#As of the end of the First Age I have 148 characters

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

The Committee of Public Safety being a totally healthy work environment with no issues whatsoever compilation

First, some statistics:

Leaving in the middle of a session due to fighting: Collot (1 time), Robespierre (3 times), Saint-Just (4 times)

Starting to cry during a session: Carnot (1 time), Robespierre (1 time)

Threatening your co-workers: Robespierre (2 times), Saint-Just (2 times, one of them a death threat), Couthon (1 time)

Calling your co-workers traitors/scroundrels/ counter-revolutionaries/aristocrats/conspirators/foreign agents: Billaud (1 time), Saint-Just (3 times), Robespierre (5 times), Collot (2 times), Barère (1 time)

Accusing your co-workers of aspiring towards dictatorship: Carnot, Billaud, Barère, Collot (1 time)

Accusing your co-workers of wishing to destroy patriots: Robespierre, Collot (1 time)

Using physical violence against your co-workers: Collot (2 times?)

Defending your co-worker against another co-worker in a way that doesn’t at all make it seem like you’re into him: Saint-Just (3 times) Barère (1 time)

Saint-Just had such indifference that, about this time (return from Fleurus), he came one evening to propose to the committee a strange means of promptly ending the struggle of the revolution against the suspected and imprisoned nobles. These were his words: ”For a thousand years the nobility have been oppressing the French nation with exactions and feudal vexations of every kind, feudalism and nobihty exist no longer, if you want to repair all the frontier roads for the passage of the artillery, convoys, and transports of our army, order the imprisoned nobles to go to work daily and mend the highways.” […] When Saint-Just had finished there was a movement of silent indignation amongst us all, succeeded by a unanimous demand for the order of the day. I thought I ought to stipulate for the national character by saying to Samt-Just and the committee that we should be opposed to such a kind of punishment for prisoners even if the law pronounced it, that the nobility could be abolished by wise laws, but that the nobles always preserved in the mass of the people a rank, a distinction due to education, which prevented us from acting at Paris as Manus did at Rome. ”Ah,” exclaimed Samt-Just, “Marius was more politic and a greater statesman than you will ever be. I wished to try the strength, the temperament, and the opinion of the Committee of Pubhc Safety. You are not fit to combat nobility, since you cannot destroy it, it will devour the Revolution and the revolutionists. I retire from the committee.” He quickly withdrew, and set out for the army, until the moment when he thought himself capable of executing vaster projects with Robespierre, Couthon, and Lebas, his associates. Memoirs of Bertrand Barère, volume 2, page 139-140.

It is the inherent vice of bad laws, and, above all, of penal laws devoid of motive, which attack a great number of innocent people, to nullify themselves. Saint-Just did not understand that. He attacked me, and accused me of having put under requisition the relatives of several emigrants whilst the law punished them in their property. The committee appeared struck by this accusation, and asked him to explain himself and name some of the relations. He named several, but they were all unknown to us. He afterwards named Mademoiselle d’Avisard, of Toulouse, whose father was abroad. Here I replied that the fate of this innocent girl, who was but sixteen years of age, and obliged by the terrible laws against emigrants to subsist at Paris by manual labour, for she was then engaged in making gaiters for our soldiers, was in the highest degree worthy of compassion and interest. […] The Committee of Public Safety thought this explanation sufficient. It saw that it was only a wicked recrimination by Saint-Just, supported by the presence of Robespierre. Memoirs Of Bertrand Barère, volume 2, page 147-148.

Robespierre murmured a lot about the forms that we had established in Lyon for the execution of decrees: he constantly repeated that there was no reason to judge the guilty when they are outlawed. He exclaimed that we had let the families of the condemned go free; and when the commission sent the Convention and the committee the list of its judgments, he was not in control of his anger as he cast his eyes on the column where the names of the citizens who had been acquitted were written. Unable to change anything in the forms of judgment, regulated according to the decrees and approved by the committee, he imagined another system; he questioned whether the patriots of Commune-Affranchie were not vexed and under oppression. They were, he said, because the property of the condemned being specially intended, by article IV of the decree of July 12, to become their patrimony, we had greatly reduced their claims, not only by not judging only a quarter of the number of conspirators identified by Dubois-Crancé on 23 Vendémiare, or designated by previous decrees, but also by establishing a commission which appeared willing to acquit two thirds, as it happened. Through these declamations Robespierre wanted to entertain the patriots of whom he spoke, with the most violent ideas, to throw into their minds a framework of extraordinary measures, and to put them in opposition with the representatives of the people and their closest cooperators: he made them understand that they could count on him, he emboldened them to form all kinds of obstacles, to only follow his indications which he presented as being the intentions of the Committee of Public Safety.   Défense de J-M. Collot, répresentant du peuple. Éclaircissemens nécessaires sur ce qui s’est passé à Lyon (alors Commune-Affranchie), l’année dernière; pour faire suite aux rapports des Répresentants du peuple, envoyés vers cette commune, avant, pendant et après le siège (1794)

Billaud Varennes: […] The first time I denounced Danton to the committee, Robespierre rose like a madman and declared that he saw my intentions, that I wanted to lose the best patriots. Billaud-Varennes accuses Robespierre during the session of 9 Thermidor

Why should I not say that [the dantonist purge] was a meditated assassination, prepared for a long time, when two days after this session where the crime was taking place (March 30 1794), the representative Vadier told me that Saint-Just, through his stubbornness, had almost caused the downfall of the members of the two committees, because he had wanted the accused be present when he read the report at the National Convention; and such was his obstinacy that, seeing our formal opposition, he threw his hat into the fire in rage, and left us there. Robespierre was also of this opinion; he believed that by having these deputies arrested beforehand, this approach would sooner or later be reprehensible; but, as fear was an irresistible argument with him, I used this weapon to fight him: You can take the chance of being guillotined, if that is what you want; For my part, I want to avoid this danger by having them arrested immediately, because we must not have any illusions about the course we must take; everything is reduced to these bits: If we do not have them guillotined, we will be that ourselves.  À Maximilien Robespierre aux enfers (1794) by Taschereau de Fargues and Paul-Auguste-Jacques.

In the beginning of floréal (somewhere between April 20 and 30) during an evening session (at the Committee of Public Safety), a brusque fight erupted between Saint-Just and Carnot, on the subject of the administration of portable weapons, of which it wasn’t Carnot, but Prieur de la Côte-d’Or, who was in charge. Saint-Just put big interest in the brother-in-law of Sijas, Luxembourg workshop accounting officer, that one thought had been oppressed and threatened with arbitrary arrest, because he had experienced some difficulties for the purpose of his service with the weapon administration. In this quarrel caused unexpectedly by Saint-Just, one saw clearly his goal, which was to attack the members of the committee who occupied themselves with arms, and to lose their cooperators. He also tried to include our colleague Prieur in the inculpation, by accusing him of wanting to lose and imprison this agent. But Prieur denied these malicious claims so well, that Saint-Just didn’t dare to insist on it more. Instead, he turned again towards Carnot, whom he attacked with cruelty; several members of the Committee of General Security assisted. Niou was present for this scandalous scene: dismayed, he retired and feared to accept a pouder mission, a mission that could become, he said, a subject of accusation, since the patriots were busy destroying themselves in this way. We undoubtedly complained about this indecent attack, but was it necessary, at a time when there was not a grain of powder manufactured in Paris, to proclaim a division within the Committee of Public Safety, rather than to make known this fatal secret? In the midst of the most vague indictments and the most atrocious expressions uttered by Saint-Just, Carnot was obliged to repel them by treating him and his friends as aspiring to dictatorship and successively attacking all patriots to remain alone and gain supreme power with his supporters. It was then that Saint-Just showed an excessive fury; he cried out that the Republic was lost if the men in charge of defending it were treated like dictators; that yesterday he saw the project to attack him but that he defended himself.

”It’s you,” he added, ”who is allied with the enemies of the patriots. And understand that I only need a few lines to write for an act of accusation and have you guillotined in two days.”   ”I invite you, said Carnot with the firmness that only appartient to virtue: I provoke all your severity against me, I do not fear you, you are ridiculous dictators.” The other members of the Committee insisted in vain several times to extinguish this ferment of disorder in the committee, to remind Saint-Just of the fairer ideas of his colleague and of more decency in the committee; they wanted to call people back to public affairs, but everything was useless: Saint-Just went out as if enraged, flying into a rage and threatening his colleagues. Saint-Just probably had nothing more urgent than to go and warn Robespierre the next day of the scene that had just happened, because we saw them return together the next day to the committee, around one o'clock: barely had they entered when Saint-Just, taking Robespierre by the hand, addressed Carnot saying:

”Well, here you have my friends, here are the ones you attacked yesterday!”

Robespierre tried to speak of the respective wrongs with a very hypocritical tone: Saint-Just wanted to speak again and excite his colleagues to take his side. The coldness which reigned in this session, disheartened them, and they left the committee very early and in a good mood. It was at this time that the division became pronounced in a very noticeable manner, and soon after we saw it claimed in the English papers that the Committee of Public Safety was divided. For some time now we had been distrusting each other, we were observing each other, we were no longer deliberating with them with this abandonment of trust. Until then Robespierre had done little; he constantly brought us his concerns, his suspicions, his shady expressions and his political bile; he only concerned himself with personal measures; he only drafted arrest warrants, he only dealt with factions, newspapers, the revolutionary tribunal. Nothing about the Government, nothing about the war, never having either views to propose or a report to make, he spent his time destroying our courage, despairing of the salvation of the country and speaking of its slanderers and its assassins; his favorite expressions were, everything is lost, there are no more resources. I no longer see anyone to save it, he always cried. When news of victory were brought by a courier, he spoke of upcoming betrayals, he tarnished our joy or attacked the representatives of the people near the victorious army. The more triumphant the Northern army was, the more strongly he denounced Richard and Choudieu; when the troops besieged Ypres, a stronghold and the key to West Flanders, a capture which, according to the decrees of the committee, was to open and ensure the campaign; Robespierre shouted against the representatives of the People near this army and had complaints written that the troops had not taken Ostend sooner. He seemed to us to be pursued by victories as well as by furies, and he often reproached the committee's rapporteur for the length and exaltation of his reports on the triumphs of the armies. Réponse des membres des deux anciens Comités de salut public et de sûreté générale (Barère, Collot, Billaud, Vadier), aux imputations renouvellées contre eux, par Laurent Lecointre et declarées calomnieuses par décret du 13 fructidor dernier; à la Convention Nationale (1795), page 103-105.

Robespierre, supported by the Jacobins, was the most influential member of the Committees without being the most wicked. His supporters were, however, in the minority; the plan to adjourn the sessions of the Convention had not obtained theor approval. One thought it necessary to oppose Robespierre with the masculine structure of Collot d’Herbois. A quarrel caused by the proposal of a proscription list to which Robespierre was precisely opposed (it involved the arrest of 14 deputies and citizens); this list, put up for discussion by the majority, passed to each member who added names to it, when it reached Robespierre, it had 32 deputies on it. Robespierre said: “I see five or six deputies unworthy of the character with which they are invested: it will be easy to induce them to resign: but I will lend neither my vote nor my signature to the revenge that you want to exercise.” Two friends of Robespierre were of his opinion: heads became heated, quarrels ensued: Robespierre was reminded of the fact he had voted against the Danton faction. The three opponents were treated as moderates. Robespierre, getting up angrily, said to them: “You are killing the Republic, you are the faithful agents of the foreigner who fears the system of moderation that we should adopt.” The session became so stormy that Collot used acts of violence against Robespierre. He threw himself at him and seized him by the flanks. He was about to throw Robespierre through the window when the latter's friends rescued him. Robespierre then declared that he was leaving the committee, that he could not honorably sit with executioners, that he would report this to the Convention. One saw the danger of publicizing this scene, blamed Collot's patriotic anger, and begged Robespierre, after having torn up the disastrous list, not to give the enemies of the Republic new means of attacking it. Robespierre seemed to calm down, but when Collot approached him to embrace him he refused and despite being urged not to he left.  Mémoires de Barras, membre du Directoire (1895) page 349-350. In a footnote, there is to read: This argument between Robespierre and Collot is recounted in more detail in another autobiographic note by Barras: Robespierre having opposed a new measure of proscription, saying: “You are decimating the National Convention, you are arresting citizens whose republican energy you fear,” the boor Collot d'Herbois threw himself at him and, having seized him by the flanks, he was about to throw Robespierre through the window when the latter's friends freed him. This scene was followed by explanations. Robespierre observed that he could no longer sit with executioners, that he was withdrawing and that he would report to the Convention. The Committee which predicted his fall then opposed Robespierre's exit. The proscription list was torn up in his presence. The hypocrite Carnot and the honeyed Couthon told him that Collot's angry outburst was disavowed by the Committee, that the publicity of what had just happened would ruin the Government Committees and the Republic. He was implored to make the sacrifice of all resentment, and that this proof of patriotism was expected of him. Collot furiously addressed the two mediators, complained about the weakness of his colleagues and left the session. Robespierre, very affected, alternately observed his adversaries. He said to them as he left: “You would have made me look crazy if the abortive plan to throw me through the window had taken place. I see here beings more atrocious than the one who tried to execute that plan. He left ashamed of having accepted this assassination.” Robespierre withdrew and did not appear again for two months at the Committee.

At a time when the Convention was already in a high state of alarm [Robespierre] had circulated a list of five or six deputies. It was rumored that Robespierre intended to have them arrested as a little treat to himself, alleging their immortality as the motive of this proposed act of severity. Robespierre, informed of what was being imputed to him, asserted that such an idea was foreign to him, and, desirous of hurling it back at its authors, he maintained that it had originated with the majority of the committee, which, he alleged, had pushed its cruelty so far as to seek to include 32 deputies in its latest proscription-list. In vain did those who spoke in defence of Robespierre’s innocence of the idea and his humanity protest that it was he who had opposed this more than rigorous measure, that he had torn up the list with his own hands, and apostrophizing the Committee, had said: ”You are seeking to still further decimate the Convention; I will not give my support to such action.” Robespierre had indeed spoken these words just as, making an attempt to leave the committee, he had opened the door with the intention of being heard by the deputies and a large number of citizens who, attracted by the noise of a quarrel in the bosom of the committee, were waiting in the antechamber for the purpose of gratifying their curiosity thus aroused. Collot d’Herbois, furious at such hypocrisy, had sprung after Robespierre, seized him by his coat, and, dragging him towards him in order to bring him back into the room, exclaimed in his resounding voice, which, the door remaining ajar, was heard by all, both the committee and the people outside: ”Robespierre is an infamous scroundrel, a hypocrite; he seeks to impute us that of which he alone is capable. We love all our colleagues; we carry all patriots in our hearts. There stands the man who seeks to butcher them one and all!” Thus vociferating, Collot d’Herbois still remained his hold on Robespierre’s coat-collar. As I had at that very moment left the Convention on my way to the committee, I became a chance spectator of this fearful scene, whose violence was still not the greatest crime in my eyes. Behind it stood revealed the plot of premeditated vengeance, far worse than a mere outburst of anger. I was among those who compelled Collot d’Herbois to release his hold on Robespierre, who thereupon declared that he could no longer sit with his enemies, styling them a party of septemvirs, whom he would unmask and fight in the body of the Convention. He then took his departure, in spite of the entreaties of the entreaties of the committee, which, having been unable to conquer, sought to retain him in its midst. ”Let him go his way,” I said to those surrounding him. All my interest in him lay in the fact that I did not wish to see him strangled on the spot by a stronger man, and one perhaps as wicked as himself. I followed him for a short distance in order to see him safely home; he was trembling as he walked alone. Memoirs of Barras, Member of the Directorate (1895), volume 1, page 196-198. A variation of the anecdote found in the French memoirs?

On 19 Prairial (June 7 1794), I was in the council chamber with Dumas and several jurors. I heard the president speak of a new law which was being prepared and which was to reduce the number of jurors to seven and nine per sitting. That evening I went to the Committee of Public Safety. There I found Robespierre, Billaud, Collot, Barère and Carnot. I told them that the Tribunal having hitherto enjoyed public confidence, this reduction, if it took place, would infallibly cause it to lose it. Robespierre, who was standing in front of the fireplace, answered me with sudden rage, and ended by saying that only aristocrats could talk like that. None of the other members present said a word. So I withdrew.  Réponse d'Antoine-Quentin Fouquier, ex-accusateur-public près le Tribunal révolutionnaire de Paris (1795) page 52-53.

The day after the one on which the [law of 22 prairial] was issued, (June 11 1794) […] there was such a stormy scene at the Committee of Public Safety that Robespierre cried out of rage, since that time he only came two times to the Committee of Public Safety, and it was agreed that the Committee of Public Safety would hold its sessions one floor higher so that the people would not witness the storms that were agitating us. Billaud-Varennes at the Convention, August 30 1794. In fact, Robespierre is proven to have continuously signed CPS decrees up until June 30 1794.

At the morning session of 22 floréal [sic, prairial] (June 10 1794), Billaud-Varennes openly accused Robespierre, as soon as he entered the committee, and reproached him and Couthon for alone having brought to the Convention the abominable decree which frightened the patriots. It is contrary, he said, to all the principles and to the constant progress of the committee to present a draft of a decree without first communicating it to the committee. Robespierre replied coldly that, having trusted each other up to this point in the committee, he had thought he could act alone with Couthon. The members of the committee replied that we have never acted in isolation, especially for serious matters, and that this decree was too important to be passed in this way without the will of the committee. ”The day when a member of the committee,” added Billaud, ”allows himself to present a decree to the Convention alone, there is no longer any liberty, but the will of a single person to propose legislation.” ”I see well that I am alone and that no one supports me,” said Robespierre, and immediately he flies into a rage, he declaims violently against the members of the committee who have conspired, he says, against him. His cries were so loud that on the terraces of the Tuileries several citizens gathered, the window was closed and the discussion continued with the same passion. ”I know,” said Robespierre, ”that there exists within the Convention a faction that wants to lose me, and you’re defending Ruamps here.” ”It must be said,” Billaud rebutted, ”that with this decree you wish to guillotine the National Convention.” Robespierre responds with agitation, ”you are all witnesses that I am not saying that I want to have the National Convention guillotined.” He added, “I know you now,” addressing Billaud. ”And I too, know you as a counter-revolutionary,” responded the latter. Robespierre became agitated as he paced around the committee; and then speaking again with more calm, he carried his hypocrisy to the point of shedding tears. Réponse des membres des deux anciens comités de salut public et de sûreté générale… (1795), page 108-109. This very much sounds like the same session Billaud is describing above, that here got wrongly dated twice.

It was agreed that the reform of the law of 22 Floréal [sic, prairial] was to be proposed in consultation with the Committee of General Security and that the internal divisions would be kept a secret as they were seen as capable of serving the enemies of the Convention and the revolutionary government. Robespierre became more of an enemy of his colleagues, isolated himself from the committee and took refuge with the Jacobins where he prepared to sharpen public opinion against what he called the known conspirators and against the operations of the committee. Only a few days he was seen reappearing at the committee, one evening it was to accuse Richard and Choudieu of the slow and uneven march of the Northern army, and of allowing Ostend to be evacuated during the siege of Ypres. He was told that Choudieu was very ill, that Richard’s conduct had always been good, that they had the confidence of the committee and that the general was carrying out the orders of the committee by securing Ypres. Robespierre affected great concerns about the operations of the armies of the North, he announced to us upcoming betrayals or even double inertia, he proposed to Billaud-Varennes to go to the North, to excite the energy and activity of the operations, but the members of the committee, being few in number and feeling the need to be reunited, opposed this dangerous measure, and Billaud remained. He had done the same thing some time earlier after a big fight (une alteration très-vive) with Collot d'Herbois, who reproached him with the fact he seemed to want to destroy the patriots, in his way of constantly denouncing them. The next day, Robespierre suggested that he go to Commune-Affranchie where royalism was regaining, he said, a frightening consistency. But this tactic of Robespierre was foiled both these two times by the very strong wish of the Committee of General Security which saw itself just as threatened as us by the maneuvers and denunciations of Robespierre. Réponse des membres des deux anciens comités de salut public et de sûreté générale… (1795), page 109-110. Note that on July 3 1794 we also find a CPS decree signed by Collot, Carnot, Saint-Just, Barère, Billaud and C-A Prieur ordering Couthon to go to the army of the Midi, an order that he never followed through with, indicating Robespierre might not have been the only one to try this tactic…

How many nights have not been fruitfully devoted to preparing everything that could strengthen the brilliant destiny of the Republic? How many battles have not been fought against the despotism of Robespierre? He had come to reject, either out of jealousy or malice, the most obviously salutary ideas. He once wanted to declare me a traitor and conspirator, because I had strongly supported the useful and wise proposal that Lindet made, to require horses and carriages in each section of Paris, in order to provide for the supplies of the armies. Défense particulière de J-M. Collot, représentant du peuple (March 1 1795) 

At several times, we had seen from afar the plan to attack the National Representation, intending to resect it; sometimes Couthon, and more often Robespierre, denounced deputies to the Jacobins. One day, we read letters and information sent to the Committee of General Security: Robespierre demanded immediate arrest for the two deputies denounced in these letters: the arrest of Dubois-Crancé was discussed and rejected: that of Alquier was strongly advocated by Robespierre who accused us of softening against the culprits and thus losing the public sake; but that he would denounce these facts to the Jacobins. An arrest warrent was drafted against this Representative; but by a unanimous wish of the two Committees, without hearing Robespierre, the execution was postponed indefinitely and was never carried out. Robespierre returned to the Committee a few days later to denounce new conspiracies in the Convention, saying that, within a short time, these conspirators who had lined up and frequently dined together would succeed in destroying public liberty, if their maneuvers were allowed to continue unpunished. The committee refused to take any further measures, citing the necessity of not weakening and attacking the Convention, which was the target of all the enemies of the Republic. Robespierre did not lose sight of his project: he only saw conspiracies and plots: he asked that Saint-Just returned from the Army of the North and that one write to him so that he may come and strengthen the committee. Having arrived, Saint-Just asked Robespierre one day the purpose of his return in the presence of the other members of the Committee; Robespierre told him that he was to make a report on the new factions which threatened to destroy the National Convention; Robespierre was the only speaker during this session. He was met by the deepest silence from the Committee, and he left with horrible anger. Soon after, Saint-Just returned to the Army of the North, since called Sambre-et-Mouse. Some time passes; Robespierre calls for Saint-Just to return in vain: finally, he returns, no doubt after his instigations; he returned at the moment when he was most needed by the army and when he was least expected: he returned the day after the battle of Fleurus. From that moment, it was no longer possible to get him to leave, although Gillet, representative of the people to the army, continued to ask for him. Saint-Just awaited in Paris the determination that matters would take. In the morning he took care of the police bureau, and decided on arrests or correspondence to be signed; in the evening, he dealt with the detained persons to be judged, together with the public prosecutor, or made violent motions to the committee; he would often speak twenty times in an evening session, and would only speak out of sentence or out of anger when he was not subjecting himself to an affected and painful silence, or rather he would spy on the committee. Most often, he spoke to us about the conspiracies that were being formed in the prisons, he insinuated ideas on this point to the committee's rapporteur, and above all wanted us to refuse the help requested in the prisons. One day he wanted to reduce it to 15 sousand called us defenders of counter-revolutionaries, because we were arguing for the rights of humanity. Réponse de Barère, Billaud-Varennes, Collot d’Herbois et Vadier aux imputations de Laurent Lecointre (1795) page 101-103.

Finally one day during the meeting of the Convention [sic, Committee?], Robespierre asked if one wanted to decide to attack the new factions or to perish by their maneuvers; he attacks and indicts several deputies in turn. An impatient member of the committee, oppressed by this ever-reviving project, stood up and said to him with violent severity: “Robespierre, for a long time you have been trying to lure us with terror into the project of striking our colleagues. You keep complaining about them, attacking them, gathering grievances and denouncing them. This is what the Hébertists and other punished counter-revolutionaries did. There are six of us here who profess the dogma of the integrity of national representation: if you want more, I declare to you, in my own name and in that of my colleagues who work with me and whose feelings I know, that you will only achieve national representation through our bloody corpses. These are the obstacles that we oppose to every ambitious person.” The same member of the committee has since repeated these words to the National Convention while speaking to Robespierre himself on 8 Thermidor. (Billaud) Robespierre felt the force of this unanimous response, bit his brakes, accused us of being defenders of the factions and threatened us with denunciation to the People and to the Convention, he moved away from the committee for some time and never stopped accusing us at the Jacobins, while he was preparing the speech he read on 8 thermidor. Réponse de Barère, Billaud-Varennes, Collot d’Herbois et Vadier aux imputations de Laurent Lecointre (1795) page 103

On 10 messidor (June 28) I was at the Committee of Public Safety. There, I witnessed those who one accuses today (Billaud-Varenne, Barère, Collot-d'Herbois, Vadier, Vouland, Amar and David) treat Robespierre like a dictator. Robespierre flew into an incredible fury. The other members of the Committee looked on with contempt. Saint-Just went out with him.  Levasseur at the Convention, August 30 1794. If this scene actually took place, it must have done so one day later, 11 messidor (June 29), considering Saint-Just was still away on a mission on the tenth.

In several evening sittings the two committees united to devise a means of revoking the law of 22 Prairial. After several conferences during the month of Messidor, they called Robespierre and Saint-Just into their midst to force them to revoke this law, which was the result of a combination unknown to all the members of the government. The meeting was very stormy. Vadier and Moise Bayle were the members of the Committee of General Surety who attacked the law and its authors with the greatest force and indignation. As to the Committee of Public Safety, it declared that it had no part in it, and plainly disowned it. All were agreed to repeal it next day. After this decision Robespierre and Saint-Just declared that they would appeal to public opinion, that they saw that a party was formed to assure immunity to the enemies of the people, and thus to destroy the most ardent friends of liberty , but they could warn good citizens against the united manoeuvres of the governing committees. They retired uttering threats against the members of the committees. Saint-Just called Carnot, amongst others, an aristocrat, and threatened to denounce him to the Assembly. This was like a declaration of war between the two committees and the triumvirate. Seeing Carnot, the most indispensable worker in the committee, thus attacked on account of his courageous honesty and great military talent, I rose up against Saint-Just. Carnot seemed astonished at these threats of denunciation — terrible indeed from a man who two months before had denounced and destroyed Danton. On behalf of my attacked colleague, I said to this little dictator: ”I do not fear you, I have always defended our country openly and without personal interest I will answer you in the tribune if you lay the blame on Carnot. You know that I make reports that are favourably heard by the Assembly, I will make one of those reports in favour of Carnot and against you.” From this moment Robespierre and his friends acted with hostility against us, and especially against me. One day they even sent Robespierre the younger to me, whom they had recalled from the Basses Alpes. This lunatic entered the committee under pretext of giving an account of his mission to Nice; but instead of fulfilling this duty, he addressed me in a furious tone: ”You have maltreated my brother. We missed you on the 31st of May, 1793, but we shall not miss you on the 31st of May, 1794.” He left still threatening us. Memoirs of Bertrand Barère, volume 2, page 167-169.

I obtained from Barère the following fact: During a session of the Committee of Public Safety, Saint-Just and Robespierre reproached Carnot for being an aristocrat (the latter was frightened and shed tears, Barère said) and threatened to denounce him as such at the Convention. Then Barère said: In that case I will make public that you are angry with the man who organized the victory. Testimony of Filippo Buonarroti, cited in Études robespierristes; La corruption parlementaire sous la Terreur (1917) by Albert Mathiez. This sounds very much like the same incident Barère is describing above.

Having come to the Committee of General Security three or four days before 9 Thermidor (July 23), I was told that the two committees of public safety and general security would meet between noon and one o'clock in the place where the first held its sessions, and that I had to go there. Having asked what the reason for this meeting was, I was further told that it was to mutually explain the division which, according to what Robespierre had claimed on different occasions to the Jacobins, existed between the government committees. As I did not have the slightest knowledge of this alleged division, and as I was completely ignorant of what Robespierre had said to the Jacobins, I went to the Committee of Public Safety where I found several of my colleagues who had preceded me, and above all Robespierre, walking with long strides, glasses on his nose and throwing at everyone, from the height of his grandeur, looks which marked the deepest contempt. After a few minutes of silence, Saint-Just spoke and said in his exordium that although the youngest among us, he spoke first since we had often seen young people open opinions which enlightened those who were older; he then spoke on the necessity of organizing a constitution and ended up making a pompous eulogy of Robespierre, calling him the martyr of the liberty of his country and assuring him of all his esteem. This praise having been applauded and confirmed by Le Bas, Robespierre believed that it was time to burst out and first complained in general about his numerous enemies, whom he said were too cowardly to ever allow themselves to persecute him; he then indicted Amar, Vadier, Jagot, Carnot, Collot and Billaud, reproaching them for the fierceness with which they tore each other apart, which, having given rise to explanations, was the cause of Carnot telling him to his face that he did not like him, and Billaud and Collot repulsed his attacks with so much vehemence, energy and noise, that I more than once invited Collot to speak more quietly. Now, in the heat of this explanation, I heard for the first time that Robespierre was also criticized for having intended to put on trial the 72 of our colleagues who were still incarcerated; I also heard him being told that he had complained that one had not yet made use of this infinity of denunciations which were in the Committee of General Security against others of our colleagues, that nothing had been done so as not to provoke new troubles and to maintain concord and peace between us. This storm having passed and Robespierre having seemed to calm down, one agreed on ending the session, and that Saint-Just would make a report on behalf of the two Committees to inform the National Convention that they were not divided. Philippe Rühl in a speech held March 23 1795

Robespierre bitterly reproached us, at the committee, on 5 Thermidor (July 23), for having had the statue of superstition, erected on the Tuileries basin, brought down during the night. Réponse des membres des deux anciens comités de salut public et de sûreté générale… (1795), page 96.

You (Dubois-Crancé) say that Robespierre being absent the other members of the committee therefore agreed to lose you. It was rather to save you. Twice at the end of Messidor and on 7 Thermidor (July 25 1794) Couthon wanted to have the committee adopt the draft of the act of accusation against you; twice he was rejected. The last time especially, seeing himself rejected by us with a sort of cold and firm indignation, he went so far as to request from the committee the refusal that we made to deliberate on these serious denunciations which he brought against Dubois-Crancé. We opposed him in political principle the integrity of the legislative body and the danger of supporting the liberticidal projects of the aristocrats and tyrants in coalition; in public consideration, his reconciliation with you at the Jacobins, and in principle of justice the lack of legitimate evidence. Couthon left the committee furious, and threatened to denounce or silence our refusal to the people and the Convention. B. Barère à Dubois Crancé: Réponse (1795), page 29

This decisive scene, to unmask the conspirators, happened at half past midnight, from the 8th to the 9th of Thermidor (July 26 to 27). Several members of the two committees were gathered. We worked on the ordinary operations of the committees, but we worked with that sad impatience accompanies a terrible outcome, which all circumstances told us would be imminent. Saint-Just kept a profound silence, observed from time to time the members of the committees, and showed neither concern nor rest. He had just sent to Tuilier, his creature, the first 18 pages of the report he was to make the next day; and he then told us that he could not read the report to the committee, of which he only had the last pages. Collot d'Herbois come over from the Jacobins, where he had just been insulted, threatened, proscribed, so to speak, he seemed very agitated. Collot-d'Herbois had barely entered when his colleagues ask him why people left the Jacobins so late? Saint-Just asks him coldly, ”what's new at the Jacobins?”

”You’re asking me what's new? Are you the one who ignores it? You, who are in league with the main author of all these political quarrels, and who only wants to lead us to civil war: you are a coward and a traitor: it is you who deceives us, with your hypocritical air; you're just a box of apothegms, and you're spying on us in the committee. I have just convinced myself of this by everything I have heard; you are three scoundrels, who believe you are blindly leading us to the loss of our homeland, but liberty will survive your horrible plots.”

Here Elie Lacoste rose in fury and said: “there is a triumvirate of knaves, it is Robespierre, Couthon and Saint-Just, who are plotting against the homeland.”

Barère adds: ”who are you then? Insolent Pygines? Who wants to see the spoils of the homeland split between a cripple, a child and a scoundrel; I wouldn’t give you a barnyard to govern.”

Collot-d’Herbois continues: “I know that perhaps you will have us assassinated this night, perhaps we will be hit, by your plots, tomorrow morning, but we are determined to perish at our posts; and before then, perhaps, we will be able to unmask you. Among us, you are making plans against the committees. You have, I am sure, in your pockets calumnies leveled against us; you are a domestic enemy and a conspirator.” 

Saint-Just was struck by this speech; he turned pale, and he did not know what to answer. He opened one of his pockets, stammering, and placed some papers on the table; no one came to read them.

Collot-d’Herbois continues and says to him: “You are preparing a report; but from the way I know you, you have undoubtedly written our act of accusation? So what hope do you have? What lasting success can you expect from these horrible betrayals? You can, perhaps take our lives, have us murdered, but you will not deceive the virtue of the people. Do you believe that when it sees itself deprived of its defenders, of men who sacrificed themselves for it, it will not tear you to pieces? Do you believe that it will sit tight tomorrow, a quiet spectator of your crimes? No, there will be no unpunished usurpation when it comes to the rights of the people.”

Saint-Just then fell back on his report, and said that he would join the committee the next day and that if it did not approve it, he would not read it. Collot continued to unmask Saint-Just; but as he focused more on depicting the dangers praying on the fatherland than on attacking the perfesy of Saint-Just and his accomplices, he gradually reassured himself of his confusion; he listened with composure, returning to his honeyed and hypocritical tone. Some time later, he told Collot d'Herbois that he could be reproached for having made some remarks against Robespierre in a café, and establishing this assertion as a positive fact, he admitted that he had made it the basis of an indictment against Collot, in the speech he had prepared. Saint-Just, during that night, prolonged his allegations and his remarks so much, that it was quite obvious that he only dragged on in this way, in order to prevent us from taking measures against their conspiracy. Several members of the committees, impatient to so much falsehood, went into the next room and deliberated whether they would have him arrested immediately, but they thought it was wiser to refer it the next day to the National Convention, after having known the intentions of Saint-Just, in the report he was to make. It is even worth noting that when we drew up a picture of the unfortunate circumstances in which public affairs found itself, each of us looked for measures and proposed means; Saint-Just stopped us, acting astonished, as if not being in the confidence of these dangers, and complained that all hearts were closed, that he knew nothing, that he could not conceive this quick way of improvising lightning at every moment, and he conjured us, in the name of the republic, to return to fairer ideas, to wiser measures. This was how the traitor kept us in check, paralyzed all our measures and cooled our zeal. At five o'clock in the morning, Saint-Just fled and the members of the committee sought means to paralyze the armed force of Paris, which the scoundrels had in their hands. Réponse des membres des deux anciens Comités de salut public et de sûrété générale… (1795) page 105-107.

[ethanray]

My list

Bonus internet points will be awarded to anyone who actually tries this exercise before voting.

Assume you need to get the spelling at least somewhat close, and if a character has multiple names, only one counts. Also, if a character doesn't have a canonical name, I'm sorry, but "that guy's wife" doesn't count.

For reference, if you can name the 9 members of the Fellowship, the eponymous Hobbit and his 13 dwarf buddies, 3 prominent women, and the guy who runs the Rivendell B&B, that's 27 characters right there. And you probably also know the name of a dragon.

For further reference, Tolkien Gateway has 637 (!!) pages dedicated to Third Age characters. (Don't click that link until you've voted, of course)

Edit: Your humble pollmaker gave this a try, and got as far as 73 before deciding she was too tired to keep trying to remember dwarf and Silm names. If you also want to share (and don't mind people being incredulous at your having forgot ____), pastebin allows you to paste text and share it for free. :)

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #148

I did a lot of things today, but somehow I was fairly empty-minded for most of it.

I made a wonderful tea out of two different kinds of chocolate tea and two different kinds of strawberry tea, sweetened with a little honey and cream:

Shortly after that, I went to physical therapy. J came with me, because we were gonna go get pizza afterwards! There's a place nearby called Pizza Palace, which is run by a very kindly older gentleman who makes it a point to speak to us whenever we stop by, because we left really good Google reviews for his shop. The reviews were well-earned because the pizza there is really good, so I am a little confused about the level of gratitude he shows us just for us telling the truth, but if it makes him happy, then that's the important thing, I suppose!

The kindly gentleman has been all over the world and has done a great many things. I really do love when he talks to us; we learn much and his smile is one of the most radiant I've ever seen. And he makes beautiful pizza. I hope that his business might prosper. We told him a little bit about ourselves; I told him about how I used to do mermaid training, and J told him about learning to fly airplanes. The conversation was wonderful. I hope we get to have more.

After we returned home, I decided that it was time to strain the lilacs out of the water that I stewed them in. But I didn't get a cheesecloth because I thought we already had one; we don't. So I made do with a wire mesh strainer:

From there, I poured it into a saucepan and added about 2 cups of sugar. Normally, you're supposed to add as many cups of sugar as there are cups of lilacs, but I find the sweetness to be overpowering if I do that, so normally I add half or less. I had between 7 and 8 cups of lilac blossoms. 2 cups of sugar tasted correct:

From here, you have to let it reduce on the stove at a low heat for a while. It still needs to be reduced because the consistency isn't quite as viscous as I'd like, but here's how it ended up:

...I'll have to finish the process tomorrow, if I have time.

J and I visited Br after this. We went to her house, and I did a lot of leisure writing. I also listened to all the lovely tunes of one of the wonderful folks I met at the gathering of polyamorous people! I think this person's stuff is pretty great! Here's a link, in case you wanna hear it, too:

I really enjoyed listening to all of these. I think my favorites were Eightohtwoelevenen and Fractal Clouds!

Oh! You might also be pleased to know that I got some nice pictures of the sky for you on the way to Br's house... If you look very closely at the first one, you'll see a very faint rainbow in the clouds, near the bottom...

...I hope the skies you fly in are at least as pretty as the pictures of the sky that I try to take for you.

...I don't have much else to say today. Tomorrow, I gotta wake up early and go to the house of the friend who I got the lilacs from; I will have the pleasure of watching over her delightful little son as she works from home! I am looking forward to it, but simultaneously, I am somewhat worried about doing a bad job somehow. This worry makes no sense, given that I literally have a degree in taking care of children between the ages of 0 and 3, but my brain is always worried about being bad at the things I'm good at, so maybe I'll pay it no heed.

I love you. Please stay safe out there, okay? Take some time to dance merrily up in the clouds. Take some time to enjoy some warm, delightful-smelling rains. Take some time to watch the sunrises and sunsets splash kaleidoscopic colors all over the clouds, won't you?

I'll write again tomorrow, as I always do.

Your friend, Lumine

[bombcollar]

I was tagged by @go-go-devil!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

I currently have 151.

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

327,526

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Currently the most recent fics I wrote have been for Cadence of Hyrule but I've also recently written for Iconoclasts and Pokemon.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Ferris Wheel (Bugsnax, Snorplo) - 248

Gemini (Bugsnax, body horror) - 169

Imitation Beef (Bugsnax, continuation of a canon scene) - 165

Imago (Elden Ring, Miquella wakes up as a big bug) - 154

Field Notes (Bugsnax, AU, cosmic horror) - 148

5. Do you respond to comments?

I always try to, even if it's just to say thanks.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

oh god probably one of my bugsnax fics... bugsnax really was ripe for angst. Both One Last Dance and Weary end in the implication that everybody has succumbed to the snax. I tend to leave things on more ambiguous notes than angsty, so even if the characters are in a sad or desperate situation it's uncertain what's going to happen to them next.

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Sleep is Dark Souls III fic that implies the age of dark is actually a good thing and Lorian and Lothric survive to see it after all they've been through. I know I have written other happy things but this one is very hopeful.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I've gotten a couple shitty comments or ones where I was just like, I have no idea what you're trying to communicate to me, but they're extremely rare and I just delete them if I do get them.

9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?

I do not write smut. Just not my thing.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

Not often, I have a few Fromsoft crossovers but I did write a Bugsnax/Nier Automata fic that never got finished. That's Between My Teeth.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, quite a few. Ao3 user Dashana in particular has translated a number of my Iconoclasts fics to Russian. I will probably never say no to having a fic translated if it helps it reach a larger audience, especially because I tend to pick niche fandoms or subjects.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I have, with @malicious-fisheeves and with @wheeled-jack as well as some other friends who don't really use tumblr.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I really don't feel that strongly about ships much of the time but I do really like Wally/May from Pokemon RSE/ORAS and Gwyndolin/Darkmoon Knightess from Dark Souls.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Ugh I have this Mochi Mayhem rewrite thing in the works but I just can't seem to make any progress on it. I may put it out there unfinished but the problem is I have a big chunk of the beginning done and then a scene at the very end and nothing in the middle lmao.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I've been told I'm really good at building dread. I personally think I'm good at writing platonic and familial character relationships, and writing characters who might be antagonists but who are complex and sympathetic.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I have some trouble when it comes to writing incidental side characters that might serve a purpose for one scene but aren't really that important.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I really enjoy writing dialogue, it's one of my favorite parts of the process.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I wrote a Rayman 3 fic about some OCs of mine probably back in 2003 or something. It was about these griffin-like creatures that had the powerups tested on them and it fucked them up because they were flesh and blood rather than made of cloth like the Hoodlum enemies are. They were trying to escape the facility they were kept in. Unfortunately I do not think it's still posted on my old ff.net account so it may be lost media.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

I'll always be extremely proud of Monarch Sunrise (the bugsnax timeskip cruise fic) for the sheer scale of it (as far as my fics go) and for all the help I had plotting and editing it.

This is a tough question to answer though because I'm really happy with many of them. I'd say my favorite thing I've written lately is Lyre Lyre, my Octavo backstory fic, because I think it does a good job of laying out his situation in a concise and entertaining manner, like he's telling this story to a crowd.

as for tagging folks uhhh how about @wheeled-jack @mumagi @disco-descent

[quoteoftheweekblog]

...

23/9/24 - ALI SMITH

'Pauline who?' (Smith, 2017, p.150).

REFERENCE

Smith, A. (2017 [2016] ) 'Autumn'. London: Penguin.

*****

'Pauline Boty, 1960s Pop Art painter.' (Smith, 2017, p.150).

...

*****

SEE ALSO

'I don't like it when the summer goes and the autumn comes ... ' (Smith, 2017, p.148).

...

THE SUN ROSE YESTERDAY IN BASINGSTOKE ON THE AUTUMN EQUINOX AT 06.51

IT SET AT 19.01

...

*****

ALL SEASONS

*****

FOR MY HUSBAND

WHO WOULD HAVE ENJOYED THIS ONE

...

LOOKING GOOD

*****

ALSO FOR BOOK GROUP 2024

20 (90) GLORIOUS YEARS

…

‘What you reading?’ (Smith, 2017, p.68).

THIS MONTH I ALSO READ

…

SUMMER

FANTASTIC

📚📚📚📚📚

THIS MONTH OUR MEMBERS ALSO READ OR ARE STILL READING …

TOP READER LEADER

…

THE COUNTRY GIRLS TRILOGY

I have finished the Edna O’Brien trilogy. I enjoyed the first two volumes, but the third was rather grim. The title is ironic - ‘Girls in Married Bliss’ - as the marriages are not blissful.

&

…

CLEAR

This is set in the early nineteenth century when Scottish landowners were evicting their tenants on the mainland and islands to replace them by sheep. A man is sent to a remote island to evict the last occupant. It is beautifully written, and very convincing, except for the ending which I found rather unlikely.

&

…

DEMON COPPERHEAD

I have also picked up ‘Demon Copperhead’ again and have become absorbed in it again.

📚📚📚📚📚

…

THE GATHERING STORM

… the latest Morland Dynasty book which covers the Hindenburg disaster, the abdication and the approach of WW2.

📚📚📚📚📚

…

THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT

JUST FINISHED THE ‘MARRIAGE PORTRAIT’ BY MAGGIE O’FARRELL WHICH I REALLY ENJOYED ALTHOUGH IT’S A GRIM STORY ABOUT LUCREZIA, DUCHESS OF FERRARA.

📚📚📚📚📚

…

A PATH OF SERIOUS HAPPINESS

IT IS THE LATEST IN A SERIES OF 12 so far, called ‘The Hawk and the Dove’.

The books are centred around the fictional Benedictine monastery of St Alcuin’s in Yorkshire, and are set in the 14th century.

In this book Abbot John has sent two monks apparently ill matched in character, (the only ones he could spare), on a long journey. They are off to Cambridge to collect Brother Felix early from his year of study for ordination as he is finding it hard to cope.

The road is full of twists and turns in every sense. As usual I couldn’t put it down.

Here is the flippant Brother Philip considering how to engage with his serious, brooding travelling companion, Father William:

‘Mindful that Father William found his attempts at cheerfulness yesterday more than a little tedious, Brother Philip decides to try singing today.

Evaluating his brother in Christ as a man of serious mind, he rejects the jolly Maying songs with their central theme of lively widespread copulation, trying instead the Luke-Wake Dirge, which is easy to sing quietly, and suitably sober in its focus on death and dire warnings and the threat of hell.’

It’s quite long.

📚📚📚📚📚

…

BOOK GROUP

*****

QUOTE OF THE WEEK 2011 - 2024

…

13 EPIC YEARS

*****

FROM THE ARCHIVE

…

2/8/21

*****

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week # 148 (Year 3/Week 44):

“… Would you go without her?… “

No bears, my 5th and favourite meta-film by persecuted Iranian director Jafar Panahi. Made in secret and illegally while being prohibited by the Ayatollahs. It's a slick and sharp fictionalized metaphor about a director, played again by himself, who rents a room in a tiny, primitive village near the Turkish border, while directing a movie long-distance about a couple who wants to escape Iran.

It's impossible to separate the fiction from reality. This is like a serious 'La Nuit américaine' with real-life consequences. Panahi was sentenced to 6 years in jail a month after the premier of the film. What kind of movies could he make, had he born in a "normal" country?

There's always the noise of traffic, when you're in the city. But it ends with the barks of country dogs at night. 9/10.

🍿

“ … So you’re a rocket scientist?…”

How many times have I seen J.C. Chandor's masterly thriller Margin Call in the last couple of years? At least half a dozen, and I simply can't get enough. After 'The Wolf of Wall Street' re-watch last week, I had to do it one more time. It's interesting that the movie doesn't show what they actually do, except of the end, after the long night is over. The muted score... The bridge story... the top-notch performances.

Noted this time: Stanley Tucci got $1,411,768 in extra bonus to stay at the office one last day - why such a sum? Also, the credits listed 12 people on the ‘Jeremy Irons miracle visa team’...

A perfect 10/10 - "Best Wall Street move ever made".

🍿

Third re-watching of György Pálfi’s immersive mashup Final Cut, Ladies and Gentlemen a ‘supercut’ of 451 clips from the most famous films in history. It’s a meta-love story, told through a montage of scenes edited together from all those other films.

It proves the power of the good editor. Also, how visual tropes and cinematic cliches repeat themselves again and again throughout history; Running through wheat fields, a whistling kettle, lovers kissing in the rain, a mirror is being smashed, clutching a child to one’s bosom, the clicking of keyboard...

And now you just want to watch and re-watch every single one of these 451 movies where the clips are from... Absolutely fantastic.

🍿

Another French classic, Peppermint Soda, my first by Diane Kurys. A sweet coming of age story of two charming sisters, 13 and 15 years old in Paris of 1963. Very similar in spirit, 'feel' and maturity as Truffaut's '400 Blows', but with girl-centric focus, which is so refreshing. She managed to write and direct this little masterpiece without having any prior experience in movie-making!

The 13-year-old who played the main character, Éléonore Klarwein, looks so familiar, but doesn't even have a Wikipedia page!

I'm going to seek the rest of Kurys work. Most delightful discovery of the week!

🍿

3 more by prolific French director Patrice Leconte:

🍿 I’ve only seen his ‘The man on the train’ before. Monsieur Hire was based on a mystery novel by Georges Simenon. It tells of a bald, lonely, middle age tailor who falls in love with young Sandrine Bonnaire, who lives in the apartment across from his. This was one of the last films that Roger Ebert added to his 'Great movies' list. 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

🍿 Gérard Depardieu starred in ~ 250 movies. One of his latest was playing Maigret, one of the original old-time detectives. A large and tired, but very humane figure, he's quietly trying to discover the circumstances behind a murder of a lonely young woman. (Photo Above).

🍿 The Boléro drummer is a 1992 wordless short. It comically focuses on the frustrated facial expressions of a drummer, while participating in a performance of Ravel's piece.

🍿

I’m your man, my second film by German director Maria Schrader (after ‘She said’). An updated version to Spike Jonze's 'Her', where it's not only the voice but a complete human android they fall in love with. A better-than-usual Black Mirror romcom, with growing emotional resonance. It, unsurprisingly, ends in a sleepy seaside Danish village! 7/10.

🍿

Tarkovsky's lyrical debut feature Ivan’s childhood about a Soviet boy hero in WW2 fighting the Nazis. Not what I expected, minimalist poetry.

🍿

3 more by Martin Ritt:

🍿 “… You’re an unprincipled man, Hud…”

Hud, a Neo-Western about a self-centered, indecent bastard, an amoral anti-hero Paul Newman, and his proud, old-fashioned father. Played in a dying small west-Texas town, of the 'Last Picture Show' bleakness and despair kind. Based on a Larry McMurtry novel, and featuring Patricia Neal as a housekeeper who was hurt before, and won't be again, if she can help it. There's a scene where a large herd of cows, possibly infected with Foot-and-mouth disease, is being shot in a culling pit that is very hard to watch. 8/10.

🍿 Stanley & Iris, Martin Ritt's final film, and the only one where Robert de Nero is getting around on a bicycle. A romantic working class tearjerker that didn't work; A large commercial bakery where most of the work was done by hand, an illiterate laborer who becomes fabulously successful once he learns to read (and the tired cliche of a person walking in the middle of the street instead of the sidewalk..) 2/10.

🍿 Re-watch: The political drama about the 1950's Hollywood blacklisters, The front. A superficial study of the workings and effects of McCarthyism, made 2 decades later by a group of writers who were boycotted themselves. But Woody Allen was an obnoxious actor always playing obnoxious characters, even here, when he didn't mean to be funny. Dated and two-dimensional. 3/10.

🍿

Another Red Scare re-watch, Don Siegel's alien invasion allegory Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The originator of the 'Pod people' conspiracy concept. The fear of losing one's 'originality' and 'personality' when confronted with conformity and mass acceptance. In retrospect, the conclusions and explanations had a low 'Twilight Zone' quality.

🍿

The body, a convoluted Spanish crime mystery that predictably plays it by the numbers. There were two scene that elevated it from a complete bore-fest: An outrageously disgusting one, when the accused husband tears an incriminating letter in a dirty toilet, and when it doesn’t flush, he has to fish it out and swallow it. And the final, unexpected twist, that came out of left field. 2/10.

🍿

4 comedies I haven’t seen before:

🍿 ... "We want the finest wines available to humanity, we want them here and we want them now..."

Withnail & I, an odd, Ralph Steadman-like, off-beat British classic satire, about 2 drunk slackers, unemployed actors, who escape to an unheated, falling-down cottage in the country. Punkish Richard E. Grant debut film.

🍿 “who wants a mustache ride?”

Super troopers, a sophomoric, noisy, crude and low-brow comedy, that wasn't as stupid as it sounds. With Brian Cox and Lynda Carter.

🍿 I Love You Phillip Morris, a misguided gay romance with Jim Carrey that can't decide if it's a tender drama about a conman, or a low-brow comedy full of gay stereotypes. Fake cliches all the way. With Hair's Annie Golden. 2/10.

🍿 Jennifer’s body, a female-focused horror written by Diablo Cody. I watched it only because of one insightful review on 'Letterbox', but the tenets of the horror genre simply don't work for me. Gave it 25 minutes, then gave it up, sorry.

🍿

I've seen 7 of Paolo Sorrentino's 10 features so far, so I wanted to indulge with his HBO-series, The young pope, with Jude Law playing a rebellious American pope. The first episode was typically stylish, and beautifully irreverent. But the premise of the Vatican letting an un-vetted young mutt to take over the institution is so ridiculous, that after 2 hours I had to bail out.

🍿

3+ female-directed shorts:

🍿 'A Seaman’s Life Flashes Before His Eyes', in the Oscar nominated Canadian short The flying sailor. It is based on the real life Halifax explosion that happened in 1917, where a sailor was blown through the air and survived.

🍿 Muta, by Argentinian Lucrecia Martel; A group of 8 well-dressed models on a barge sailing the Amazon river. Creepy, unexplained, experimental. My 2nd from the Miu Miu collection of Women's tales.

🍿 Zoe Cassavetes’s (John’s daughter) The Powder Room. Basically, a clothing ad. 1/10.

🍿 Also, Capitol of Conformity, a Dystopian Short Film created by AI and by Aze Adora.

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here)

[solitudeandseclusion]

I posted 2,287 times in 2022

That's 999 more posts than 2021!

31 posts created (1%)

2,256 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ithinkhobiknows

@squids-for-knees

@anotherawkwardbritishkid

@rosebowl

@fandomsallaroundme

I tagged 2,210 of my posts in 2022

Only 3% of my posts had no tags

#bangtan - 513 posts

#bts - 499 posts

#tumblr - 168 posts

#relatable - 148 posts

#hoseok - 103 posts

#quotes - 100 posts

#tiktok - 86 posts

#yoongi - 79 posts

#art - 77 posts

#jungkook - 72 posts

Longest Tag: 104 characters

#if you sip the water first then the pills start dissolving the second they touch the water in your mouth

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

if gregory does not kiss janine by the end of this month, i'm gonna be so pissed

22 notes - Posted November 18, 2022

#4

so I watched Hell is Other People (alternate title: Strangers from Hell). now from spoiler free gifs on tumblr and TWO edits I'd seen on twitter made me assume this was a drama with some petty crime where Lee Dong Wook is a bit quirky insane 🤪

I watched the show in two days. 5 eps each day and GOOD LORD LDW IS SCARY AF AND THERE IS SO MUCH CRIME 😭😭😭 LDW is what drew me to the show but I have to admit Im Siwan is fkn amazing as well. Lee Jung-eun is a (creepy) queen. The rest of the supporting cast is also great. Ugh this show has disturbed me so greatly but what I hate the most about it is how fkn hot LDW looked in all black in the final ep like pls leave my head. I need help. Fin.

30 notes - Posted September 20, 2022

#3

warming my hands around this dumpster fire on this chilly night

37 notes - Posted November 11, 2022

#2

so true

[image credit: netflixgolden]

40 notes - Posted March 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

ep 14 had so much. but i felt the most for baek yi jin and ko yu rim. yi jin is the oldest in the gang and even though the others are stepping into adulthood in their own ways, they do not fully understand just how harsh this world could be. baek yi jin had been warned by coach yang that this closeness with the subject could blow up in his face and while it was not hee do but yu rim, it turned out to be worse. this man's family had been a supporter of yu rim for ages but they could not continue due to their own misfortunes. yu rim's family continued to be nice to yi jin's family regardless of their stature. baek yi jin fully knows his duties as a reporter and he understands that him breaking the news would be kinder for yu rim (even though the younger ones do not get it yet). he becomes the bad guy in the story just so he could accurately present the story without sensationalizing it. yu rim gets it though. she understands when she calls him a reporter and asks him to go forth with the questions. but she does not explain this to the others. this is between her and yi jin, who have known each other through thick and thin. guilt-ridden (and due to the nature of his job), yi jin does not see her off at the airport. he finally breaks down at the end of the episode when he just cannot handle how much it hurts. if only he still had the means, he would've paid off all of yu rim's family debts, he knows that in his bones. but life is just so so cruel and we know they both deserve better but what can you do. that's what growing up is.

98 notes - Posted March 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[rufusbear]

I posted 1,205 times in 2022

9 posts created (1%)

1,196 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@audreycritter

@sillysunshinesstuff

@nandalorian

@wolfhalls

@serene-quill

I tagged 924 of my posts in 2022

Only 23% of my posts had no tags

#jason todd - 148 posts

#eddie munson - 109 posts

#steve harrington - 104 posts

#tim drake - 94 posts

#steddie - 60 posts

#dick grayson - 54 posts

#stranger things - 42 posts

#battinson - 40 posts

#the mandalorian - 38 posts

#red hood - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 78 characters

#one of the only reasons i can even do it now is because of maturity (old age?)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Listen, I’ve read a lot of stranger things Steve/Eddie fic the last few months. A lot. And I cannot believe the amount of times I’ve read either of them, or the kids, yelling, “Oi!” Just. Stop. I don’t care if you don’t get a beta reader but please, for the love of gob, please get whatever the opposite of a Brit-pick is. Americ-pick? Idk. I can’t take it anymore. American’s don’t say “Oi!” Ever. The equivalent would be “hey!” I can handle “mum” or an extra “u” in a word, but “Oi” is the quickest way to take someone out of a fic. HEY!

0 notes - Posted September 1, 2022

#4

SHARE MY PAIN; Rufus recs

I'm currently suffering from a fic hangover. I slammed this badboy yesterday and cannot get it out of my head. I'm aware this is the worst time to rec anything on tumblr because tags or whatever but I'm doing it anyway. I've thought about sharing more fic recs because I've been reading like crazy lately so here's my first. More to come, probably.

LIKE A BAT OUT OF HELL by allacesandeights~87k. Tim Drake/Jason Todd. Jason POV.

Jason always thought that Gotham was hell. Now he has proof. When the God of Death arrives in Gotham, Jason and the Outlaws come up with a plan to take him down. When their plan brings them into contact with the Titans, Jason ends working with his Replacement. As Jason and Tim get closer, Jason has to figure out whether he can ever move past their history.

WHY YOU SHOULD READ IT The pacing is excellent; a great balance of action, story movement without any drag. I could actually follow the fight scenes and visualize what was happening, which is refreshing.

While it is action packed, there are enough breaks that fit naturally and give the boys time together that's needed for their character and relationship growth. I personally really love the characterizations. Jason is an ass without being too much and Tim holds his own. He isn't written in that way that seems to diminish him to the "weaker" one, which I've seen a lot in this pairing.

HURT/COMFORT/WHUMP LEVEL Solid 7: some blood, concussions, broken/sore ribs, one fixing up the other's injuries.

WHITE STREAK Yes, Jason has the white streak in his hair. The Streak is important to me and I shall now track it in fic.

RECCER NOTES I’m guessing one of the reasons this fic doesn’t have thousands of kudos is because it’s RHATO comics instead of post-crisis. I’m still new to this fandom but I think I have a pretty good grasp on the universes/timelines/whatever now. While I agree that post-crisis canon, and thus fic, is superior, don’t let that keep you from reading this story. I’ve only recently started reading RHATO but I think this story captured their team dynamics really well and makes me want to go read more.

The author is from the UK and I don't believe it was beta'd, so there are several UK-isms that can take you out of it. I just ignored them but it was also kind of fun to see Jason yelling "Oi!" at someone... that feels in character in a weird way.

If you can get beyond that, it's worth the read!

0 notes - Posted January 2, 2022

#3

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Batman (Comics), Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Jason Todd Additional Tags: Arson, Fire, Jason Todd-centric, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, and possibly a fire extinguisher, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, i guess Series: Part 1 of Open Flame Summary:

He wasn’t sure what it was about fire he found fascinating, maybe the possibility to forge something strong and lasting, or the potential to destroy so completely that it was erased from being. Either way, he liked to see how far he could push fire before it bit back.

— Or, the one where Jason likes fire and becomes an arsonist.

2 notes - Posted January 31, 2022

#2

[podfic] falling in love in reverse read by @rufusbear (me!)

part 1 of the let's do the time (loop) again series by @alchemistc

part 2 is now up: [podfic] 35. live like there's no tomorrow

6 notes - Posted November 18, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Podfic of Steve Harrington's Guide To Planning a Party (Without Blowing Up)

written by @written-mishaps read by @rufusbear (me!)

7 notes - Posted November 8, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[raemanzu]

I posted 3,885 times in 2022

17 posts created (0%)

3,868 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@tearlessrain

@propheticfire

@derinthescarletpescatarian

@ladyyatexel

@binaryystars

I tagged 1,659 of my posts in 2022

#the untamed - 153 posts

#cats - 148 posts

#zexal - 117 posts

#yugioh - 106 posts

#i need a gx tag - 44 posts

#good omens - 36 posts

#bugs - 33 posts

#commander cody - 29 posts

#science - 29 posts

#sabikui bisco - 27 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#this post came back to haunt me while we were driving home from a fruit stand and the watermelon and cantaloupe kept thumping around in the

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

ofc the day I finally get my top surgery date set is the first day in months that I feel utterly ambushed by Bad Brain for the first half of the day before getting the phone call lol. Anyway I’m initiating operation flatness at the end of January woop woop. 

3 notes - Posted November 30, 2022

#4

sometimes love is a quiet spoon

because metal scraped against ceramic

is painful to sensitive, half-sleeping ears

sometimes love is trusting

enough to say "hey, this hurts"

what to some might seem foolish or small

and love is listening

finding ways to live more gently

and to need more honestly

and to say

okay

I will try something new

so here is to compostable plastic spoons

kept from a trip to IKEA

they are now a tool of affection

just a small way for me to make life

a little easier to walk through

and every morning

a wordless prayer

over my cereal

sleep well

wake gently

know that you're safe here

4 notes - Posted September 27, 2022

#3

Good Omens Fanfic: The Gospel of Crowley (Chapter 13)

“I asked God about you.”

Crowley’s stomach plunged through the earth and he steeled himself. That is, he tried to steel himself, but could not find much steely within to summon.

“Eh?” he croaked. He cleared his throat. “That so.”

Jesus’ expression was complicated, brow furrowed, mouth twisted somewhere between a weak smile and a pensive frown.

“I’m still trying to figure out the answer. But here’s what I think it is.”

—–

An AU where Crowley and Aziraphale end up a bit more involved in Jesus’ life than they intended. Begins around the Nativity, hits upon various points in Jesus’ childhood and the rest of his life and death. Kids have always been easy for Crowley to interact with, but what about the literal son of God?

So, wow... it’s been ages. This chapter was sitting around waiting for edits for a while and now we can finally share it! It may be a while before the next update since the next chapter is only half written... but we do intend to continue. We love this story a lot.

Preview: 

           Rain fell heavily on the thirsty earth, and it was too dry to drink it. Huge stretches of rock and brush were submerged in pools of runoff, wide temporary rivers cutting new paths in the dust, and the desert became muted, colors blurred and softened under the dark grey sky.

           There was no pressing reason for Crowley to be out here, standing underneath his tree. It certainly didn’t need watering, and its roots were holding well. Still, an inner compass had pulled him ever closer in his restless wanderings along the washed-out road, and the scent of the fruit, gone bright in the rain, had done the rest.

           He sat in the lower branches now, listening to the loud patter of fat drops on glossy leaves. It was peaceful. He kept his eyes closed, or watched the movement of the muddy water below. He tried not to remember. At one point, his eyes tracked the crawling of a tiny bedraggled fig wasp, its wings too heavy for flight.

           Wet footsteps below brought him out of his trance.

           “What are you doing out here?” Crowley asked before he even saw Jesus.

Read it on AO3

5 notes - Posted July 1, 2022

#2

Did not anticipate just how much being trapped at home with covid in the early summer would make me want to be able to go shirtless all the time but it really does. Why do my nipples have to be female presenting.

5 notes - Posted June 2, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

We Don’t Talk About Vector

(Just after Nasch and Rio remember they’re barians, but before remembering that Vector killed them, they ask the other barians if they can trust Vector or not)

We don’t talk about Vector, no, no, no!

We don’t talk about Vector… but

(Gilag and Alito)

We were invading earth

[We were invading earth]

Just possessing humans and we thought things were goin’ just fine

[thought this was our time to shine]

Vector shows up in this middle school getup

[LITTLE PUNK]

You telling this story or am I?

[Sorry bro, my bad, go on.]

Vector tanned Alito’s hide

[that so-called Shingetsu Rei]

I swore I’d carry on his fight

[wish I’d seen it a mile away]

Vector got Yuma on his side

[what a surprise that tricky bastard LIED]

We don’t talk about Vector, no, no, no!

We don’t talk about Vector!

(Durbe)

We’ve gone centuries putting up with his audacity

His bragging and his brashness push our patience past capacity

But I must admit, that in your absence, he’s made plans….

Plans that while elaborate have proved that he’s intelligent

And whate’er his motive is the outcome’s to our benefit

But then again, he is a master at all sleight of hand

Do you understand?

(Mizael)

See the full post

45 notes - Posted April 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[medievalatrocities]

what? but how can this be??

well buckle up fothermuckers for a full breakdown of what was going through my brain at 3:46am (yes there is cited evidence)

starting this off by saying that Alistair Lowe, contrary to what the wiki says, is sixteen. this fact was proven by the lines "They were Lowe champions, the same ones who’d glared disdainfully down at him for sixteen years from their portraits in his home." (All of Our Demise pg 419) and "the truth that Alistair himself hadn’t managed to uncover in his sixteen years growing up in that home," (All of Our Demise pg 32). it is also canon that Alistair is the youngest of the four povs, as stated by both Amanda Foody and Charlie Lynn Herman during an Instagram interview.

we also know that Hendry was seventeen. according to All of Our Demise, which states "Despite rumors circulating about seventeen-year-old Hendry Lowe’s death," (pg 65). this can also be proved in All of Us Villains by using basic math when it says "Alistair rolled his eyes and headed toward the bar. Even though he was a year younger than Hendry," because 16+1 = 17.

another thing AoUV told us, both of the Lowe brothers were "both born in July, one year apart," (pg. 148). this comes directly from their mom, meaning that it is probably legit.

since the tournament started at around the end of september, gathered from the line "The grand wooden doors opened to the chilly September evening, and the champions were immediately greeted by shouts." (AOUV, pg 121) which came during the feast before the tournament, the readers can infer that Alistair was 16 and that Hendry was 17 for only about two months before the tournament.

now moving on to Gavin. in AoUV, it states that "He is seventeen years of age and in his final year at Ilvernath South Public Secondary School.” (pg 122). at the very end of AoOD, it is noted that "He’d promised Fergus that he’d do everything he could to obtain legal guardianship of him the moment he turned eighteen—only a week away now." (pg 465).

(bonus extra analysis: this is weird because it was said earlier that he skipped a grade. however, if we assume that schooling in ilvernath is similar to real world schooling, that would mean he would have already graduated before the tournament rolled around. bc 16-17 is junior year and 17-18 is senior year for people that don't skip grades. well for the US at least. im not really sure how UK school works but I do know they also graduate at 18. Also, I just think Foody and Herman might have based it on the US school system because they are both American. does this make sense or am I just pulling at imaginary strings? idk but anyways)

moving on. in the text, it consistently states that the tournament lasts for three months (im not citing this cause a. its everwhere in the books and b. im getting lazy). therefore, if the tournament starts at the end of september and lasts three months, that would mark the end of the tournament at around the end of December. if I remember correctly, AoUV contained the first two weeks and a half of the tournament while AoOD contained around a month and a half of the tournament before it ended. this puts us at around two months since the start of the tournament.

in the chapter from where i got the "moment he turned eighteen" quote, there was a time skip of almost a month from the forced end of the tournament. put the two months + one month and now were at where the tournament was supposed to end, in december-ish. this solidly then solidely puts Gavin's birthday in the december to january timeframe.

now put this all together and what have you got? if all my reasoning and evidence is correct, then Gavin is around six months older than Hendry and a year and a half older than Alistair.

i rest my case :)

pov: youre watching me lose my mind connecting the dots between the ages of some fictional characters

i have just come to the realization that Gavin is older than Hendry and i dont know what to do with this information

[justmenoworries]

Lore Olympus Episode 220 Spoilers

Yeah, okay. Several things.

Why the heck does Kronos have control over Tartarus now? I didn’t see him eat a fucking pomegranate when he got free! And he can’t have eaten one in the meantime, because the last one was gobbled up by Persephone  before their battle! Furthermore, the last time we’ve seen Kronos in person, Tartarus literally swallowed him alive. And the way Persephone mocked him and his expression upon seeing them implied Kronos was afraid of Tartarus. How the hell did the power dynamic between them shift so much in just a few days that Kronos can prevent people from entering Tartarus? Including one of Tartarus’ rightful rulers???

 Also, why the fuck is he demanding Hera??? Again, the last time we saw him he was swearing revenge on Persephone! You know, the fertility goddess he wanted to get his hands on since at least episode 148????? The goddess who defeated and humiliated him in single combat???? Wouldn’t it be more logical for him to demand she show up at the door??? What is this sudden swerve back to having it out for Hera??? Yes, yes, I know, Golden Traitor and all but didn’t he take revenge for that ages ago when he literally tore her in half???? This whole Kronos-drama is so obviously fabricated, I’m tired. Please just let this story end, Smythe!

Ah yes, the return of Girl Boss Persephone. Who can only be badass when she’s up against someone lower on the foodchain. First Minthe, now Tori. The way she’s not even ashamed of guilt-tripping him that he was angry about her bad-shit crazy boyfriend tearing his friend’s eye out. Yes, it’s obviously Persephone who has a right to be angry and passive- aggressive here. This isn’t being a badass strong woman, this is being a bully. I hate how Persephone’s obviously letting out her frustration about still being scared of Apollo on some poor guy just doing his job. And how that’s portrayed as a-okay, because he was mean to her that one time in university. Because her rabies-having pitbull of a man hospitalized a friend of his over a picture. Yes, Persephone didn’t ask Hades to do this, but literally how the fuck was Tori supposed to know? From the picture that his brother took of hxp they certainly look close, so from Tori’s perspective it damn well seemed like Persephone first played the innocent bean, then sicced King Blueberry Jackass on his roommate out of spite.

I wish Persephone would just confront Apollo already so we can wrap up this eternal side-plot. Daphne got temporarily fridged for nothing it seems, since she and Persephone still aren’t talking about the SA. Or if they did it’s only mildly hinted at. What happened to Daphne swearing she would “tell everyone” what Apollo did? Wouldn’t a witness make the case pretty much won? Especially if you factor in popularity, since Persephone is a famous tyrant-killer now??? And also, she has Hera, literally the highest power on Olympus, second only to Zeus on her side???? Literally, the second Persephone, Daphne and Hera would choose to open their damn mouths, Apollo’s political career would be over like that. But we need the character for even more manufactured drama, so Persephone’s still too chicken-shit to expose him, despite beating up a literal titan only a few days before. No, it doesn’t help that she lampshaded it in the chapter, it just makes the whole thing more frustrating and annoying when the author pretty much tells you to your face “yeah my characterisation makes no sense, but I know it doesn’t so that makes it funny, lol.”

[fanficwritersinterviewed]

MCM, aurevell

<<This post is a part of a longer conversation about fanfic writers, how they view fanfic, and their writing process. All views are the fanfic writers’ own, and whatever fanfic they choose to write is entirely their own decision. No judgment value will be placed on fic content. These conversations are meant to provide insight for other fanfic writers in whatever stage they are at in their writing life>>

Meet-Cute Monday (with aurevell, @aurevell​ )

AO3 Stats:

Pseud: Aurevell Pronouns: she/her Current fandoms: Teen Wolf Current pairings: Steter, Sterek How many total fic: 12 How many fandoms: 1 Total word count: 313,899 Longest fic word count: 118,704 Shortest fic: 1,647 Highest kudo count: 1,795 Lowest: 148

What’s the story behind your pseud? I was a huge Tamora Pierce fan growing up (I liked the idea of all these girl knights running around kicking ass). Aurevell is a made-up character name I've used in video games/RPGs since I was a kid, because I thought it sounded like a lady knight from one of those books.

How long have you been reading and writing fanfic? Oof, I've been reading fanfic for over 15 years I think (help how do I math?) which is maybe showing my age a bit. I remember coming home and having to read it on our shared family computer! It was kind of a self-soothing reaction to having to wait for the next Harry Potter book, because I absolutely had to imagine what was coming next.

I started writing fanfic maybe a year or so after I started reading it. I stopped writing for a while when I got busy after college, but I never stopped reading it. When I finally jumped back in it was because I fell into the Teen Wolf fandom completely by accident. I wish I remembered which fics made me fall in love with it, but I couldn't tell you - except that all of a sudden I had a million story ideas and nowhere to put them all! So I made my current pseud for a fresh start and jumped back in.

Did you have any goals or hopes or something you wanted to get out of writing this second time around? Honestly, I didn't have any goals or hopes when I first started writing, with the possible exception of getting all those story ideas out of my head and onto paper - which hasn't happened AT ALL, because I get ten more ideas for every one fic I actually publish. But I am making some "fic resolutions" for 2022 to push myself a little harder, so we'll see how that goes!

Oh that's a good idea, what kinds of things do you think would go on that list of resolutions? Above all there are two long fics I have been trying to get started for literally...eight months? Nine?? And so at least starting those fics would be at the top of the list. I also do want to make some resolutions around reading about the process of writing so I can try some new stuff and maybe make my life a bit easier. And I also might set a total yearly word count goal, but that seems a bit too ambitious, so we'll see how I feel once I get there. Considering that I didn't win Nano this past year....I may end up reconsidering.

How do you know when an idea is worth chasing and when is it time to walk away? Oh god, that is the million dollar question! It's so hard to say, and if I knew the answer I probably wouldn't waste as much time as I do. But I probably circle back to a story if I either can't stop thinking about it, which is usually a sign there's at least something there, or if I feel like it deserves another shot. (I do follow a loose "three strikes and you're out" rule where if I've made three unsuccessful attempts to crank a fic out, I dump it in the trash bin where it continues to haunt me till the end of time).

Any particular ghosts of fic past that you want to give a shout out to here since they won't see the light of day? Literally so many I can barely choose. But most recently, there's this Sterek fic I wanted to do for Halloween which would be a literal horror story (my fave genre tbh) in which Stiles and Derek are trapped in the haunted Hale House with a monster. But I tried writing it over the summer for months, and no dice unfortunately! Which is fitting because it's haunting me still and also it's a haunted house I guess?

Hahaha! Yes! Thematic, I love it. Do you write original content or only fanfic? I don't write original content, but I DO want to start one day! I don't think I'll ever stop writing fanfic for good, but I think doing original stuff might be a fun challenge to get into. I've talked with a friend about getting into self-publishing together, so that's probably the route I'd end up going (if it happens).

What drives you to write? This feels like the biggest cop-out of all time, but can I just say "stories?" Telling a good story is really fun for me, and it's even more exciting when you're on tumblr or AO3 where there's fanfic communities, because you can get the sense that you're taking readers on a journey. That's why doing plotty stories are probably my favorite, because you get the dramatic reactions to reveals and cliffhangers and I LIVE for that stuff. Also let's be honest...I write fics because I want to read a very specific niche plot and no one else has done it yet. So it's like "okay I guess I HAVE to write this thing in order to experience it personally."

Not a cop out at all! I think it’s what’s the biggest difference between original fic writing and fanfic. Not quality, not that it’s playing with IP, but that you get the chance to engage with others as you write. It is SUCH good fuel for the fire.

[partnersatfazbear]

Fazbear Frights: What We Found Analysis

Here’s my analysis for What We Found, the third story in Gumdrop Angel. I wrote this as I read so it may be a little different than my previous analysis where I read the story first and went back.

If you’re a Michael Afton fan I highly recommend this. Also, there’s possibly some insight into William Afton, Mrs. Afton, and Henry too, so it’s worth a skim.

Pg 144 '...a place thirty-some years forgotten' Just reconfirming FNAF 3 is 30 years past *one* of the FNAF closings, presumably FNAF 2 location.

Pg 145 "The whole building was giving him [Hudson] a headache." FIX THE VENTILATION BRUH

Pg 148 '...they were able to use salvaged derelict equiptment original to the old pizzerias.' Another confirmation of something we heard from Phone Guy.

Pg 147 "How old are you?" "Twenty-three, same as you." I think this gives us Michael's age during FNAF 3.

EDIT: This kept me awake last night. Obviously this is impossible because he has to be alive for at least 10 years before 1983, BUT maybe its just reconfirming FNAF 3′s year? 2023?

Pg 149 "Hudsan's dad died and his mom married Lewis, a ridiculous balding man who wore plaid vests and smoked a pipe" Did... Did this book just seriously imply Mrs. Afton left William for Henry? Really? (Yes, there's differences; the husband is dead and the man wears plaid 'vests' but it seems very odd to include that detail. This could just have been the writer's own imagination, though.) I have seen this as a fan theory and 100% explains the jealousy aspect of William, but I can't help but kinda hate it. I think this is very important, though, and probably Scott's intention. "This horrible little man [Lewis]... would make Hudson's next ten years a living Hell" This REALLY intrigues me given the context I just went over. The text implies Lewis was fairly neglectful to our main character / Michael stand-in Hudson. Maybe I'm wrong and for some reason Mrs. Emily left and went to William? XD Haha, I'm reading too much into this page. Maybe I'll come back to this later. I figure it's more of Scott possibly including double-details (contradicting stuff with the same character that really applies to two, which has been something I heavily pointed out in previous anaylsis on this blog) Having said that, I'm going w/the former because I can't imagine Henry being abusive (neglectful yes, abusive no) and he's never been portrayed that way in official works like William has in the novels.

Pg 150 "Hudson began to screw up in class...a product of spending the night in fear that his stepfather [Lewis]... [would] beat him just for the fun of it." Ooof. Big confirm on William actually being abusive. Unless we stick with the Henry theory for Lewis (combined with Midnight Motorist Henry theory / alcoholic). "...near-daily beatings..." "his mom started taking pills to get through the day..." So, whoever Mrs. Afton is, she was definetly not paying attention. But then, most people married to serial killers either don't notice because of denial (like this) or because the killer is so manipulative / careful they can't notice.

"Barry, who had red hair and freckles..." Yo?! Is that a description of Fritz?! These friends in the story could be the other kids Michael knew's stand-in's, aka the two gravestones with names he used (Fritz and Jeremy), as shown in the checks for the games and FNAF 6. I've long figured Michael was probably friends with the victims--it makes them easier, although riskier, targets [for William]. The two friends are male, too, like Fritz and Jeremy. If you're curious about Duane's description (our stand in for Jeremy), it's "tight black shirt... muscles... black hair long enough for a glossy ponytail..." I'm not sure if this matches anything found in the novels or contradicts them, though. (The novels = TSE trilogy)

"And so it went... until the night of the fire." For context, this is before FF burns down. We're learning of Hudson's life from his close friends in childhood, his father's death, his mother remarrying, to his abusive stepfather, to his grades slipping to this line. This would be a new fire not seen/mentioned in the games...

Pg 151 "...go to Charlie's for a sundae..." Really. Really Scott. Just gonna use this name again. OK. I'm not even gonna discuss this because it's probably irrelevant. *This is confirmed on pg 158 to be an ice cream shop. No lore relevance aside the annoying name coincidences Scott loves to troll with.

"This is not... an advance into enemy territory, a fight with demons, or a descent into Hell..." Uh, what? What is Hudson talking about? XD I'm only noting it because it seems so out of place. He's probably talking about video games or something.

Another note, although I don't have a specific reference since it is mentioned off-hand many times, is that Hudson keeps referring to his "history" which is implied to have kept him from getting a well-paying job and a girl he's crushing on doesn't know this "history" which is good for him. Seems good old "Michael Stand-In" has done some jail time or something. Edit: On pg 154/155 the girl asks Hudson, "Did you do it?" Seems he may have killed his stepfather or been involved with something else just as bad. Edit 2: No, I was thinking too deep into it. This probably refers to Evan's death at Fredbear's. DUH.

Pg 156 describes an actual "prize corner" in FF! What am I even reading? IIRC this is in FNAF 3, too. So they just hand out these scary gift boxes to people that complete the attraction? (Hudson says he *would* have fun handing out the scary toys to kids when this location opens--kind of a bully thing to do, eh?)

"[Hudson] avoid[ed] glancing in any of the mirrors..." I'm only pointing this out because it could be reference to one of two things. 1) We know because of one of UCN's music tracks, William has a fear of his reflection. Michael probably shares this trait, especially since 2) after Ennard and all... and later on pg 157 it also says, "he never wanted to face: himself" Sounds like guilt, my guy.

Pg 157 "blonde hair... blue eyes..." Hudson shares an eye color with Michael. It's possible Michael had blonde hair as a child and it changed to brown (it's common, something I personally went through being technically blonde/ blue eyed myself)

"He [Hudson] knew from personal experience that toys could turn from fun...to torture ina heart-beat" Fairly self explanatory. Either Hudson's worked at a creepy location before or he doesn't like remembering Fredbear's.

*checks how much is left.* There's still 35 pages (not counting back/front) left of this... This is gonna be a lot of notes.

Pg 158 Hudson doesn't have a car. Poor Mike, probably having to walk everywhere. Especially as a corpse.

Pg 160 This page describes many physical issues Hudson has that prevents him from entering the Navy, all from the abuse of Lewis. Obvious paralell to Michael becoming an undead [because his father sent him to CBPR indirectly causing his condition]

Pg 161 "How's your granny, Hud?... ...Is she still alive?" "I don't think she can die." Does anyone in the Afton family really 'die'? XD

Pg 162 These few pages discuss Hudson's grandmother. She's described as "a seer who claimed to know the future... ...wore big men's plaid flannel shirts with baggy jeans" Um, more plaid / flannel? AGH. STAHP. Lowkey, I would totally headcanon my Aunt Jen like this, though.

Pg 163 "Hudson's mom... the way she was before Hudson's dad had died... never... particularly warm and fuzzy... but... effiencient and responsible..." More about Mrs. Afton, so that's kinda neat.

"Hudson's dad was fun and attentive." There's a good Dad in this series?

"Unfortunetly, he also struggled with mental illness." "invisible low points" (Pg 164) Kinda reminds me of how Henry is described after Charlotte's death in the books.

Pg 164 "When Steven got himself into a bad deal that cost him his small business... he'd taken his life." Oh, it is Henry! SMH. Way to use confusing paralells. So, from our understanding thus far, Hudson's real father, Steven, is our Henry stand-in. His step-father despite being described similar to Henry, is actually our William stand-in. Fair game, Scott.

Pg 164 "...he [Hudson] was locked into a supply closet..." Oh shit, you guys. So, let me go on a tangent here, because this IS important! I just watched a retrospective on Sister Location and FNAF 6 earlier and one theory for Midnight Motorist was the person in the chair was the mother and the kid was Michael. I think this little line may confirm that. In fact, the story may be the key to figuring things out. Obviously, the line is a paralell to FNAF 4's scene in which Crying Child was locked in the supply closet of Fredbear's. I know some people, including Matpat, believe[d] CC was Michael, and in this book's context, it sort of works. This does contradict Step Closer and 1000 other things that make Michael the older brother, but maybe it's hinting at MM? Abusive stepdad (possibly Henry... maybe William is gone at this point), checked out Mom (hey, grey couch lady with Foxybro's font). IDK, but its definetly something to think about.

Pg 165 Lewis is mentioned as calling Hudson "nothing" and saying "you're nothing" on several occasions on this page. Just more abuse, for those accurate fanfic writers like me. Also I kinda wanna watch Morel Orel again. Yall know my fav character is Clay. Yall know.

"You're smoke." <-- Lewis / The text later reads, "...there was some irony, given what eventually happened." BRUH. Why did your stepdad die in a fire? :V TELL ME.

"When his family's house burned down at the end of his senior year..." Huh. Is there a fire we don't know about in the game-verse? Could this explain what happened to the FNAF 4 house before MM house?!

"...it purged Hudson of Lewis and his mother." MRS. AFTON BURNED ALIVE, TOO? Bruh. I can't with this story.

The text later describes the fire is concluded to be man-made and Hudson was blamed for it. Can't say if this ties to Michael, but it IS interesting... TBF, there is a small paralell to draw between Henry in FNAF 6 and his history of suicide in the books, too.

Pg 166 "...this place's [FF] busted thermostat.." I just find this line funny.

Pg 167 "...after three weeks of keeping an eye on the place" Some more timeline context for FNAF 3. We know that Michael worked there a little while before we start playing the game thanks to one of the phone calls, IIRC, so this makes sense. If Michael was accused of [something] and also wanting to hunt down his father, then it makes perfect sense why he's working a dead end job at Freddy's over and over and over. Fun fun fun.

Pg 169 "He hated to think about a functional character [Foxy]" This line is in regards to Hudson not liking the set up of Pirate's Cove and Foxy's hook to scare people. Sounds familiar, don't it? (For Michael anyway.)

Pg 173 "Some big find is arriving tomorrow." SPRINGY BOI! COME ON BOOK, get on with the show?

Pg 176 "Granny was wearing a red-and-green plaid shirt and her baggy jeans." Nothing special, but it was specifically brought up twice. I'm kind of racking my brain trying to understand what the point of this character is outside of "woooo everything is haunted don't you know that" kind of character.

Pg 180 "...dropped the crate on the linoleum with a resounding thud." HEY. Poor Springtrap, just gettin' tossed around like the trash he is.

Pg 186 "If you weren't so stupid, I'd tell you more about it." Springtrap bringing the burn. =:)

"A voice with a burr-like rasp...hint of a Southern accent" I'm going to assume this is because it's Lewis probably in the suit in this story and not our old British lad.

"It's was Mr. Atkin's voice." THE MATH TEACHER? *goes back to check* 'The algebra teacher'. Okay...

Pg 190 Okay, so Hudson hear's Lewis' voice this time. Okay, I get it now. Springtrap in this kind of imbodies all of Hudson's old bullies, including the teacher. He also has PTSD, just FYI. IDK if anyone finds that important, but it's fairly obvious by the line "He wasn't in his bedroom. Lewis didn't just slam his head into a desk; his head had been slammed into the [arcade] game."

"Why did he hallucinate a scene from his childhood?" Oh, it's not PTSD, then. It's just the VENTILATION ERROR. lol Okay.

Just a note, as I'm reading through the more action-based stuff, I kind of feel bad for Michael if he had flashbacks like this guy. They're intense.

So, Lewis' voice finally comes out of Springtrap on Pg 213. There's that.

Pg 220 "You can just stay there [in his room]" Kind of a paralell to Midnight Motorist. Lewis is saying it to Hudson. I really feel like the kid in the MM game is Michael because of this story...

Pg 223 "Heat purges. Fire heals." I'm sure that's Henry's life motto.

The ending was stupid, but most in these stories are. Hudson is hallucinating and is implied to have burned himself alive in FF's oven. Meh? The first half of this one is A TRIP and a little insight into what I 100% believe is Michael's childhood. I think the saddest part of it all is that we never got Springtrap speaking to Michael in FNAF 3--and if it's ever remade I hope we get more of them interacting.

[adamwatchesmovies]

Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021)

For all the criticisms the Marvel Cinematic Universe films has received, it's doing things no other franchise ever has. Spider-Man: No Way Home doesn’t merely continue the story of Tom Holland's Spider-Man; it shows what other MCU characters like Dr. Strange have been up to, and reaches further back, into storylines we never thought we'd ever revisit. This is a lovingly nostalgic story that elegantly brings a lot of disparate parts together. If you’ve ever seen any Spider-Man movie, you owe it to yourself to see this one.

After his secret identity as Spider-Man is revealed to the world, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) approaches Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to cast a spell that will make everyone forget who he is. When the magic goes wrong, villains from alternate dimensions are pulled into Peter’s universe.

I never thought I’d see Willem Dafoe's Norman Osborn/the Green Goblin, Alfred Molina's Otto Octavius / Doctor Octopus, Rhys Ifans' Dr. Cut Connors / The Lizard, Thomas Haden Church's Flint Marko / Sandman, or Jamie Foxx's Max Dillon / Electro ever again. I doubt any of us did but here we are, with your favorite bad guys facing off against Spider-Man (a different one, but still a Spider-Man) once more. They’re just as fun as you remember. Maybe even better. Electro and Green Goblin’s looks have been re-vamped and since their origins have already been covered, we jump into the action immediately. The battle scenes are quite good, with plenty of dizzying acrobatics between Dr. Octopus’ tentacles, wrestling-like tussles with the Green Goblin that see floors demolished, and everyone's powers/abilities firing off everywhere. With a running time of 148-minutes, we also get to see them do more than simply fight. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the meeting of two different eras of superhero filmmaking. Past Spider-Man adventures were movies first and foremost. The villains often because no one thinking “What if we want to use this character again?” This makes Peter desperate to solve "his" mistakes and give them happy endings. It means several fancy devices and serums developped in an unbelievably quick amount of time, but also opens whole new worlds of possibilities.

If I have another criticism, it’s that much more could’ve been done with the premise. How about showing the Vulture played by John Malkovich, or Felicia Hardy via Anne Hathaway as Sam Raimi had planned? or a payoff to all those teases at the end of Amazing Spider-Man 2. With this, it's like Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire's Spider-Men just did nothing after the movies ended.

Perhaps I’m asking too much. After all, there’s loads to love in this film as is. The picture juggles a half-dozen villains and just as many heroes/sidekicks but never feels bloated. It keeps finding clever ways to make things fit, like revealing that Zendaya's MJ is Michelle Jones-Watson, not Mary-Jane Watson. If you had gripes about her, Ned Leeds (Jacob Batalon), or Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) not quite being as they should be according to the comics, now it all makes sense.

The special effects throughout are top-notch, with the de-aging technology used to make Alfred Molina look as he did in 2004 being flawless. What’s more impressive are the stunts and performances. Willem Dafoe is 66 but he’s getting in there with the same enthusiasm as Holland. Everyone is completely at ease with their roles and having a great time with the top-notch story.

The hype surrounding Spider-Man: No Way Home is well-earned. There was a time when I looked back at my copies of Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2 and kept wondering “I like these, but is there any point to keeping them? They’ve essentially been unceremoniously forgotten by the studio." Now, I’m excited to watch every Spider-Man movie again to see all the little bits that have been expanded and resolved. It's a sequel that keeps giving, and there are going to be more. Even before the mid-credit scene, you know that much. (Theatrical version on the big screen, December 21, 2021)

[codenamesazanka]

The Team-Ups I wanna see: 

(My interpretations)

Toga + Shigaraki + Spinner: The young and dumb squad. They’re the three youngest members of the League, relatively close in the age range of 17-21 - which is, of course, as everyone knows, the perfect time do stupid and reckless but life-changing shit. You just know they could begin the day by wasting time at the mall/arcade/convenience store parking lot, then somehow eventually escalate to five murders (two technically accidental) and permanently ruining the local hipster-restaurant economy as the day ends, idk. Maybe throw in a coming-of-age bonding experience, Villain-style. I like the idea of Spinner being the sorta ‘voice of reason’ here, forced to take that role purely by the fact that Shigaraki is the enabler that allows Toga to do whatever she wants; but they can rotate it around. And who could ever forget the goodness of wingwoman Toga trying to help her two friends get together? 

Shigaraki + Giran + Twice and/or Mr. Compress and/or Magne: Gimme the known-villainous-professionals working together like in a heist of some sort! Encountering each other via the precarious networking and dynamics of the criminal underworld, or at the least, them having heard of each other’s tales and deeds from before series’ start and interacting with that in mind. I’ve got a deep fondness for crime-dramas like those (complete with mind-games and leverages and secret and all that but not necessarily). Giran is of course the broker who knows everyone - possibly having a history with each one as well - and so can bring everyone together; Shigaraki still being the mastermind and Twice and/or Mr. Compress and/or Magne introduced to him for their specific expertise/role. Bonus for maybe an AU or pre-canon story with Shigaraki maybe being a very young, new unknown appearing on the scene with a real good offer, his solid and mysterious backing, and Twice and/or Mr. Compress and/or Magne completely intrigued by this brash, arrogant, but alluringly dangerous teenager. 

...yes, yes, kinda like what happened in canon, but this is for like, something else other than the UA camp raid with a closer focus on a smaller group of characters. 

Toga + Twice + Mr. Compress: Any more of this season 4 scene right here. Toga and Twice bullying Mr. Compress. Mr. Compress giving them flak for not being Villainous, or at the other end of things, cautious enough. Toga being young and too competent for the two old men to keep up with. Why do I feel like this trio given a task together is likely to go completely off plan and possibly make things worse, but still succeed somehow. 

Shigaraki + Toga + Twice: The trio that started the Found Family aspect in the first place?? Chapter 148 of the manga really did it all: Twice taking off his mask - metaphorically and literally - and so getting Shigaraki to do the same; Shigaraki taking into consideration Toga and Twice’s feelings; and Toga and Twice pretty much establishing loyalty to Shigaraki there and then and ever since. The hearts of the League. The three most deadly members of the League, each one fiercely protective, each one doing anything to secure each other’s happiness. So much bloody, messy mass murder. So much love. The trio most likely to cuddle together in a nap pile imo

Spinner + Magne + (optional third person of choice): My headcanon is that Spinner and Magne were partnered up by Shigaraki during the UA Camp Raid solely so Magne can make sure Spinner, the sheltered nerdy newbie Villain, wouldn’t get himself fucking killed. And it worked! They seemed to have worked well together! For some reason I’m thinking of Mustard (the bratty gas kid with the GUN) as the third party, because that kid definitely would be ruthlessly making fun of Spinner, and that’s Spinner’s intro Underworld 101 lessons to picking and fighting his battles. 

Toga + Mr. Compress + Spinner: the current Mourning Twice. Gimme the scenes where up on Gigantomachia, Mr. Compress reveals to Spinner what happened to Twice and Spinner is absorbing the news and it’s really hard not to notice how Toga is taking it the hardest, silent and sullen. Gimme Mr. Compress asking Spinner if letting Toga go was the right choice. Gimme the two of them discussing what this all means for the future of the League. i apologize deeply for such a downer option. Most definitely there’s another story to tell in pre-current-arc, happier times, but it’s overshadowed by this. 

[lonelygodscompanion]

I posted 1.247 times in 2021

49 posts created (4%)

1198 posts reblogged (96%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 24.4 posts.

I added 2.958 tags in 2021

#doctor who - 1099 posts

#gifset - 703 posts

#eleven - 240 posts

#amy pond - 180 posts

#ten - 147 posts

#twelve - 142 posts

#art - 115 posts

#rory williams - 112 posts

#parallels - 112 posts

#clara oswald - 108 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#this is gonna make me cry 😩 everything about this is a perfect wording of why clara&12 are so good and why their relationship is so special

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

73 notes • Posted 2021-04-26 23:22:50 GMT

#4

The Doctor: I can’t do that, it’d be against my moral compass!

Amy: Your moral compass is a fucking roulette wheel!

95 notes • Posted 2021-05-29 23:24:31 GMT

#3

ironic how Ten, who is commonly seen as the most ‘human’ doctor, is the one who ends up fitting most into the “lonely god” role, and who gets all the christ figure symbolism, while Eleven, who is a much more ‘alien’ doctor, is the one who ends up part of a human family, and figures out how to settle down in a way Ten never could

148 notes • Posted 2021-04-02 21:40:51 GMT

#2

just thinking about the baudelaire siblings & how in the first season they have the running thing between violet&klaus where she’s like ‘what’s that thing *famous person* said?’ and he responds with a quote applicable to their situation, and they have these other sayings that they picked up from the adults that cared for them. ‘better than nothing’ ‘do the scary thing first and get scared later’ ‘life is a conundrum of esoterica’ they repeat these to themselves, live by them to get through their harrowing situations and for a while it’s fine and it works. but as the story goes on this subsides, and it is replaced by quotes of their own and other unfortunate children of their age. ‘if we wait until we’re ready we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives’ ‘i’m sure you know. what friends are for’ ‘he or she who hesitates is lost’ these are the words on which the focus is placed as they grow more independent. because they’ve realized their parents are gone, there’s no adult going to rescue them, and so they’re going to have to rely on themselves to get through.

209 notes • Posted 2021-01-06 23:01:04 GMT

#1

i giggled throughout the entirety of making this

2372 notes • Posted 2021-03-01 22:46:45 GMT

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