#GogAndMagog

[freyafrida]

🌟 WIP titles game: #2 rillacarl, if you don’t mind! 🌟

(I am sooo intrigued that this jumped right over the Shirley story that I spotted on the list, too!)

hi! :))) lmao secretly very glad you asked abt this one bc it's actually almost ready to post and i am BURSTING to talk about it ahahaha

Rilla felt Carl's going keenly. They had always been cronies and playmates…Rilla had never been afraid of his beetles and bugs, though she drew a hard and fast line at snakes. They used to talk together of almost everything and were teased about each other at school…

freyafrida, reading this passage in rilla of ingleside: "well this seems like a more interesting dynamic than rilla and ken's relationship, how about i start shipping them?"

(does RoI also say that she and carl promised not to marry because the idea grossed them out so much? yes. has that ever stopped me? no. also "childhood best friends who promise never to fall in love" is a great romantic comedy set up, SO.)

so yes: this is a rilla/carl friends-to-lovers fic, with a side of fake dating. it's been rattling around in my brain forever and i finally committed to it :D

i mainly like, i think, that rilla's friendship with carl shows a side of her that's totally at odds with how she's first introduced to us in RoI and even in Rainbow Valley: even though she's vain and spoiled, she also isn't afraid of carl's bugs and used to run around rainbow valley with him (which, if they're chasing bugs and rats, probably wasn't a very clean or dainty activity).

there also isn't much indication that she's close with any of her siblings, pre-war -- jem is far older than she is; her relationship with walter is more hero-worship when she's young; there's actually like zero interaction between her and nan/di; and of course asking for canon shirley content is LOL. (although she and shirley SHOULD be closer given that they are so close in age and would've been the only siblings still at home after nan and di went to queen's…….but i digress.) but it turns out carl was her confidant, and that just like…got in my head and made me want more of a friendship or relationship between them. so now u know about my rilla/carl shipping. these are my confessions 🎶

snippet! have two because there is some shirley content here :D

[byfaithmedia]

The Bible predicts here at Megiddo, the end time battle will be fought to defeat the antichrist. Many great battles have taken place in this area including the 1917 battle in this area which led to the collapse of the Ottoman-Turk Empire in this region & in preparation for a Jewish State.

[arabicfornerds]

20 questions for: Mennan Salih (#33) The verb عَسعَسَ (to become dark) is Mennan Salih's favorite Arabic word. The author of the popular Arabic language blog "The Arabic Pages" recently began studying Akkadian, looking for similarities to Arabic. Learn more about her in episode #33 of the 9273-roots interview series. https://arabic-for-nerds.com/interviews/9273-roots/mennan-salih-the-arabic-pages/?feed_id=4717

[jeternthejets]

Anti-Semitism from the Right and the Left

[real-jakbo]

Gog & Magog 👹👺 . #aigenerated #aiartistcommunity #aiartists #gogandmagog #gog #bibleverse #bibleart #bible (at California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CmmkPDHPKnB/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[no-where-new-hero]

What itemsss do you think we’d see 2024 Emily Starr reveal that she carries around, if she participated in “What’s in My Bag”? 👜

LOVE THIS QUESTION!!!

First of all is the question of the bag itself. I sort of get the sense that she'd want something smart and preppy but understated, so perhaps something like a satchel bag, possibly faux leather or thrifted, with lots of pockets.

Inside, the main thing of course would be a Jimmy-book or two. In 2024, I feel like this would be a nice simple portable, college-ruled spiral notebook. The Evelyn Blakes of the world may have fancy planners and things (Evelyn Blake would be SUCH an Instagram influencer) but I suspect Emily would be more the sort to want a notebook she can tear pages out of and scribble in. There would be story outlines and poem lines in one, that one in an outer pocket for easy reach; the second would be her diary.

Next of course--pens and pencils! I do think she would have a nice pencil case. Because I'm *personally* a fan of them, I think she and Ilse would buy that Blue Q brand that are recycled and have sassy quips and cute art on them. Emily's would probably have the "People I love: 1. Cats" design.

I'm also fairly sure Emily would have her novel/poetry collection of the moment with her. The question now is whether she's an annotator. I feel like young Emily would be, because she would need to look up the definition of a word when she got home, and also because she's so captivated by prosody and poetry. Any quote that gave her the flash would need to be underlined. Older Emily seems less of an underliner--I suspect she may just copy bits she liked into her diary and leave it at that. That said, I do think she would have an assortment of colored pens and tabs in her pencil case just in case.

Now, in terms of more personal items, in her makeup pouch would have to be the hand mirror Jock Kelly gave her; a small comb to fix her bangs and an assortment of hair ties; on-the-go perfume or at least some sort of floral essential oil; makeup that Ilse gave her but she never really uses. In her wallet would be some cash from the latest story she sold (but never very much), her drivers' license (imo Ilse is queen of public transport and passenger princess in Perry's car, but Emily is too independent for that), a sketch Teddy gave her and then forgot about. In the back of her phone case, she keeps a polaroid of her and Ilse and Teddy and Perry that Dean took of them one summer.

Emily would not at all be a Stanley water bottle girl but neither is she exactly a Ball jar girlie either. I'm going with her being slightly dehydrated at all the time because she simply forgets to bring water with her. That being said I feel like she'd love going to fancy coffee shops and ordering tea lattes and hydrating that way.

That's what I got for now!! Would be super interested if anyone else had any ideas about what she'd have :)

[the-moral-of-the-rose]

Rilla of Ingleside created a new timeline...

Anne's House of Dreams mentioned a historical event - a federal election: “Mistress Blythe, the Liberals are in with a sweeping majority. After eighteen years of Tory mismanagement this down-trodden country is going to have a chance at last.” (AHoD).

From Wikipedia: "The 1896 Canadian federal election was held on June 23, 1896, to elect members of the House of Commons of Canada of the 8th Parliament of Canada. Though the Conservative Party, led by Prime Minister Charles Tupper, won a plurality of the popular vote, the Liberal Party, led by Wilfrid Laurier, won the majority of seats to form the next government. The election ended 18 years of Conservative rule."

It wouldn't be surprsing, but... it was also the year in which Jem Blythe was born! The election took place few weeks after his birth: "When Anne came downstairs again, the Island, as well as all Canada, was in the throes of a campaign preceding a general election." (AHoD).

So... according to this timeline, Walter was born a year later (1897), then the twins (1899), Shirley (1901) and Rilla (1903).

The point is... at the outbreak of the war, Walter would have been only 17 years old, the twins 15, Shirley 13, Rilla 11...

Shirley would have been too young to participate in the war and Walter would have barely turned nineteen at the time of the Battle of Flers-Courcelette in September of 1916...

Someone in one of my older posts noticed that puff sleeves fashion suggested that Anne of Green Gables took place in 1880s rather than 1870s... so it would make sense!

I wonder why Montgomery chose Rilla as her teenage heroine (according to the original chronology, Rilla should have been only 11 years old), while there were 15-year-old twins...

Can you imagine Nan and Di as the main characters of the war book? Two young girls at Queen's, trying to come to terms with rapidly changing world? Rilla and Shirley at Ingleside, growing closer in such trying times? Teenage boys - Jem and Walter - who had to choose if they wanted to sacrifice their life at even younger age - at eighteen? Walter, never reaching the age of twenty (or maybe - dare I hope - coming back home safely)? Anne and Gilbert in their 40s, trying to collect all the broken pieces that was once their family?

It would have been equally good, in my opinion. I wonder... why Montgomery felt she had to suddenly change a whole chronology?

Side note: of course, I love Rilla of Ingleside. But I am just curious... (Nan and Di of Ingleside would be a good book, too!).

@diario-de-gilbert-blythe @gogandmagog @pinkenamelheart @valancystirling48

[gogandmagog]

Hi, @gogandmagog. You have commented on my posts before and they were all very nice. Now I want to ask you this. Wikipedia says the following about Anne and Gilbert in AOTI:

At the beginning of the novel, Anne and Gilbert, looking forward to a "splendid four years at Redmond" wander around to the Haunted Wood, to taste the "delicious apples" where "under tawny skin was white, white flesh, faintly veined with red; and besides their own proper apple taste, they had a certain wild, delightful tang".[4]: 70  The Canadian scholar Elizabeth Waterson noted the "erotic" overtones to the scene of the apple tasting in the Haunted Wood, as sign of Anne's attraction to Gilbert of which she herself is not entirely aware.

I did not read the comment of the academic mentioned, so I did not understand exactly what the erotic implication was. If you know, could you please explain?

Thank you for the ask, my friend! This was really interesting to read over, and although I also have not first-hand seen or read the article/essay being referenced here... I do think I’m (kind of?) fairly familiar with the concept that might be being brought forward here. And while I don’t think the language by itself is overtly erotic, I do think when we couple it with the underlying themes of Anne and Gilbert’s developing relationship in Anne of the Island, it actually does lean that way, all things considered.    To begin with, let's consider the existing apple symbolism that is already huge in the text and subtext of Anne and Gilbert’s relationship. If we backtrack to Anne of Green Gables, directly after the slate incident, Gilbert tries to make peace with Anne by first offering her a pink heart-shaped “you are sweet” candy (🩷) that later makes way for the pink enamel heart necklace of equal infamy, but secondly... with an apple. And not just any regular apple either, but a ‘famous’ Blythe exclusive strawberry-apple. 

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

Anne, though decently enticed, outright rejects Gilbert’s apple, and in so doing, also pointedly rejects the relationship (friendship at this point, they’re just little guys respectively aged 11 and 13 here) with him that’s being offered with it.

Bearing even just this one single apple-incident in mind, when we return to Anne of the Island, and the passage in question, we rejoin a Gilbert that has managed to become Anne’s friend (in true or-die-trying fashion), but wants (is ‘looking for’) more, and things begin to take further shape.   

Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

What has Gilbert’s pursual of Anne been, if not ‘brave’ and ‘determined’? Bravely putting himself out there, again and again, and determined in his persistence, his years-long devotion to her only. Has their relationship not ‘grown and flourished’ after ‘springing years ago’? Anne no longer rejects the literal apple that Gilbert offers her... they both eat of the fruit, and gladly so... and this tree, embodying their relationship, is now flowering and is ‘ripe’ and ready to be gathered. This on the heels of a chapter backwards in this book, where we see Anne (a child no longer, readers are privileged and are ‘catching the moment of transformation’ from her girlhood into womanhood, also see: Anne and Gilbert’s last moment together in Anne of Avonlea, where this transition is underlined) begin to have cheek-burning-and-increasing physical sensations/reactions to Gilbert; this attraction no longer avoidable.

Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery

Maud also directly links these wild-apples that Anne and Gilbert experimentally taste together + enjoy (which are btw secret, and presumably known only to them) to the one from the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Certainly, she uses “Eden” often enough in many of her books –usually just referring to a great lush and beautiful place or a happiness – but direct citing of the actual fateful fruit? Not so much. And it’s an important distinction. Because the ‘fatal apple’ of Eden meant sinning… that ‘fatal apple’ was used to tempt Eve. It’s anything but pure. (Now I’m half-way reluctant to say so, and I promise I’m not trying to invite theological discourse, but it does feel necessary to put it out there for your personal consideration that some Christian denominations will argue that that apple from the Garden of Eden was actually a euphemism for intercourse. Lucy Maud was Presbyterian of course, and for Presbyterian’s, I’ve personally seen opinions go both ways. Add in that Montgomery was a 19th century Presbyterian, married to a Minister, and well, it makes attempting to decipher her thoughts on that particular subject [and all it might allude to for this passage especially] all the more difficult.) 

(Oh and a tiny disclaimer/P.S. that plenty of other apple-related symbolic meaning is assigned to these two throughout the series, including little Joy being laid to rest in a velvet casket lined with ‘apple blossom’ but for now, and in an effort to be even a little bit more concise than usual and also because it’s 4:44 am, I’m just shutting up and going to sleeep lol.) 

[lmmontgomerypolls]

🦇You’re Trick’or’Treating at the Avonlea Church’s 🎃 Annual Harvest Festival;

*poll submitted by 👤@gogandmagog, thank you! this was so fun. (:

1. A Plum Puff from Green Gables. This is a sacred dessert, from the highly guarded and highly secret Cuthbert family cookbook. Don’t let your mom see this puff, or she’ll try to take it home and reverse engineer the recipe, before you get a bite.

2. Oh no. Liniment cupcake. 🤢 Party might be over for you…

3. A tiny pocket-sized Bible. From Mrs Rachel. She doesn’t believe in practising Halloween, and thinks even this whole ‘Harvest Festival’ thing is pagan, and sinful, and she can’t believe that the Reverend would allow it.

4. … mixed nuts? They’re a little stale. And there’s a really good chance that these are what Mister Harrison donated, after forgetting he’d signed up to help out, and they’re actually meant for treats for his parrot Ginger. 🦜🥜

5. A carmel apple! You’re so lucky, this looks like it was one of the famous Blythe Farm strawberry apples too.

6. Throat lozenges. 😅 These must be from the Barry’s. Ever since Minnie May got so sick a couple of years ago, Mrs. Barry has become a total hypochondriac.

7. Nice, actual candy. Nerds Clusters too. One bag of these contains all essential nutrients needed to sustain life, everyone knows that.

8. A jar full of Davy Keith’s gory Halloween themed slime. There’s a hand-written coupon for 50¢ off a future purchase from his and Milty Boulter’s slime business, too. Should probably just be glad there’s no bugs in this stuff, right? 😅

9. Mary Joe’s shortcake. Paul Irving’s grandma says it’s too rich for kids’ stomachs, which may or may not be true, but considering there’s at least no eyeballs in it, it’s probably a win.

[freyafrida]

✍️ Writer Asks! ✍️

Number four, please!

(Thrilling to have you so active lately, btw! 🥹)

hi! 🫶 thank you for so much good aogg content, i could not stay away!!

4. a story idea you haven’t written yet

i binge-write at least a paragraph the second i get an idea tbh, but my least developed one (like 2 paragraphs and some stray sentences):

AU where jem dies instead of walter (sorry jem). walter feels the need to Be There for faith since jem no longer can. starts hanging around faith and una's house in kingsport and falls in love with una. also rilla comes along to do household science and she and shirley and carl are the background comic relief.

(ofc i'd want faith to be happy too! would probably hint that she's starting to move on at the end, but idk with who. bertie shakespeare drew??)

also want to write jem/mary fic now although i have zero ideas for anything apart from the ship

[byfaithmedia]

The Last Battle at the End of the World will be fought in the planes of Megiddo, Israel where many ancient battles have taken place before. 

[arabicfornerds]

20 questions for: Mennan Salih (#33) The verb عَسعَسَ (to become dark) is Mennan Salih's favorite Arabic word. The author of the popular Arabic language blog "The Arabic Pages" recently began studying Akkadian, looking for similarities to Arabic. Learn more about her in episode #33 of the 9273-roots interview series. https://arabic-for-nerds.com/interviews/9273-roots/interview-mennan-salih-the-arabic-pages/?feed_id=4705

[sparrowsarus]

Walter and Susan; Or, When the Gates of Fairie are Shut

@gogandmagog since you were curious on the why.

When we think of Susan Pevensie, we think of a girl who became a queen; a girl who lost her kingdom, a girl who decided she wouldn't love anything who wouldn't bother loving her back.

We think of siblings betrayed--Lucy, hurt and confused by "Susan The Gentle" caring about boys, and lipstick; about Peter's short "Susan is no longer a friend to Narnia."

We think of a sensible girl, a doubting girl, a girl, not a woman, though she had to grow up twice over.

We think of "The Problem With Susan", a girl cast out of Narnia (Heaven; Salvation; call it what you will) for the crime of perceived femininity.

(So often we forget that Susan made a choice to leave.)

(Is it fair, how we think of Susan? I don't know.)

"There is such a place as fairyland - but only children can find the way to it. And they do not know that it is fairyland until they have grown so old that they forget the way. One bitter day, when they seek it and cannot find it, they realize what they have lost; and that is the tragedy of life. On that day the gates of Eden are shut behind them and the age of gold is over."

(Montgomery,L.M)

A girl: Just a girl, or a "silly, conceited young woman", who cared more about lipstick and boys than she did anything else--a girl who lost her entire family at the age of twenty-one.

Was it a punishment?

Was it a kindness?

It was a cruelty, regardless.

(Susan was Susan the Gentle, and don't tell me that wasn't a choice she made, every day she ruled.)

CS Lewis mentioned that Susan may find her own way back to Aslan's country; whether Susan would want to remains a mystery.

In contrast, we have Walter Blythe. The "hop out of kin", the dreamer, the coward (until he isn't.) The bard, the chronicler, the sacrificial lamb. Walter is not "sensible", or practical, or inclined to doubt (Note we are told he's a church member, while Jem Blythe isn't, despite being romantically linked with Minister's Daughter Faith, and isn't that interesting?)

Walter has to die in the Great War. There is no other future for him; this starry-eyed boy who knew he was signing up to die. Walter Blythe knows stories, knows he's in one, knows there's no happy ending.

Because even if had Walter lived, I do not believe the gossamer-fairy part of him would never have returned from France. Like Susan, he too would need to find Narnia on a longer, harder road, and there is no guarantee it would be the land he knew as a boy.

Only a few, who remain children at heart, can ever find that fair, lost path again; and blessed are they above mortals. They, and only they, can bring us tidings from that dear country where we once sojourned and from which we must evermore be exiles. The world calls them its singers and poets and artists and story-tellers; but they are just people who have never forgotten the way to fairyland."

The Piper called Walter, and there was no denying that call. Walter's way was set before him, and he could not stray; a different, harder path than he was promised as a boy. Walter is no exile; Walter chooses to leave, so others can take his place.

Walter dies, and everyone he loves lives.

Susan lives, and everyone she loves dies.

Now all that remains is:

Can they find their kingdoms again?

[jomiddlemarch]

🦢🪻WIP title game;🪻🦢

Very grateful to have been tagged by @gogandmagog

Rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs. 

Fratboy Gil’s disaster sonnet

On how Gilbert learns about Anne’s past

Penelope Bridgertoned

Fete

Crescent Moon

I'm only counting WIPs I have some intention of finishing as there are a few others out there I don't see any way clear to return to. Tagging @asteraceae-blue @ricardian-werewolf @ladamedusoif @tortoisesshells @nervousladytraveler which should cover a pretty wide range of fandoms!

[no-where-new-hero]

having been in kpop fandom for three years and then cautiously tiptoeing into kdrama fandom is culture shock because kpop stans are some of the fruitiest people alive and everyone makes gay jokes and has two or three beloved ships within groups and i’m not saying all kdrama fans are painfully straight but i feel like i’m the only person out here with headcanons about how my beloved kim yongji looks like she'd enjoy kissing women.

[the-moral-of-the-rose]

The example of Anne Blythe's poetry - Part 1. (Was she a gifted poet?):

*LMM's fans - how would you rate this poem/orbitruary (scale 1-10, where 1 is the lowest and 10 the highest) as an item of a poetry? I'll include the poll below, but you may always tell me in tags/messages, after the voting is over):

"The Old Man's Grave"

"Make it where the winds may sweep Through the pine boughs soft and deep, And the murmur of the sea Come across the orient lea, And the falling raindrops sing Gently to his slumbering.

"Make it where the meadows wide Greenly lie on every side, Harvest fields he reaped and trod, Westering slopes of clover sod, Orchard lands where bloom and blow Trees he planted long ago.

"Make it where the starshine dim May be always close to him, And the sunrise glory spread Lavishly around his bed, And the dewy grasses creep Tenderly above his sleep.

"Since these things to him were dear Through full many a well-spent year, It is surely meet their grace Should be on his resting place, And the murmur of the sea Be his dirge eternally."

Anne of Ingleside by L. M. Montgomery

@gogandmagog @batrachised @pinkenamelheart @no-where-near-hero @informedimagining @mzannthropy @girlathome9 @bewareofitalics @moonlightredfern @the-lily-blooms-late @deemoyza @diario-de-gilbert-blythe @mollywog