#Lavinia la guin

[lavinialeguin]

What if Darla was the descendant of the Knight?

I think in Ezra's route it's hinted or said directly (can't remember which) that FMC was a descendant of the Knight to whom Lavinia gave her heart. However, I think it would be vastly more interesting if Darla was a descendant of the knight instead.

I think it would have been foreshadowed very nicely with how quickly Lavinia and Darla started getting along but also when FMC is listing Lavinia's friends as different pieces on a chess board, she lists Darla as the knight.

Seeing as the Knight was broken from Titania's curse and fled from Lavinia, I think it's possible the knight thought Lavinia was the one to curse him and probably blamed her for him having been under a spell for their relationship. I think this would have been a good reason for the knight to go to the non-magical realm, possibly handing off Lavinia's heart as payment to go through the portal (or to just be rid of it), It would have been interesting if the Knight had also done something to make himself and his family less prone to magic because of his experience being under someone's spell.

Hence where Darla's resistance to magic comes in. The story played really heavily on the idea that Darla had some kind of anti-magic ability, being able to resist Blossom, and in her own route being able to wake Jo by just wishing it to be. This also feels very similar to how Lavinia and FMC cast their own magic, using willpower or emotion in place of spoken spells. So it would be interesting if the Knight had made a deal with someone to give himself more magic resistance to protect him and his family from magic.

[measureformeasure]

Hey June! I was wondering, what medias/books would you recommend for a person wanting to get into the ancient greek classics? The Iliad/Odyssey/Aeneid stories fascinate me, but as there are so many versions and translations and retellings, I don't really know where to start. How did you get into them?

hey anon! I feel mildly underqualified to answer this as I actually haven’t read the Iliad or Odyssey or all of the Aeneid but I will do my best (i’m working on it! promise! iliad is up next and i’m gonna read it and i’m gonna go crazyinsane)

firstly you should totally read the original texts. remember that they aren’t The One True Story, they’re just written-down versions of wobbly cultural stories that change from person to person. and you don’t have to read them before reading retellings or adaptation but it’s good to read them fairly close together. just read what you wanna read. the bit of the Aeneid I read was translated by Robert Fagles, and I’ve heard Emily Wilson’s Odyssey is good. my friend Theo @fifthlydoyoudream recommends E. V. Rieu’s Argonautica translation, if you wanna read that. poetry in translation has decent translations of most plays i’ve tried to find, and that’s nice because it’s online and super accessible. EDIT: highly rec Ian Johnston's translations, because they are a little more readable and equally if not more accessible (lots of file formats!)

the way I first got into the greek classics was reading Anne Carson’s An Oresteia, which is Agamemnon, Elektra, and Orestes. it’s a really great intro because Anne Carson’s translations are just fantastic & it’s one play from each of the three big greek tragedy-writers & it’s a pretty well-contained story so you don’t need much context - you could read Iphigenia at Aulis first but that’s not really necessary. (confusingly there is also The Oresteia, which is different). if you can find an Anne Carson translation of a play you should totally read that one. that’s my rule of thumb. I always recommend Antigone too - it’s also fairly self-contained and it makes me crazyinsane. Anne Carson has two translations, they’re both good - Antigonick is better if you have a little context beforehand in my opinion. also Oedipus the King/Oedipus Rex is good.

tbh what i recommend is just following characters or stories that you like and seeing where that gets you. like i’m having a pretty intense house of atreus moment atm but i still barely know who penelope is because i haven’t read the odyssey. who is penthesilea? still do not know. but don’t get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff out there!! it can be a little scary but wikipedia is your friend and also you do not have to know everything.

and some adaptations/retellings:

Lavinia by Ursula K. le Guin is an adaptation/retelling of the Aeneid from Lavinia’s point of view and it is very very good.

Luis Alfaro’s Greek Trilogy are play adaptations of Oedipus Rex, Elektra, and Medea set in modern-day LA with a Latino cast and it is so fucking good it makes me want to bite glass and explode. you can find oedipus el rey by googling but the other ones might be a bit more annoying to find

Iphigenia and the Furies (on Taurian Land) by Ho Ka Kei is a good deconstruction of the colonialist nature of Iphigenia among the Taurians, and it is also absurdly hilarious, so I recommend. I read it before I read the play it adapts and I was fine but it is good to have context.

i’m having an iphigenia moment anyway i also recommend Iphigenia at Zero by Lisa Schlesinger if you get into iphigenia’s story.

I’m like 15 pages in to Cassandra by Christa Wolf and I am thoroughly enjoying it so far

Antigone directed by Sophie Deraspe is a great French Canadian adaptation of Antigone in the modern day I really like it

also. note on adaptation - a lot of adaptations i have read flatten the morality of these plays into good and bad. i think that’s dumb. let them be shitty, adaptations!

ok thats all good luck brave soldier o7

[wildkitte]

Creusa must die

I have been a little bit obsessed with Creusa’s character ever since I first translated Aeneid in my first ever text course in university 5 years ago (dear god). Her disappearance, Aeneas’ devastated, mad dash to find her and her final appearance as a ghost have been haunting me for all these years without an end in sight. Apparently not everyone shares this obsession, as there is comparatively little research on her (if we compare to Dido or Camilla – perhaps only Lavinia is as ignored as Creusa is and she at least has Ursula K. Le Guin batting for her), and even my professor said: “Creusa just dies, but it doesn’t really matter why she does”.

But it does matter! Creusa’s disappearance is the only way the Aeneid can happen! Creusa’s death is the only way Aeneas is free to perform his duty to Rome! Creusa must die, so Rome can be born!

It’s interpretation time, baby.

In a way Creusa is the perfect wife – for both Aeneas and also in the sense of Augustan values. She is loyal to her husband, she has performed her duty as a wife, bearing a son for Aeneas. Creusa is also the one to remind Aeneas to fulfill his duty as paterfamilias and protect his family instead of seeking death in the carnage of Troy (see 2.675-678).  Rivoltella’s article La Morte Di Creusa E Didone Nell’Eneide Ed Il Motivo Del ‘Seguito Amoroso’ details the motif of following (sequor) in the Aeneid and touches on this topic of Creusa as the ideal wife.

Now... You can probably imagine how devastated I am that I have apparently not saved anywhere the summarized translation my prof provided for me of Rivoltella’s article (there’s also interesting stuff about ‘following’ as an erotic motif in archaic Roman literature but also in later erotic poetry, i.e. Catullus – it’s a really good article, shame I can’t understand Italian). If you want to read it, it can be found here – if I remembered smth incorrectly I’ll be forever ashamed

But from memory: in the Greek marriage tradition, the place of the wife is at home. When man goes to war, wife stays behind (as a mirror to the Aeneid, we can raise Penelope from the Odyssey – she stays behind, waiting for Odysseus for 20 years, staying loyal to him by staying where he left her), and the battlefield is traditionally the place of a man. Roman marriage tradition is different in this sense, or at least attitudes had shifted a little by the time Vergil was writing the Aeneid. The duty of the wife was to support her husband, which then developed into wives leaving the household to follow their husbands to previously male-dominated places – for example, the battlefield (at least Julia the Elder, Augustus’ daughter, apparently travelled to meet Agrippa where he was campaigning when they were married - almost died because of a flash flood on the way too, funnily enough in Ilium).

From this perspective Creusa is kind of best of both worlds: she both follows her husband to exile, following him as a sign of ultimate loyalty – but with her death, her ghost is kept in Troy “by the gods’ Great Mother”, and so she stays, like a good wife should, at home, tending to the corpse of Troy forever. Creusa, with her sacrifice, performs pietas – duty to the gods (delivering the prophecy), duty to the country (ensuring the founding of Rome and continuation of the legacy of Troy), and towards family (convincing Aeneas to stay with his family, demanding he care for their child, and sending him away to his journey).

Rivoltella suggests that Creusa even “over-sacrifices” herself – she is ready to follow her husband to peril, while also ultimately staying in Troy, so devoted to her husband she is ready to sacrifice herself for his fate. Keith (2000) suggests that “if Aeneas seals the success of his imperial mission with the ‘sacrifice’ of Turnus at the conclusion of the poem (12.950-2), he inaugurates the epic project over the ghostly shade of his wife.” Creusa’s death and her prophecy is the catalyst for Aeneas’ entire journey, the final push out of Troy.

There’s also of course the fact that without the loss of Creusa, Aeneas could not love Dido. Dido and Aeneas are inherently connected by tragedy, widowhood – I do not think Dido could have opened her heart to Aeneas, or that Cupid’s attack on her would have been as effective, without this connector, the devastating premature loss of their spouses. But Creusa has also given Aeneas something Dido has not and can never give: a son, a child to continue the line. That she has given Aeneas a son is something that already puts her “above” Dido in a way – Dido has not birthed any heirs, does not even have a little Iulus to remember Aeneas by as he leaves. Creusa’s son will be the one to continue the great line of Trojan kings and become the founder of the glorious line of Roman people. In this way, too, Creusa has fulfilled her duty to both Aeneas and the future Roman empire.

Creusa’s prophecy can’t happen without her death either: she promises him “a royal wife” waiting in Hesperia, and naturally Aeneas can’t marry Lavinia if Creusa is still alive (and same would apply to Dido, if they had ever been married – sorry Dido).

Creusa is actively an obstacle for Aeneas’ fate, and like user @cakemoney​ BRILLIANTLY pointed out:

[ID: tumblr tags #aeneid daily #something something from a character standpoint juno is an antagonist because she just hates his ass #from a metaphor standpoint juno is the antagonist because devotion to family / duty to your spouse is? an obstacle? #that aeneas must overcome / cast aside in order to found the roman empire? hhhhhhh. End ID]

I am literally eating my hands, this is such a good observation. Marriage is an obstacle in Aeneas’ fate! If he stays in Troy for Creusa, if he stays with Dido, he can’t fulfill his duty. And so, he must be miserable for the rest of his life (my prof pointed out that he seems to accept Lavinia as his wife out of obligation, yet another thing that has been decided for him, and at this point he is simply too tired to resist).

My best friend started reading the Aeneid after I had talked their ear off about it for the past year, and just finished book 2 with this brilliant observation: Creusa acts as a metaphor for Troy itself. Just like Aeneas goes back to her, and she is already gone, so is Aeneas’ struggle to found Troy over and over again doomed, because Troy is now ashes and forever out of reach (no matter how much he wants to embrace it, manus effugit imago…).

Creusa died the moment the Greeks breached the city gates and yet Aeneas drags her memory across the Mediterranean, planting cities that never grow, shadows of the former kingdom and what once was, a pale imitation of what he lost that night. “There in store for you happy days,” Creusa tells him, but I think that ship has already sailed.

So Creusa must die, as does Troy, so that fate can be fulfilled. She must die so Aeneas has to do what gods have set out for him to do. Creusa is Troy – she must burn so Aeneas can leave, and yet he spends all of his journey dragging her corpse behind him, never free of the ghost that disappeared to thin air in his arms.

And that’s all folks, my final Creusa post! Thank you for indulging with my analysis of my favourite Aeneid blorbo, I shall cease tormenting the tag with my rabid dog energy (at least until she gets mentioned again lmao). Your tags have been absolutely wonderful btw, and like said, if you have more Creusa articles for me or want just want to rave about her, PLEASE DO!

Here finally the promised reading list:

Grillo L., 2010, Leaving Troy and Creusa: Reflections on Aeneas’ Flight, CAMWS 106, 43–68.

Hughes L., 1997, Vergil’s Creusa and Iliad 6, Mnemosyne 50, 401–423.

Keith A. M., 2000, Over Her Dead Body, Engendering Rome: Women in Latin Epic, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 101–131.

Perkell C., 1981, On Creusa, Dido, and the Quality of Victory in Virgil’s Aeneid, Women’s Studies 8, 201–223.

Perkell C., 2021, Creusa and Dido Revisited, Vergilius 67, 117–138.

Rivoltella M., 2002, La Morte Di Creusa E Didone Nell’Eneide Ed Il Motivo Del ’Seguito Amoroso’, Aevum Gennaio-Aprile 2002, Anno 76, 81–100.

[hectorthereader]

Books read in / Libros leídos en 2023

1. A Christmas Carol and Other Stories / Canción de Navidad y otros cuentos (Charles Dickens) 2. Foundation and Earth / Fundación y Tierra (Isaac Asimov) 3. Exhalation / Exhalación (Ted Chiang) 4. Litenverse / Aventuras en el Litenverso (Nino Cipri)* 5. The Descent of Monsters / El descenso de los monstruos (Neon Yang) 6. Scale Bright / Escamas de luz (Benjanun Sriduangkaew) 7. Carcoma (Layla Martínez) 8. Of sorrow and such / De conjuros y otras penas (Angela Slatter) 9. Angela Carter's Book of Fairy Tales / Cuentos de Hadas de Angela Carter (Angela Carter) 10. The Once and Future Witches / Las brujas del ayer y del mañana (Alix E. Harrow) 11. The Gurkha and the Lord of Tuesday / El gurja y el Señor de los Martes (Saad Z. Hossain) 12. Complete Poetry I / Poesía completa I (Federico García Lorca) 13. The Fall of Hyperion / La caída de Hyperion (Dan Simmons) 14. Lavinia (Ursula K. Le Guin) 15. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) 16. Fables / Fábulas (Jean de La Fontaine) 17. The Mythology of Plants II: Special Botany / Mitología de las Plantas II: Botánica Especial (Angelo de Gubernatis) 18. Solaris (Stanisław Lem) 19. Spear / Lanza (Nicola Griffith) 20. The Wheel of Time III: The Dragon Reborn / La rueda del tiempo III: El dragón renacido (Robert Jordan) 21. The Ascent to Godhood / El ascenso a lo divino (Neon Yang) 22. Wuthering Heights / Cumbres borrascosas (Emily Brontë) 23. Collected Stories vol. 3 / Cuentos completos 3 (Philip K. Dick) 24. Writings on Irish Folklore, Legend and Myth / Leyendas y folklore irlandeses (WIlliam B. Yeats) 25. The Philosopher Kings / Los reyes filósofos (Jo Walton) 26. Noches de Navidad (VV. AA.) 27. Sacred Fire / Fuego sagrado (Nnedi Okorafor)

* This book includes: Finna & Defekt.

[cats-corner180]

Been awhile since I have done one of these. Here is an update on everyone I have saved: I currently have Lorelei, JD, Onyx, Vanessa, Jo, Vivianne, Helena, Fiona, Andi, Zoe, Cecelia, Arin, Emeril, Lavinia, Piama, and Revi. I am currently working on Nora and Xenia.

Please note that I don’t have very many heart scenes for many of the routes that I have saved.

Also anyone who has read Xenia season 9 will you let me know if there is a heart scene requirement for any of the CGs. I have currently 30 hearts left and if there is that is where I will spend them.

[baejax-the-great]

get to know people better meme

I was tagged by @johaeryslavellan and I think @hanarinhightown (like a million years ago).

Favorite colour: It shifts around but jewel tones generally. Green or purple more often than not.

Favorite food: Korean dumpling soup. Forgive my attempted spelling here--dukk mandu guk. Honestly dumplings of all kind make me happy, but that soup has become my comfort food.

Song stuck in your head: Saint Simon by the Shins. This song used to be stuck in my head all. the. time. Haven’t thought about it years. La da dum dum.

Last thing you googled: “what do they call high school in England.” I learned that the term “high school” came from Scotland originally, which is just... very random. Like no, high school did not make its way south to England, where they call it ‘secondary school,’ something that confused my American brain because we split school into three sections, instead it crossed the ocean and became the dominant term in the US. As an American Scot (aka not really a Scot at all), uhh, yay? I guess?

Time: 8:55am

Dream Trip: Morocco. Turkey. Mongolia. I have a lot of dreams. Honestly I’d find something to be excited about for pretty much anywhere in the world.

Last book you read: I just finished “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which was terrible. Hilarious once you learn the author is an ecofascist accessory to murder, though.

Last book you enjoyed reading: I’m currently reading Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin and I’m loving it. (Note: now my most recently googled thing is how to spell her name.)

Last book you hated reading: I feel like I’ve become a hater in my old age. I tried to read “The Silence of the Girls” but it was really bad. I also didn’t enjoy “The Buried Giant” and I thought I was going to =/ 

Favourite thing to cook/bake: Onion flatbread. It’s delicious. It’s a little fancy. It makes me happy.

Favourite craft to do in your spare time: Is writing a craft? is pruning plants a craft?

Most niche dislike: Man, I so easily fall into being a hater. Here, recently I’ve gotten really into the houseplant reddit, and I can say I just don’t get the obsession with variegated monstera plants. Monstera are fun because they grow huge and provide greenery. The thai constellations and albo grow slowly, don’t get as big, and are just kinda ugly. I don’t get it. 

Opinion on circuses now and in history: I was in a circus back in college (thus the username, lol). As long as there aren’t animals involved, circuses are fun, creative, impressive, entertaining... Who doesn’t want to see the limits of human flexibility? A lot of circus arts also don’t necessarily have competitions attached to them like other sports do, which I think is great for creativity, cooperation, and community.

Do you have a sense of direction and if not what is the worst way you ever got lost: I do have a pretty good sense of direction. I’ve traveled solo a lot. The most lost I ever was probably was in Italy, where people were super unfriendly and signage was nil. But the most upset I got while traveling wasn’t because I was lost, but rather because my train was late. I was in a small city in China, and my train didn’t get in until around midnight. Everything shuts down in small cities around 10pm, and when I got to my hostel, they had locked the door. They had a sign out to call them, but nobody answered. I called repeatedly and then just broke down crying, like, ugly sobbing, certain I wasn’t going to have anywhere to sleep that night. I ended up sitting on the steps of a church because there was a streetlight overhead (and churches were like... not a common thing there, it was so weird) and pulling out my book, hoping to just chill until dawn. LUCKILY a local took pity on me and did some sort of magic to make the hostel people open up the door. They weren’t even asleep? They just weren’t answering their phone. So around 1am I got a bed.

tagging: @little-piece-of-tamlin @thiefylilelf @annalyia @userachilles @disaster-zagreus @juliafied @vimlos @togepies

Do it if it’s fun, ignore it if it’s not

[ruegracieuse]

1 & 2 for the book game 🦢🖤

Thank you, lovely 💕✨

What are 2-5 already published fiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

- The Bacchae by Euripides, preferably the Anne Carson translation if I can find it. I meant to pick it up in Paris a few weeks ago but they didn’t have it!

- Lavinia by Ursula K Le Guin

- The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks

- Winter by Ali Smith

- The Seven Moons of Mali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka. I’m intrigued by the premise of this and it won the Booker prize so I’m going to check it out.

- I’m toying with the idea of finally reading Crime and Punishment (it’s a blind spot) but I know it’s going to be a commitment and I’m fussy about translations so I need to do more research.

What are 2-5 already published nonfiction books you think you want to read in 2023?

There’s going to be a lot of research-related reading, but other than that:

- Regarding the Pain of Others by Susan Sontag (actually this is research reading but I’d read it anyway)

- A Feminist Theory of Violence by Françoise Vergès (ditto)

- The Weird and the Eerie by Mark Fisher - I actually started that this year but I don’t think I’m going to finish it by Sunday so it’s going on the list

- The Lonely City by Olivia Laing, finally

- Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson, which I got in Paris since they didn’t have The Bacchae. I know, I know, how can I call myself a tumblrina if I haven’t read this? Also, is it nonfiction? Prose poetry? A straight up novel? I actually don’t know

- City of Quartz by Mike Davis. Haymarket (or it might have been Pluto Press?) released the ebook for free when he died a few months ago, but I still haven’t gotten around to it. Late Victorian Holocausts was such a huge inspiration/eyeopener for me so I’d like to read more of his.

[starsandsteelandbrokenglass]

Retellings Ranked: Greco-Roman Mythology

Since I think about mythology literally all the time, I wanted to organize my thoughts on some of the Greco-Roman retellings I’ve read. I definitely have OpinionsTM as a classicist, but I’m not ranking these by accuracy--though that may play into my thoughts. This is really just a list for me to keep track of the retellings I’ve read, how much I liked them, and maybe provide some recs for others. All opinions are subjective!! Please don’t come after me for hating your favorite retelling. (List updated periodically.) 

A Good Time!

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus, The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan- Lots of classicists have lots of problems with Riordan’s work, and I get that but these were defining books for me as a child. Plus, the writing and characters are so much fun, and Riordan, while far from perfect, has made more genuine efforts to make his works more diverse, unlike some authors I could mention. 

The Lost Books of the Odyssey by Zachary Mason- This novel was not at all what I was expecting. It was almost like a choose-your-own adventure journey through the Iliad and the Odyssey, providing a myriad of different endings. While I didn’t love every single one, it was a super cool concept and collection. 

Ransom by David Malouf- This Iliad retelling focuses specifically around the interaction between Priam and Achilles after the death of Hector and I remember it being really touching. Also I’m just obsessed with that part of the Iliad so. That may be a factor also. 

Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin- Lavinia, famously speechless in the Aeneid, is finally given a voice. Le Guin does a really nice job of giving Lavinia agency and character without pushing an “strong woman” feminism into the story. Less of the story than you’d think is about Aeneas himself, and really neat imagining of pre-Roman Italy (though I will NOT pronounce any judgements on accuracy). Also, Vergil as a character! Incredible!

Love in the Time of Global Warming by Francesca Lia Block- The Odyssey, but in post-apocalyptic LA. This one’s a little meta, and echoes the Odyssey’s tendency to meander through its plot rather haphazardly, despite being full of action, love, and horror. Relevant, topical, has some queer rep. Has an Aeneid-based sequel that I want to read but haven’t yet.

Pros/Cons

Bull by David Elliott- Verse retelling of the myths surrounding the Minotaur. Cool for including multiple perspectives and putting thought into the different voices of each. But verse really isn’t my thing. 

The Immortals trilogy by Jordanna Max Brodsky- Gains points for doing “the gods are dying” concept really well. Loses points for eventually putting the protagonist, Artemis, (my favorite goddess) in a romance. Nice world building. Didn’t love some character development. 

Pandora Gets Jealous (Mythic Misadventures Series) by Caroline Hennesy- Teenage Pandora and her friends have to try and collect the evils that escaped from her famous box and have many adventures along the way. I remember these being a lot of fun, but also getting increasingly weirder the farther along the series got? Or maybe I was just starting to grow out of them; I started them when I was kinda young. 

Circe by Madeline Miller- I liked Circe more than TSOA; Miller’s writing style vibed better with me. However, I also ran into some of the same problems TSOA had, especially treatment of what we would call marginalized characters in these societies. Also, the ending was. Uncomfortable. Which, to be fair, the “real” mythical ending (or some variants of it) is worse. But still. She really didn’t have to go that route. 

Mythos Academy by Jennifer Estep- Fun because it has not only Greek myths, but also some other mythical beings/objects/lore, and a boarding school environment, which I liked. Unfortunately, the protagonist suffers pretty severely from “I’m-not-like-other-girls” syndrome, and the love interest was meh at best. If you can get over them to enjoy the action and lore, not half-bad. 

Nobody’s Princess and Nobody’s Prize by Esther M. Friesner- All about Helen of Troy but before her marriage to Menelaus, which is a different take that I appreciated. The writing’s probably not actually as good as I remember but gives Helen a lot of agency and explores a lot of other neat myths. 

Abandon trilogy by Meg Cabot- Okay another Hades/Persephone modern retelling BUT a lot better than...most of them. (See below.) Meg Cabot’s voice is just a lot of fun and I feel like she was able to do this without the drawn-out weepy angst that turned me off a lot of the other versions. 

The Penelopaid by Margaret Atwood- The Odyssey, told mostly from the perspective of Penelope and her maidservants who meet a gruesome and unjust end. Now, I’m not sure if I’m really 100% on board with Atwood’s portrayals here, or the methods she uses to make her female characters sympathetic. But sort of a classic among the “classics” retellings, so to speak, for a reason. 

Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman- A better Persephone/Hades retelling! Possibly because it doesn’t try to make it modern. If I remember correctly, very much plays upon the Persephone-goes-to-Underworld-as-a-gesture-of-empowerment branch, which I HATE when people try to say that’s the “real” myth but is okay for retellings. 

Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire by Julius Lester- A retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth that appears in Apuleius. Pretty true to the classic story, without many add-ons or flourishes or changed details. Cute. 

The Fire Thief by Terry Deary- Middle grade Prometheus pseudo-retelling. In some ways the whole thing felt like a prequel, but the voice was a lot of fun and Prometheus as a character was really well done. Meant for younger audience, but cute. Have not read the sequels, but I would.

Ithaca: A Novel of Homer’s Odyssey by Patrick Dillon- I actually quite liked a lot of what Dillon did with Telemachus, and with Odysseus (though not so much Penelope). And I like that he at least touches on one of the biggest, most burning questions of the Odyssey: How do you return home when you’re a different person from the one who left? Downside of this one is it’s a looooooot of telling, which is the nature of the Odyssey, but when you already know all the story elements, doesn’t add much.

I Don’t Remember Anything, But I Rated It 3/5 Stars 

Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs- Descendants of Medusa have neat powers! Sister dynamics? I feel like I remember some bad love interests, but fresh premise. Pretty sure I didn’t finish this trilogy though. 

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker- I wanted more from this. Trojan War from women’s perspectives is always a great starting point. Had a lot of potential, but I actually don’t remember much about it, which can’t be a great sign. 

Dark of the Moon by Tracy Barrett- Theseus/Ariadne retelling, which has a sympathetic take on the Minotaur. (I think. I don’t remember that well, I’m going off the summary in part.) I read this when I was like 15, so, take caution. But, anything that uses nuance for the Theseus/Ariadne dynamic is a win for me. 

Ithaka by Adele Geras- I remember absolutely nothing about this book. I rated it 3 stars though. View with suspicion based on Troy (see below). 

Only Everything by Kieran Scott- Puts Cupid/Eros in high school but as a girl. True to the category, I remember nothing and rated it 3 stars. So, probably kind of cute? Weird to involve Orion though. 

The Shadow Behind the Stars by Rebecca Hahn- The three fates retelling in a non-modern setting, which is fun. Does make it sound like there’s going to be a WLW romance which I’m pretty sure there isn’t so, that’s a bummer. Guess I thought it was okay? 

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller- This is a controversial placing, since most of Miller’s fans are deeply devoted, while many classicists grimace at Miller’s retellings. TSOA, is, in my personally professional opinion, not the worst retelling ever to exist but also just not that good. Also, weirdly forgettable.

Cassandra: A Novel and Three Essays by Christa Wolf- All I remember about this tbh is that it was translated from German and you can tell. (Not that the translation is bad. Just that when you look at it you’re like “ah, this was written by a German academic”. You know?) Not an easy read and the essays are only sort of related to the story part? Mostly personal reflections/travel diary-esque?

...Pass

The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter- There are many Hades and Persephone retellings out there, and many of them are bad. This is one of them. Renames lots of the gods and leaves them as pretty flat characters. Meh. 

Beauty's Daughter: The Story of Hermione and Helen of Troy by Caroline Meyer- I liked a lot of Caroline Meyer’s stuff when I was a kid, but I read this in college and was...not impressed. Had very weird pacing, and the characters were not endearing. 

Helen of Troy by Margaret George- Margaret George has definitely written stuff I’ve liked. However, this was...not good, in my personal opinion. Somehow, a 600 page novel that manages to not add any depth the Helen’s legendary character. Rough times. 

Fury trilogy by Elizabeth Miles- The three Furies, but they’re teenage girls who get revenge on other high high schoolers. Kind of a neat concept I guess except here is the thing about the Furies, they specifically go after people who murder their family members and while I don’t recall the specifics of the plot, sticking them in high school seems...I don’t like it. 

Everneath trilogy by Brodi Ashton- This was another bad Hades/Persephone retelling. I read a lot of them in high school, regrettably. I actually gave the first one of these 3 stars, but my ratings deteriorated and looking at the summary now, a number of years later gives me bad vibes. 

King of Ithaka by Tracy Barrett- Frankly, I remember pretty much nothing about this. Which feels a little rude to condemn it on, but that means it was probably not that great. Telemachus is simply less compelling than Odysseus, sorry. Perhaps belongs in the category above except I only rated it 2 stars. Not promising. 

Troy by Adele Geras- Don’t know how you make the Trojan War boring, but Geras sure did. Told through POV of characters that I believe aren’t in the Iliad, which is fine. Unfortunately they didn’t really have personalities. 

Ilium by Dan Simmons- Okay so. Not sure if this is bad or just not for me, but I couldn’t get into it. Super cool concept--Iliad in space! But a lot of the characters weren’t recognizable and only like half the plot connected to the Iliad actually, if I remember right? There’s a sequel that I have not read because it sounded even less related to the Iliad/Odyssey. 

Falling Under duology by Gwen Hayes- Another day, another terrible Hades/Persephone. Too much angst. Not enough character development. I actually only read the first one, which is not encouraging. 

Nikolas and the Pantheon Trials by Dallas Graham- Myth crossover which could have been very cool but was...not well done. To be fair, a lot of my dislike here stemmed from bad writing, but this is definitely meant for middle grade so that’s not entirely Graham’s fault. (Although middle grade writing can be done well. Graham just...did not.) Anyway. Loved to see Artemis. Hope she doesn’t have romance in future sequels that I probably won’t read.

The King Must Die by Mary Renault- Historicized retelling of Theseus’ life up through the Minotaur. Part of the problem is this book is just dated but also part of the problem is that Theseus just kind of sucks. Even compared to other questionable Greek heroes he’s pretty hard to redeem. Has a sequel I have not read.

Want more of my thoughts and commentary? See Retellings Ranked: Cinderella, Snow White, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Classic Literature

[bermudianabroad]

What are you top ten (it doesn’t have to be in a specific order) books? Do you have a good reads account? I’ve been kind of reading through my bookshelf.

oooooh girl, you have no idea what kind of trouble this question leads to....

It’s impossible to answer. I managed to make a list of about 40 favourites, but I don’t think I can slim it to just 10.

Instead I managed to make a list of 10 Books to Read to Get You Out of a Reading Slump. More or less. At least these are the ones I fall back on to get me out of a reading slump, and here they are:

10 Books to Get You Out of a Reading Slump

Silk by Alessandro Baricco: super short, lovely kind of hypnotic fairy tale writing. Flits between France and Japan in the 1800s and can easily be read in under two hours. A little bittersweet sorbet.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter: sexy short story fairytales. A bit gothic and dark, kind of sassy, often funny.

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh: chronicle of a fading aristocratic family in the interwar years and beyond. Writing like a boozey riverside picnic in late summer light. Witty Oxford eccentrics, oodles of Catholic guilt, grand country houses and heartbreak.

Lavinia by Ursula K. La Guin: something for the Roman mythology nerds. The lead up to the founding of Rome from the point of view of a bit character in Virgil’s Aeneid. Mysticism and lots of time spent wandering about the woods.

Delicate, Edible Birds by Lauren Groff: a collection of short stories that are hard to categorise. Some horror? Some magical realism? Some romance?

The Feather Thief by Kirk Wallace Johnson: some non-fiction about obsession, the art of fly-fishing, taxidermy and a little known muesum heist.

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa: Math! Baseball! Loss of short term memory! A strange story set in 1990s Tokyo about a friendship wthat blossoms between a retired professor with a debilitating memory problem and his maid. Gentle and heartwarming without being super twee and sugary.

Any Human Heart by William Boyd: just one of those books that has stayed with me and I feel compelled to re-read every few years. The diaries of Logan Mountstuart chronicling his efforts to make sense of his life, his meetings with some famous movers and shakers of the 20th Century, his brief triumphs and very many mistakes. One of those characters that seem to worm their way into your heart no matter how flawed they are.

A Concise English-Chinese Dictionary for Lovers by Xiaolu Guo: a girl arrives in London from China to improve her English, falls in love and as her language skills improve, she begins to discover more about herself and what she wants from life. A meditative read.

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: for something kind of long and slow burning to get lost in.

And yes! I have a Goodreads: it is HERE

Hope this provides some inspiration for flagging imaginations :)

[imbue]

tagged by the ever-lovely @kaafka to post 10 books I want to read in 2020!

borderlands/la frontera: the new mestiza by gloria e. anzaldúa

the brief wondrous life of oscar wao by junot díaz

matilda by mary shelley

lavinia by ursula k. le guin 

percy jackson and the lightning thief by rick riordan 

glass, irony and god by anne carson 

his dark materials by philip pullman 

women who run with the wolves: myths and stories of the wild woman archetype by clarissa pinkola estés

how to do nothing: resisting the attention economy by jenny odell 

the overstory by richard powers 

tagging: @hevrywinter, @inbetweenblueandgreen, @catilinas, @pyropian, @llovely, @lcrdbyron, @lamourestmiel, @gryewaren, @siikens, and @skippinginclouds !

[grantlibreria]

¡Novedades! Esta semana es de esas en las que no sabemos que libros elegir para hacer el listado de novedades. Hay tantas y tan buenas, que aquí está nuestro top ten de imprescindibles. Aquí van: 🚀 “Miss Marte” de Manuel Jabois, editado por @alfaguaraes . 🏛”Lavinia” de Úrsula K. Le Guin editado por @edicionesminotauro . 💎 “Gema” de @milena.busquets editado por @anagramaeditor . 🕯”Biografía de la luz” de Pablo d’Ors editado por @galaxia_gutenberg . 👤 “Tiniebla” de Paul Kawczak, editado por @eddestino . 🪶 “Una mala noche la tiene cualquiera” de Eduardo Mendicutti editado por @tusquetseditores . 💕 “El lunes nos querrán” de Najat El Hacmi, Premio Nadal 2021. 👺 “No hay bestia más feroz” de Edward Bunker, editado por @sajalin_ed . 🌹 “Temporada de rosas” de Chloe Wary, editado por @astiberri_ediciones . 🚪”Una habitación propia” de Virginia Woolf, ilustrado por @saramorante y edición y prólogo de @medelelena . #grantlibrería #loslibrosquequieresleer #grantrecomienda #leer (en Grant Librería) https://www.instagram.com/p/CLFWK9BjIjc/?igshid=arh2quu4vwko

[lavinialeguin]

EAA LIs Planning Dates:

Lucas: Picnic dates, he loves to show off new recipes he's learned just for MMC (despite his lack of cooking skills) usually they are simple dishes but MMC adores the effort Lucas puts into planning dates catered to his interests. They are accompanied by walks on the beach to take in the sunset.

Abel: He doesn't come off as the romantic type, but I think he can surprise MMC with a lovely wine-tasting date after a stroll in the woods with Abel identifying all the local flora for MMC's reference (not that he's paying too close attention).

Arin: Library dates are a big one. Or coffee dates at little cafes that Arin has stumbled on. Anything where it's just a quiet place with the two of them. After the initial date, there's always a fly-around town with the Jabberwocky (little guy needs exercise after all)

Ezra: Ezra's preferred dates to plan are cozy late-night walks to Stargaze. Usually on a warmer night where you can hear all the little noises of animals and insects around the woods. He'd pick a spot to stargaze in the middle of the woods where you can view the stars past the tops of the surrounding trees.

Lavinia: Lavinia's date planning is a little more adventurous (and may or may not include petty crimes like trespassing or arson), She adores leading FMC through complex areas of the library maze (after breaking into the magic library), or walking through nowhere in particular through the woods or beach (possible crashing sorority parties and scaring off the other party-goers) She does like to treat FMC to a nice meal afterword and usually picks a nice restaurant to treat her to, even a few extravagant ones.

Nora: Study dates, a nice cozy area of the library or one of their rooms at the lighthouse covered in books. A nice quiet night studying before a magic broom flight through the evening air.

[cronicasdemagrat]

Ursula K. Le Guin es una de esas pocas autoras a las que me entrego con total confianza cuando inicio sus libros.

Después de haber leído cinco de sus novelas y algún relato suelto he llegado a la conclusión de que todo lo que ha escrito me gustará. Y espero no equivocarme.

Quizás sea por esa manera tan intimista de narrar los acontemientos, esa preocupación por la psicología de sus personajes, por sus tradiciones, cultura y misticismos, puede que por su capacidad para imaginar mundos imposibles que resultan tan cercanos, por su interés por crear una reflexión en el lector…  Sea la razón que sea, acudir a Le Guin, es para mi acudir a un refugio en el que habita la imaginación y la belleza de las palabras.

Con Lavinia ha vuelto a ocurrir.

La novela nos traslada a una época anterior a la de la fundación de Roma y narra parte del relato de la Eneida dándole voz a un personaje transversal como es Lavinia, hija de Latino, esposa de Eneas y madre de Silvio. En este libro conoceremos en primera persona a la mujer detrás de todos estos hombres, la que siempre ha estado tan oculta para el lector y tan olvidada por el poeta.

Nadie la escuchó. Era su maldición: Conocer la verdad sin conseguir que nadie la escuchara jamás. Es una maldición que recae sobre las mujeres con más frecuencia que sobre los hombres. Los hombres quieren que la verdad sea suya, sea su descubrimiento y su propiedad. Mi padre no me escuchó.

¿Fantasía? ¿Ficción histórica? ¿Retelling? Todo esto, además de una falsa autobiografía es Lavinia.

¡Cómo he disfrutado con esta historia! Especialmente con el tono del relato… Esa especie de confidencia que se genera con el lector al que Lavinia poco a poco va susurrando sus secretos, su pasado y su futuro. Porque este no es un relato cualquiera y Le Guin no tiene porqué contarlo de atrás hacia adelante, de hecho, los saltos en el tiempo son constantes.

¿Y la atmósfera? ¿Cómo consigue esta autora crear una atmósfera tan fuerte, particular y casi palpable en cada una de sus historias? Aquí, esa mezcla de Historia, personajes ficticios tan conocidos, lugares reales y multitud de mitología es lo que convierten Lavinia en algo extraordinario.

Sobre la vida de nuestra protagonista, a la que seguiremos durante todo el relato, decir que se aleja considerablemente de la propia historia de La Eneida (y no, no lo he leído, pero todos conocemos en mayor o menor medida lo que cuenta). Es cierto que se narran algunos acontecimientos idénticos, pero si algo me ha gustado de este libro es que no revivimos las grandes batallas de los hombres, las conquistas, los banquetes, sino esa vida íntima y monótona que llevaban las mujeres en esa época tan lejana y casi fantástica… con sus rituales, su intervención soslayada en la vida política, la vida familiar, las amistades, las preocupaciones…

Este libro parece un regalo a todas aquellas mujeres que tan solo aparecían en las historias de manera sesgada, como madres o villanas.

Y si cre��is que Lavinia es la obra menos singular de Le Guin, la más previsible… os equivocáis, porque esta mujer jamás hacía nada que no tuviera una chispa de originalidad, que en este caso se manifiesta especialmente con esas peculiares y fascinantes conversaciones de Lavinia con el poeta… No quiero decir mucho más porque merece la pena descubrirlas por uno mismo.

No soy la voz femenina que podríais esperar. El resentimiento no es lo que m impulsa a escribir mi historia. La rabia, en parte, quizá. Pero no es una rabia sencilla. Anhelo justicia, pero no sé lo que es la justicia.

En fin, Lavinia, sin ser mi libro preferido de esta autora, sin ser el más rompedor, el más fascinante, el más innovador… sin ser nada de esto, ha logrado maravillarme. He disfrutado de cada página y me he sentido increíblemente cercana a la protagonista. No creo poder olvidarla ya.

Y sí, creo que la segunda parte de la novela decae ligeramente, pero no puedo dejar de recomendarla a todo aquel que disfrute de las historias sencillas, costumbristas pero cargadas de misterio y leyenda.

‘Lavinia’ de Ursula K. Le Guin: Roma antes de Roma Ursula K. Le Guin es una de esas pocas autoras a las que me entrego con total confianza cuando inicio sus libros.

[quotidianoalessandriaastionline]

Il 16 e 17 dicembre a Lingotto Fiere di Torino la quarta edizione di Xmas Comics and Games. Fumetti, giochi, videogames, cosplay e youtubers Sabato 16 e domenica 17 dicembre Lingotto Fiere ospita la quarta edizione di Xmas Comics and Games. Il padiglione 3 del polo fieristico torinese ospita il nuovo appuntamento con la kermesse irrinunciabile per tutti gli amanti di fumetti e non solo, per un Natale all’insegna del divertimento.

Sono cinque le tematiche principali di questa nuova edizione: comics, games, videogames, cosplay, youtubers, oltre alla consueta area espositiva con oltre 90 realtà presenti, dove è possibile trovare fumetti, manga, gadget, oggetti da collezione e costumi. Gli ospiti dell’area Comics: autori, disegnatori, illustratori Ospiti a Torino, come di consueto alcuni dei nomi di punta della scuderia Magic Press: Simona Zulian, in arte Felinia, ideatrice di Sketch & Breakfast; Don Alemanno e Boban Pesov, che al Lingotto presentano il secondo volume dell’albo Naziveganheidi, con i testi del Don e i disegni di Pesov. Torna in fiera uno degli illustratori italiani di maggior successo: Paolo Barbieri, collaboratore delle più importanti case editrici italiane e internazionali in qualità di illustratore di copertine di numerosi autori, tra cui Michael Crichton, Ursula L. Guin, George R. R. Martin, Umberto Eco,Sergej e tutte quelle dei libri dell’autrice Fantasy Licia Troisi. Dal mondo di Diabolik arriva Riccardo Nunziati, fumettista toscano formatosi alla scuola Internazionale di Comics di Firenze e vincitore nel 2016 del premio Albertarelli come miglior disegnatore esordiente. Nunziati sarà presente sabato 16 alle 15 allo stand Astorina. Presenti a Torino inoltre numerosi autori della casa editrice Dark Zone, tra cui scrittori di spessore nazionale e internazionale, come Valerio la Martire, Francesca Pace – autrice della Hybrid’s Saga –e Giacomo Ferraiuolo. Il parco ospiti Dark Zone è completato da Daisy Franchetto, con la sua trilogia di Lunar, e dagli autori Daniel Di Benedetto, Michele di Stefano e Lavinia Piniello; tra gli illustratori, invece, presenti Antonello Venditti (che sarà protagonista di una performance di live painting su tela), Candida Corsi e Lucrezia Galliero. Per la prima volta in Italia il torneo internazionale Pokèmon Special Championship Sbarca a Torino, per la prima volta in Italia, il Pokémon Special Championship, importante torneo internazionale dedicato ai videogiocatori Pokémon Sole/Luna per Nintendo 3DS e del Gioco di Carte Collezionabili Pokémon. La competizione è organizzata da ProGaming Italia s.r.l per Play! Pokémon, divisione di The Pokémon Company International dedicata alle sfide basate sull’universo dei mostriciattoli tascabili, che vantano grandissimo seguito di appassionati in Italia e nel mondo. Oltre al torneo principale, a Lingotto Fiere piccoli e grandi visitatori potranno imparare a giocare al Gioco di Carte Collezionabili, provare Pokkén Tournament DX per Nintendo Switch e partecipare a tanti tornei minori, denominati side-events, e portarsi a casa l’esclusivo merchandise Pokémon offerto da Ultra Pro. Area Games: giochi di ruolo e da tavolo per tutte le età Giochi di ruolo, di carte e in scatola: l’area Games di Torino Comics copre tutte le categorie dell’intrattenimento “da tavolo”. Presenti le principali associazioni del territorio, come La Gilda  Del Grifone, che presenta giochi di ruolo, sistemi di gioco ed ambientazioni nuove con i suoi preparatissimi Master, pronti ad accompagnare i giocatori al tavolo e a giocare insieme a loro; Tra i numerosissimi giochi presenti, Dungeons&Dragons, il classico gioco di ruolo ad ambientazione fantasy, Pathfinder e Sine Requie. Il gruppo ludico La Tavola Gioconda sarà presente con una grande ludoteca di giochi da tavolo tutti a disposizione gratuitamente, e con i consueti giochi giganti: scacchi, dama, Kamisado, e tsuro Partecipa alla Xmas Comics anche la storica Società Scacchistica Torinese, con brevi dimostrazioni di scacchi ai tavoli con i soci dell’associazione o, per chi lo desidera, una partita tra amici.

Presenti numerosi istruttori di fama nazionale e internazionale. Tra gli ospiti dell’area games spiccano sicuramente Luigi “Bigio” Cecchi, autore e disegnatore del fumetto Drizzit e del relativo gioco di carte, presente entrambi i giorni di fiera; Andrea Pisani -comico, cabarettista, cantante, componente del duo PanPers – e Carlo Emanuele Lanzavecchia,autori del gioco ZIUQ, il quiz al contrario. Gli ospiti saranno disponibili per firmare le scatole dei giochi e giocare con il pubblico. Tra gli ospiti dell’area Games ci sarà inoltre Gabri Torn, fondatore della famosa pagina facebook ludico-ironica “Sesso Droga e D&D. Torn sarà a disposizione del pubblico sabato 16, per delle sessioni dimostrative del gioco 7th Sea (vincitore del premio GDR dell’anno 2017). Le competizioni cosplay, con ospiti nazionali e internazionali Le competizioni cosplay in programma a Lingotto Fiere si confermano di respiro internazionale;anche quest’anno al tavolo della giuria siederà un vero e proprio parterre de roi del mondo del cosplay e non solo. Tra gli ospiti in arrivo a Torino, per la prima volta in Italia, la tedesca Naru Cosplay. Ha iniziato a fare cosplay nel 2005, e per la maggior parte si dedica al cross-play. Nel 2015 ha rappresentato la Germania – insieme alla cosplayer Seme – alle finali del contest C4 in Olanda. Arriva dal mondo del doppiaggio Patrizia Scianca, una delle voci più note dell’animazione nel panorama italiano. Tra le sue voci più famose si ricordano Son Goku, Son Gohan e Son Goten da bambini nel corso delle serie e dei film di Dragon Ball, Nico Robin in One Piece, Arale in What a mess Slump e Arale e Kero-chan in Card Captor Sakura. Ancora dal mondo cosplay presenti in fiera Fery Lullaby, cosplayer dal 2008, interprete di oltre 100 personaggi e vincitrice di diversi riconoscimenti alle fiere del fumetto; Davide Ravera, cosplayer e youtuber ligure, molto presente nel panorama italiano del cosplay – anche come presentatore – e con qualche presenza all’estero; Sunymao Sunita, veterana del cosplay: ha ricevuto più di 40 premi in diverse convention di tutta Italia ed ha fabbricato oltre 90 cosplay di tutti i tipi, da videogiochi, film e anime. Il programma del palco Cosplay Sabato 16 alle 15 il palco di Xmas Comics ospita la Cosplay Parade, una sfilata non competitiva aperta a tutti i tipi di personaggi. Nessuna giuria presente, la parola d’ordine è divertire e divertirsi. Domenica 18 alle 14 sarà invece il momento del classico Cosplay Contest. Saranno ammessi alla gara coloro che interpretano un personaggio tratto da anime, manga, fumetti,videogame, giochi di ruolo, giochi online, film, e affini. Potranno partecipare anche i costumi“original” che però non saranno candidati per i premi dove è richiesta l’attinenza al personaggio. Novità di quest’anno è l’introduzione di un nuovo premio. Tra le categorie in gara, infatti, sarà aggiunto il miglior costume tratto da un personaggio di un videogioco. Info e regolamento su http://www.cosplaycompetition.com/ Il programma del palco prevede inoltre numerosi appuntamenti di musica, workshop e danza. Sabato 16 dicembre alle ore 13 è in programma il workshop della cosplayer tedesca Naru, in cui verrà mostrato, truccando dal vivo una modella, come una cosplayer donna possa trasformare le proprie sembianze per fare il cosplay di un personaggio maschile. Sabato 16 alle ore 14 torna sul palco di Torino la cantante Sunymao: il suo repertorio spazia da arie di opere a canzoni Disney, colonne sonore originali in giapponese, film e videogiochi. Domenica 17 dalle ore 12:30 consueto appuntamento con il karaoke contest. In palio per i vincitori i biglietti per Torino Comics 2018. E sempre domenica, a scandire tutti gli eventi sul palco, per la prima volta a Torino, ci sarà la ballerina Eleonora Burzio. Professionista di danza classica, neoclassica e di carattere, ha studiato presso le più famose accademie di danza nel mondo, tra cui La Scala di Milano, Royal Ballet School di Londra, Bolshoi Academy di Mosca e Vaganova Academy di San Pietroburgo. Nelle sue performance, cerca di fondere danza e cosplay, altra, sua grande passione. Quest’anno saranno proprio le sue interpretazioni ballate ad incantare il pubblico di Xmas Comics. Youtuber village: tornano i Mates e Lasabrigamer Tra gli youtuber, tornano a Lingotto Fiere i Mates, 4 ragazzi del Network di Tom’s Hardware:St3pny, Anima, SurrealPower e Vegas. I Mates sono molto seguiti sul web e popolari per i loro contenuti a tema videoludico, e possono vantare oltre 8 milioni di follower totali sui loro canali. Sono ovviamente famosissimi tra giovani e giovanissimi, con milioni di visualizzazioni ogni mese. I 4 giovani youtuber saranno presenti a Torino domenica 17 a partire dalle 11. Torna a Torino anche Lasabrigamer, brillante modella che, seguendo la sua passione per i videogiochi, è diventata una vera icona nel mondo dei gamer e degli youtuber, arrivando a totalizzare oltre 1 milione di iscritti al proprio canale. Lasabri sarà presente sia sabato 16 sia domenica 17. Fanno il loro esordio al Lingotto invece i Kerency, un gruppo di 3 giovanissimi youtuber: ErenBlaze, KeNoiaChannel e Marcy – che in totale superano il milione di iscritti – che producono contenuti dedicati in particolare agli appassionati del gioco Minecraft. Prima volta a Xmas Comics anche per I 2 Bomber del Freestyle, nome d’arte dei due torinesi Davide Iannetti e Yuri Zappatore, due professionisti del calcio freestyle. I loro nomi d’arte sono rispettivamente Diginho e Zapinho e stanno diventando i beniamini dei loro fans a colpi di trick su Youtube. I due Bomber insegnano il loro stile calcistico attraverso tutorial sul loro canale youtube– oltre 500 mila iscritti – e hanno collezionato a oggi più di 200 performance. Gli youtuber, oltre ad animare il village con attività e giochi, saranno a disposizione di tutti i fan per sessioni di foto e autografi. IV Xmas Comics&Games 16-17 dicembre 2017 Lingotto Fiere, Via Nizza 280 – Torino Dalle 9.30 alle 19.30 Biglietti Intero €10 |Ridotto €8 | Ridotto cosplay €7 http://www.xmascomics.it facebook.com/torinocomics Prevendite online su http://www.vivaticket.it

TORINO.LINGOTTO FIERE AL VIA LA 4^ EDIZIONE DELL’XMAS COMICS AND GAMES 2017 Il 16 e 17 dicembre a Lingotto Fiere di Torino la quarta edizione di Xmas Comics and Games.

[thescarlettherapy-blog]

Salut à tous !

C’est l’heure du bilan mensuel ! Un petit mois de lecture, je n’ai lu que sur les deux dernières semaines ! 

Côté perso

Redémarrage lent, mais certain du blog, j’essaie de me réorganiser et de trouver de nouveaux contenus à vous soumettre. Maintenant que je suis en vacances, j’aurais plus de temps à donner à mes projets annexes. Je serais les deux prochains mois à Strasbourg pour m’occuper de ma nièce et j’espère à cette occasion trouver plein de nouveaux sujets et l’inspiration.

Côté Lecture

Pendant ces deux dernières semaines, j’ai 4 lectures à mon actif !

Lux, tome 5 — Opposition de Jennifer L. Armentrout

La série se termine comme on l’a espéré, j’ai pleuré, ri et regretté de devoir dire au revoir aux personnages. Heureusement que les trois premiers tomes du point de vue de Daemon sortent très bientôt (oui, j’attends la version papier) !

Lavinia de Ursula K. Le Guin

C’est une romance historique assez particulière qui m’a beaucoup plus. Très recherché et fouillé pour le contexte historique, ce roman reprend l’histoire de la seconde femme du héros troyen : Enée.

Victorian Fantasy, tome 2 —De Velours et d’Acier de Georgia Caldera

Après trois ans d’attente, le second tome est sorti et je l’ai dévoré jusqu’à la dernière page non sans une certaine avidité. Même si je garde une légère préférence pour le couple Thadeus/Andraste, j’ai cependant vraiment apprécié de découvrir Léopoldine et Augustin d’une autre manière que celle du Play-boy, égoïste.

Noirs Démons, tome 1 — Tout ce qui brûle de Suzanne Wright

N’ayant pas encore lu la Meute du Phénix, je n’avais aucun point de comparaison. J’ai apprécié l’histoire et les personnages de ce roman dont le second tome sort très bientôt, malgré cela, j’ai trouvé qu’il y avait de véritables faiblesses au niveau de la plume et énormément de coquilles, je ne sais pas si c’est du fait de la traduction ou de l’édition, mais c’est vraiment dommage.

Lecture en cours :

Hors de question de Georgia Caldera

Pour l’instant, j’en suis encore au tout début et je retrouve avec plaisir les personnages de Scarlet et d’Aidan. J’ai hâte de lire la suite. Et le tome deux m’attend juste après.

Prochaine lecture :

Charley Davidson, tome 10 — Dix Tombes pour l’Enfer de Darynda Jones

Forcément, on ne va pas se mentir, c’est peut-être une des lectures que j’attends avec le plus d’impatience au fil des mois. Hâte de voir ce que ce tome-ci nous réserve après un dernier tome un peu en deçà de ce dont on avait l’habitude.

Côté exposition

Peu de choses ce mois-ci, mis à part l’événement proposé par Community, Play Me I’m Yours, une entreprise artistique vraiment intéressante qui propose à des Street Artistes de repeindre des pianos qui seront ensuite redistribués à des structures d’intérêt général. Mais je vous reparlerais de tout cela, plus tard dans un article.

Côté écriture

Encore de l’avancement de ce côté-ci. J’ai beaucoup écrit ces derniers temps, enfin, tout sauf le chapitre que je dois absolument terminé. Je suis affreusement bloquée et ça m’agace particulièrement. J’ai beaucoup cherché toutes les solutions, rien à faire. Du coup, j’écris d’autres chapitres, d’autres scènes, mais pas celle qui me manque, c’est affreusement frustrant. Si vous avez des conseils pour me débloquer je suis preneuse. À vrai dire, ce qui m’agace le plus, c’est que je sais parfaitement ce qu’il se passe dans ce chapitre, mais je ne parviens pas à le mettre en mots. La frustration en est que plus grande.

Honnêtement, je ne pensais pas être capable de prendre autant de plaisir à réécrire entièrement ce tome. Je change tout, et heureusement, et ça me convient beaucoup mieux. C’est juste génial de retrouver autant de plaisir à écrire.

Côté Films et séries

Première chose : Pirates des Caraïbes : La Vengeance de Salazar. OH MON DIEU. Je ne suis probablement pas la meilleure personne pour vous parler de ce film parce que je suis une fan de la première heure. Et honnêtement, j’ai adoré, j’ai énormément ri et même un peu pleuré. J’ai juste été époustouflée et honnêtement j’en redemande.

En ce qui concerne les séries : je viens de terminer Lucifer, maintenant, j’ai juste envie d’être cet automne pour découvrir la prochaine saison !!!

C’est tout pour aujourd’hui. Et vous ? Qu’avez-vous fait et lu de beau ? Des bisous ❤

Coucou, c'est l'heure du bilan du mois de mai ! Beaucoup d'écriture et on retrouve la lecture! Salut à tous ! C’est l’heure du bilan mensuel ! Un petit mois de lecture, je n’ai lu que sur les deux dernières semaines ! 

[lavinialeguin]

What if the entire Ever After Academy cast and story took place in a more Wolf Among Us Setting?

Whitethorn becomes a town in Connecticut filled with fairy tale characters who've escaped the magical realm after a great war that caused most of the realm to be destroyed by the fae who wished to take over the land for themselves.

The triad becomes the peacekeepers integrating the fables into the non-magical realm, giving them a temporary place to stay while war wages in the magical realm. The story starts with the funeral of FMC and MMC's uncle who is suspected to have been murdered by a fable, though they don't have enough proof to determine which fable did it. FMC takes it upon herself as the newly ascended Path Finder to find her uncle's murderer.

MMC works as the Light Keeper, keeping the lighthouse light on and being a welcoming presence to any new fables that come through the portals. His job is also to keep the Whitethorn trees alive and well to help keep the fae from finding them.

Arin still works as the Guardian, protecting the magic library, and labyrinth, and assisting FMC and MMC in helping stomp civil disputes between the fables living in Whitethorn.

Nora Le Fay is an ally of the triad, assisting with magical barriers and upkeep of the magical library. Nora is also the team's main healer, assisting in treating fables who are infected with hexes or curses from the fae. She currently acts as a librarian at the university library as her cover while assisting with the magical library and labyrinth underneath the school.

Lucas Charming is the heir to the Garnet Throne, his family sent him to Whitethorn in a show of trust to the White Queen, who is assisting them in keeping the fae at bay in their kingdom. Lucas works as a type of bodyguard for MMC as well as assisting in keeping more rowdy fables in line. Lucas works as a docent at the lighthouse, assisting with tours and showing fables around.

Abel is a brooding woodsman, tasked by the White Queen to tend to the Whitethorns, keeping the plans around Whitethorn alive. He's the most muscular of the group and acts as the team's tank fighter when in need, however, he's distrusting of most people and is rude when provoked, making him not as effective as an ally in the beginning.

Lavinia La Guin, the Snow Queen, travels to Whitethorn due to FMC's family promising to return her heart in exchange for help creating stronger barriers to keep the Fae away, as the Winter Kingdom is currently untouched by the Fae due to the Snow Queen's intense protective spells around her kingdom. However, with the death of the previous Pathfinder, FMC is left to strike a new deal to get the witch's help in finding her Uncle's killer. Lavinia resides as the owner and bartender of an Ice Bar in Whitethorn, a common hangout for some of the less moral fables.

Jack Frost is Lavinia's younger half-brother, another child of Titania, Jack assists Lavinia in keeping their kingdom safe. He communicates between the two realms using a communication stone.

Ezra Wolf works as a bouncer at the Ice Bar Lavinia owns. He is a gruff and well-respected security presence at the bar as well as a great keeper in intel due to his ability to sink into the shadows.

More to come, but just the first bunch of ideas.