#Emmuska Orczy

[beautifulbookishdisaster]

"I am only conscious of one hope, citoyen." "And that is?" "That Satan, your master, will have need of you elsewhere before the sun rises today." "You flatter me, citoyenne."

Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

[junibyrd]

Today is this remarkable lady's birthday.

One year ago I started reading the Scarlet Pimpernel and there was no going back since. I've read 13 of the pimpernel series and 4 individual novels and I can safely say that Emmuska Orczy is one of my fav authors.

I encourage you to read the other pimpernel stories (specially I will repay, Elusive and Eldorado) AND I cannot recommend you enough to take a look at The Tangled Skein! It's a pre pimpernel novel (it was published before the SP) with an entirely different story but as usual filled with love, conspiracy, great characters, nice plot twists, a beautiful scenery aand a bit of magic too!

Without the pimpernel I doubt that I would've survived this past year sane, it gave me such comfort, joy and helped me trough some big events and hardships. I learned a tremendous amount about myself and the way I view life and love. It is also because of this series that I really learned to love reading and to do so in different languages.

So here's to you Emma, and to your dashing superhero, I owe u a lot!

[desdasiwrites]

– Baroness Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

[oldfashionedbooklove]

—Sir Percy Blakeney to Chauvelin

"You- you aren't going to kill me?"

"You're a rat, but an ecosystem crumbles without vermin. You still have a purpose to fulfill,"

[onaslansside]

PLEASE, if you know The Scarlet Pimpernel, go read my favorite short story in the entire series, it’s so funny. It’s called A Battle of Wits and is available on Project Gutenberg here.

[kaggsy59]

"...my own dear lady's quick, intuitive brain..." @RenardPress #ReadIndies #LadyMolly

I can hardly believe it’s the end of February – and #ReadIndies! Luckily, we’ve had an extra day this year, and to round up the month, Lizzy and I have been buddy reading a book from one of our favourite micro-presses – Renard! It’s a reprint of a fascinating collection of classic crime stories which I’d not come across before; and it turned out to be a real treat. The title is “Lady Molly of…

[siryl]

Illustrated by Montagu Barstow.

Old Hungarian Fairy Tales - Translated by Baroness Orczy

Cthulhu dreams in Balaton

haven’t been able to find any relevant info on this or on the artist

[hiraethstar]

Chauvelin: *appears in any scene*

Baroness Emmuska Orczy: HE'S SHORT! This man is TINY! You can sling him over your shoulder like a bale of goods, he's so smol!

[permanentreverie]

books read in 2023

1) get a life, chloe brown -> talia hibbert: jan 1 - 3

2) the night circus -> erin morgenstern (reread): jan 9 - 11

3) lost in the never woods -> aiden thomas: jan 6 - 15

4) on earth we're briefly gorgeous -> ocean vuong: jan 12 - 15

5) clap when you land -> elizabeth acevedo: jan 17 - 18

6) comfort me with apples -> catherynne m. valente: jan 18

7) not here to be liked -> michelle quach: jan 19 - 23

8) night sky with exit wounds -> ocean vuong (reread): jan 25

9) time is a mother -> ocean vuong: jan 27

10) anatomy: a love story -> dana schwartz: jan 28 - 30

11) babel, or the necessity of violence: an arcane history of the oxford translaters' revolution -> r.f. kuang: jan 24 - feb 2

12) next of kin -> hannah bonam-young: feb 3 - 4

13) tokyo ever after -> emiko jean: feb 5 - 6

14) once upon a broken heart -> stephanie garber (reread): feb 2 - 6

15) the ballad of never after -> stephanie garber: feb 7

16) tomorrow, tomorrow, and tomorrow -> gabrielle zevin: feb 7 - 11

17) tokyo dreaming -> emiko jean: feb 11 - 13

18) the cruel prince -> holly black (reread): feb 15 - 16

19) the no-show -> beth o'leary: feb 17 - 20

20) time is a mother -> ocean vuong (reread): feb 20

21) sweet bean paste -> durian sukegawa: feb 22

22) before the coffee gets cold -> toshikazu kawaguchi: feb 24

23) the wicked king -> holly black (reread): feb 23 - 24

24) the queen of nothing -> holly black (reread): feb 25 - 26

25) tales from the café -> toshikazu kawaguchi: feb 26 - 27

26) daisy jones & the six -> taylor jenkins reid (reread): feb 28 - mar 2

27) before your memory fades -> toshikazu kawaguchi: feb 27 - mar 4

28) ninth house -> leigh bardugo: mar 3 - 6

29) hell bent -> leigh bardugo: mar 7 - 9

30) a good girl's guide to murder -> holly jackson: mar 10 - 11

31) portrait of a thief -> grace d. li: mar 12 - 15

32) good girl, bad blood -> holly jackson: mar 15 - 18

33) the last children of tokyo -> yōko tawada: mar 19

34) tiny pretty things -> sona charaipotra & dhonielle clayton: mar 20 - 21

35) the youthful you who was so beautiful -> jiu yue xi (reread): mar 22

36) shiny broken pieces -> sona charaipotra & dhonielle clayton: mar 23 - 24

37) the scarlet pimpernel -> emmuska orczy: mar 25

38) as good as dead -> holly jackson: mar 26 - 28

39) addicted to you -> krista ritchie & becca ritchie: mar 29 - 30

40) one of us is lying -> karen m. mcmanus: mar 30 - 31

41) kill joy -> holly jackson: apr 2

42) carrie soto is back -> taylor jenkins reid: apr 1 - 3

43) human acts -> han kang: apr 4 - 6

44) tender is the flesh -> agustina bazterrica: apr 6

45) this time it's real -> ann liang: apr 6 - 10

46) idol, burning -> rin usami: apr 11

47) i'll give you the sun -> jandy nelson: apr 12 - 14

48) the boundless -> kenneth oppel: apr 14 - 17

49) the great gatsby -> f. scott fitzgerald (reread): apr 17

50) beautiful little fools -> jillian cantor: apr 18 - 19

51) schoolgirl -> osamu dazai: apr 20

52) the witch haven -> sasha peyton smith: apr 22 - 23

53) the witch hunt -> sasha peyton smith: apr 24 - 27

54) a little life -> hanya yanagihara: apr 28 - 30

55) beach read -> emily henry (reread): may 1 - 2

56) no longer human -> osamu dazai: may 2 - 3

57) my dark vanessa -> kate elizabeth russell: may 3 - 4

58) the setting sun -> osamu dazai: may 5 - 6

59) the bridge kingdom -> danielle l. jensen: may 5 - 8

60) king of pride -> ana huang: may 8 - 10

61) happy place -> emily henry: may 11

62) the vegetarian -> han kang: may 10 - 12

63) the red palace -> june hur: may 14 - 17

64) the traitor queen -> danielle l. jensen: may 13 - 22

65) the sky is everywhere -> jandy nelson: may 22 - 23

66) beartown -> fredrik backman: may 24 - 25

67) deathless -> catherynne m. valente: may 26 - 28

68) notes on an execution -> danya kukafka: may 29 - 30

69) once upon a k-prom -> kat cho: may 24 - 30

70) almond -> sohn won-pyung: may 30

71) the white book -> han kang: may 31

72) my mechanical romance -> alexene farol follmuth: may 31

73) a room with a view -> e.m forster: jun 4

74) the poppy war -> r.f kuang: jun 5 - 6

75) the dragon republic -> r.f kuang: jun 7 - 10

76) the drowning faith -> r.f kuang: jun 11

77) the burning god -> r.f kuang: jun 11 - 15

78) emma -> jane austen: may 30 - jun 16

79) greek lessons -> han kang: jun 16 - 18

80) when marnie was there -> joan g. robinson: jun 18 - 20

81) bandstand -> richard oberacker: jun 21

82) white nights -> fyodor dostoevsky: jun 21

83) twisted love -> ana huang: jun 20 - 22

84) twisted games -> ana huang: jun 27 - 28

85) the bloody chamber -> angela carter: jun 28 - 29

86) my deepest secret -> hanza art: jun 22 - 30

87) coraline -> neil gaiman: jun 30

88) twisted hate -> ana huang: jul 1 - 3

89) sadie -> courtney summers: jul 4 - 5

90) twisted lies -> ana huang: jul 5 - 6

91) take a hint, dani brown -> talia hibbert: jul 6 - 7

92) better than the movies -> lynn painter: jul 16 - 17

93) act your age, eve brown -> talia hibbert: jul 18 - 20

94) beyond the story: 10 - year record of bts -> kang myeong-seok & bts: jul 17 - 20

95) love and other words -> christina lauren: jul 19 - 22

96) diary of a void -> emi yagi: jul 23

97) in five years -> rebecca serle: jul 24

98) us against you -> fredrik backman: jul 24 - 25

99) sirena -> donna jo napoli: jul 26

100) small things like these -> claire keegan: jul 26 - 28

101) exit, pursued by bear -> e.k. johnston: jul 28

102) red, white, & royal blue -> casey mcquiston (reread): jul 29 - 31

103) conveniance store woman -> sayaka murata: jul 31

104) the hurting kind -> ada limon: aug 2

105) one true loves -> taylor jenkins reid: aug 2 - 3

106) the deep -> rivers solomon: aug 6 - 7

107) all the lovers in the night -> mieko kawakami: aug 9

108) caraval -> stephanie garber: aug 6 - 10

109) we hunt the flame -> hafsah faizal: aug 16 - 18

110) we free the stars -> hafsah faizal: aug 18 - 19

111) i'm glad my mom died -> jennette mccurdy: aug 20

112) the ballad of songbirds and snakes -> suzanne collins: aug 21 - 22

113) kim jiyoung, born 1982 -> cho nam-joo: aug 22

114) legendary -> stephanie garber: aug 11 - 24

115) king of wrath -> ana huang: aug 23 - 24

116) the sisterhood of the traveling pants -> ann brashares: aug 27

117) out on a limb -> hannah bonam-young: aug 29 - 31

118) the winners -> fredrick backman: aug 1 - 31

119) the second summer of sisterhood -> ann brashares: aug 28 - 31

120) girls in pants: the third summer of the sisterhood -> ann brashares: sep 4 - 5

121) forever in blue: the fourth summer of the sisterhood -> ann brashares: sep 5

122) strange the dreamer -> laini taylor: sep 3 - 9

123) crying in h mart -> michelle zauner: sep 9 - 10

124) sisterhood everlasting -> ann brashares: sep 7 - 11

125) finale -> stephanie garber: sep 13 - 14

126) little thieves -> margaret owen: sep 11 - 16

127) les misérables -> victor hugo (reread): apr 3 - sep 18

128) business or pleasure -> rachel lynn solomon: sep 17 - 19

129) out there -> kate folk: sep 23 - 24

130) wuthering heights -> emily brontë: sep 18 - 24

131) painted devils -> margaret owen: sep 20 - 27

132) the foxhole court -> nora sakavic: sep 24 - 27

133) the raven king -> nora sakavic: sep 27 - 29

134) the hate u give -> angie thomas: sep 29 - oct 2

135) the king’s men -> nora sakavic: sep 30 - oct 3

136) the dead romantics -> ashley poston: oct 4 - 5

137) a discovery of witches -> deborah harkness: oct 6 - 12

138) mexican gothic -> silvia moreno-garcia: oct 13 - 14

139) the haunting of hill house -> shirley jackson: oct 15 - 18

140) the girl from the other side (vol. 1 - 11) -> nagabe: oct 19

151) fourth wing -> rebecca yarros: oct 22 - 26

152) king of greed -> ana huang: oct 26 - 29

153) yellowface -> r.f. kuang: oct 30 - 31

154) a curse for true love -> stephanie garber: nov 1 - 3

155) a study in charlotte -> brittany cavallaro: nov 5 - 7

156) dracula -> bram stoker: may 5 - nov 8

157) the joy luck club -> amy tan: sep 9 - nov 9

158) the murder of roger ackroyd -> agatha christie: nov 9 - 10

159) the last of august -> brittany cavallaro: nov 10 - 12

160) kamila knows best -> farah heron: nov 12 - 13

161) the case for jamie -> brittany cavallaro: nov 14 - 15

162) a question for holmes -> brittany cavallaro: nov 16 - 17

163) howl’s moving castle -> diana wynne jones (reread): nov 17 - 18

164) if we were villains -> m. l. rio (reread): nov 18 - 19

165) masters of death -> olivie blake: nov 20 - 22

166) jane eyre -> charlotte brontë (reread): nov 22 - 29

167) the name drop -> susan lee: dec 2 - 3

168) divine rivals -> rebecca ross: dec 6 - 7

169) the lightning thief -> rick riordan (reread): dec 9 - 11

170) the sea of monsters -> rick riordan (reread): dec 12 - 13

171) the titan’s curse -> rick riordan (reread): dec 14

172) the battle of the labyrinth -> rick riordan (reread): dec 16 - 18

173) the last olympian -> rick riordan (reread): dec 18 - 19

174) a study in drowning -> ava reid: dec 23 - 29

175) little women -> louisa may alcott (reread): dec 21 - 29

176) shadow of night -> deborah harkness: nov 1 - dec 30

177) the upside of falling -> alex light: dec 30

178) slade house -> david mitchell: dec 31

179) much ado about nothing -> william shakespeare: dec 31

180) romeo and juliet -> william shakespeare (reread): dec 31

[beautifulbookishdisaster]

"It does seem simple, doesn't it?" she said, with a final bitter attempt at flippancy. "When you want to kill a chicken... you take hold of it... then you wring its neck. ... It's only the chicken who does not find it quite so simple. Now you hold a knife at my throat, and a hostage for my obedience. ... You find it simple. ... I don't."

Emmuska Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel

[lizziethereader]

August 2023 wrapup

I just realized I haven't posted this yet.... Maybe it's because most of this month was fairly mediocre? Or at least not as good as I was expecting... I'm happy with the amount of books I've read, but I was hoping for some of them to wow me, and most of the books didn't manage to do that.

favorite of the month: Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

nonfiction of the month (1): Packing for Mars by Mary Roach

classics (1): Sir Percy Leads the Band by Emmuska Orczy

poetry (1): The Fire of Joy edited by Clive James

graphic novel (1): Salt Magic by Hope Larson and Rebecca Mock

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.23

Holidays

Al-Yaom Al-Watany (Saudi Arabia)

Asian Corpsetwt Day [Every 23rd]

Asteroid Day

Autumn Stroll Day

Barbara Gordon Day

Batman Day (DC Comics)

Bi Visibility Day (UK)

Bonn Phchum Ben (Ancestors’ Day; Cambodia)

Celebrate Bisexuality Day (a.k.a. Bisexual Pride & Bi Visibility Day)

Checkers Day

Chuuk Liberation Day (Micronesia)

Day of the Genocide of Lithuania's Jews (Lithuania)

Dogs in Politics Day

Education Technology Day

Flashbulb Day

Gray Cat Day

Grito de Lares (Puerto Rico)

Haryana Veer and Shahidi Divas (Haryana, India)

Holocaust Memorial Day (Lithuania)

I Have Not Yet Begun To Fight Day

Innergize Day [Day after Equinox]

International Bi Visibility Day

International Day Against Sexual Exploitation & Trafficking of Women & Children

International Day of Sign Languages

International Hospitality Women’s Day

International Restless Legs Syndrome Day

International Za’atar Day

King’s Birthday (Western Australia)

Kyrgyz Language Day (Kyrgyzstan)

Landscape-Nursery Day

Learn to Code Day

Martyrs Day (Haryana, India)

National AFM Day (a.k.a. Acute Flaccid Myelitis Day)

National Acute Flaccid Myelitis Day

National Checkers Day

National Day of School Failure Prevention

National Day of Women’s Political Rights (Argentina)

National Field Marketer’s Day

National Fitness Day (Ireland)

National Go With Your Gut Day

National Maritime Day

National Property Manager’s Day

National Redhead Appreciation Day

National Singles Day

National Teletext Day (UK)

National Temperature Control Day

National Volleyball Day

Neptune Day

New Year's Day (Constantinople)

Nintendo Day

Pancake Queen Memorial Day

Puffy Shirt Day (Seinfeld)

Restless Legs Awareness Day

Saffron Day (French Republic)

Speed Racer Day

Sügise Algus (a.k.a. Sügisene Pööripäev; Estonia, Finland, Sweden)

Teachers’ Day (Brunei)

Thrue Bab (Blessed Rainy Day; Bhutan)

Teal Talk Day

That'll Be the Day Day

West Nordic Day

World Adopted Dog Day

World Maritime Day (UN)

Food & Drink Celebrations

Chewing Gum Day

Gastronomy Day (France)

Great American Pot Pie Day

Hummerpremiär (Lobster Festival; Sweden)

National Apple Cider Vinegar Day

National Bacon Butty Day (UK)

National Baker Day

National Snack Stick Day

Za’atar Day

Independence & Related Days

Duchy of Prussian Britannia (Declared; 2014) [unrecognized]

Unification Day (Saudi Arabia)

4th Monday in September

American Indian Day (Tennessee) [4th Monday]

Canterbury South Province Day (New Zealand) [4th Monday]

CASAColumbia Family Day [4th Monday]

Dominion Day (New Zealand) [4th Monday]

Family Day — A Day To Eat Dinner With Your Children [4th Monday]

Meditation Monday [Every Monday]

Mellow Monday [4th Monday of Each Month]

Monday Musings [Every Monday]

Motivation Monday [Every Monday]

Mushroom Monday [4th Monday of Each Month]

National Eat Dinner with Your Family Day [4th Monday]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 23 (4th Full Week of September)

Falls Prevention Awareness Week (thru 9.27)

Global Week of Student Prayer (thru 9.27)

International Happiness at Work Week (thru 9.27)

International Week of the Deaf (thru 9.29) [M-Sun including Last Sunday]

Festivals Beginning September 23, 2024

Mayberry Days (Mt. Airy, North Carolina) [thru 9.29]

Feast Days

Adomnán (Christian; Saint)

Augustalia (Ancient Rome)

Bunster Winding (Shamanism)

Carl-Henning Pedersen (Artology)

Cicciolina Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Cissa of Crowland (or of Northumbria; Christian; Saint)

Citua (Feast to the Moon; Ancient Inca)

Corneille (Positivist; Saint)

Emmuska Orczy (Writerism)

Feast of Chukem (Deity of Footraces; Colombia)

Feast of the Ingathering (a.k.a. Harvest Home, Kirn or Mell-Supper; UK)

Festival of Papa, Wife of Rangi (Maori; New Zealand)

Festival of the Goddess Ninkasi (Sumerian Goddess of Brewing)

František Kupka (Artology)

James Carroll Beckwith (Artology)

Libra zodiac sign begins (Pagan)

Linus, Pope (Christian; Saint)

Louise Nevelson (Artology)

Manolo and Carlo Flamingo (Muppetism)

Matthew Pratt (Artology)

Paul Delvaux (Artology)

Padre Pio (a.k.a. Pio of Pietreclcina; Christian; Saint)

Pekka Halonen (Artology)

Sossius (Christian; Saint)

Stan Lynde (Artolgy)

Suzanne Valadon (Artology)

Thecla (Roman Catholic Church)

Walk the Plank Day (Pastafarian)

Wesley Chu (Writerism)

Xanthippe and Polyxena (Christian; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Fortunate Day (Pagan) [39 of 53]

Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]

Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [45 of 60]

Premieres

Abraxas, by Carlos Santana (Album; 1970)

Aja, by Steely Dan (Album; 1977)

Arsenic and Old Lace (Film; 1944)

Baa Baa Black Sheep (TV Series; 1976)

The Blacklist (TV Series; 2013)

Blonde (Film; 2022)

Brave Little Tailor (Disney Cartoon; 1938)

Bridges to Babylon, by The Rolling Stones (Album; 1997)

Bunker Hill Bunny (WB MM Cartoon; 1950)

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (Film; 1969)

Capture the Saint, by Burt Barer (Novel; 1997) [Saint #52]

Corpse Bride (Animated Film; 2005)

The Count of Monte Cristo (Hanna-Barbera Animated TV Special; 1973)

Crazy House (Andy Panda Cartoon; 1940)

Daffy’s in Trouble (WB LT Cartoon; 1961)

Difficult Loves, by Italo Calvino (Novel; 1970)

Dolphin Tale (Film; 2011)

Educating Rita (Film; 1983)

Enola Holmes (Film; 2020)

Girls with Balls (Film; 2018)

The Goldfinch, by Donna Tartt (Novel; 2013)

Goofy Gymnastics (Disney Cartoon; 1949)

The Greatest Beer Run Ever (Film; 2022)

Heroes, by David Bowie (Song; 1977)

Highway Hecklers (Chilly WIlly Cartoon; 1968)

I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song (WB MM Cartoon; 1933)

JAG (TV Series; 1995)

Jeepers Creepers (WB LT Cartoon; 1939)

The Jetsons (Animated TV Series; 1962)

Light of the Midnight Fun (WB MM Cartoon; 1939)

Mad About You (TV Series; 1992)

Moneyball (Film; 2011)

Modern Family (TV Series; 2009)

Mom (TV Series; 2013)

Mutiny Ain’t Nice (Fleischer Popeye Cartoon; 1938)

NCIS (TV Series; 2003)

Night of the Living Duck (WB LT Cartoon; 1988)

North, by Elvis Costello (Album; 2003)

The Nylon Curtain, by Billy Joel (Album; 1982)

One Tree Hill (TV Series; 2003)

Only When I Laugh (Film; 1981)

Oo-oo Birds of a Feather (George of the Jungle Cartoon; 1967) [#3]

Parallel Lines, by Blondie (Album; 1978)

People Are Strange, by The Doors (Song; 1967)

Phantom of the Opera, by Gaston Leroux (Novel; 1909)

Pink Pull (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1978)

Pink Suds (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1978)

The Prophet, by Kahlil Gibran (Prose Poetry; 1923)

Rodent to Stardom (WB LT Cartoon; 1967)

Round Trip to Mars (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1957)

Scooby-Doo! And the Goblin King (WB Animated Film; 2008)

The Shawshank Redemption (Film; 1994)

Sicque! Sicque! Sicque! (The Inspector Cartoon; 1966)

Sky Scrapper (Ub Iwerks Disney Cartoon; 1928)

Sledge Hammer! (TV Series; 1987)

Slouching Towards Bethlehem, by Joan Didion (Essays; 1968)

Storks (Animated Film; 2016)

Up a Tree (Disney Cartoon; 1955)

The Veldt, by Ray Bradbury (Short Story; 1950)

When I Was Cruel, by Elvis Costello (Album; 2002)

Whose Line Is It Anyway? (UK Improv Series; 1988)

Wild Ralph Hiccup (Super Chicken Cartoon; 1967) [#3]

The Wolf’s Side of the Story (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1938)

Today’s Name Days

Gerhild, Helene, Linus, Thekla (Austria)

Elizabeta, Lino, Pijo, Tekla, Zaharija (Croatia)

Berta (Czech Republic)

Linus (Denmark)

Diana, Dolores, Tekla (Estonia)

Mielikki, Miisa, Minja (Finland)

Constant, Faustine (France)

Linus, Gerhild, Thekla (Germany)

Iris, Polixeni, Rais, Xanthippe, Xanthippi (Greece)

Tekla (Hungary)

Lino, Pio, Rebecca (Italy)

Ivanda, Omula, Vanda, Veneranda (Latvia)

Galintas, Galintė, Linas, Teklė (Lithuania)

Snefrid, Snorre (Norway)

Boguchwała, Bogusław, Libert, Minodora, Tekla (Poland)

Zdenka (Slovakia)

Constancio, Lino, Pío, Tecla (Spain)

Tea, Tekla (Sweden)

Autumn, Linnet, Linnette, Lynette, Lynn, Lynne (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 267 of 2024; 99 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 1 of Week 39 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 23 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 21 (Geng-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 20 Elul 5784

Islamic: 19 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 27 Gold; Sixday [27 of 30]

Julian: 10 September 2024

Moon: 61%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 15 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Almarcon]

Runic Half Month: Gyfu (Gift) [Day 2 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 2 of 90)

Week: 4th Full Week of September

Zodiac: Libra (Day 1 of 30)

Calendar Changes

Libra (Balance) begins [Zodiac Sign 7; thru 10.22]

[theghostofbean]

10 + 29 + 45 for the book ask? ✨ Also any recommendations you want to share, as a freebie!

Thank you for the ask❤️

10- Favourite classical literature?

This is so hard!!!! I love classic lit and many of my all time favs are classics. I definitely tend to lean towards the gothic classics like Frankenstein, Dracula & the Picture of Dorian Gray. Jane Austen’s Emma is also one of my favs, and the works of Alexandre Dumas.

29- How many books on your “to be read” list?

Roughly 200💀

45- What books would you sell your soul to get a movie/TV adaptation of?

I have always hoped that one day someone would make a beautiful and faithfully adapted version of Dracula. I think it could be really cool and I feel like there aren’t any adaptations yet which truly capture what’s so great about the original.

I also just would love to see more great fantasy shows and movies in the world and I think that the gentleman bastard sequence by scott lynch has so much potential to be an incredible and cinematic adaptation. The worldbuilding is so cool and the characters are impossible not to love.

And just for u, beloved mutual, I recommend The Scarlet Pimpernel by Emmuska Orczy (it’s a fun little classic set in the French Revolution)

[hannahmationstudios]

5 for Fallen Skies, 39, 47 for Fallen Skies <3 <3 <3

AHHH REX THANK YOU!! *v* 💚💚 taking writer asks here!

5. What do you wish someone would ask you about Fallen Skies? Answer it now!

You can have two things about Fallen Skies! As a treat.

a) Maelune was in part inspired by Kathy Bates (her vibes are immaculate), and in part by Margo Martindale. For a lot of her dialogue I hear Margo's voice in my head when I write.

b) Ask me why I'm so bitter about Burning Shores DLC. Ask me why I'm mad as hell that an official DLC came out months and months after I started posting my own fic about an Ancestor from the Old World turned flesh, who abused his Ancestor status to amass a Quen cult following to do his dirty work--including but not limited to reanimating a Horus as part of his master plan--NOT TO MENTION the amusement park as a major plot set piece, and insect machines as one of the new elements. Guerrilla Games can fight me behind the Shoney's.

39. Is any aspect of your writing process inspired by other writers or people? If so, who?

Well. Yes. I'm going to be pretentious and cite Charles Dickens, Emmuska Orczy, and Robert Louis Stevenson as early-life inspirations for writing style. HOWEVER. I have also met some incredibly talented writers in fandom spaces, including the fantastic @poetikat, whose writing style inspired me to work on packing more punch into more concise narratives (which helped me immensely, because, like Dickens, I generally tend to write like I'm being paid by the word).

47. If Fallen Skies was a pair of shoes, what kind would it be? Describe the shoes.

PFFahaha, oh god. I think, if Fallen Skies was a pair of shoes, it would be more like the Erie leg-wraps - you won't suspect a thing until you're wrapped in a chokehold in the middle of it, probably covered in blood.

[pl9090]

Canonwelding The Scarlet Pimpernel

As always constructive feedback is welcome.

Big Finish's, "Plight of the Pimpernel" introduction of Baroness Emmuska Orczy's legend/meme character, "The Scarlet Pimpernel" active from 1789 to 1794 played by four people, (Argana, the 6th Doctor, Peri, and Oliver) active throughout the, "Reign of Terror" 1789 to 1794 can easily be intergrated into Faction Paradox canon. Argana's obcession with the books means he would have tried to folow the book series's canon as practically as possible meaning some of it's details can be used aswell.

"Several prominent alchemists and engineers loyal to the Chamber and it's allies lost their lives in France, a catastrophe which the Chamber believed, (in typically self obsessed fashion) to be deliberately instigated just to spite it's members", The Analytical Engine, The Book of the War.

After becoming aware of, (possibly through the Prince of Wales, the future George IV) and survieling his activities it's likely that The Service would have recruited Baronet Sir Percy Blakeney, (Argana) in late 1789/early 1790 and later Oliver in 1793 as an agent so that they could get some of their aristocratic allies out alive, (likely Shadow Directory agents, though in the end very few) amongst those he rescued. They no doubt offered and provided assistance but this would have been limited and the League of minor aristocrats was self sufficient anyway.

Writing possibilities While alot of the book series's stories and details can be reused and or referenced any author must bare in mind the changes created by the Big Finish audio, (eg: No Marguerite and the inclsusion of the audio's historical characters) and the added details of The Service. Realistically speaking it would essentially be Christmas Special type story with the Star Chamber and Service appearing as framework cameo details. Whether he qualifies for the Cult of Celebrity Death is unknown.

Notes Oliver probably took on the persona of Percy Blakeney along with that of the Scarlet Pimpernel and may have eeded more direct Star Chamber asistance then his predecessor if ony to maintain his new triple identity. Argana didn't mention his Service recruitment to the Sixth Doctor and Peri becuase it's limited assistance and secret nature meant that for the League it didn't matter for the most part and the Argana obviously had other more important secrets on his mind.

[cogentranting]

My 2023 Reads

See below for the full list of the books I read and a 1-2 sentence review of each.

Fiction, non-fiction, poetry

Italicized- reread

Cloud Cuckoo Land (Anthony Doerr) - It's like a combination of All the Light We Cannot See, Cloud Atlas and The Book Thief, except not quite as good as any of those. Good, just not as good.

The Stolen Heir (Holly Black) - Highly recommend if YA fantasy romance is your thing

On the Incarnation (Athanasius of Alexander) - one of the foundational works of early Christian theology

Klara and the Sun (Kazuo Ishiguro) - Beautiful, and lovely, and thoughtful and bittersweet

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl and Sir Orfeo (Tolkien translation) - technically this is poetry but its also narrative so I grouped it with fiction. Green Knight is very fun. Pearl is quite boring.

The Case Against the Sexual Revolution (Louise Perry) - I highly recommend this, just be cautious because it has some very frank discussions of some very hard topics so there's a whole bunch of language and trigger warnings attached to this recommendation

Justification Reconsidered: Rethinking a Pauline Theme (Stephen Westerholm) - I'm going to be honest-- I don't remember what I thought of this book. It was for school and I also did a bunch of research on the topic and I don't remember what part of that research this constituted.

A Quest for Godliness: The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life (J.I. Packer) - I read a few chapters of this for a research project last year and liked it enough to buy myself a copy and read the whole thing for fun

The Warden and the Wolf King (Andrew Peterson) - Book 3 of this series (this is 4) remains my favorite but this one is really good and is a beautiful culmination of the themes

The Elements of Eloquence (Mark Forsyth) - About as good as a book that is just explaining various rhetorical figures can be.

The Theology of the Book of Revelation (Richard Bauckham) -THIS book right here I want to read again. This book made me fall in love with Revelation.

King of Scars (Leigh Bardugo) -It's the reason why I'm very upset over the cancellation of the Shadow and Bone tv series (because I won't get to see more of my boy Nikolai) but it's fine

The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims (Rebecca McLaughlin) - A very useful book, very accessible

Rule of Wolves (Leigh Bardugo) - But seriously I love Nikolai and I mostly really enjoyed this duology.

The Waste Land and Other Early Poems (T.S. Eliot) - So many words saying so many things and maybe I'll know what they mean if I read this another 30 or 40 times.

Notes From Underground (Fyodor Dostoevsky) - Very different from other Dostoevsky but fascinating in its own way

The Scarlet Pimpernel (Emmuska Orczy) - It's a romp

Calvinism: A Southern Baptist Dialogue - genuinely very very helpful to me and just randomly was emailed to me as a pdf by some site that I ended up on the email list for

The Great Hunt (Robert Jordan) - I do not have faith in this series being good over time but at book 2 they're fun

Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) -It really is that good.

Original Sin: A Cultural History (Alan Jacobs) - a really interesting exploration of the idea

Out of the Silent Planet (C.S. Lewis) - The Space Trilogy is great because it just has such a different feel from most of the other sci fi I've read

Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been (Jackie Hill Perry) - Perry has such a lovely poetic way of telling her story

Booked: Literature in the Soul of Me (Karen Swallow Prior) - This book is really lovely and peaceful and reflective

A Wizard of Earthsea (Ursula K. Le Guin) -honestly was not very impressed by this. It was fine.

Anna Karenina (Leo Tolstoy) - If you're really into the Russian classics, I would recommend this, but there's like 6 others I would recommend first.

Firefly: Big Damn Hero (James Lovegrove, Nancy Holder) -If you want the book equivalent of a solid but not stand-out filler episode of Firefly

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories (Ken Liu) -I ranked all of the short stories in this on my blog if you search for it. Some are great. Some are not.

All the Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr) - It's really really good. A book you just want to sit with.

The Chalice of the Gods (Rick Riordan) - Kinda the same vibe as the Firefly one. It's good to see Percy again, it's a fun time, it's not taking any big swings or doing anything particularly new. But I did really enjoy the thematic linking of which gods were chosen to be a part of the story.

Dracula (Bram Stoker) - It's Tumblr, I don't need to review this here.

Biblical Critical Theory: How The Bible's Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture (Christopher Watkin) - This book is really big but it has so much good stuff in it. Well worth the read.

An Experiment in Criticism (C.S. Lewis) - There was quite I while through this one where I was not really jiving with it, but then at the end he pulls it together and I really like where he ends up, as evidenced by quoting half of it on posts here.

Poems (C.S. Lewis) - I'm not good enough at reading poetry to review it. There's a few in here that I quite liked though.

For teaching-

1. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)- it's still great. After reading it who knows how many times, it's just so good.

2. The Crucible (Arthur Miller)- The character work in here is fantastic, and I really do like it a lot, but if Miller understood grace a bit better? the ending could be phenomenal.

3. Long Way Gone (Ishmael Beah)- It's not my favorite but it is really powerful and worth reading and the kids were really invested in it