#( anthony han ) — general .

[gam3bo1-movedagain]

     ᘛ⁐ᕐᐷ 🧀   𓈒ㅤ⋅    @womansound    sent    me    :    ☮️       for    a    picture    of    adam    from    a    good    day    taken    by    ant    !

[ryin-silverfish]

So You Want to Read More about Chinese Mythos: a rough list of primary sources

"How/Where can I learn more about Chinese mythology?" is a question I saw a lot on other sites, back when I was venturing outside of Shenmo novel booksphere and into IRL folk religions + general mythos, but had rarely found satisfying answers.

As such, this is my attempt at writing something past me will find useful.

(Built into it is the assumption that you can read Chinese, which I only realized after writing the post. I try to amend for it by adding links to existing translations, as well as links to digitalized Chinese versions when there doesn't seem to be one.)

The thing about all mythologies and legends is that they are 1) complicated, and 2) are products of their times. As such, it is very important to specify the "when" and "wheres" and "what are you looking for" when answering a question as broad as this.

-Do you want one or more "books with an overarching story"?

In that case, Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods (Fengshen Yanyi) serve as good starting points, made more accessible for general readers by the fact that they both had English translations——Anthony C. Yu's JTTW translation is very good, Gu Zhizhong's FSYY one, not so much.

Crucially, they are both Ming vernacular novels. Though they are fictional works that are not on the same level of "seriousness" as actual religious scriptures, these books still took inspiration from the popular religion of their times, at a point where the blending of the Three Teachings (Buddhism, Daoism, Confucianism) had become truly mainstream.

And for FSYY specifically, the book had a huge influence on subsequent popular worship because of its "pantheon-building" aspect, to the point of some Daoists actually putting characters from the novel into their temples.

(Vernacular novels + operas being a medium for the spread of popular worship and popular fictional characters eventually being worshipped IRL is a thing in Ming-Qing China. Meir Shahar has a paper that goes into detail about the relationship between the two.)

After that, if you want to read other Shenmo novels, works that are much less well-written but may be more reflective of Ming folk religions at the time, check out Journey to the North/South/East (named as such bc of what basically amounted to a Ming print house marketing strategy) too.

-Do you want to know about the priestly Daoist side of things, the "how the deities are organized and worshipped in a somewhat more formal setting" vs "how the stories are told"?

Though I won't recommend diving straight into the entire Daozang or Yunji Qiqian or some other books compiled in the Daoist text collections, I can think of a few "list of gods/immortals" type works, like Liexian Zhuan and Zhenling Weiye Tu.

Also, though it is much closer to the folk religion side than the organized Daoist side, the Yuan-Ming era Grand Compendium of the Three Religions' Deities, aka Sanjiao Soushen Daquan, is invaluable in understanding the origins and evolutions of certain popular deities.

(A quirk of historical Daoist scriptures is that they often come up with giant lists of gods that have never appeared in other prior texts, or enjoy any actual worship in temples.)

(The "organized/folk" divide is itself a dubious one, seeing how both state religion and "priestly" Daoism had channels to incorporate popular deities and practices into their systems. But if you are just looking at written materials, I feel like there is still a noticeable difference.)

Lastly, if you want to know more about Daoist immortal-hood and how to attain it: Ge Hong's Baopuzi (N & S. dynasty) and Zhonglv Chuandao Ji (late Tang/Five Dynasties) are both texts about external and internal alchemy with English translations.

-Do you want something older, more ancient, from Warring States and Qin-Han Era China?

Classics of Mountains and Seas, aka Shanhai Jing, is the way to go. It also reads like a bestiary-slash-fantastical cookbook, full of strange beasts, plants, kingdoms of unusual humanoids, and the occasional half-man, half-beast gods.

A later work, the Han-dynasty Huai Nan Zi, is an even denser read, being a collection of essays, but it's also where a lot of ancient legends like "Nvwa patches the sky" and "Chang'e steals the elixir of immortality" can be first found in bits and pieces.

Shenyi Jing might or might not be a Northern-Southern dynasties work masquerading as a Han one. It was written in a style that emulated the Classics of Mountains and Seas, and had some neat fantastic beasts and additional descriptions of gods/beasts mentioned in the previous 2 works.

-Do you have too much time on your hands, a willingness to get through lot of classical Chinese, and an obsession over yaoguais and ghosts?

Then it's time to flip open the encyclopedic folklore compendiums——Soushen Ji (N/S dynasty), You Yang Za Zu (Tang), Taiping Guangji (early Song), Yijian Zhi (Southern Song)...

Okay, to be honest, you probably can't read all of them from start to finish. I can't either. These aren't purely folklore compendiums, but giant encyclopedias collecting matters ranging from history and biography to medicine and geography, with specific sections on yaoguais, ghosts and "strange things that happened to someone".

As such, I recommend you only check the relevant sections and use the Full Text Search function well.

Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studios, aka Liaozhai Zhiyi, is in a similar vein, but a lot more entertaining and readable. Together with Yuewei Caotang Biji and Zi Buyu, they formed the "Big Three" of Qing dynasty folktale compendiums, all of which featured a lot of stories about fox spirits and ghosts.

Lastly...

The Yuan-Ming Zajus (a sort of folk opera) get an honorable mention. Apart from JTTW Zaju, an early, pre-novel version of the story that has very different characterization of SWK, there are also a few plays centered around Erlang (specifically, Zhao Erlang) and Nezha, such as "Erlang Drunkenly Shot the Demon-locking Mirror". Sadly, none of these had an English translation.

Because of the fragmented nature of Chinese mythos, you can always find some tidbits scattered inside history books like Zuo Zhuan or poetry collections like Qu Yuan's Chuci. Since they aren't really about mythology overall and are too numerous to cite, I do not include them in this post, but if you wanna go down even deeper in this already gigantic rabbit hole, it's a good thing to keep in mind.

[soursgrap3s]

@dciisy sent: "you okay? caught you staring off into space again." (aaron) !

"hm—huh?" anthony blinks back at aaron, "was i? sorry." he rubs a palm across his face, sinking back against the sofa. "i've just been really tired recently."

[cryptfile]

ᝰ FANDOMS I’M CURRENTLY WRITTING FOR:

those marked in colored letters are the ones i’m currently simping on. Feel free to send promps, requests of characters or anything honestly. Always nice to recieve a message! / This list will be updated regularly so you guys can know what i’m into, also, if I forgot someone.

THE BOYS

Billy Butcher, Soldier Boy, Victoria Neuman, Starlight/Annie January, The Deep, A-Train, Frenchie, Sister Sage, Queen Maeve, Firecracker, Homelander, Hughie Campbell, Kimiko.

GEN V

Cate Dunlap, Jordan Li, Sam and Luke Riordan, Marie Moreau, Emma Myers.

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON

Rhaenyra Targaryen, Daemon Targaryen, Alicent Hightower, Jacaerys Velaryon, Aemond Targaryen, Aegon Targaryen, Harwin Strong, Criston Cole.

MARVEL

Loki Laufeyson, Sylvie Laufeydottir, Moonknight x3, Hawkeye/Comic!Clint Barton [recasted as Oliver Jackson-Cohen], Yelena Belova, Kate Bishop, Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff, Steve Rogers, Matt Murdock/Daredevil, Deadpool, Peter Parker/Spider-Man’s in general, X-Men’s in general, Thor Odinson, Carol Danvers, Tony Stark, Doctor Strange, Bucky Barnes, Fantastic Four, Adam Warlock, Ant Man, Druig, Natasha Romanoff, and more since there are too many characters, feel free to ask!

HARRY POTTER

Remus Lupin [marauders era, post I war, nothing weird], Sirius and Regulus Black [marauders!era], James Potter [usually recasted as Dev Patel], Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott.

BRIDGERTON

Eloise Bridgerton, Anthony Bridgerton, Benedict Bridgerton, Colin Bridgerton, Francesca Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton, Simon Basset, King George.

THE BEAR

Carmy Berzatto, Sydney Adamu, Richie Jerimovich, Luca.

TWILIGHT

Carlisle Cullen, Charlie Swan, Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, Alice Cullen, Rosalie Hale, Emmett Cullen, Jasper Hale, Leah Clearwater, Alec and Jane Vulturi, Benjamin.

YELLOWJACKETS

Natalie Scatorccio, Jackie Taylor, Shauna Sadecki, Van Palmer, Lottie Matthews, Taissa Turner, Misty Quigley.

GRISHAVERSE

Nikolai Lantsov, Kaz Brekker, Alina Starkov, Matthias Helvar, Aleksander Morozova / The Darkling, Nina Zenik, Inej Ghafa, Malyen Oretsev, Zoya Nazyalenski.

DAISY JONES AND THE SIX

Daisy Jones, Karen Sirko, Billy Dunne, Warren Rhodes, Eddie Roundtree.

THE HUNGER GAMES

Peeta Mellark, Finnick Odair, Young!Haymitch Abernathy, Katniss Everdeen, Johanna Mason.

STAR WARS

Anakin Skywalker, Qimir / The Stranger, Kylo Ren [yes, I have a type], Shin Hati, Han Solo.

MISC

Rafe Cameron [OBX], James Beaufort [Maxton Hall], Drew Starkey, Dean and Sam Winchester [Supernatural], Aaron Taylor Johnson in most of his roles aka Kick-Ass or Bullet Train, Robin Buckley [Stranger Things], Steve Harrington [Stranger Things], Rick Flag [DC], Harley Queen [DC], Battinson [DC], Art Donaldson, Mike Faist, Nicholas Chavez.

[stab-me-mommy]

we all need a yandere dommy mommy sometimes, don't we?

i'm nosferatu. 21, any pronouns. and i really fucking like yanderes.

this means that on this blog, you get to see your favorite characters as a yandere. well, my favorite character, but that's just details.

i write yandere stuff on my other blogs, so i'll just list off fandoms i don't have blogs for. yes, there can be non-yandere stuff here too, but it's mostly yandere here.

slashers:

Jason Voorhees (Friday 13th series)

Pamela Voorhees (Friday 13th series)

Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on Elm Street series)

Tiffany Valentine (Child's Play series)

Charles Lee Ray (Child's Play series)

Billy Loomis (Scream)

Stu Macher (Scream)

Pearl (Pearl movie)

Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs; book/sir Anthony Hopkins version)

Bubba Sawyer (Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and game)

Drayton Sawyer (Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and game)

Nubbins Sawyer (Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies and game)

Chop-Top/Robert Sawyer (Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies)

Sissy Sawyer (Texas Chainsaw Massacre game)

Johnny Slaughter (Texas Chainsaw Massacre game)

Ji-woon Hak/The Trickster (Dead by Daylight)

Jason the Toymaker (Creepypasta)

Laughing Jack (Creepypasta)

games:

Jimmy (Mouthwashing)

Karl Heisenberg (Resident Evil: Village)

Allied Mastercomputer (I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream - game version)

Narrator (The Stanley Parable)

Fate (Death and Taxes)

Bigby Wolf (The Wolf Among Us)

Bluebeard (The Wolf Among Us)

Tanner Grayton (Scrutinized)

Ascended Astarion (Baldur's Gate 3)

Cazador Szarr (Baldur's Gate 3)

Raphael (Baldur's Gate 3)

Haarlep (Baldur's Gate 3)

Genji Shimada (Overwatch/Overwatch 2)

Reaper/Gabriel Reyes (Overwatch/Overwatch 2)

Alduin (The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim)

Molag Bal (The Elder Scrolls series)

Mehrunes Dagon (The Elder Scrolls series)

Hermaeus Mora (The Elder Scrolls series)

Hircine (The Elder Scrolls series)

Sanguine (The Elder Scrolls series)

V/Jihyun Kim (Mystic Messenger)

Jumin Han (Mystic Messenger)

707/Saeyoung Kim/Luciel Kim (Mystic Messenger)

Unknown/Ray/Saeran Kim (Mystic Messenger)

Two-Face/Harvey Dent (Batman: Arkham Series)

Il Dottore (Genshin Impact)

anime/manga:

Shuu Tsukiyama (Tokyo Ghoul)

Dio Brando/DIO (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood and Stardust Crusaders)

Kars (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Battle Tendency)

Light Yagami (Death Note)

L Lawliet (Death Note)

Misa Amane (Death Note)

M/Mihael Keehl (Death Note)

Yato (Noragami)

Asura Kishin (Soul Eater)

Arachne Gorgon (Soul Eater)

Medusa Gorgon (Soul Eater)

Giriko (Soul Eater)

Justin Law (Soul Eater - manga version)

Noah - Greed (Soul Eater)

Noah - Wrath (Soul Eater)

Franken Stein (Soul Eater)

Elf (NANBAKA - version)

animated series/movies/cartoons:

Seraphim (Blood of Zeus)

Zeus (Blood of Zeus)

Hera (Blood of Zeus)

Apollo (Blood of Zeus)

Hades (Justice League Animated)

Asmodeus (Helluva Boss)

Mammon (Helluva Boss)

Valentino (Hazbin Hotel)

Vox (Hazbin Hotel)

Adam (Hazbin Hotel)

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)

live series/movies:

Merle Dixon (The Walking Dead)

Daryl Dixon (The Walking Dead, early seasons)

Lucifer Morningstar (Lucifer)

Edward Scissorhands (Edward Scissorhands)

Willy Wonka (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)

Jerome Valeska (Gotham)

Jeremiah Valeska (Gotham)

Scarecrow/Jonathan Crane (Gotham)

The Mad Hatter/Jervis Tetch (Gotham)

Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot (Gotham)

The Riddler/Edward Nygma (Gotham)

Victor Zsasz (Gotham)

Barbara Kean (Gotham)

Loki Laufeyson (Avengers 2012)

comics:

The Batman Who Laughs/Bruce Wayne (general concept)

The Grim Knight/Bruce Wayne (general concept)

Batman/Bruce Wayne (general concept)

Owlman/Thomas Wayne Jr. (general concept)

The Joker (general concept)

Harley Quinn/Harleen Quinzel (general concept)

The Hulk/Bruce Banner (general concept)

Superman/Clark Kent (general concept)

Ironman/Tony Stark (general concept)

Deathstroke/Slade Wilson (general concept)

the list most likely will get updated.

[wheel-of-fish]

Updated stream list

Everything we've watched so far!

Longtime crowd favorites (streamed at least three times) are marked with a single asterisk.

Why isn’t [specific actor/video] on this list?

The video is currently marked not for trade.

We haven’t gotten to it yet.

The footage does not exist or is too incomplete.

It isn't on a platform I can stream it from.

There's something particularly off-putting about the video or actor.

How can I get a copy of a video listed here?

There's a list of publicly available bootlegs here, and there are many other adaptations on the Phantom Retrospective channel. Otherwise, contact @glassprism (or another trader) for a possible trade, or check her website for info on which master(s) to contact.

For general stream info, please see the Saturday Streams FAQ.

On to the list!

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera (Dividing these by decade because there's a character limit per text block!)

1980s/90s

1988 Broadway: Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Steve Barton

1989 Broadway: Cris Groenendaal, Rebecca Luker, Steve Barton

1989 Los Angeles: Michael Crawford, Dale Kristien, Steve Barton

1990 Los Angeles: Michael Crawford, Mary D’Arcy, Reece Holland*

1991 Los Angeles: Michael Crawford, Dale Kristien, Michael Piontek

1993 U.S. Tour: Franc D’Ambrosio, Tracy Shayne, Ciaran Sheehan

1993 Vienna: Alexander Goebel, Luzia Nistler, Alfred Pfeifer*

1994 Sapporo: Eiji Akutagawa, Hisako Hanaoka, Masayuki Sano*

1994 Toronto: Peter Karrie, Teresa DeZarn, David Rogers

1995 Broadway: Davis Gaines, Tracy Shayne, Ciaran Sheehan

1995 London: Ethan Freeman, Jill Washington, Simon Bowman*

1998 Broadway: Thomas James O’Leary, Tracy Shayne, Gary Mauer

1998 Los Angeles: Davis Gaines, Marie Danvers, Lawrence Anderson*

1998 San Francisco: Franc D’Ambrosio, Lisa Vroman, Christopher Carl*

1998 Toronto: Peter Karrie, Elizabeth DeGrazia, David Rodgers*

1998 Broadway: Thomas James O'Leary, Sandra Joseph, Gary Mauer

1998 Broadway: Thomas James O’Leary, Tracy Shayne, Gary Mauer

1999 Broadway: Howard McGillin, Adrienne McEwan, Gary Mauer

1999 Toronto: Paul Stanley, Melissa Dye, Laird Mackintosh

1999/2000 Mexico City: Saulo Vasconcelos, Irasema Terrazas, Jose Joel*

Early 2000s

2000 Antwerp: Hans Peter Janssens, Inneke van Klinken, Michael Shawn Lewis

2000 London: Scott Davies, Meredith Braun, Matt Cammelle

2000 London: Scott Davies, Charlotte Page, Matt Cammelle

2001 Hamburg: Ian Jon Bourg, Colby Thomas, Kyle Gonyea

2001 Hamburg: Ian Jon Bourg, Olivia Safe, Kyle Gonyea

2001 Hamburg: Michael Nicholson, Olivia Safe, Christopher Morandi

2002 London: John Owen-Jones, Celia Graham, Robert Finlayson

2003 Broadway: Howard McGillin, Adrienne McEwan, Jim Weitzer

2003 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Julie Hanson, Jim Weitzer

2003 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Lisa Vroman, John Cudia

2003 U.S. Tour: Brad Little, Lisa Vroman, Tim Martin Gleason

2004 Madrid: Luis Armando, Teresa Barrientos, Armando Pita

2004 Stuttgart: Thomas Schulze, Maike Switzer, Carsten Axel Lepper*

2005 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Julie Hanson, John Cudia

2005 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Sandra Joseph, Tim Martin Gleason

2005 Broadway: James Romick, Marie Danvers, John Cudia

2005 Essen: Thomas Borchert, Sandra Danyella, Nikolaj Brucker

2005 London: John Owen-Jones, Rachel Barrell, Oliver Thornton

2005 U.S. Tour: Gary Mauer, Marie Danvers, Michael Shawn Lewis

2006 Essen: Ethan Freeman, Anne Gorner, Nikolaj Brucker

2006 Essen: Uwe Kröger, Beatrix Reiter, Lucius Wolter*

2006 London: Earl Carpenter, Rachel Barrell, David Shannon*

2006 São Paulo: Saulo Vasconcelos, Kiara Sasso, Nando Prado

2006 U.S. Tour: Gary Mauer, Elizabeth Southard, Jim Weitzer*

2006 U.S. Tour: John Cudia, Jennifer Hope Wills, Adam Monley

2007 Broadway: Gary Mauer, Jennifer Hope Wills, Jason Mills

2007 World Tour: Simon Pryce, Julie Goodwin, John Bowles

2008 Broadway: Howard McGillin, Elizabeth Loyacano, Jeremy Stolle

2008 Las Vegas: Anthony Crivello, Kristi Holden, Andrew Ragone*

2008 World Tour: Simon Pryce, Ana Marina, Alexander Lewis

2009 Australia: Anthony Warlow, Ana Marina, Alexander Lewis

2010s

2010 London: David Shannon, Gina Beck, Simon Bailey*

2010 London: David Shannon, Gina Beck, Will Barratt

2010 U.S. Tour: Tim Martin Gleason, Trista Moldovan, Sean MacLaughlin

2012 Broadway: Greg Mills, Marni Raab, Kyle Barisich*

2012 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Trista Moldovan, Kyle Barisich

2012 London: Marcus Lovett, Anna O’Byrne, Simon Thomas

2013 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Samantha Hill, Greg Mills*

2013 Broadway: Peter Joback, Samantha Hill, Jeremy Stolle

2013 Broadway: Peter Joback, Elizabeth Welch, Kyle Barisich

2013 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Sierra Boggess, Kyle Barisich

2013 London: Marcus Lovett, Sofia Escobar, Simon Thomas

2014 Broadway: Greg Mills, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays

2014 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Sara Jean Ford, Jeremy Hays

2014 Broadway: Hugh Panaro, Elizabeth Welch, Jeremy Hays

2014 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays

2014 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Kaley Ann Voorhees, Jeremy Hays*

2014 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Sara Jean Ford, Jeremy Hays

2014 Broadway: Norm Lewis, Sierra Boggess, Jeremy Hays*

2014 Broadway: Paul Schaefer, Mary Michael Patterson, Jeremy Hays

2014 Hamburg: David Arnsperger, Lauri Brons, Nicky Wuchinger

2014 Hamburg: Mathias Edenborn, Daniela Braun, Nicky Wuchinger

2014 Moscow: Dmitry Ermak, Tamara Kotova, Evgeny Zaytsev

2014 Moscow: Ivan Ozhogin, Tamara Kotova, Evgeny Zaytsev

2014 U.S. Tour: Cooper Grodin, Grace Morgan, Ben Jacoby

2014 U.S. Tour: Cooper Grodin, Julia Udine, Ben Jacoby

2014 World Tour: Brad Little, Kristi Holden, Anthony Downing

2015 London: Geronimo Rauch, Harriet Jones, Richard Munday*

2015 Moscow: Dmitri Ermak, Tamara Kotova, Evgeny Zaycev

2015 Moscow: Ivan Ozhogin, Tamara Kotova, Ivan Rak

2015 Prague: Marian Vojtko, Michaela Gemrotova, Tomas Vanek

2015 Prague: Marian Vojtko, Monika Sommerova, Tomas Vanek

2016 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Julia Udine, Jeremy Hays

2016 Moscow: Andrey Schkoldychenko, Elena Bahtiyarova, Evgeny Zaytsev (act 2 only)

2016 Oberhausen: Brent Barrett, Elizabeth Welch, Max Niemeyer

2016? Prague: Marian Vojtko, Michaela Gemrotova, Tomas Vanek

2016 Stockholm: Peter Jöback, Emmi Christensson, Anton Zetterholm

2016 U.S. Tour: Derrick Davis, Kaitlyn Davis, Jordan Craig

2018 Broadway (Sept.): Ben Crawford, Ali Ewoldt, Jay Armstrong Johnson

2018 Broadway (Oct.): Ben Crawford, Ali Ewoldt, Jay Armstrong Johnson

2018? Prague: Radim Schwab, Monika Sommerova, Tomas Vanek

2019 Copenhagen: Tomas Ambt Kofod, Sibylle Glosted, Christian Lund*

2019 London: David Thaxton, Kelly Mathieson, Jeremy Taylor*

2019 London: Josh Piterman, Kelly Mathieson, Alistair So*

2019 São Paulo: Fred Silveira, Giulia Nadruz, Henrique Moretzsohn

2019 São Paulo - Fred Silveira, Lina Mendes, Henrique Moretzsohn

2019 São Paulo: Thiago Arancam, Daruã Góes, Fred Silveira

2019 São Paulo: Thiago Arancam, Giulia Nadruz, Fred Silveira

2019 World Tour: Jonathan Roxmouth, Meghan Picerno, Matt Leisy*

2021–present

2021 Broadway: Ben Crawford, Meghan Picerno, John Riddle

2021 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle

2021 London: Killian Donnelly, Holly-Anne Hull, Rhys Whitfield

2022 Broadway: Ben Crawford, Kanisha Marie Feliciano, Paul A. Schaefer

2022 Broadway: Ben Crawford, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle

2022 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle

2022 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Elizabeth Welch, Bronson Norris Murphy

2022 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Emilie Kouatchou, Jordan Donica

2022 London: James Hume, Holly-Anne Hull, Matt Blaker

2022 London: Killian Donnelly, Anouk van Laake, Rhys Whitfield

2022 Sydney: Josh Robson, Georgina Hopson, Callum Frances

2023 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle

2023 Broadway: Ted Keegan, Julia Udine, John Riddle

2023 Broadway: Laird Mackintosh, Julia Udine, John Riddle

2023 Broadway: Greg Mills, Emilie Kouatchou, John Riddle

2023 Broadway: Greg Mills, Julia Udine, Paul A. Schaefer

2023 Broadway: Jeremy Stolle, Julia Udine, Paul A. Schaefer

2023 London: Earl Carpenter, Paige Blankson, Ralph Watts

2023 London: Earl Carpenter, Eve Shanu-Wilson, Connor Carson

2023 London: Killian Donnelly, Lucy St. Louis, Matt Blaker

2023 London: James Gant, Holly-Anne Hull, Matt Blaker

2023 London: James Gant, Paige Blankson, Matt Blaker

2023 Madrid: Geronimo Rauch, Talia del Val, Guido Balzaretti

2023 Shanghai: Ayanga (various clips)

2023 Shanghai: He Liangchen, Yang Chenxiuyi, Li Chenxi

2023 Thessaloniki: Tim Howar, Harriet Jones, Nadim Naaman

2024 Helsinki: Kevin Greenlaw, Emma Kajander, Olli Tuovinen

2024 London: Jon Robyns, Eve Shanu-Wilson, Joe Griffiths-Brown

Love Never Dies

2010 London: Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Dean Chisnall

2011 London: Ramin Karimloo, Sierra Boggess, Dean Chisnall

2013 Vienna concert: Drew Sarich, Milica Jovanovic, Julian Looman

2018 U.S. Tour: Bronson Norris Murphy, Meghan Picerno, Sean Thompson*

2023 London concert: Norm Lewis, Celinde Schoenmaker, Matthew Seadon-Young

2024 World Tour: Luke McCall, Manon Taris, Niall Sheehy

Other stage adaptations

1991 The Phantom of the Opera starring David Staller

1992 Tom Alonso’s The Phantom of the Opera**

1993 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (Wichita, Richard White)

2011 Spiritual Twist’s The Phantom of the Opera

2013 Ken Hill's The Phantom of the Opera (Tokyo)**

2019 Spiritual Twist’s The Phantom of the Opera

2018 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (Takarazuka Revue)

2018 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (Seoul)

2020 Sasson’s Das Phantom der Oper (Germany, with Uwe Kröger)**

2021 Yeston/Kopit’s Phantom (proshot, Seoul)

Movie adaptations

1925 The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney

1937 Song at Midnight**

1943 Phantom of the Opera starring Claude Rains**

1962 Hammer Horror: The Phantom of the Opera starring Herbert Lom**

1974 Phantom of the Paradise

1987 The Phantom of the Opera (animated)

1989 Phantom of the Mall: Eric’s Revenge

1989 The Phantom of the Opera starring Robert Englund**

2004 The Phantom of the Opera starring Gerard Butler

TV adaptations

1983 The Phantom of the Opera (TV movie, Max Schell)**

1987 Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater, "The Phantom of the Theater"

1990 The Phantom of the Opera (TV miniseries, Charles Dance)

1994 Lamb Chop in the Haunted Studio (TV special)**

1995 Wishbone, S1 E37, "Pantin’ at the Opera"*

1995 Goosebumps, S1 E7, "Phantom of the Auditorium"

1999 The Triplets, S5 E9, "The Phantom of the Opera"

2000 Are You Afraid of the Dark?, "The Tale of the Last Dance"

Miscellaneous

1994 Australian Phantom cast Easter charity concert ("Phantales")

1995 The Phantom of the Opera on Ice*

2017 Broadway: Prince of Broadway (in honor of Hal Prince)

2017 The Phantom of the Empire (Turning Tydes Theatre Company)

Stolleboot (fan edit starring Jeremy Stolle as the Phantom, Raoul, Piangi, and Passarino)*

*Longtime crowd favorite (streamed at least three times)

**We’ve watched it, but it was technically streamed by another host I used to alternate with.

[sag-dab-sar]

📚Resources for The Ancient Near East📚

With a focus on religion

Please leave a comment if a link breaks I'll do my best to find a new one

Getting Started On Research

JSTOR Guide LINK

Lumenlearning Guide LINK

Center for Online Education Guide LINK

Layman's Guide to Online Research by @/sisterofiris LINK

How to Vet Sources by me LINK

Websites for ANE Study

ETCSL | The Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature — http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/catalogue.htm

ePSD | The Electronic Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary — http://psd.museum.upenn.edu/epsd-frame.html

ORACC | Open Richly Annotated Cuneiform Corpus — http://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/

ORACC's Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses Project — http://oracc.iaas.upenn.edu/amgg/abouttheproject/index.html

ETANA | Electronic Tools & Ancient Near East Archive — http://etana.org/

CDLI | Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative — https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/about

CAD | The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago — http://www.aina.org/cad.html

Livius' Babylonian Section — https://www.livius.org/category/babylonia/

Multi Source Websites

Internet Archive Library — https://archive.org/details/texts | How To Use LINK

JSTOR — https://www.jstor.org/ | How To Use LINK

Google Scholar — https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html

Google Books — https://books.google.com/googlebooks/about/index.html

Academia — https://support.academia.edu/hc/en-us/categories/360003163373-Academia-Free-Features

DOAJ Index of Open Access Journals — https://www.doaj.org/

Internet Ancient History Sourcebook — https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/ancient/asbook.asp

Met Museum Publications — https://www.metmuseum.org/met-publications

Holy Books — https://www.holybooks.com/about/

Internet Sacred Text Archive — https://sacred-texts.com/

Deepdyve is a website of academic journal articles that isn't free but it isn't outrageously expensive for what it offers if you are heavily invested in new research — https://www.deepdyve.com/

Avaliable Online Books

*When using older books be aware that there may be inaccuracies and out of date information. If at all possible cross-reference and synthesize with newer materials. I have added years for this reason.

Books Specifically on Religion

Gods Demons and Symbols of Ancient Mesopotamia by Jeremy Black and Anthony Greene (1992) Internet Archive

Ancient Near Eastern Mythology by Gwendolyn Leick (1991) Internet Archive | This & Black's dictionary are good starting off points but I always use additional source's because some of Leick's info in particular tends to be more out of date than other authors.

The Cultic Calendars of the Ancient Near East by Mark Cohen (1993) PDF

Preforming Death Social Analysis of Funerary Traditions in the Ancient Near East and Medditarian edited by Nicola Laneri (2007) PDF

Mesopotamian Ritual-prayers of “Hand-lifting”(Akkadian Šuillas) by Christopher G Frechette (2012) Internet Archive

When Gods Were Men: The Embodied God in Biblical and Near Eastern Literature by Esther Hamon (2008) Internet Archive

Books on ANE History in General

Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Stephen Bertman (2005) Google Books | Not avaliable online BUT highly recommended, easy read.

A History of the Ancient Near East ca. 3000- 323BC by Marc Van de Mieroop (2016) Internet Archive

Everyday Life in Ancient Mesopotamia by Jean Bottero (1992) Internet Archive

Women in the Ancient Near East by Marten Stol (2016) Open Access

Chapter 3 Elamite from The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Ancient World Languages edited by Roger Wooard (2004) PDF

Sumerian Art by Andre Parrot (1970) Digital Library

The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells edited by Hans Dieter Betz (1986) PDF (If that link breaks Google Books)

List of resources on Mesopotamian Magic Link

[gam3bo1-movedagain]

anthony takes a bite of the savoury pancake, letting out a pleased hum as he chews. even though he critiques food for a living, he's an easy person to read—his nose scrunches up when something's too salty, he frowns when something's too bland, and he smiles when something tastes good. and this? well... "so, should i tell you or not?"

(@womansound)

          "here,  try  this.  tell  me  what  you  think." a beat.  "unless  you  hate  it,  in  which  case  don't  tell  me  at  all." // 🍓 ଘ(੭◌ˊᵕˋ)੭* ੈ♡‧₊ @gam3bo1 !

[czolgosz]

i went to a used book sale today... procured:

railroad color history: new york central railroad (brian solomon & mike schafer) — i'm not actually that into trains but it appealed to me.

the complete guide to the soviet union (jennifer louis & victor louis) — travel guide from 1980

an anthology including the big sleep (raymond chandler), "the undignified melodrama of the bone of contention" (dorothy l. sayers), "the arrow of god" (leslie charteris), "i can find my way out" (ngaio marsh), instead of evidence (rex stout), "rift in the loot" (stuart palmer & craig rice), "the man who explained miracles" (john dickson carr), & rebecca (daphne du maurier) (i already have this one..) — it's volume 2 of something (a treasury of great mysteries) which annoys me but whatever

an anthology including "godmother tea" (selena anderson), "the apartment" (t. c. boyle), "a faithful but melancholy account of several barbarities lately committed" (jason brown), "sibling rivalry" (michael byers), "the nanny" (emma cline), "halloween" (mariah crotty), "something street" (carolyn ferrell), "this is pleasure" (mary gaitskill), "in the event" (meng jin), "the children" (andrea lee), "rubberdust" (sarah thankam mathews), "it's not you" (elizabeth mccracken), "liberté" (scott nandelson), "howl palace" (leigh newman), "the nine-tailed fox explains" (jane pek), "the hands of dirty children" (alejandro puyana), "octopus vii" (anna reeser), "enlightenment" (william pei shih), "kennedy" (kevin wilson), & "the special world" (tiphanie yanique) — i guess they're all short stories published in 2020 by usamerican/canadian authors

an anthology including the death of ivan ilyich (leo tolstoy) (i have already read this one..), the beast in the jungle (henry james), heart of darkness (joseph conrad), seven who were hanged (leonid andreyev), abel sánchez (miguel de unamuno), the pastoral symphony (andré gide), mario and the magician (thomas mann), the old man (william faulkner), the stranger (albert camus), & agostino (alberto moravia)

the ambassadors (henry james)

the world book desk reference set: book of nations — it's from 1983 so this is kind of a history book...

yet another fiction anthology......... including the general's ring (selma lagerlöf), "mowgli's brothers" (rudyard kipling), "the gift of the magi" (o. henry) (i have already read this one..), "lord mountdrago" (w. somerset maugham), "music on the muscatatuck" (jessamyn west), "the pacing goose" (jessamyn west), "the birds" (daphne du maurier), "the man who lived four thousand years" (alexandre dumas), "the pope's mule" (alphonse daudet), "the story of the late mr. elvesham" (h. g. wells), "the blue cross" (g. k. chesterton), portrait of jennie (robert nathan), "la grande bretèche" (honoré de balzac), "love's conundrum" (anthony hope), "the great stone face" (nathaniel hawthorne), "germelshausen" (friedrich gerstäcker), "i am born" (charles dickens), "the legend of sleepy hollow" (washington irving), "the age of miracles" (melville davisson post), "the long rifle" (stewart edward white), "the fall of the house of usher" (edgar allan poe) (i have already read this one..), the voice of bugle ann (mackinlay kantor), the bridge of san luis rey (thornton wilder), "basquerie" (eleanor mercein kelly), "judith" (a. e. coppard), "a mother in mannville" (marjorie kinnan rawlings), "kerfol" (edith wharton), "the last leaf" (o. henry), "the bloodhound" (arthur train), "what the old man does is always right" (hans christian anderson), the sea of grass (conrad richter), "the sire de malétroit's door" (robert louis stevenson), "the necklace" (guy de maupassant) (i have already read this one..), "by the waters of babylon" (stephen vincent benét), a. v. laider (max beerbohm), "the pillar of fire" (percival wilde), "the strange will" (edmond about), "the hand at the window" (emily brontë) (i have already read this one..), & "national velvet" (enid bagnold) — why are seven of these chapters of novels....? anyway fun fact one of the compilers here also worked on the aforementioned mystery anthology. also anyway Why did i bother to write all that ☹️

fundamental problems of marxism (georgi plekhanov) — book about dialectical/historical materialism which is published here as the first volume of something (marxist library) which is kind of odd to me tbh

one last (thankfully tiny) anthology including le père goriot (honoré de balzac) & eugénie grandet (honoré de balzac)

[dragoneyes618]

AU of the Tremaine Manor Fire @hannahhook7744 where the Tremaine home burned down, almost everyone died, and the only survivors were Anthony, Dizzy….and Dizzy’s father, Prince Hans.

Hans did not love Drizella, nor even like her that much. They tolerated each other in a “we have to work together so let’s make the best of it” at the best of times, and there were many times that were far from that. They only married because he’d get a stable place to live, as the Tremaines were banished with all of their property and possessions, and she’d get to marry a prince. But there is a big difference between not liking her and wanting her to die.

And there were his daughters, Dizzy’s sisters. Hans did care about them, but he never knew how to show it. He didn’t know how to be a father, but he knew he didn’t want to be like his father. So he generally didn’t have much to do with them, figuring that if he couldn’t be a good father, at least he wouldn’t be a bad one. Instead, he was an absent one. He generally had more to do with them as they grew older, once they were approaching adulthood and he had no chance of messing up their childhoods anymore.

And now they are all dead. No chance of ever having another interaction with them, of ever talking to them again. No chance of ever figuring things out with Drizella. A silent, burned-out house.

Hans has never been truly alone before. In the Southern Isles, he was the youngest of thirteen brothers; before long, sisters-in-law, nieces, and nephews joined the family. Sure, he hated most of his brothers, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was accustomed to living with many people.

On the Isle, he wed Drizella at her mother’s insistence and moved into her home; in addition to her, her sister, her nephew and her mother, before long they had quite a few daughters of their own. He may have barely talked to most of them and been at odds with the rest of them - ironically, the Tremaine he got along with the best was Anastasia - but they were always there, always constant. 

Hans is used to the sounds of people talking and shouting and arguing, the bustle and rustle of people moving around and going about their daily lives. And now, all that is gone. Dead. Silent.

Hans hates the quiet.

He falls into a depression. He pretty much moves into the Isle’s taverns and restaurants - anywhere that is full of people, where he is surrounded by noise. Anywhere he can get a drink, and another and another, in a futile attempt to drown his sorrows. He’ll fall asleep in the early hours of the morning in the corner, wake up when the morning’s patrons start coming in and/or the owner kicks him out, and will find another restaurant or bar to do it all over again.

On the occasion that he happens to be at Ursula’s Fish and Chips Shoppe, Dizzy will come over and talk to him (Dizzy is there a lot now, because Anthony decided that his cousin needed someplace to stay where she’d reliably get meals, and Ursula has no objection to Uma turning the back room into a makeshift shelter so long as the numerous kids there take shifts). Hans tries to put on a good front for her; he’ll hide his mug or make a point of drinking water; he’ll do his very best to focus and pretend that he’s sober; he’ll ask her how her day has been and what she’s up to.

Not that Dizzy’s days vary very much.

Until she gets chosen to go to Auradon.

When Dizzy leaves for Auradon, Hans is glad for her, because it means she gets to have a future, away from this Isle full of nothing but ghosts and memories.

But he is sad, too, because it means that he’s finally really alone.

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

The Great OC Alphabet Caper: (Updated) Glass Edition

(Credit to @sleepyowlwrites for this idea)

For characters introduced in the other books, see these posts: The Unfortunate Moth • Houses Full of Deceit • Mine Eyes Dazzle • There Stands a Spectre • The Tempest and the Night

Updated information about the characters in Silver Glass, in alphabetical order:

Davit

Name: Davit Altounian (Դավիթ Ալթունեան) (real name), David Eames (Anglicised name + his adoptive parents' surname)

Age/Pronouns: 19, he/him

Brief physical description: Average height, black hair, dark brown eyes.

Brief list of defining traits: Has the most traumatic of traumatic backstories. Has done nothing wrong ever. Married to Alec.

Excerpt:

"I'm searching all the male servants' rooms," Yo-han said. He studied Eames' face. "Are you quite well?" Eames drew in a shaky breath. "McCullagh brought in some rabbits to make stew. Seeing him skin them… It reminded me of… I can't stand blood. It makes me feel sick." He certainly looked sick. He crossed the room and practically collapsed into the armchair. "Look anywhere you want," he said. His voice was muffled because he buried his head in his hands. He was trembling. Yo-han looked at him thoughtfully. He looked especially at his arms and hands. Eames was slightly-built, yes. But unlike Lennox he showed no signs of under-eating, so this was probably his natural physique. He was two or three inches taller than Yo-han. Could he have hit Mrs. Lennox with an oar hard enough to break her skull with a single blow? Eames had certainly hated her. It would be hard to find anyone in the household who didn't hate her. But Yo-han found it hard to picture him being strong enough for such a violent murder.

Trivia:

His adopted surname is a reference to John Eames from The Small House at Allington. (There are a lot of Anthony Trollope references in Silver Glass. More on that later…)

His real surname is borrowed from the Altounyan family (who inspired the Swallows and Amazons series). I chose this partly because Glass is set beside a river, and mainly because Wikipedia says Altounian/Altounyan is a common Armenian surname, and I wanted to avoid using a name generator (which might have produced a really unusual surname)

The denouement, where Phil and Co. vote on Davit’s innocence, is inspired by the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of Abbey Grange

He doesn't appear in Houses Full of Deceit, but he's mentioned. He probably will appear in Uneasy Money

Dzovig

Name: Dzovig Altounian (Ծովիկ Ալթունեան)

Age/Pronouns: 20, she/her

Brief physical description: Average height, black hair, brown eyes. Has a scar that twists up part of her lip.

Brief list of defining traits: A very important character, but she only appears in the flashback.

Excerpt:

Davit meets Dzovig in a park one morning. They stare at each other. He doesn't recognise her. She has a scar at her mouth, twisting up her lip to reveal some of her teeth. She had no such scar in the orphanage. He can see she doesn't recognise him — at first. Then she makes a noise like a wounded animal. "What's wrong?" he asks in Armenian, slow and stilted from disuse. He hasn't spoken Armenian since 1911. Dzovig stares at him. "Don't you know how much you look like Mother?"

Trivia:

Originally she was supposed to appear in the main story and would have been present during the denouement. This didn’t happen because I couldn’t figure out a way to introduce her ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Maybe in the second draft?

Another thing I couldn’t work into the story except for a throwaway line: she mutilates Çelik Bey’s body as revenge for the mutilation of Armenian women. This is inspired by a horrific photograph on Wikipedia’s page about the Adana massacre

She works for an organisation which is loosely inspired by Operation Nemesis

It's never explained how or when she got her scar

A detail that didn't make it into the first draft: she and Davit both grew up speaking Western Armenian, but she moved to Yerevan and switched to Eastern Armenian in the years they were apart. The reason this got cut: I need to do more research on the differences between the dialects

Çelik Bey

Name: Çelik Bey (Turkey didn't have surnames at the time, so this is just his personal name and title)

Age/Pronouns: 26, he/him

Brief physical description: Tall, black hair, brown eyes

Brief list of defining traits: Gwladys’s boyfriend. A politician’s son.

Excerpt:

Çelik Bey stared at Lennox, then at Yo-han. Yo-han had no idea what his own expression was — mainly because he had no idea what to make of the unfolding drama — but Çelik Bey didn't like it. He forced a laugh. "This guy's crazy. He should be locked up in a padded cell. You aren't here because you believe that story he told you?" Yo-han looked at him levelly. "What story?" He let Çelik Bey squirm for a moment before he added, "We share an interest in photography." There was no doubt about it: Çelik Bey looked relieved. "Then you're not here as a detective?" "Is there some reason I should be?" Yo-han asked. The silence that followed was the most awkward one yet.

Trivia:

He was originally supposed to play a bigger role; in the outline he was conspiring with Gwladys to murder Alec. This got cut, but might make it into the second draft

Louis

Name: (The Honourable) Louis Gresham

Age/Pronouns: 21, he/him

Appears in: Silver Glass (flashback and epilogue only), Houses Full of Deceit

Brief physical description: Average height, brown hair, brown eyes

Brief list of defining traits: Unwitting instigator of doom™. Davit’s friend. Briefly had a crush on Alec and a relationship with Leo. Provides helpful information when Yo-han is investigating the Hastings murders.

Excerpt:

The Honourable Louis Gresham was many things. According to his parents he was a hopeless spendthrift, according to his brother he was next door to an imbecile, and according to his boss he was the worst worker the foreign office had ever employed. He was, however, loyal to his friends. And when his old friend David Eames wrote to him to say he and Alexander Lennox were going to Armenia, Louis obligingly pulled a few strings to get their passports approved in record time. Why exactly two otherwise sane people wanted to travel to the middle of nowhere was beyond Louis' comprehension, but he was damned if he didn't help out.

Trivia:

Remember those Anthony Trollope references I mentioned? Most of them are around Louis. His first name is borrowed from Sir Louis Scatcherd and his surname from Frank Gresham (Doctor Thorne), his parents live in Framley Manor (Framley Parsonage), and his and Davit’s teacher is Reverend Grantley (Barchester Towers; I forgot the Trollope character’s surname is spelt Grantly and now I can’t be bothered to correct it)

He also provides a crossover with the works of P. G. Wodehouse: he's a member of the Drones Club, knows Bertie Wooster, and is probably a distant cousin of Lord Emsworth

He pronounces his name Lewis instead of Louie

Might reappear in Uneasy Money

Alec

Name: Alexander Lennox (Lord Kilskeery; technically his full title is The Right Honourable The Viscount Kilskeery, but no one has the patience to say that)

Age: 23, he/him

Brief physical description: Average height, brown hair, blue eyes

Brief list of defining traits: Is having a very bad time. Married to Davit (and Gwladys, unfortunately).

Excerpt:

Two cribs were placed side-by-side against the wall. A low armchair stood beside them. Alexander Lennox sat in it, reading aloud to two small babies. In the minute before he noticed Yo-han's presence, Yo-han observed the three of them closely. The babies, probably twins, were very young. He thought of his half-siblings as babies and decided these ones were less than a year old. They wore identical blue baby-grows. Both had brown hair. One was asleep. The other peered owlishly up at their father. Lennox was still abnormally thin, but he looked as if a weight had lifted from his shoulders. He did not look like a man whose wife had just been violently murdered. Yo-han looked at him and tried to imagine him swinging an oar at his wife's head. "'Then the magician brewed a powerful potion out of nine sorts of herbs which he had gathered himself all alone by moonlight, and he gave the youth nine spoonfuls of it daily for three days, which made him able to understand the language of birds. "'At parting the magician said…'" Lennox stopped. He looked up at Yo-han. There was no fear or hostility in his eyes. He smiled, the first smile Yo-han had seen from him that didn't have a bitter edge.

Trivia:

He was the first character I created for Silver Glass, and the rest of the story grew up around him

So what was up with his illness? Well, according to the outline Gwladys was poisoning him. I changed my mind half-way through the book, so now it’s ambiguous ¯\(ツ)/¯

He and Gwladys have twin sons. Their names are Walter and Theodore, though this is never mentioned in the book

As of Houses Full of Deceit, he and Davit and the twins are in Armenia

Will reappear in Uneasy Money. Helena the First and Lucy are his cousins

Gwladys

Name: Gwladys Lennox (née Whare) (Lady Kilskeery, not that anyone ever calls her this)

Age/Pronouns: 26, she/her

Brief physical description: Average height, dyed blonde hair, brown eyes

Brief list of defining traits: The Worst. The surprise isn’t that she’s murdered, it’s that it took so long for someone to kill her.

Excerpt:

With one of her fake giggles Mrs. Lennox said, "We both know what I mean. How much will he ask to keep those photos hidden?" Phil did some very quick deductions of her own. Fact: Mr. Seo had seen something incriminating last night. Fact: Mrs. Lennox believed he had taken pictures. Fact: she believed he was going to blackmail her. The situation was so absurd that she couldn't help laughing. Mrs. Lennox misinterpreted her reaction. "He's already given them to Lennox?" She ground her teeth and said a few words that were better-suited to a barroom than a drawing room. "Let me be perfectly honest, dear: my husband is a disgusting… Well. I'm too delicate to say the word. But he is still a viscount, and I'm not going to let him divorce me. If he tries to ruin me I can ruin him. But if he has photos? That's a different story." Phil made a note to ask Mr. Seo if there was any truth in the vague accusation. Lord Kilskeery had struck her as nothing but a very ill man. After five minutes with his wife she thought she knew the cause of his illness. "You're completely wrong," she said. "Mr. Seo has no photographs of you and he isn't a blackmailer. Your husband hired him…" because he thinks you're poisoning him "…to solve a mystery."

Trivia:

Originally she was meant to be a relatively innocent bystander who was killed because she witnessed the murder. Then I began to write, and she turned out to be Rachael 2.0.

Adding the general Case-files taglist: @akindofmagictoo, @sam-glade, @sarahlizziewrites, @oh-no-another-idea, @cljordan-imperium,

@mrbexwrites, @lightgriffinsect (Let me know if you want to be added/removed!)

[gam3bo1-movedagain]

🎀 ant and arlo!!

🎀          :        who    is    the    most    responsible    one    ?

why did you give me the hardest question 4 them. MNSNDMSNBDCND this is SOOOO hard i had to spend some time thinking about it but! ultimately! i think ant is the more responsible one... because he can Cook. and he's a tidy guy. that's it that's my thought process. hanging out w/ arlo makes him lose all of his braincells though

[ryin-silverfish]

One nerd's musing about Chinese religion and "respect"

-I try to stay away from fandom discourse, but, much like how you can smell the stench from a dumpster fire without walking into said dumpster fire, I've noticed something that seemed to come up a lot in western JTTW + adjacent fandoms: "respect Chinese religion".

-Usually as a reason for why you shouldn't ship a character, because of fucking course it's shipping discourse too.

-And my first reaction is "Man, you are taking Chinese religion too darn seriously, more than people who are born and raised in China."

-My second reaction is "I mean, most of us are atheist/agnostic by default anyways, with a good number of what I'd call 'atheist/agnostics with superstitions': people who said they were not religious, yet believed in Fengshui or divinations and burnt incense at temples for good luck."

-My third reaction: "But why do I get the feeling that when you mention 'Respect', you are thinking about something completely different?"

-Then I reread an essay from Anthony C. Yu, "Religion and Literature in China: The "Obscure Way" of Journey to the West", and the metaphorical lightbulb just lit up over my head.

(Everything below applies more to Daoism + associated folk religions, but by the time most classic Chinese vernacular novels were written, the blending of the three religions had become well and truly mainstream.)

(The conception of gods differs from dynasty to dynasty. What I'm describing here is mostly based on Ming and Qing ones; if you went back to Han or pre-Qin times, most of these would not apply.)

(I am one of the "atheist/agnostic by default" people. I just have an interest in this kind of stuff. I am also just one Chinese person, and an actual Daoist/Buddhist/Religion Studies researcher would probably have a lot more valuable information and perspective to offer when it comes to contemporary practices and worship. Like any people on the internet: take my words with a grain of salt.)

-Even in the past, when society was far less secularized, Chinese gods are not omniscient, perfect beings whose worship is a solemn, humorless affair. Some's worship are Serious Business, but that has more to do with the sort of gods they are and the patronage they enjoy, not godhood in and of itself.

-And even the ones that you are supposed to "treat seriously" are still very human. To use an analogy I've used plenty of times before: you respect and fear them in the same way you'd respect and fear an emperor's official, or the emperor himself, because if you don't, you are not gonna like the consequences.

-However, unlike Jesus, the emperor & his officials were capable of being temperamental, flawed, or an outright asshole, divine or not. Ideally, they wouldn't be, and if you were one of the "serious" believers——people who actually got an official permit, became ordained clergy, and went to live in a temple, you were unlikely to think of your gods in that manner.

-But it wasn't a complete, utter impossibility. The lower you go in the pantheon, the closer you get to popular religion, the less "serious" the gods and their worship become. By that, I mean general attitude, not sincerity of faith. You still shouldn't be rude to them, but, well, they are more likely to take a joke in stride, or participate in the "vulgar" pleasures of commoners because they weren't as bound to Confucian moral standards or religious disciplines.

-To stretch the same analogy further: you should still respect your village head, they could still give your ass a good spanking for being a disrespectful brat, but you were not obligated to get on your knees and kowtow to them like you would do in front of a provincial magistrate, the emperor's minister, or the emperor himself, nor did they have the power to chop your head off just because you were rude.

-On the other hand, the emperor would never visit a random peasant just to help them fix their broken plow or treat them to a nice meal, but your village head could, and your relationship would probably be warmer and a lot more personal as a result.

-Your respect for them was more likely to stem from the things they actually did for you and the village as a whole, instead of something owed to this distant, powerful authority you might never get to see in your lifetime, but could change its course with a single stroke of a brush.

-Now exchange "village head" for your run-of-the-mill Tudis and Chenghuangs and friendly neighborhood spirits (because yes, people worshipped yaoguais for the exact same reasons), emperor + his officials for the Celestial Bureaucracy, and you'd have a basic idea of how Chinese religions worked on the ground level.

-This is far from absolute: maybe your village head was a spiteful old bastard who loved bullying his juniors, maybe your regional magistrate was an honest, upright man who could enjoy a good drink and a good laugh, maybe the emperor was a lenient one and wouldn't chop your head off for petty offenses. But their general degree of power over you and the closeness of your relationships still apply.

-Complicating the matter further, some folk gods (like Wutong) were worshipped not because they brought blessings, but because they were the divine equivalent of gangsters running a protection racket: you basically bribed them with offerings so they'd leave you alone and not wreck your shit. Famous people who died violently and were posthumously deified often fell into this category——shockingly enough, Guan Yu used to be one such god!

-Yeah, kinda like how your average guy could become an official through the imperial examinations, so could humans become gods through posthumous worship, or cultivate themselves into immortals and Enlightened beings.

-Some immortals aren't qualified for, or interested in a position in the Celestial Bureaucracy——they are the equivalent of your hermits, your cloistered Daoist priests, your common literati who kept trying and failing the exams. But some do get a job offer and gladly take it.

-Anyways, back to my original point: that's why it's so absurd when people pull the "Respect Chinese Religion1!!1!" card and immediately follow up with "Would you do X to Jesus?"

-Um, there are a lot of things you can do with Chinese gods that I'm pretty sure you can't do with Jesus. Like worshipping him side by side with Buddha and Confucius (Lao Tzu). Or inviting him to possess you and drink copious amount of alcohol (Tang-ki mediums in SEA). Or genderbend him into a woman over the course of several centuries because folks just like that version of Jesus better (Guan Yin/Avalokitesvara).

-But most importantly, Chinese religions are kinda a "free market" where you could pick and choose between gods, based on their vicinity to you and how efficient they were at answering prayers. You respect them because they'll help you out, you aren't an asshole and know your manners, and pissing them off is a bad idea in general, not because they are some omnipotent, perfect beings who demand exclusive and total reverence.

-A lot of the worship was also, well, very "practical" and almost transactional in nature: leave offerings to Great Immortal Hu, and he doesn't steal your imperial seal while you aren't looking. Perform the rites right and meditate on a Thunder General's visage, and you can temporarily channel said deity's power. Get this talisman for your kids at Bixia Yuanjun's temple, and they'll be protected from smallpox.

-"Faith alone" or "Scripture alone" is seldom the reason people worship popular deities. Even the obsession with afterlife wasn't about the eternal destination of your soul, and more about reducing the potential duration of the prison sentence for you and your loved ones so you can move on faster and reincarnate into a better life.

-Also, there isn't a single "canon" of scriptures. Many popular gods don't show up in Daoist literature until much later. Daoist scriptures often came up with their own gigantic pantheons, full of gods no one had heard of prior to said book, or enjoyed no worship in temples whatsoever.

-In the same way famous dead people could become gods via worship, famous fictional characters could, too, become gods of folk religion——FSYY's pantheon was very influential on popular worship, but that doesn't mean you should take the novels as actual scriptures.

-Like, God-Demon novels are to orthodox Daoism/Buddhism what the Divine Comedy is to medieval Christian doctrines, except no priests had actually built a Church of Saint Beatrice, while Daoists did put FSYY characters into their temples. By their very nature, the worship that stemmed from these books is not on the same level of "seriousness" as, say, the Tiantai school of Buddhism and their veneration of the Lotus Sutra.

-At the risk of being guilty of the same insertion of Christianity where it doesn't belong: You don't cite Dante's Inferno in a theological debate, nor would any self-respecting pastor preach it to churchgoers on a Sunday.

-Similarly, you don't use JTTW or FSYY as your sole evidence for why something is "disrespectful to Chinese religion/tradition" when many practitioners of said religions won't treat them as anything more than fantasy novels.

-In fact, let's use Tripitaka as an example. The historical Xuanzang was an extraordinarily talented, faithful, and determined monk. In JTTW, he was a caricature of a Confucian scholar in a Buddhist kasaya and served the same narrative function as Princess Peach in a Mario game.

-Does the presence of satire alone make JTTW anti-Buddhist, or its religious allegories less poignant? I'd say no. Should you take it as seriously as actual Buddhist sutras, when the book didn't even take itself 100% seriously? Also no.

-To expand further on the idea of "seriousness": even outside of vernacular novels, practitioners are not beholden to a universal set of strict religious laws and taboos.

-Both Daoism and Buddhism had what we called "cloistered" and "non-cloistered" adherents; only the former needed to follow their religious laws and (usually) took a vow of celibacy.

-Certain paths of Daoist cultivation allow for alcohol and sexual activities (thanks @ruibaozha for the info), and some immortals, like Lv Dongbin, had a well-established "playboy" reputation in folklore.

-Though it was rarer for Buddhism and very misunderstood, esoteric variants of it did utilize sexual imageries and sex. And, again, most of the above would not apply if you weren't among the cloistered and ordained clergy.

-Furthermore, not even the worship of gods is mandatory! You could just be a Daoist who was really into internal alchemy, cultivating your body and mind in order to prolong your lifespan and, ideally, attain immortality.

-This idea of "respect" as…for a lack of better words, No Fun & R18 Stuff Allowed, you must treat all divinity with fearful reverence and put yourself completely at their mercy, is NOT the norm in Chinese religious traditions.

-There are different degrees and types of respect, and not every god is supposed to be treated like the Supreme Heavenly Emperor himself during an imperial ceremony; the gods are capable of cracking a joke, and so are we!

TL;DR: Religions are complicated, and you aren't respecting Chinese religions by acting like a stereotypical Puritan over popular Chinese deities and their fictional portrayals.

[soursgrap3s]

closed starter for: @womansound !

"here we are, home sweet home."

[nerds-yearbook]

On December 18, 2015 The Force Awakens was released, which was the first theatrical Star Wars film not to be based on a story by George Lucas. The events in the film took place 30 years after the events in Return of the Jedi. Between the gap, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) had started a new Jedi Accademy but then went into exile when he pushed Princess Leia's (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo's (Harrison Ford) son Ben Solo/Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) to the Dark Side. Han Solo, unable to deal with the loss of his son, went back into space with Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew). Princess Leia kept herself busy with C-3PO (Anthony Daniels), Admiral Ackbar (Tim Rose & Erik Bauersfeld) Nien Nund (Mike Quinn) and the Rebellion fighting against the First Order, which was the replacement of the Empire and lead by the mysterious Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Besides Kylo Ren, Snoke was served by Emperial officers like General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson) and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie). The instalment introduced new recurring characters such as desert orphan Rey (Daisy Ridley), rogue Imperial soldier Finn (John Boyega), X-Wing pilots Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Snap Wexley (Greg Grunberg), rebel officer Lt Connix (Billie Lourd) and underworld contact Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o). There were also cameos by Max von Sydow, Simon Pegg, Warwick Davis, Harriet Walter, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Daniel Craig. The action mainly took place at Jakku, Takodana, D'Qar, Hosnian, Star Killer Base, and Ach-To. Harrison Ford finally got his wish of Han Solo being killed off. The film was praised for returning to a dirty looking universe and use of practical effects, but criticized by the plot following too closely to Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope. ("Star Wars Episode VII The Force Awakens", Star Wars Film Event)

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 5.20

Beer Birthdays

John Adam Lemp (1798)

Louis de Luze Simonds (1852)

Eduard Buchner (1860)

Louis Hemrich (1872)

Lord "Benjie" Iveagh (1937)

Judy Ashworth (1942)

Oliver Hughes (1959)

David Walker (1964)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Emile Berliner; inventor of flat phonograph record (1851)

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole; Hawaiian singer (1959)

John Stuart Mill; English philosopher (1806)

Timothy Olyphant; actor (1968)

James Stewart; actor (1908)

Famous Birthdays

Danny Aiello; actor (1933)

Emile Berliner; German/US inventor (1851)

Cher; pop singer, writer (1946)

Joe Cocker; rock singer (1944)

Christopher Columbus; explorer (1451)

Mindy Cohn; actor (1966)

William Congreve; English inventor (1772)

Francis Cotes; English artist (1726)

Henri-Edmond Cross; French artist (1856)

Moshe Dayan; Israeli general (1915)

Honore de Balzac; French writer (1799)

Aleksandr Deyneka; Russian artist (1899)

Alfred Domett; English/NZ poet (1811)

Patrick Ewing Jr.; basketball player (1984)

William Fargo; banker (1818)

Gardner Fox; author (1911)

George Gobel; comedian (1919)

Tony Goldwyn; actor (1960)

John M. Harlan; US Supreme Court justice (1899)

William Hewlett; H-P Founder (1913)

Nick Heywood; UK pop singer, guitarist (1961)

Guy Hoffman; rock musician (1954)

Levinus Lemnius; Dutch writer (1505)

Shorty Long; musician (1940)

Dolley Madison; first lady of James Madison (1768)

Hector Malot; French author (1830)

Hans Meerwein; German chemist (1879)

R.J. Mitchell; English engineer (1895)

Bobby Murcer; baseball player (1946)

Sumitranandan Pant; Indian poet (1900)

Bronson Pinchot; actor (1959)

Busta Rhymes; rapper (1972)

Michele Roberts; UK author (1949)

Louis Smith; jazz trumpeter (1931)

Tony Stewart; automobile racer (1971)

Jewel Styles; pornstar (1988)

Dave Thomas; Canadian comedian, actor (1949)

William Thornton; architect (1759)

David Wells; baseball player (1963)

Jane Wiedlin; pop singer (1958)

Anthony Zerbe; actor (1936)