world you've fallen in love with for a full decade and, rather than bidding them happily after after, asks you to carry the weight of their failures into your own life, a reminder for every single time you're tempted to let blind rage guide your own actions from now on. "This is what their lives have amounted to," the show says. "Don't let your own life go the same way."

I've watched a lot of anime over the years. Since I started getting into it back in 2017, I've tackled countless series and movies with all different kinds of endings. But I don't think I've ever seen one that so perfectly nailed this kind of hopeful, agonizing ambiguity. I don't think I've ever seen a show commit to an ending this uncompromising or pull it off so astoundingly, let alone in a series this long. And in an anime industry that more and more seeks to only pursue the safest, least threatening options, flattening this medium's remarkable creative potential with art that doesn't say anything or mean anything, the fact that this, of all ways, is how the most popular anime on the face of the planet chose to end its tale is nothing short of remarkable. Attack on Titan is a runaway success story of epic proportions, a single anime that arguably paved the way for the medium's increasing mainstream popularity. And it married that mainstream success with a story that dared to ask hard questions of its audience and send them home with a plea to see their own world a little deeper rather than half-ass a happy ending for easy closure. It's the rare mega-popular franchise that didn't have to sacrifice an inch of depth or complexity to appeal to the broadest common demoninator. And it accomplished all that while still being a never-ending thrill ride of sheer entertainment value the likes of which we may never see again.

It's easy to be cynical about anime once you've watched too much of it. Honestly, I find myself struggling a lot these days to keep the bad parts of this medium from swallowing my enjoyment of it. But in an anime landscape that too often settles for taking the path of least resistance, Attack on Titan is a soaring reminder of what it looks like to be brave. It's a series that never compromised on itself, never gave anything less than 100%, and never once lost its magic through all its ups and downs. It represents the overwhelming power that anime is capable of when it trusts its audience to follow it off the beaten path and face more challenging questions than whether Ultra-Instinct Goku can beat Gear 5 Luffy. It's an achievement as staggering and colossal as any of the titans within Isayama's pages. And this ending, in all its powerful uncertainty, only cements its legacy as one of the single greatest works of art ever produced by this medium, and one my my new personal top 10 anime of all time.

I wish I had time and space to keep talking. I wish I could go in-depth about the show's willingness to let Eren be truly pathetic in hilarious fashion. I wish I could write an essay about Mikasa and Ymir's parallels as women trapped by their irrational love for monstrous men and why that makes Mikasa's final choice so fucking impactful. I wish I could go into every last detail of that ending montage and all the implications it raises about the future of this world. But there will be time later to dig into the guts of this ending and truly pick it apart. There will be time aplenty to appreciate all the moments that make this show such a titan in its own right. For now, all I can say is this:

Thank you.

To Isayama, to all the voice actors, to all the staff at Wit and Mappa who were forced to work unreasonable schedules to bring this story to life, to every hand that touched this series and ensured its continued majesty all the way to the end... thank you. I dedicate my heart to you.

Attack on Titan is over.

It's the end of the world as we know it.

And I feel fine.

10/10

[hangelbel]

http://hangelbel.com/spookysearch/images/pic2.jpg

New Orleans, Louisiana – City of Voodoo: What to Expect for Halloween 2024

New Orleans is famous for its unique blend of history, mystery, and culture. Known as the “City of Voodoo,” this vibrant city comes alive during Halloween, offering some of the most thrilling and memorable events in the country. For Halloween 2024, New Orleans promises an unforgettable experience for thrill-seekers and culture enthusiasts alike.

The Mystique of Voodoo in New Orleans

The city’s association with Voodoo dates back to the early 18th century, when enslaved Africans brought their spiritual practices to Louisiana. New Orleans’ version of Voodoo has since evolved, becoming a blend of African traditions, Catholicism, and local folklore. Voodoo isn't just an esoteric practice here—it’s a cultural pillar deeply intertwined with the city’s music, cuisine, and festivities.

Marie Laveau, the legendary Voodoo Queen, still captivates the imagination of locals and tourists. Visitors can explore her legacy by visiting her tomb in St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 or participating in the Voodoo rituals and ceremonies that are part of New Orleans’ vibrant history.

Halloween 2024: What to Expect

New Orleans is one of the best cities in the U.S. to celebrate Halloween, thanks to its spooky atmosphere and unique celebrations. Halloween 2024 promises to be more thrilling than ever, with events that blend the city’s historic past with modern-day fun.

1. Krewe of Boo Parade

This annual Halloween parade is a massive street party filled with elaborate floats, live music, and costume contests. The Krewe of Boo Parade will take place in the French Quarter, and it’s a family-friendly event that showcases New Orleans' creative flair. Expect floats themed around local legends, spooky creatures, and, of course, Voodoo.

2. The Mortuary Haunted Mansion

If you're looking for a spine-chilling experience, visit The Mortuary Haunted Mansion. Set in a real mansion that once served as a funeral home, this attraction has a reputation for being one of the scariest haunted houses in the country. For Halloween 2024, the Mortuary Mansion will feature new terrifying scenes and actors, all designed to send shivers down your spine.

3. Voodoo Music + Arts Experience

While Halloween may be associated with scares, New Orleans celebrates with music as well. The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience, happening over Halloween weekend, brings together top artists from various genres for an epic festival. Fans of both music and art will enjoy the diverse lineup and immersive installations at City Park. Expect a mix of rock, indie, and electronic music, alongside large-scale art displays that add a mystical vibe to the festival.

4. Ghost and Vampire Tours

New Orleans is a city steeped in ghost stories and legends of vampires. Ghost tours around the French Quarter and Garden District will take you to haunted houses, old cemeteries, and eerie alleyways where spirits are said to linger. Vampire enthusiasts can take specialized tours that dive deep into the folklore of these blood-sucking creatures, believed to have been part of the city's dark past.

5. Voodoo Ceremonies and Rituals

For those looking to immerse themselves in the spiritual aspect of New Orleans, Voodoo ceremonies are held in various parts of the city during Halloween. Visit the Voodoo Museum or join local practitioners in St. Louis Cemetery, where you can witness authentic rituals honoring ancestors and invoking spirits.

Costumes and Culture

Halloween in New Orleans is more than just a night for kids to trick-or-treat. The entire city dresses up, and the streets are filled with people in costumes ranging from the terrifying to the artistic. Whether you're channeling Marie Laveau, dressing as a ghostly pirate, or going all out as a mythical creature, you'll fit right in.

Tips for Enjoying Halloween 2024 in New Orleans:

Book early: Hotels fill up fast, so be sure to book accommodations well in advance.

Bring your costume: Costume shops in New Orleans can help with last-minute ideas, but for the full experience, come prepared.

Stay safe: With the massive crowds, it’s important to stay aware of your surroundings, especially if you’re partying in the French Quarter late into the night.

Explore the city: Beyond Halloween events, New Orleans offers delicious food, iconic jazz clubs, and scenic river cruises.

For Halloween 2024, New Orleans will be the ultimate destination for those looking to combine history, mysticism, and pure fun. From the haunted streets of the French Quarter to the lively Krewe of Boo Parade, and from ghost tours to music festivals, the “City of Voodoo” promises a hauntingly good time.

Get ready to step into a world where the supernatural feels real and where Halloween is not just a night, but an entire season of enchantment.

[dumb-teambucciarati-headcanons]

Hmm. What is the gangs thoughts on Polnareff? Who do you think, you know, takes care of him?

They keep polnareff in a tank when he is sleeping, but most of the time he just sits on the table with them (which grosses trish out a tiny bit). He demands that his tank is cleaned every other day, and he is very particular about where he goes to the bathroom and what it looks like. There is a picture of the stardust crusaders hanging up in his tank, and they bought him a fish tank decoration that looks like a knight in armor, so he can remember his stand.

Giorno: since he knows the most about animals and nature, he takes care of polnareff the most. Polnareff says he can take care of himself, but often forgets that turtles have different diets than humans, and can’t eat certain things. So giorno makes sure he eats a healthy turtle diet. He will also take him outside with him when he is going for a walk, so his shell gets enough calcium and to prevent shell rot. Giorno trusts polnareff because he helped him get the arrow and take down Diavolo. He told Giorno a really neat story about a powerful stand user he defeated in Egypt with his buddies.

Bruno: is thankful for polnareffs help. He doesn’t know much about taking care of turtles, but will help polnareff get lettuce from the fridge when he asks for it. Feels guilty for falling for Doppios trish disguise, since that’s how he got so close to polnareff and caused him to have to haunt a turtle to stay in this world.

Abbacchio: thinks it’s strange that this turtle person has such high standards for where he goes to the bathroom. As Abbacchio is comfortable going to the bathroom anywhere …

Mista: helps a lot with feeding polnareff, since he already feeds six crying children anyways, why not feed a turtle too. They are both super goofy so they get along. Polnareff let Mista keep his broken heart earrings, since he can’t wear them anymore.

Narancia: feeds him Cheetos.

Fugo: doesn’t do much taking care of polnareff, but talks to him a lot. He is very interested in his journey through Egypt, and the historical sites he saw. And the stand battles he had, even if polnareff exaggerates how epic he was in battle most of the time.

Trish: she thinks turtles stink, but feels bad for polnareff because he wasn’t born a turtle. And he really wants to smell nice because he is just like that. Understands his bathroom issues, she feels the same way.

These takes place in my blogs “everyone lives au”

[dangermousie]

This just resonates - she wants stability and predictability (which is why she so desperately wants the most stable man she knows, though as I mentioned elsewhere, the moment he ditches his fiancee for her, the reason she likes him dissipates) and constant care and the tragedy is that her world, and the entire village world, is about to explode and any kind of stability will soon be out of reach and any kind of love would not be able to be certain of tomorrow.

The arrested way he looks at her...

Ahhhhh

The snow starts falling and he still looks on, intent and it’s such a quiet intense moment, a private moment in a crowd. She may not realize it, but they get each other the way her crush does not get her at all. Precisely because she does not see him as a viable choice, she does not conceal with him - when he likes her, it’s for her true self.

The intercut between the joyous celebration and the start of the horrifying invasion...god, this drama is poetry in motion.

The way her eyes well up with tears and then a snowflake lands on that wetness and the camera closes in not just on her eyes but on his face watching those tears, looking as if he’s forgot to breathe. THIS IS BEYOND!!!!

And then war intrudes into their peaceful world and all the little village griefs and joys are about to be swamped by horror...

This is the face of a man who knows games are over.

Btw, I think this may have been the invasion that our mains stumbled into in Live Up to Your Name and it is certainly the invasion the aftermath of which still haunts the protagonists of Chuno (this is the one where Tae Ha’s family died and he saved young Dae Gil and Un Nyun) and Three Musketeers (Crown Prince So Hyeon is only recently back from being a hostage as a result of this invasion in that one.) I haven’t yet watched a drama directly centered on it though, this is my first. (Side note - as I was telling @aysekira​ I wish they’d make a drama centering on So Hyeon - now THAT is a fascinating historical what-if and a potentially deeply sympathetic and tragic figure, not like that maniac Sado who’s gotten redeemed about a dozen times in various dramas. The closest we came was 3 Musketeers, which was flipping amazing and I am sad we didn’t get the promised second season, but I’d want a proper big historical epic. I think Cruel Palace War of Flowers deals with him somewhat and I really need to get to it. Side note - I was amused that in King the Eternal Monarch, the reason the Korea of LMH’s timeline is still a constitutional monarchy was because So Hyeon lived and became king. Anyway, mother of all tangents over.)

[rgr-pop]

i gave the new islands another listen too. i feel like this is the first album in a long time where he has given us a lot of clues for how we should think about it. i’m unraveling it. he said it was the last islands album and then he took it back, said he just gave that blurb to the publicist for fun. it’s a more different album than he’s put out in a long time, which i expected. there’s something primally him about it (quite a lot of critter songs), which was supposed to be the case. he recorded it at his home (vancouver island, origin of the unicorns/islands cosmology). there’s a comedy here that’s been in his other work but not his music. and he says it’s a lot about canadian singer-songwriters.

he’s been so profoundly impacted by what is going on in gaza. this is an artist who put out an anti-war fantasy pop record when he was like, 22, and it was one of the most beloved indie records of its moment, but nobody took it seriously as a political record, and that made him mad so he broke up the band (ok other factors also broke up the unicorns lol) and he started a new project and put out an on-the-nose ecocrit (islands) epic album, which also was beloved til it was sort of forsaken. and then they put out many more albums about basically this same problem: the self absorption of crying the end of the world and nobody caring, making pop music as a death fetish, the joke of being a narrator at the end of the world, other sagittarius things. the first three were well liked. after that they’d only sometimes get reviewed. just a bunch of insane women catching them (in my humble opinion), sort of political music kind of adrift between two eras of political music. in there somewhere there’s this album where he is adrift in the sea and thinking about how we never loved him enough! til eventually a modest podcast left redemption. he’s always thinking about the same thing (islands: being a character in a caspar david friedrich painting reversed; death as a symbol of the end of the world and vice versa). and now there’s this happening again. so another album: he must have recorded most of this thing since october 7. i should try to nail the timeline down. he just goes online and talks about gaza. i’m always donating to enter his little giveaways lol

he made all this to do about “the end” as the last song on this “last” album, but i love how it starts best, and this really just his whole project repeated (again —i can’t possibly overstate how many songs he has made that are like “well this is what my music has been about”): left behind and they want you to believe, but what occurs was always meant to be, a taste of melancholy that brings you to your knees. (“everybody’s bracing for a real armageddon.”)

i don’t like it as much as the last album, (and that’s why dolphins lost their legs, which is a clowncore album about melodrama and my favorite song on it offers giving your body-car up to a forest car crash like a mix between the end of the haunting of hill house and that story where the lady drove her car into lake huron because her gps said to), but it’s helped me put the pieces together (the long slow process of ranking and explaining all the islands albums as one of the few people that listens to all of them.) i like it more than the album before that (islomania). before that album, in 2016, he put out two albums—well, two albums and a 10 year anniversary rerelease of the first album, return to the sea. one of these albums, taste, is, i think, the second best islands record (after return to the sea). the other album, should i remain here at sea? is a concept album about having put out this misunderstood ecocritic epic a decade earlier, and being adrift between two historical moments of political music. imo lol. (i still don’t totally know what to make of it).

i put taste on halfway through drafting this post. one of my favorite lines, in the first song: “like time, like one long line, folded into 8 or 9.” it’s one of the least climate apocalypse islands albums (it’s really low concept, about a breakup), but it does have a song whose chorus is “melt melt melt my body, melt melt melt my body / there’s gonna be a reckoning, it’s gonna cover everything.” and that’s basically it!

(my favorite line on taste: a turned off machine, it’s never been much use to me, i come to, i rose again, but it feels off, like the wheel’s off.)