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ofliterarynature · 6 months

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FEBRUARY 2024 WRAP UP

[loved liked ok nope dnf (reread) book club*]

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years • The Memory Librarian • Pixels of You* • Arch-Enemies • Moby Dyke • Pip Bartlett’s Guide to Magical Creatures • A Sinister Revenge • Lud in the Mist • Crying in H Mart • Something Close to Magic • Hula • (Renegades) • The Divorce Colony • Foundryside • Earthlings • A Far Wilder Magic

total: 13 books (12 audiobook, 1 print)

Not as many books this month! And not just because February has fewer days, I was really in a funk this month and struggling to pay attention to my audiobooks (and enjoy them). You wouldn't think there's such a thing as too many books, but I think the overtime hours at work are hitting their peak mental health destruction. Here's to hoping things improve in March!

The Divorce Colony (4.5 stars) - genuinely can't believe this was my 3rd nonfic of the year already! I picked a print copy of this up at a library sale in December after hearing about divorce colonies in the early 20th century on a recent episode of the 99% Invisible podcast. Turns out this book was actually about the beginning of the moment that took place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in the 1800's. Western states had shorter residency periods and less strict divorce laws, so women (and the occasional man) would travel west and live there for several months in order to obtain a divorce. This book tracks the movement through the stories of 4 of the more infamous cases to make the papers, and does an incredible job of weaving in the surrounding political and religious discussions. Would recommend, and has a great cover to boot!

Renegades (3 stars) - a reread, and for some reason it was torture. I originally read this back in 2018 and loved it, and wanted to tackle it again and actually finish the rest of the series. But I kept getting worked up and frustrated this time around! It kept trying to take itself seriously while also being very YA and kind of superhero-camp, and I was absolutely overthinking it lol. I found the strength to press on into book two, Archenemies (3.5 stars). I liked it a bit more! Something about it being new, the story being a bit more settled and maybe getting a better grasp on its message/politics, the characters growing more, me figuring out that I shouldn't listen to the audiobook for more than an hour or so at a time, lmao. Not great, but fun, and possibly worth reading? I'll keep y'all updated when I finish book 3.

Hula (5 stars) - incredible. Part generational family story, part history, part discussion of what it means to be Hawaiian, culturally and legally. Not always the easiest of reads, but it was so so worth it. It was also doing something very interesting with parts of the narration voiced by a collective "we" (culture/community?) that I would love to get a look at in print. Highly recommend, I'll definitely be getting myself a copy.

Something Close to Magic (4.5 stars) - an absolute delight! The Gail Carson Levine comp on this one is not entirely unearned, anyone who's a fan of fairy tale type fantasies will enjoy this, I had a great time! Very interestingly, it has characters who are in their mid to late teens, but is written in a way where they're still allowed to be young, to the point I'm surprised it didn't get shoehorned into MG instead of YA. If the author writes any more of these I'd be happy to read them.

Crying in H Mart (3.5 stars) - nonfic number 4! I'm sure everyone's heard of this one by now, which is why I finally picked it up. It's fine (which is why it got an extra .5 star), but on the scale of take it or leave it, I'd leave it. It just wasn't for me and I kind of wish I'd dnf'd it. A great cover though.

Lud-in-the-Mist (3.5 stars) - this one seems to be considered a sort of early precursor to fantasy and fairy tale type stories from the early 20th century, and I was eager to try it! While I definitely don't think it would feel out of place amongst it's more recent fellows (think the Last Unicorn, Robin McKinley, DWJ, etc), I absolutely could not get into it. Probably the chief recipient of "my brain doesn't want to cooperate, sorry," so maybe I'll give it another shot someday.

A Sinister Revenge (4 stars) - enjoyable as always! Not to hide this deep in my reviews or anything, but have the Emily Wilde people tried Veronica Speedwell yet?

Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures (3 stars) - This one's been sitting unread on my shelf for a while, and since I was on a bit of a Maggie Stiefvater run, I figured it was perfect! Well. Unless you are like 7, this was so bad. Not good. Having previously read and not liked a book by Maggie's co-author Jackson Pearce, I think it would not be unreasonable for me to assume she did most of the writing while Maggie did the illustrations - if the audiobook had been any longer than 4 hours I'd have absolutely DNF'd it, and I have no intention of continuing the series.

Moby Dyke: An Obsessive Quest to Track Down the Last Remaining Lesbian Bars in the Country (4.5 stars) - part of me was wondering what I was doing trying this lol, not being someone who drinks or goes to bars, OR, as previously mentioned, is not the biggest fan of memoirs. It was not, as I hoped, also part research project, but it is a travelogue, and as a consequence has a strong narrative thread. It also has a lot of discussions about issues in the LGBTQ+ community, and overall I really liked it once I figured out what it was doing!

Pixels of You (3.5 stars) - a very short sapphic rivals-to friends-to lovers graphic novel about a human-form AI and a human with an android eye competing for a photography internship at an art gallery. The creators clearly put SO much thought into their characters and worldbuilding, but sadly there is nowhere near enough length here to do it all justice, and a number of elements felt very odd or under explored. The relationship parts are great! I just think this needed to be twice as long to really given everything its due, or maybe explored in prose instead.

The Memory Librarian (3.5 stars) - to start, I know nothing about the musical album this is related to, so I don't know how much that might have affected my reading. Overall I wasn't super impressed - when I discovered that the first story was cowritten by Alaya Dawn Johnson - no shade to her - I almost dropped it then, I just really didn't like her writing style in the one book I've read. But I stuck through it. Of the five stories, only one really stuck in my mind - Nevermind, cowritten by Danny Lore, which I could have read an entire novel about. I wish I could recommend it on its own, but overall I just don't quite understand the world Monae has created.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years (3.5 stars) - I probably should say more about the book, it was fine, I was surprised to find that it's set in relatively current day, I found myself a lot more interested in the second narrative about the house's history, which did make me cry a bit. Mostly though, I really just want to let you know how MUCH of a non-entity the djinn was in this story, I have no idea why it was there and why it was included in the title of the book. All the author had to do was make the house a little more sentient and haunted and it would be fine, idk. Read it if you want, but it's not one I would rec.

DNF'S

Foundryside - I was so ready. I had the first two audiobooks checked out, I had the third one on hold. I started this but oh, the writing. bleh. I was looking thought reviews and someone referred to it as something like "21st century internet speak." In a high fantasy novel. I noped out at just 10%.

Earthlings - I've considered the author's other book before but haven't read it, but thought maybe a sci-fic book would work better for me? The beginning was odd but not uninteresting, and I might have continued if it had stayed that way. But then the main character was in school(?) and her teacher started getting handsy after class and I wasn't invested enough to stick it out.

A Far Wilder Magic - the success of Something Close to Magic made me a little too hopeful I think, bc while I'm still a little leery around YA, I know people have liked this. And it sounded interesting, truly, and I love the cover. But first it was the religion stuff. And I didn't really like the characters. Then it's like, oh, this is the same plot as The Scorpio Races, but nowhere near it's quality in any shape or form. I decided to stop while I was ahead, before I started to actually dislike it. (anyway here's your PSA to go read The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, I recommend doing it in October if you can).

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kenfetti-week · 1 year

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Kenfetti Week 2023: Prompts

(Full text under the cut)

Day 1 - Once Upon A Galaxy

Fantasy and fairy tales are the name of the game. Princes locked away in towers, dragons with their hoards, gods walking amongst mortals. All these and more are fair in love and war, yet another tale as old as time.

Day 2 - Sinners not Saints

Everyone loves a bad boy, and sometimes bad boys are the only good guys you get. Crime families, assassins, spies, revenge killing, murderers, and stalkers. Morals only come in shades of grey and the law isn't something to concern yourself with; as every cop is definitely a bastard.

Day 3 - You Want it? Haunt It.

Ghosts and ghouls, specters and possession. People and places become haunted on this bone-chilling day. Are they running together from the vengeful dead, or is one of them the spirit playing for keeps?

Day 4 - Tooth and Claw

Fur and fangs from a full moon, or Kaminoan tampering bringing them out. Do Taung walk in the present day, or is an eldritch horror real? Are there Imposters in the crowd or predator in plain sight? Whichever you choose, make it monstrous.

Day 5 - Caught up With You

To be taken, to be stolen, to be kidnapped, imprisoned, held. Lawfully captive? Or ensnared for more sinister ends? Kept apart or kept together by bars; whatever happens, they're only getting out if you want them to.

Day 6 - The Ties That Bind

The one you are bound to isn’t always someone you’d choose. From soulmates to political machinations, marriages never meant, and schemes to deceive others; these two end up entangled in the most complicated ways. Promises are made and bonds are forged and those ties are never easy to break.

Day 7 - Add a Little Spice

Add a little spice to humanity! Are they designated as Dominants and Submissives? Are they Alphas, Betas and Omegas? Are they Guardians and Sentinels? Or do their souls walk beside them as daemons? Whatever it is, it's bound to change everything.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send in an ask, DM this blog, or hop into our Discord server and drop it in our #questions-and-feedback channel.

Remember, all submissions are due to the Kenfetti Week 2023 Subcollection by July 1st and acceptance of late submissions is at mod discretion. Tag each submission with the corresponding prompt (e.g. Day 1-2023) and we will reveal submissions in the collection by Day from July 9th-July 15th. For those unfamiliar with AO3 collections, we will be posting a tutorial for how to submit and edit your works in the collection.

May the Force be with you and Happy Kenfetti!

#kenfetti week 2023 #kenfetti week prompts #star wars #kenfetti #jango fett #obi-wan kenobi

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legend-collection · 9 months

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Erlking

In European folklore and myth, the Erlking is a sinister elf who lingers in the woods. He stalks children who stay in the woods for too long, and kills them by a single touch.

Pic by Sammycat17 on deviantart

The name "Erlking" is a name used in German Romanticism for the figure of a spirit or "king of the fairies". It is usually assumed that the name is a derivation from the ellekonge (older elverkonge, i.e. "Elf-king") in Danish folklore. The name is first used by Johann Gottfried Herder in his ballad "Erlkönigs Tochter" (1778), an adaptation of the Danish Hr. Oluf han rider (1739), and was taken up by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in his poem "Erlkönig" (1782), which was set to music by Schubert, among others. Goethe added a new meaning, as "Erl" does not mean "elf", but "black alder" - the poem about the Erlenkönig is set in the area of an alder quarry in the Saale valley in Thuringia. In English translations of Goethe's poem, the name is sometimes rendered as Erl-king.

According to Jacob Grimm, the term originates with a Scandinavian (Danish) word, ellekonge "king of the elves", or for a female spirit elverkongens datter "the elven king's daughter", who is responsible for ensnaring human beings to satisfy her desire, jealousy or lust for revenge. The New Oxford American Dictionary follows this explanation, describing the Erlking as "a bearded giant or goblin who lures little children to the land of death", mistranslated by Herder as Erlkönig in the late 18th century from ellerkonge. The correct German word would have been Elbkönig or Elbenkönig, afterwards used under the modified form of Elfenkönig by Christoph Martin Wieland in his 1780 poem Oberon.

Alternative suggestions have also been made; in 1836, Halling suggested a connection with a Turkic and Mongolian god of death or psychopomp, known as Erlik Chan.

Johann Gottfried von Herder introduced this character into German literature in "Erlkönigs Tochter", a ballad published in his 1778 volume Stimmen der Völker in Liedern. It was based on the Danish folk ballad "Hr. Oluf han rider" "Sir Oluf he rides" published in the 1739 Danske Kæmpeviser. Herder undertook a free translation where he translated the Danish elvermø ("elf maid") as Erlkönigs Tochter; according to Danish legend old burial mounds are the residence of the elverkonge, dialectically elle(r)konge, the latter has later been misunderstood in Denmark by some antiquarians as "alder king", cf Danish elletræ "alder tree". It has generally been assumed that the mistranslation was the result of error, but it has also been suggested (Herder does actually also refer to elves in his translation) that he was imaginatively trying to identify the malevolent sprite of the original tale with a woodland old man (hence the alder king).

The story portrays Sir Oluf riding to his marriage but being entranced by the music of the elves. An elf maiden, in Herder's translation the Elverkonge's daughter, appears and invites him to dance with her. He refuses and spurns her offers of gifts and gold. Angered, she strikes him and sends him on his way, deathly pale. The following morning, on the day of his wedding, his bride finds him lying dead under his scarlet cloak.

Although inspired by Herder's ballad, Goethe departed significantly from both Herder's rendering of the Erlking and the Scandinavian original. The antagonist in Goethe's "Der Erlkönig" is the Erlking himself rather than his daughter. The Erlkönig appears to a young boy in a feverish delirium - his father, however, identifies the apparition as a simple streak of fog. Goethe's Erlking differs in other ways as well: his version preys on children, rather than adults of the opposite sex, and the Erlking's motives are never made clear. Goethe's Erlking is much more akin to the Germanic portrayal of elves and valkyries – a force of death rather than simply a magical spirit.

In Angela Carter's short story "The Erl-King", contained within the 1979 collection The Bloody Chamber, the female protagonist encounters a male forest spirit. Though she becomes aware of his malicious intentions, she is torn between her desire for him and her desire for freedom. In the end, she forms a plan to kill him in order to escape his power.

Charles Kinbote, the narrator of Vladimir Nabokov's 1962 novel, Pale Fire, alludes to "alderkings". One allusion is in his commentary to line 275 of fellow character John Shade's eponymous poem. In the case of this commentary, the word invokes homosexual ancestors of the last king of Zembla, Kinbote's ostensible homeland. The novel contains at least one other reference by Kinbote to alderkings.

In Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, there is a character called the Erlking, modeled after the leader of the Wild Hunt, Herne the Hunter.

In the author John Connolly's short story collection Nocturnes (2004), there is a character known as the Erlking who attempts to abduct the protagonist.

The New Yorker's "20 Under 40" issue of July 5, 2010 included the short story "The Erlking" by Sarah Shun-lien Bynum.

A version of the Erl-King is mentioned in Zoe Gilbert's Mischief Acts, implied to be a figure related to Herne the Hunter.

In Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher saga, the highest leader of the Folk of the Alder elves, Auberon Muircetach, is also known as the Alder King. In the story, he maintains thematic ties to kidnapping: the Wild Hunt, known for abducting humans, is subordinate to him, and he orchestrates the imprisonment of Cirilla.

#Erlking #europe

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hellzyeahwebwielingessays · 1 year

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@poke-maniac

I am making this post because it was too frustrating replying in the comments section of the original post.

“ I said that money was a mean to make his company more successful as he himself admits, not just for power's sake.”

Yes, but I wonder what making his company more successful would do to the amount of power he wields. Could it be that it would generate MORE power for him??????????????

“Which is more or less confirmed in sinister war, but since you ignore everything that happens after post OMD as if nothing was canon anymore, I guess you don't see it as a valid argument.”

It’s more than just that I discount it for being post-OMD. From what you have described of Sinister War I do not see how this goes against anything I have said. Norman wanted to money to make his company more successful. But in doing this he makes himself more powerful.

The priority is ALWAYS power. In fact, few people who are rich assholes as you put it are in it for the sake of money alone, but predominantly for the POWER that money grants them.

But even if we argue that there those who really are JUST in it for the money, Norman isn’t one of them as he literally told us that in ASM #40:

Oh look, Norman EXPLICTELY saying that he needed to become wealthy because that was the only way he could become POWERFUL!

“We shouldn't apply real life psychology to fictional people,”

This is, simply put, one of the most astronomically bad takes I have ever had the misfortune of reading.

There is so much to unpack with this, but let’s just get down to the basics. If we aren’t going to apply real life psychology to fictional people what the fuck does the term ‘believable character’ even mean. How are they believable if not in terms of who they are, what they think, what they feel, how they act is psychologically realistic. Because that is what psychology boils down to ‘what is happening inside of a human being to make them behave the way they behave’.

Second of all, there is a GIGANTIC overlap between the mental muscles and psychologists and good writers flex for the very obvious reason that both jobs entail getting inside people’s heads. Its just that for writers those people happen to be fictional.

The proof in the pudding of this is Carl Jung, perhaps the second most famous psychologist behind Freud himself, and indeed was at a time viewed by Freud as his heir in the field of psychology. Jung’s works are massive and complicated to explain but one of the things he often brought up was the connection between psychology and mythology/fairy tales/folklore.

“Like Freud, the psychologist Carl Jung also took myths seriously. Jung believed that myths and dreams were expressions of the collective unconscious, in that they express core ideas that are part of the human species as a whole. In other words, myths express wisdom that has been encoded in all humans, perhaps by means of evolution or through some spiritual process. For Jungians, this common origin in the collective unconscious explains why myths from societies at the opposite ends of the earth can be strikingly similar. ”-

This school of thought is eventually what led literature professor Joseph Campbell to study myths from various cultures and write his landmark book ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’. Here is a wikipedia excerpt about the book:

“The book includes a discussion of "the hero's journey" by using the Freudian concepts popular in the 1940s and 1950s. Campbell's theory incorporates a mixture of Jungian archetypes, unconscious forces, and Arnold van Gennep's structuring of rites of passage rituals to provide some illumination.[4] ”-

So psychology and storytelling are inherently intertwined and ALWAYS have been.

Third of all, there is no end of examples of critically acclaimed works of fiction that DO apply real life psychology to fictional people. Breaking Bad is one seasons long epic exploring the realistic psychological change of Walter White into a drug kingpin.

The Sopranos stemmed from creator David Chase’s psychological struggles with his mother and the therapy he went through to try and deal with it. Not only was it applying psychological realism to these fictional gangsters (and their families) but it went so far as to have a psychologist as a main character and make her sessions with Tony Soprano integral to the plot/character exploration of Tony himself.

And, just in case you were trying to say ‘fictional comic book people’, Batman’s villains are regarded as the best villains in mainstream comic book history in large part because because of their psychological complexities. There is literally a podcast hosted by a real life psychologist where they review and apply psychological realism to every episode of Batman the Animated Series:

The fact that she was able to do that at all speaks to how clearly the writers WERE applying real life psychology when writing Batman the Animated Series, the most transparent example being ‘Mad Love’, the origin of Harley Quinn. not only was Harley a psychologist herself, but her origin story stemmed directly fro co-creator Paul Dini's experiences with therapy and includes one of your so called 'Freuduan excuses' for why Harley is the way she is:

"Paul Dini: I’m no stranger to therapy. I was spending some time in therapy and was in my head a lot around that time. Bruce and I were discussing her origin one day over lunch, because I had been approached by DC to do a special issue of the comic, and we were talking about what if there was some sort of surprise to her origin? What if she’s not just a hench girl? We came up with the idea that she had been a doctor at Arkham Asylum and the Joker had gotten into her head and worked her into being his follower. … Then we thought, what if Harley’s in the role of the long-suffering girlfriend?

There was also an element of the fans who write to a prisoner who committed a terrible crime and say, “I understand you… I see the good in you,” and sometimes develop a relationship."

Bill Mantlo literally name dropped a psychological term during one of his 1980s Spider-Man stories. They got the term wrong, but the desire to use it at all when it wasn’t necessary ever so slightly hints that comic book writers frequently DO try to apply psychological realism to these fictional people.

Iconic Iron Man writer/prolific Spider-Man writer/co-creator of Venom and Carnage David Michelinie featured a psychologist character in at least two of his Spider-Man stories and used his insights as a way for Spider-Man to defeat both Doc Ock and Venom.

Bruce Banner/the Hulk is a character who hinges upon psychological realism. The entire premise of the character is that he has disassociative identity disorder and that the famous green savage Hulk everyone knows is an expression of his traumatised inner child throwing a gamma fuelled temper tantrum.

Peter David, who has written MANY Spider-Man stories including the iconic ‘Death of Jean DeWolff’, literally wrote an issue that took place inside Bruce Banner’s mind and where his fragmented identity (Bruce banner, Green Hulk, Grey Hulk) is made whole; an issue outright called 'Honey I Shrunk the Hulk' (as in head shrink).

(Oh look, an abusive father who hit Bruce. Guess the Hulk's origin doesn't make sense and is shit now too).

PAD’s Hulk yarn wasn’t the only Marvel story in the 1990s that literally dives into the head of a fictional person (i.e. the most blatant example of trying to apply psychological realism to them). There was also two stories that did exactly that with symbiotic serial killer Carnage:

One of those characters was Dr Ashley Kafka, a psychologist supporting character introduced for Spider-Man stories.

Hmmm…why would Spider-Man comics introduce a psychologist as a supporting character? Well, there could be various uses for a character like that but perhaps one of them might be to offer realistic psychological insights into these fictional people. Fictional people like Venom.

Or Vermin.

Or the Chameleon.

Hey, who created Ashley Kafka anyway?

It was prolific comic book writer J.M. DeMatteis. I wonder why he was so prolific, I mean what sort of stories has he done over at DC?

Oh…a story that acts as a psychological exploration of the Joker and his relationship to Batman. Fun fact, this story was originally rejects by DC because it was too similar to the Killing Joke…because it was also a psychological exploration of the Joker and his relationship to Batman.

Over at Marvel though, other than creating Ashley Kafka, what did J.M. DeMatteis write?

Oh, that’s right….

And...

He wrote many of the stories we’ve been talking about this whole time. He was the guy who retconned the origin of Norman and Harry Osborn and explored Norman’s childhood in the first place.

Now it is a sad reality that there isn’t a single direct quote from DeMatteis proving he did in fact try to apply psychological realism when writing fictional people…

"We write about the things that obsess us. The themes in a writer’s work are the themes of a writer’s life. The Big Theme that has always obsessed me is the search for meaning, for personal, and cosmic, identity. Who are we? Why are we here? What’s the meaning of it all? Exploring those ideas, from both a psychological and spiritual perspective, is the driving force behind many of my stories, whether they’re more personal projects like Moonshadow or more popular ones like Spider-Man."

"I enjoy reading books about psychology and spirituality, books that explore the shadowed caverns of our psyches and the luminous castles of our souls."

"All the clever plotting in the world won’t help if it’s not grounded in psychologically real, relatable, characters."

"Peter Parker is one of the most psychologically and emotionally real characters in the history of comics"

"Harry and Peter are both very complex people, which meant that while the superhero action played out there was lots of room for psychological and emotional exploration."

…there are MULTIPLE direct quotes proving exactly that.

So YES we categorically should apply real life psychology to fictional people!

“ especially that nothing suggests in canon that his [Norman Osborn’s] dad was beating him to "feel powe[rful]”

I’ve said before and I will say it again, that is EXACTLY what is suggested by Spec Annual 1994 and Revenge of the Green Goblin.

Norman's Dad loses the business and lashes at his son but this had NOTHING to do with him feeling powerless?

What do you think it means when someone feels powerless?

What do you think it means when someone of the old school tries to reaffirm that they are still 'a man'?

It is about power!

“All that's textually said is that he was lashing out on his family, in rage like many people irl when they lose everything.”

Yes but why would someone IRL lash out when they lose everything.

*gasp!*

You don’t possibly think they do that because losing everything makes them feel powerless and bullying someone else in turn makes them feel powerful, do you????????????? Feeling powerful couldn’t possibly be the root cause of why anyone bullies anyone else ever could it????????????????????????????????????????

Its almost like in textually saying he was lashing out because he lost everything it made him feel powerful or something?

Oh and by the way, ever so slightly undermined your own argument there. “We shouldn't apply real life psychology to fictional people,” vs. “…was lashing out on his family, in rage like many people irl when they lose everything.”

Which is it?

(not to mention if we aren’t supposed to apply real life psychology to fictional people why were you doing exactly that with your avatar examples?)

“Yeah the amnesia part never made any sense to begin with. It's said that the formula made him worse yet it doesn't seem to affect "amnesic" Norman all that much. Maybe it does? Because we don't see him all that much during his amnesia periods.”

We see PLENTY of Norman when he has amnesia.

So no the formula does not affect norman when he has amnesia.

But an idea slightly suggested in ASM #40 and then eventually confirmed in Revenge of the Green goblin was that the formula made norman worse because in giving him powers it acted as proof he was superior to everyone else, in other words it sent him on a huge ego trip.

You know what would be interesting? If this Norman Osborn guy who is on a big ego/power trip formed a rivalry with a superhero who began his career on a big ego trip before being humbled. Especially if that hero’s defining philosophy was ‘with great power there must also come great responsibility…

“It honestly looks like a cheap excuse to keep him from telling the truth more than anything”

And as originally written by Stan, it was exactly that. It was taboo for a villain to know the hero’s identity back in the 1960s, or at least for them to go on living with that knowledge. Later stories however addressed this.

“But anyway, it just makes weird that his amnesia would make him a completely different guy if he was the same ashole during this specific time period he remembers (before Harry high school years).”

You haven’t been listening to me at all. You have never once addressed what I have said on this subject.

But I will repeat it again:

WE ARE THE PRODUCT OF OUR MEMORIES! IF YOU CHANGE THE MEMORIES YOU CHANGE THE PERSON!

You want a quick fictional example of this? The Arnie movie Total Recall.

In other words, the ONLY logical explanation for Norman becoming nice is because he DIDN’T just forget his memories after he became the Goblin. He forgot MORE than just that. Which is what happens with real life amnesia. You don’t just forget a set time period.

Yes the narrative has Spider-Man claim it is just everything after the accident that turned him into the Goblin, but how the fuck does Spider-Man know that for sure?

What we have is an objective flashback showing us exactly what Norman was like before the accident, we have objective on the page evidence of what he was like after the accident and we have objective on the page evidence of what he was like post amnesia. Post-accident is basically a bigger jerk of who he was pre-accident. Post-amensia is at odds with both versions.

The ONLY explanation that makes sense is that he didn’t simply forget the last few years, he forgot more than that. he forgot whatever life experiences shaped him into a bad person, or at least he couldn’t remember them clearly. Perhaps he could remember events but not the feelings associated with them.

This syncs up with how IRL amnesia works and reconciles everything, whether you look at the stories in the 1960s on their own or look beyond that decade.

“One could argue that he gradually became more and more neglectful. If Harry is just in denial as he can't see faults in his dad's parenting why did he spot a difference then? If his dad was acting the same as he always did, why would he be only in denial over how his dad acted prior to accident?”

Yeah MAYBE he did become more and more neglectful, but there is nothing on page suggesting that. We just know he WAS neglectful.

But alright, the idea that from Harry’s POV there was a time when things were better but got way worse before the accident, that could fit with the original story.

You know what else could fit just as well? That Harry is in denial. Because he wants/needs to believe at some point he and his Dad had a positive relationship when they actually never did.

Denial doesn’t work on the basis that it is 100% consistent all of the time. Norman was MUCH worse after the accident and Harry was also older and less impressionable and that change occurred within the last few years of his life circa ASM #39. All those factors combined make it entirely possible that he found it harder to deny that his Dad had changed. He’d gone from neglecting him and palming him off to almost entirely isolating himself and become more outspokenly verbally abusive and belittling.

Both were bad situations, but one was much worse.

Oh and be careful, because you almost sound like you are trying to apply real life psychology to counter my points. I thought we weren’t supposed to do that with fictional people?

“Why only complain about his dad's recent outbursts? It's clear that his dad is acting differently towards him. They had some good time together (despite his dad's obssesion over work) before the accident then his behavior towards Harry changed.”

No they didn’t. That’s the point of the story. They DIDN’T have good times together, but by the end of ASM #40 they now hopefully can have good times together.

The ASM #40 flashbacks are the deal breaker on all this. These aren’t simply flashbacks from Norman or Harry’s POV, these are from the omniscient POV as what they are depicting is not in line with what Norman is claiming. And they are not in line with what Harry was claiming in ASm #39 either.

Harry was NOT having a good time ever in those flashbacks and Norman was NOT being a good father.

Thing simply got WORSE after the accident.

Why is it so hard for you to buy into the idea that Harry is in denial?

Your approach is ‘Harry made this claim in a piece of dialogue therefore it MUST be completely true’. Even though the very next issue disproves it. Norman even says ‘I tried to be a pal to Harry’, he uses that exact word ‘pal’. And we see from those flashbacks that, no, he was not being a pal to Harry. He was being a shitty father. He was neglecting him, not talking to him, not engaging him or spending time with him.

So Norman is in denial and that was the point of the scene. BUT Harry, who has his DNA, couldn’t POSSIBLY be in denial also? There simply MUST be these magical phantom scenes we coincidentally never got to see where in fact they were BFFs?

Why is that more believable than ‘both father and son are mentally messed up’.

“Also bad person =/= bad father.”

That lacks nuance. You can be a good parent but in other ways a bad person, that is true.

But if you are a bad parent (specifically abusive, neglectful, putting yourself ahead of your child) you are as a matter of fact a bad person. There is nothing more important than raising a child.

“I'm just arguing about his parenting, not his morality,”

In this situation they are one and the same thing.

The things that make Norman a bad person are in turn what led to him being a bad father. He doesn’t have the ability to be a good father because he is a bad person.

During the Stan run, Norman pre-accident was also a bad parent and a bad person but to a lesser degree. That’s all there is to it. he railroaded his partner. He stole his innovations. He was after money and power. He neglected his son and priotised his pursuit of power ahead of his son’s wellbeing.

That is a BAD person, it just isn’t a total fucking monster which is what the retcons developed him into.

“we don't see much of him during his amnesia period to conclude that he was an all around a good person, just that he was a better dad.”

*pinches bridge of nose*

During his amnesia period (and excluding the period where he was in the process of remembering he was the Goblin) was Norman neglecting his son? No. Was he railroading his business partners? No. Was he stealing their inventions? No.

Oh, he WASN’T doing the things we saw him doing in the pre-flashbacks. But you know what he WAS doing? Being nice to his son. Spending time with his son. Making his son happy.

Hmmmm…its almost as if the things ASM #40 showed us about how pre-accident Norman was a bad person were either absent or directly the opposite with amnesiac Norman.

“But yeah, you're right, this amnesia plot device makes no sense no matter how you look at it but to me it looks like the implications is that his personality was reset before his accident. But to each their own, I guess .”

A story can imply one thing but show another or contradict itself. What is actually happening is more important than implications.

“I agree that Norman abusive background explains why he treats Harry so horribly as it was textually explained, as well as why he's so comfortable with his own darkness, his toxic masculinity but it doesn't explain as well why he became so obsessed with restoring his family's name, wealth, having social power.”

BECAUSE HIS DAD LOST THAT!

Do I actually need to explain that children are heavily influenced by their parents? That they subconsciously look to their parents as role models, that they seek their approval, that how their parents treats them shapes who they grow up to be?

If Norman’s Dad LOST the family’s prestige and was obviously upset about it and that in turn led to him hurting Norman OF COURSE Norman would want to restore it. He would have learned that prestige was important. Thus in restoring on some subcionsious level he’d:

Be making his father proud

Proving himself BETTER than the man who was his physical superior

Avoiding becoming like his father who he saw broken down and rendered weak by losing the company

Making himself powerful and therefore not weak, not like his father who was rendered weak/the helpless weak little boy his father bullied

“It's not about real life psychology, it's all about WRITING.”

THOSE AMOUNT TO THE SAME THING!

You can’t BE a good character writing without applying real life psychology! Because to be a good character writer you NEED to make your characters psychologically convincing, otherwise nobody would buy into them.

See above when I disproved your bullshit about not applying psychology to fiction.

You don’t NEED to have a psychology degree to write good characters but you do NEED to be able to get inside a fictional person’s head and render them as believable. And that would entail making them psychologically realistic.

William Shakespeare never studied psychology. He literally couldn’t have. But he was nevertheless able to write psychologically convincing characters that we CAN successfully apply real life psychology to.

Because writers and psychologists have this gigantic overlap in their respective fields, namely, getting inside people’s heads!

“Writing a proper Freudian excuse that doesn't require ton of meta analysis, real life psychology, conjecture.”

THERE IS NO CONJECTURE! The narrative SPELLS this all out explictely!

“And I'm not denying that it might be one of the factors, but it unlike his abuse of his own son, it's not used explain why he became so fixated on restoring his family's name,”

If Norman’s Dad abused him because the family business was fucked there would obviously be an inherent link between restoring the family business and the abuse he suffered.

This isn’t a Freudian excuse, it is basic bitch literary analysis. High schoolers could grasp this.

Norman didn’t want to be weak as he was when his dad hurt him. Norman didn’t want to be weak as his father was upon losing the business. His dad hurt him because he was upset about losing the business.

Therefore, in hitting Norman, in abusing him, it acted as a powerful motivator later in life to restore the family business.

It. Is. All. There.

“obtaining social power (not just physical) expanding the Osborn legacy”

You need to understand this, not just for the sake of this argument nor for your future reading of fiction, but just plain old navigating through life itself.

Power is power.

If you are made to feel physically powerless you 100% could go on to seek social power.

If a boss makes someone feel powerless at work they could leave work and make themselves feel sexually powerful by having sex with a hooker who they ask to call them ‘boss’ in the bedroom.

If your business is failing and your money is running out so you feel financially powerless and are losing social power there is a strong possibility that you’d hit your own child to feel powerful! Just as Norman’s Dad did.

You keep belligerently REJECTING the idea that there can be a link between social power and physical power but that is the truth of the matter. Not only have I known this for years through, you know, common sense, not only have I read up about this, but just to make 100% certain I am not wrong on this I asked someone I know personally who is a professional psychologist. She confirmed exactly what I’ve been saying.

Norman’s situation is entirely realistic. Which again, is no surprise, since it was written by a DeMatteis who was heavily into psychology and was himself friends with a professional psychologist who he based Ashley Kafka upon.

Oh, but I forgot, we don’t apply IRL psychology to fictional people right? But…if we aren’t doing that…why are YOU insisting that there can be no link between social and physical power??????????????????????????

And furthermore, expanding the Osborn legacy? Yeah, powerful people have wanted to insure they have a legacy to live on after they die since time began. That hasn’t even got anything to do with abuse or psychology. That is just how most animals are wired. We want our offspring to survive us and thrive. For Norman that meant his son and company would be strong

“, why he's a psychopath who loves killing people when we he doesn't get any benefit from it (like this guard's wife) .”

*groans*

He likes killing people because it is an exercise of his power. He is a power addict. He wants more and more power and wants to use it. No one takes power and DOESN’T use it.

Killing people makes him feel powerful.

He wants to feel that way because as a child he was made to feel powerless and saw his dad lose his power.

It is as simple as that.

And you seem to be ASKING for a psychological explanation there? I thought we don’t apply that to fictional people?

Why are you asking why someone is a PSYCHOpath but reject the PSYCHOlogical explanations I’ve been providing for it?

“It doesn't automatically explain IT ALL.”

It literally does. You are just being blind to that reality.

“It's not expanded on.”

There were 3 stories exploring it across nearly 10 years.

That expands upon it pretty well.

“It's not used to explain HOW it shaped his view on power, how it shaped his ruthless and psychopathic, personality (well unless you claim it's unborn ).”

I’m so exhausted at this point. It HAS been used to explain it. It explained it blindingly obviously. I have repeated it multiple times in this post let alone all the other ones I have made during this argument.

I have to ask now if you are trolling or if you are honestly just this blind?

And, again….asking for HOW something shaped someone’s view on power, HOW it shaped their personality? Gosh…that sounds like you are asking for a psychological explanation…but one where we cannot apply real life psychology apparently.

“I just wished that this backstory was more expanded on to show HOW it shaped him”

You literally admitted you haven’t read all the stories I mentioned so how can you possibly complain about all that.

You are complaining that something wasn’t explained when

It was explained IN Revenge of the Green Goblin

RotGG itself was an expansion of Spec Annual 1994, which you said you hadn’t read

“Like, there's so much things going on with him and the authors did the minimum they could,”

They wrote THREE stories exploring Norman and Harry’s childhoods and how those shaped them!

Roger Stern.

J.M. DeMatteis.

Paul Jenkins

Howard Mackie.

FOUR people between 1993-2000 wrote THREE different stories exploring this subject and this is the ‘minimum they could’?

Fucking Hell, what more do you want?

“as if we as readers are automatically supposed to connect all dots just from the knowledge alone that his dad beat him up and that it made him feel weak, so viewed toxic masculinity as "strength" and that it made him accept his own darkness.”

The. Story. Literally. Spells. This. Out!

Go. Read. The. Above. Pages!

But also, I, as a TEN YEAR OLD, understood this from Revenge of the Green Goblin alone. I didn’t even need the Child Within or Spec Annual 1994 to GET it!

It was REALLY obvious.

I’m not saying it should have been subtle…but also it was absolutely NEVER subtle.

To say readers are supposed to automatically connect the dots is saying ‘I have REALLY limited reading comprehension skills and need to be spoon-fed info.’

“Just how are we supposed to expand it to explain his psychopathy, his obsession with restoring his family's legacy which is primary motivation for most of what he does that's not connected to Peter (like the Gathering of five).”

See above. I’ve explained how it is all connected. Better yet read the stories. Though I doubt in this case it will make much difference.

“ This is made even more confusing with Sinister war”

A post-OMD story making things confusing? The shock I have. Its almost as if there was a reason I cut off with 2007

“Not to mention, that most of his much more prevalent roles happen post OMD compared to pre OMD which you entirely reject.”

No they don’t.

His most prevalent roles are his roles as a Spider-Man villain. Most of his appearances as a Spider-Man villain are PRE-OMD to my knowledge.

“Is his backstory still supposed to explain why he acts the way he does post OMD even though you said it made him a different character,”

It is irrelevant to this argument because I was never talking from a post-OMD POV to begin with.

But frankly, if post-OMD Spider-Man was well written (which it isn’t) yes his backstory SHOULD explain whatever he does. Or, more accurately, whatever he does should be written to be consistent with his established backstory in the first place.

The major reason I reject post-OMD is precisely because whether it is Norman, Harry, Venom, Doc Ock, Black Cat, J. Jonah Jameson, Aunt May, Mary Jane or Peter Parker himself, the stories are rarely consistent with their pre-OMD characterisations, whether that’s their backstories or simply older stories they appeared in. Peter doesn’t act like Peter. Mary Jane doesn’t act like Mary Jane. Harry doesn’t act like Harry. And Norman doesn’t act like Norman.

Peter wouldn’t become a paparazzi photographer.

Mary Jane would never break up with him because aunt anna’s life was endangered.

Jameson would never accept Peter upon learning he is Spider-Man.

Black Cat would never want Peter to be her fuck buddy and nothing more.

Doc Ock would never try to rape mary jane.

Harry would never be blasé about not remembering his own son Normie.

Aunt may would never blame peter for abandoning her the night uncle ben died.

These are merely one example for the above characters but you get my point.

If the characters aren’t behaving the way they should be in the context of the situation they functionally are not the characters anymore. And since the characters are the entire point of why we read Spider-Man in the first place, why the fuck should you, me, or anyone factor them into our analysis of those characters? Especially since, last I checked, OMD established that we are literally in a different timeline altogether, one where Peter and MJ never got married, where MJ was never pregnant but somehow, magically, despite this making 0 sense, every 1987-2007 Spider-Man story happened exactly the same way.

“even though it gave another explanation that I won't spoil you (read Sinister war) ?”

In other words Sinister War is bullshit. The new story is obliged to fit with the older one. In other words, if Sinister war has contradicted the origin and the origin doesn’t explain what he does in sinister war, it means sinister war is at fault not the other way around.

Norman in Sinister War SHOULD have been written in sync with his established origin.

“Also Otto was evil even before his ex fiancee died,”

Yes he was, but he WASN’T evil before they broke up. They broke up, he later became Doc Ock and later still she died. I never said otherwise. I said his MOTHER died.

“it only solidified his rivalry with Spider man as he wanted to prove that he's superior foe than Green Goblin.”

Not as originally written he wasn’t. His ex-fiance’s death was originally just AIDs, the idea that Norman infected her with AIDs was a retcon made 20 years later. As originally conceived Norman and Otto had never met face to face before Norman returned in 1996.

But that’s a big tangent that has nothing to do with my point, which was that in one issue it was established that Doc Ock became a villain due to MULTIPLE factors shaping him, not just one thing.

You never addressed my point.

“(Freudian excuse is basically a backstory that's supposed to explain how it shaped a villainous character. Don't know if it's an academic term but It's the term used by tv tropes)”

Then I am complete confusion.

You want an explanation for why Norman is the way he is…but ANY explanation by definition would be a Freudian excuse which is bad????????

But also we cannot use real life psychology?

The only thing I can conclude is you want a reason for Norman being evil that doesn’t involve his Dad hitting him even though in this specific case HOW that shaped him to be evil and twisted his world view is very clearly laid out.

It is just YOU who can’t see it.

But I am not surprised by this if you are also so insistent that we shouldn’t apply real life psychology to fictional characters. Frankly, that alone is a fucking joke of a take

"Norman hating spider man for his amnesia was never expanded on before or after this one throwaway line , that's what I'm saying. His hatred in other comics is never tied to it, directly or indirectly"

That.

Doesn't.

MATTER!

Him saying it ONCE is enough for us to confirm that it IS one of the reasons he hates Spider-Man. And it wasn't even a throwaway line either!

It was him explaining WHY he hates Spider-Man? In a story that was planned to be important, though no one knew HOW important it would go on to become. That is NOT a throwaway line. YOU think it is a throaway line but it is not actually a throwaway line.

You know what line was also only uttered ONCE for over 15 years worth of Spider-Man comic books?

"With Great Power there must also come Great Responsibility"

The most famous line of piece of writing in Spider-Man history, the line that is the defining philosophy of Spider-Man and his universe, was mentioned ONCE at the end of his first appearance in 1962 and was never repeated again until the late 1970s.

So, was THAT just a throwaway line?

Should we discount that as a motivation for Peter Parker?

Why does a line need to be REPEATED or EXPANDED upon to be relevant?

If it was said the once and so long as it doesn't contradict anything else, then it COUNTS. Deal with it.

#my essays #spider man #spider-man #peter parker #green goblin #norman osborn #harry osborn

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finitajarjarana · 5 months

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youtube

Why - poem by bob flanagan

Because it feels good;

because it gives me an erection;

because it makes me come;

because I'm sick;

because there was so much sickness;

because I say FUCK THE SICKNESS;

because I like the attention;

because I was alone a lot;

because I was different;

because kids beat me up on the way to school;

because I was humiliated by nuns;

because of Christ and the Crucifixion;

because of Porky Pig in bondage, force-fed by some sinister creep in a black cape;

because of stories of children hung by their wrists,

burned on the stove, scalded in tubs;

because of Mutiny on the Bounty;

because of cowboys and Indians;

because of Houdini;

because of my cousin Cliff;

because of the forts we built and the things we did inside them;

because of what's inside me;

because of my genes;

because of my parents;

because of doctors and nurses;

because they tied me to the crib so I wouldn't hurt myself;

because I had time to think;

because I had time to hold my penis;

because I had awful stomachaches and holding my penis made it feel better;

because I felt like I was going to die;

because it makes me feel invincible;

because it makes me feel triumphant;

because I'm a Catholic;

because I still love Lent, and I still love my penis, and in spite of it all I have no guilt;

because my parents said BE WHAT YOU WANT TO BE, and this is what I want to be;

because I'm nothing but a big baby and I want to stay that way, and I want a mommy forever, even a mean one, especially a mean one;

because of all the fairy tale witches, and the wicked stepmother, and the stepsisters, and how sexy Cinderella was, smudged with soot, doomed to a life of servitude;

because of Hansel, locked in the witch's cage until he was fat enough to eat;

because of "O" and how desperately I wanted to be her;

because of my dreams;

because of the games we played;

because I've got an active imagination;

because my mother bought me Tinker Toys;

because hardware stores give me hard-ons;

because of hammers, nails, clothespins, wood, padlocks, pullies, eyebolts, thumbtacks, staple-guns, sewing needles, wooden spoons, fishing tackle, chains, metal rulers, rubber tubing, spatulas, rope, twine, C-clamps, S-hooks, razor blades, scissors, tweezers, knives, pushpins, two-by-fours, Ping-Pong paddles, alligator clips, duct tape, broomsticks, barbecue skewers, bungie cords, sawhorses, soldering irons;

because of tool sheds;

because of garages;

because of basements;

because of dungeons;

because of The Pit and the Pendulum;

because of the Tower of London;

because of the Inquisition;

because of the rack;

because of the cross;

because of the Addams Family playroom;

because of Morticia Addams and her black dress with its octopus legs;

because of motherhood;

because of Amazons;

because of the Goddess;

because of the moon;

because it's in my nature;

because it's against nature;

because it's nasty;

because it's fun;

because it flies in the face of all that's normal (whatever that is); because I'm not normal;

because I used to think that I was part of some vast experiment and that there was this implant in my penis that made me do these things and that allowed THEM (whoever THEY were) to monitor my activities;

because I had to take my clothes off and lie inside this plastic bag so the doctors could collect my sweat;

because once upon a time I had such a high fever that my parents had to strip me naked and wrap me in wet sheets to stop the convulsions;

because my parents loved me even more when I was suffering;

because surrender is sweet;

because I was born into a world of suffering;

because I'm attracted to it;

because I'm addicted to it;

because endorphins in the brain are like a natural kind of heroin;

because I learned to take my medicine;

because I was a big boy for taking it;

because I can take it like a man;

because, as somebody once said, HE'S GOT MORE BALLS THAN I DO;

because it is an act of courage;

because it does take guts;

because I'm proud of it;

because I can't climb mountains;

because I'm terrible at sports;

because NO PAIN, NO GAIN;

because SPARE THE ROD AND SPOIL THE CHILD;

because YOU ALWAYS HURT THE ONE YOU LOVE.

----

Por qué? Poema por Bob Flanagan

Porque se siente rico;

Porque me da una erección;

Porque me hace eyacular;

Porque yo digo A LA MIERDA CON LA ENFERMEDAD;

Porque me gusta la atención;

Porque estaba solo mucho;

Porque era diferente;

Porque los niños me pegaban cuando iba a la escuela;

Porque fue humillado por monjas;

Por(que) Cristo y la crucifixión;

Por(que) Porky atado, alimentado a fuerza por un tipo siniestro en una capa negra;

Por(que) los cuentos de niños colgados por sus muñecas;

Por(que) Motín a bordo;

Por(que) vaqueros e indios;

Por(que) Houdini;

Por(que) mi primo Cliff;

Por(que) los fuertes que hicimos y las cosas que hicimos adentro;

Por(que) lo que hay adentro de mí;

Por(que) mis genes;

Por(que) doctores y enfermeras;

Porque me ataron a la cuna para que no me hiciera daño a mi mismo;

Porque tenía tiempo para pensar;

Porque tenía tiempo para sostener mi pene;

Porque tenía dolores de estomago horribles y sostener mi pene me hacía sentir mejor;

Porque sentí que estaba por morir;

Porque me hace sentir invencible;

Porque me hace sentir triunfante;

Porque soy católico;

Porque aún me encanta la cuaresma, y aún me encanta mi pene, y a pesar de todo no me siento culpable;

Porque mis padres dijeron HAZ LO QUE QUIERES HACER, y esto es lo que quiero hacer;

Porque sólo soy un llorón, y quiero quedarme así, y quiero una mami para siempre, incluso una pesada, especialmente una pesada;

Por(que) todas las brujas de cuentos de hadas, y la madrastra malvada, y las hermanastras, y cuan guapa era Cenicienta, sucia de hollín, destinada a una vida de esclava;

Por(que) Hansel, encerrado en la jaula de la bruja, hasta que era lo suficiente gordo para comérselo;

Por(que) "O" y por cuan desesperadamente quería ser ella;

Por(que) mis sueños;

Por(que) los juegos que jugábamos;

Porque tengo una imaginación activa;

Porque mi madre me compraba Tinker Toys;

Porque las ferreterías me paran la polla;

Por(que) martillos, clavos, perritos para ropa, madera, candados, poleas, armellas, chinchetas, grapadoras eléctricas, agujas, cucharas de madera, anzuelos, cadenas, reglas de metal, tubos de goma, espátulas, cuerda, cordel, prensas, ganchos, navajos, tijeras, pinzas, cuchillos, chinches, palos, paletas de Ping Pong, pinzas de cocodrilo, cinta americana, escobabas, pinchos, elásticos, caballetes, sopletes;

Por(que) los cobertizos;

Por(que) los garajes;

Por(que) los sótanos;

Por(que) los mazmorras;

Por(que) la Torre de Londres;

Por(que) la Inquisición;

Por(que) el potro;

Por(que) la cruz;

Por(que) la sala de niños de la familia Addams;

Por(que) Morticia Addams y su vestido negro con piernas de pulpo;

Por(que) la maternidad;

Por(que) las Amazonas;

Por(que) la Diosa;

Por(que) la luna;

Porque para mí es natural;

Porque va en contra de lo que es natural;

Porque es indecente;

Porque es divertido;

Porque viola todo lo que es normal (lo que sea eso) porque yo no soy normal;

Porque en el pasado pensé que era parte de un gran experimento y que había un implante en mi pene que me hacía hacer estas cosas y que dejaba a ellos (sean cuales sean) controlar lo que hacían;

Porque necesitaba sacar toda mi ropa y yacer dentro de una bolsa plástica para que los doctores pudieran recolectar mi sudor;

Porque había una vez un incidente en que tenía una fiebre tan alta que mis padres sacaron toda mi ropa y me envolvieron en sábanas mojadas para parar mis convulsiones;

Porque mis padres me querían aún mas cuando estaba sufriendo;

Porque la sumisión es rica;

Porque nací en un mundo de sufrimiento;

Porque es atractivo;

Porque es adictivo;

Porque las endorfinas en el cerebro son como heroína natural;

Porque aprendí a tomar mi remedio;

Porque me portaba muy bien al tomarlo;

Porque lo aguanto como hombre;

Porque alguien una vez digo, TIENE MAS COJONES QUE YO;

Porque es un acto de coraje;

Porque hay que ser valiente;

Porque me hace orgulloso;

Porque no puedo subir montañas;

Porque soy pésimo para los deportes;

Porque el que quiere pescado que se moje;

Porque la letra con sangre entra;

Porque uno siempre daña al que ama.

#poem #bob flanagan #traducción español #Youtube

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princesssarisa · 1 year

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Sleeping Beauty Spring: "Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics: Briar Rose" (1989 anime series episode)

Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, or Grimm Masterpiece Theatre as it's known in its Japan, was one of my earliest introductions to the Grimms' fairy tales. When the English dub of this anime aired on Nick Jr. in the '90s, I remember seeing various episodes, including Rapunzel, The Brave Little Tailor, Rumpelstiltskin, and The Four Skillful Brothers. More recently, I've discovered and enjoyed episodes I missed back then, such as Cinderella, Snow White, and The Coat of Many Colors (All-Kinds-of-Fur). The most recent episode I've discovered, and the first one that I've watched in subtitled Japanese as well as in the English dub, is Briar Rose.

Since this series is based on the Grimms' fairy tale collection, this episode is very much a retelling of the Grimms' Briar Rose, not Perrault's Sleeping Beauty. Most notably, in keeping with the Grimm's description of the magical women as "wise women," and not as fairies, they're not portrayed as fairies here. Instead they're thirteen witches. They all live together in a gloomy castle, all first appear as frightening animals before they assume their human forms, and all wear dark colors and look faintly sinister. Fortunately, they're kind as long as they're treated with respect... but if they're not, beware! Unfortunately, because the King and Queen have only twelve golden plates, the thirteenth witch isn't invited to the celebration of the princess's birth. In rage she enlarges herself to the size of a giant to crash the feast and curse the baby. In the original Japanese version, she curses her to die, with the twelfth witch altering the curse from death to sleep; in the English dub, she curses the princess to sleep forever, and the twelfth witch alters it so that someday a prince will wake her.

Fifteen years later, we meet a far more melancholy Briar Rose than the lively princess seen in other versions. Her well-meaning but misguided father the King treats her like a child, still expecting her to play with dolls, and is overprotective too, forbidding her even to leave her room when he and the Queen aren't home. Thus we find Briar Rose playing a sad melody on her harp, yearning to be free to grow up, and refusing to join her parents on a ride into town to buy her more dolls as birthday gifts. (This is the Japanese version; the English dub makes things worse, as she's said to have never been allowed to leave the castle at all, and instead of refusing to go doll-shopping, she refuses to join her own birthday party out of depression, despite the waiting guests.) A surreal montage of roses reflects her longing to "bloom." But suddenly, from an old tower, she hears the sound of a harp playing a perfect conclusion to the melody she's been trying to compose. Disobeying her father, she ventures into the tower... where of course she finds the Thirteenth Witch disguised as an old woman with a spinning wheel.

As soon as Briar Rose is asleep, the Witch puts the rest of the castle to sleep too, then surrounds it with thorns. A band of peasants try to break through to rescue the royal family; some years later, so do two thuggish warriors who want to win the princess. But all these men are entangled in the briars and presumably die. (Though the English dub just says that they become trapped under the spell too.)

A hundred years later, however, a young Prince is riding through a blizzard, when he finds the castle. From the tower he hears the sound of Briar Rose's harp music, then sees a vision of the princess. (The English dub also claims that he's been having dreams about her, but the Japanese version doesn't say so.) Then the gates magically open and Briar Rose's voice calls for him. When he finally finds her sleeping on a bed entwined with briars, we reach a very unusual storytelling choice: this Prince doesn't wake Briar Rose with a kiss. Instead, he accidentally pricks his finger on a thorn, a drop of his blood lands on Briar Rose's lips, and this is what breaks the spell. The happy ending is what we expect, though, as the rosebuds on the briars all burst into bloom, and everyone wakes up. The Thirteenth Witch, seemingly weakened by the breaking of her spell, flies off in the form of a bat (just like in Toei Animation's 1976 anime version), while Briar Rose and the Prince joyfully celebrate their wedding.

This is a standout among the episodes of Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics, combining a warm, colorful aesthetic and gentle fairy tale romanticism with touches of darkness, melancholy, and poetic surrealism not found in many other Sleeping Beauty retellings. This is true in either the original Japanese version or the English dub. Having watched both versions back to back, however, I must admit that I prefer the Japanese. The English dub adds a voiceover narrator and quite a bit of extra dialogue, removing much of the Japanese version's subtlety. It also cuts a few frames of animation that feature drops of blood, as well as bowdlerizing any mention of death.

In either language, though, I recommend this unique Sleeping Beauty to any lover of both fairy tales and anime.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @thealmightyemprex, @faintingheroine, @reds-revenge, @paexgo-rosa, @autistic-prince-cinderella, @the-blue-fairie, @thatscarletflycatcher, @themousefromfantasyland

#sleeping beauty spring #grimm's fairy tale classics #grimm masterpiece theatre #briar rose #1989 #anime #animated series #japan #fairy tale #sleeping beauty #tw: blood

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spoldhamauthor · 11 months

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Audible

Hi everyone. If you are new to Audible and feel like giving my work a try, click the link! If you purchase your first audiobook via this link I will get a little royalty bonus at no extra cost to you, and hopefully you will get an audiobook that you enjoy!

OR try it for 30 days using Audible's free offer.

Top link is Audible UK. Bottom link is Audible US.

Hag's Breath: A Collection of Witchcraft and Wickedness

The Blurb: A collection of short stories featuring witches, Hag's Breath reinvents this entity. If you are looking for the near-comical character that is the stalwart of children's fairy tales, then go elsewhere. These witches are the stuff of nightmares. True horror characters with dark souls and sinister intentions. Powerful women, whose presence in the world is sometimes to be feared, sometimes to be sought out—but always to be respected.

Written by S P Oldham, narrated by Paula Hines.

Thanks for giving me a chance!

#audible uk #audible #short stories #witches #indie author #dark fiction #horror #witchcraft #horror fiction #audio book

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twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat · 7 months

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I want to scream just saw your response and it was so cutee 😭😭😭 him lulling both of us to sleep is so cute😭😭 I don’t want to send him back to the see I know that I usually write fluff ask for this au but what if the reader has to move somewhere WITH NO SEA like Sweden bc if their work 😭😭😭 they would never be able to see each other and I am extra sad for the reader bc nobody would be as good as Suguru he would ruin their love life forever 🌙

HEHE I’M SO GLAD U THOUGHT IT WAS CUTE <33 i think mer!sugu would sing u to sleep all the time!! it’s his love language …….

but 😭😭 my sweet 🌙 anon …. how could u do this to me…… reader moving from mer!sugu’s beach would be sooo heartbreaking :((( if they moved anywhere he could follow i feel like he would, but if it was somewhere too dry for mer!sugu to live at i’d be so sad :’3 …. sigh. for my own mental health i’m just not gonna think abt that LMAO but it’s a very tasty angst scenario……. AND YES SUGU RLLY WOULD RUIN THEIR LOVE LIFE silly hot fish man is the new standard…. no other person could make them as happy 😔😔😔

in return for the treat i’ll offer u an angst thought of my own …. >:3 ok so. i imagine that merfolk age differently than humans right…. as for mer!sugu i feel like he’s around the same age as reader (probably a lil older mentally but physically the same)…….. but he would definitely outlive them :(( and i keep thinking abt that!! how tragic it is. mer!sugu would treasure their memory so dearly though… maybe there’s an intricate burying ritual for merfolk that he’d follow? like. collecting their bones and burying them by the beach… or down in the deep sea….. or maybe he makes a necklace with some pieces of their skeleton and wears it. so he always keeps a piece of them with him. Kinda Fucked Up but it’s a merfolk thing ok just roll w it 😭😭 they’re sinister creatures but also very devoted….

idk just. mer!sugu grieving reader for as long as he lives without them…. the idea of that makes me so so sad. imagine him swimming up to the surface when the moon looks the same as it did when they first met…… shedding a tear or two before returning to sea……. and his tears end up turning into a myriad of sea glass, covering the beach in green and blue and purple…….. or so the folktale goes <3 yeahhhh i just like the idea of their love story becoming a local fairy tale decades after reader has passed. it’s so bittersweet … T—T

sigh i got carried away again. tysm as always for chatting w me 🌙 anon!!! <33 i don’t think my heart can handle thinking abt mer!sugu angst…. i just want him to be pouty and cute all the time……… :(((

#there was this one house i lived at for some time a couple years ago #that was like. righttt by the woods and super duper close to the sea !!#so i used to walk there every morning… it rlly made me love the sea a lot more :’3 n i kinda imagine that location when i think abt this au #tbh i think reader would stay there their whole life partially bc of Lore reasons that i have planned for the fic lol……#but also to be close to sugu T—T #they stay together all that time and even after reader dies suguru stays. that’s Their beach… sniffle sniffle…..#ENOUGH ANGST i need to come up w some fluff… hm hm hmmm……. 😵‍💫😵‍💫😵‍💫#… my brain is out of juice. just imagine sugu angrily flopping away from reader bc they made him mad LMAO #he’s pouting and frowning flopping his way to the sea while reader follows him and apologizes #”suguru can we please just talk this ou —” (splash noise)……………. aaaand he’s back in the sea smh. silly lil fishy #ask tag ✩#🌙 anon !! ✩#mer!sugu <33

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thegamecollection · 11 months

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youtube

LIES OF P-ROGRESSION...

If you loved this year's soulslike entry from Korean developer Round8, then yesterday's letter from the Lies of P director has a lot for you fans to be excited about! No, we're not fibbing.

If you're new around here then allow us to fill you in a little...

The game's launch on 19th September was accompanied by some very solid review scores that included an 8/10 from IGN, Gamespot, and PushSquare, a 9.5/10 from GameInformer and a 'Recommends' rating from Polygon!

Centering around the fairy-tale Pinocchio, Lies of P took you to the plagued city of Krat - a once lively place that has been poisoned by madness and bloodlust. So yes, its darker and more sinister tone is nothing like the Disney movie but in no way is that depressing.

Fast forward to the present day and with last night's stream still fresh in our minds, game director Ji Won Choi appeared in front of the camera to thank the players for their support, as well as confirming that DLC for Lies of P is currently in development! Two screenshots were briefly shown which we've included below:

As well as said DLC, there will be a significant update coming later this month which will deliver changes to weapon and character balance, along with adding the Rising Dodge ability as a default skill to assist with the game's difficulty in its early stages.

The truth is, the future is bright for Lies of P...

You can still grab it with a FREE keyring for £42.95 on Xbox Series X at The Game Collection!

Sit tight for more updates!

-Jack

#lies of p #round 8 #gaming news #news #tgc #thegamecollection #video games #dlc #ign #game informer

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kelkat9 · 2 years

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Trick-or-Treat! I have come knocking on your Tumblr door asking for a treat. You can answer with a meme, a bit of art/fic, a fic recommendation, pictures of candy, or something else! Then go to your mutual’s Tumblr door and ask them for a treat! Happy Halloween! 🎃👻

Here's your treat :)

Famous jewelry almost always has a mythology or history associated with it. This is one such tale…

Most people in the mountainous kingdom of Gallifrey were familiar with a myth, passed down for generations. The story centered on a young noble lady, fair of hair, kind and with a smile like a thousand suns, who vanished without a trace. Recorded history was vague as to the details and there were many variations regarding the events surrounding her disappearance.

At nineteen years of age and with a substantial dowry, the young lady was quite the catch for any noblemen willing to prove himself for her hand. She disappeared after a ball in her family home. Some suggested she was swept away by a dashing count who carried her back to his castle in the French Alps where they lived content and fulfilled lives. But that happy ending didn’t account for her family’s grief or how her parents died mourning her.

Another account was far more sinister, a cautionary tale recounting the sad story of a young maiden’s fall from grace sent away in the dead of night to a convent after an unhappy love affair which would have embarrassed her family.

And then there was a version far less happy and a touch more fanciful…of a beautiful young girl with a dazzling smile and compassionate nature, coveted by someone with less than noble intentions; of an evil wizard, a power mad and lustful monster who vowed if he could not have the fair lady, no one could.

This was a tale of the lady, a victim of an evil spell, trapped in a jewel, forever condemned to dwell in its cold sparkling depths, consecrated there by magic for all of eternity. Of course like any fairy tale worth telling, there was always a way to defeat the evil wizard. And as one might expect, the secret to her release lay in her own heart and the ability to find true love…

The multi-faceted pink eye of harmony diamond was coveted for its color and a unique amber facet deep within its depths flickering when the light hit it just right. Like many other famous jewels, its history was enshrouded in a legendary curse dating back to the mid Seventeenth century.

It was said any who wear the diamond only find misery. And there were many owners leaving behind, romantic or not so romantic tales, that bespoke of mournful sounds, tears of love lost and feeling a profound sadness haunting the jewel and any who dared wear the fabulous pendant.

Some said it drove any who wore it mad. Others warned the jewel caused more than one bride to rethink her engagement. Those that dared to wear its sparkling beauty, didn’t for long.

Unhappy owners would tuck it away in a vault, pass it down generation after generation as a family heirloom or burden, depending on how one looked at it. Sometimes it would be auctioned off and stored in a private collection. For decades it lay forgotten, secured from view and lost in time.

Now, fate had deemed the legendary jewel should shine in the light once again.

Lord Jonathon Kasterboros, the Earl of Arcadia had no interest in jewels or auctions. Jonathon preferred astronomy and technology focusing his efforts to create some new innovation. Family obligation forced him from his laboratory to uphold the family name, support various charities and continue his family’s legacy.

It was at one such function he met his fiancée Lady Jeanne Poisson. Lady Poisson swept quiet, intellectual Jonathon out of his world of research and innovation and into one of parties, dedications and a purpose he had always shunned. Poised, well-spoken and always fawning over him, her flirtatious and often encouraging compliments plumped his ego. During a trip to Paris, after one too many glasses of champagne and discussions of their future, he somehow asked her to marry him.

The next morning, the announcement was already published and all of society congratulated him even as he gaped and grasped for words. Wedding plans began immediately as Jeanne beamed and cooed at him about romance and how she looked forward to seeing his family home.

It was as Jeanne’s society mother, Cassandra, who joined them at his home that caused him to realize how his life spun out of control. Yet part of him couldn’t deny marriage and procreation was his duty to his family, even if they didn’t live to see it.

Thus, he did his best to keep his chin up and avoid wedding plans and remind himself this was for the Kasterboros legacy. Jeanne might have pushed things along and lacked an interest in his life other than his title, but she had all the requisite lineage and refinement to be a lady of Arcadia.

At least, he thought so at first, but as the weeks progressed, his discontent banded around his chest until the very subject of marriage caused him to choke.

“Jonathon my angel,” Jeanne cooed over breakfast.

“Yes, my dear.” He hid behind a newspaper.

“You have yet to present me with an engagement ring. People are starting to wonder.”

“Right.” He put down the newspaper as Cassandra joined them.

“It is well past time you gave my daughter a ring. Surely, you have family jewels,” Cassandra smiled coldly.

Jonathon’s throat closed. In his heart, any family jewelry still belonged to his mother even if he’d lost her a decade ago. No one had seen those items since she passed. His father long since tucked them away in the family vault in London.

“Well, I’m sure Jeanne would want something--” He drew out and tugged at his ear.

“I know exactly what I want,” Jeanne inserted, pouring cream into her tea. “Everyone is talking about Prydion Auctions and I am told by a close confidant, the auction has a mysterious gem to be auctioned after decades of being locked away.”

“Oh?” Jonathon drawled, not the least bit interested in jewelry.

“Yes, I have it on good authority this diamond is special, an unusual pink color. And if it is the diamond I think…oh Jonathon, I must have it!”

“A pink diamond?” He gritted his teeth. If Jeanne wanted it, he was sure it was ostentatious. He hadn’t missed how the balance in his account plummeted after she and her mother’s last shopping trip.

“Angel.” She reached across the tabled and covered his hand with hers. “It would make me so happy and everyone would be impressed. I know you want me to represent Gallifrey well.”

She fluttered her eyes and a knot formed in his stomach. Her mind was made up and if he didn’t do this, god knows what part of his family home, she’d decide needed renovating. He’d already witnessed enough of that to cause him to lock himself away in his lab permanently.

“All right. Just give me the information and I’ll see what I can do.” Jeanne laughed coquettishly.

“Of course you will! It has such history and the sparkle.” Her eyes glazed over as if she gazed into the gem. Jonathon knew he was doomed.

He read the email Jeanne received from the auction house. The Pink Eye of Harmony. He snorted at the name. How silly to name a mineral solely because it sparkled. This particular gem didn’t seem to have the same mystique as the Koh-I-Noor or was as grand as The Hope.

He nearly choked at the size. A 32-carat pink diamond pendent surrounded by twenty smaller diamonds.

Jeanne’s perfectly painted lips smiled coyly as she eyed the historic gem in the auction catalogue. She had been looking for something unique and lavish, something grand enough to match the wedding she had been planning for the past year. She deemed the gem a perfect accouterment to her pearl encrusted designer wedding gown which would inspire fashion across the world, or so she convinced herself.

Her mother was determined Jeanne’s wedding would be the event of the season and even grander than any royal wedding ever.

He’d tried one feeble argument at dinner one night. “It’s a bit big and pink. Wouldn’t you rather have something more traditional? Or something less ostentatious? It’s not like you need more sparkle,” he tried lamely to compliment his fiancée.

“Jonathon, really,” Cassandra admonished. “You’re Lord Kasterborous, the Earl of Arcadia and expected to present a certain image and standard. As will my daughter. She represents refinement, elegance and status all will work to achieve.”

He winced as she patted Jeanne’s hand as Jeanne sipped tea and tapped out more wedding orders.

“It’s not like you don’t have resources and it’s about time you used them. Look at this drafty house.” Cassandra frowned. “Bachelorhood has left you living in a decrepit manner hardly befitting a man of your title. You should thank your good fortunate Jeanne is willing to take all this on.”

Jonathan looked around his castle which these women had now insulted. He enjoyed the historic aspect as had his parents who remained determined to maintain its authenticity. It was one of the things he always loved about both his parents, their devotion toward historic preservation and not wasting their inheritance on things like expensive Persian rugs, heavy silken drapery imported from Paris or crystal chandeliers, the glare of which gave him headaches.

He once thought Jeanne appreciated the same things. They’d often traveled to French estates admiring the artwork and architecture. But since they’d become engaged, she seemed less enamored of historic relief work and had developed grand expensive plans for renovations that did not require his consultation. They only required his ample checkbook.

“I really would prefer--”

“Oh, my poor angel,” Jeanne tutted. “You have no need to worry about the house or any household decisions. I will take care of everything. Besides, don’t you have a project in your lab requiring your attention?”

“As a matter of fact I do,” he admitted, grateful to escape matrimony obsessed women and hide out in his underground work shop.

“Just don’t forget the diamond,” Cassandra coldly reminded.

“Yes,” he answered dryly. “How could I forget the pink abomination.”

“Jonathon!” Jeanne exclaimed, her perfect pink lips pursing.

“Which of course my beloved must have.” He added tightly before ducking out of the room.

And that was how he found himself, one week later, on his way to the auction. He sat in back of the car driven by his trusted companion and valet Jack.

He sank into the leather seats thinking about loss and family. He missed his parents. Even though he often focused on studies and developing a new technology based on sonic resonance of crystalline structures, Jonathon didn’t like being alone. He yearned for the sort of companionship his parents enjoyed.

He wanted a family, happy voices to fill his cavernous family mansion. Although after months of enduring Jeanne’s plans for their life together, he was quickly learning, he yearned for more peaceful times as he watched his home transformed, his family heirlooms disappear and replaced with items he found garish, ostentatious and not the least bit homey or representative of him or his family name.

The auction was at least a distraction and held the potential to acquire other mineralogical samples for use in his experiments. Unfortunately, nothing caught his attention and he sat bored out of his mind waiting on the pink atrocity to come for auction. When it was announced, he sighed and raised his auction paddle as if it was some heavy weight, a burden to bear.

There was only one other bidder for the jewel; a man similar to his own age, finely dressed in a designer suit, short blonde hair and cold blue eyes. He glared at Jonathon after Jonathan won the diamond necklace. At the conclusion the man stormed over.

“You know its cursed and any who own it are doomed to misery. Do you really want to inflict that on your bride?” Jonathon arched a brow.

“Clearly you have not met my bride.” He then turned on his heel, retrieved the pendent and left, with it in the breast pocket of his brown pinstriped suit. He collapsed in the back of his car, pinching the bridge of his nose at the pricey gem and how much he already despised it.

“Jack, I need a cuppa, someplace off the beaten path please.”

“With that rock in your pocket?” Jonathon winced.

“You’re right. Make sure they have a decent selection of pastries. I need the sugar rush after picking up this rubbish.” He jumped as he swore the stone vibrated his pocket.

“You got it boss.” He patted the pocket to find nothing but a cool stone. He scoffed and watched them pass through a village and stop in front of a quaint tea house.

It wasn’t until he was sitting in a corner of the empty shop and Jack standing guard that he looked at the jewel, gazing into the multi-faceted pink depths.

He snorted at the thought of a jewel being bad luck as he held the sparkling gem up into the light. Perhaps it was a bit of sunlight hitting it just so but out of the corner of his eye, he swore he glimpsed a face in it, a beautiful blonde haired girl.

He jerked back and rubbed his eyes. He looked again and saw nothing. He tucked it away in his pocket and shook his head thinking how the wedding nonsense was making him see things. Instead, he enjoyed two slices of banana cake, licking the crumbs from his fingers and nodded at Jack to take him home.

As he pulled out his phone and caught up in an article, he kept swearing he heard humming, some old song from long ago.

He smacked his phone wondering if Jeanne had installed some annoying app when he wasn’t looking. Then again, she wasn’t really technically oriented. He doubt she could unless by accident. He vowed to keep his mobile well out of her reach.

When he arrived at the house, he groaned at white vans delivering full length crystal embedded mirrors and instead went into the super-secret back entrance into his shop. Inside he took off his jacket the necklace fell out. The humming stopped and he swore her heard someone say ouch!

He sat up looking around his dimly lit shop but he was the only one there. Scratching his head, he walked toward the stairs, peering up but still found no one. Shrugging he walked back to his work table.

Again, he heard someone humming a song and something glinted deep within the jewel. He pulled on his glasses and reached for the pendent holding it up to his work light. The smaller white diamonds sparkled around the deep pink depths of the main jewel. The humming continued. It was a mystery that itched at the back of his mind.

It was not possible for a gem to emit sound waves like that on its own. This required testing. Intrigued, he began exposing the jewel to different kinds of lights. Hours passed as he tried ultra violet, sunlight, heat lamps and varying light exposures. After staring at it sitting on a black velvet pad, he fell asleep.

He dreamed of being in a castle lined with the ceiling dripping with various colored jewels. Jeanne was running around in a big puffy white gown yanking them down and draping them around her neck until she collapsed from the weight. The room glowed pink as the pink diamond pendent hung just out of his reach. A voice whispered help.

He awakened with a gasp and rubbed his eyes. When he looked at the diamond, he very clearly saw a blonde woman watching him. She was dressed in a long butter yellow gown, wearing white long gloves, her hair in an old fashioned updo of curls and with a sparkling diamond tiara.

“Hello?” he says softly, his brown eyes reflecting surprise and delight.

She smiled the biggest smile he’d ever seen.

“Oh, you can see me! She cried out in delight.”

He scratched his head and rubbed his eyes.

“Yes, yes I can but…who are you and what are you doing in this rather ostentatious diamond?”

“I’m Rose, Lady Rose Tyler and I sort of got put in here by this wretched horrible man, a wizard who consorts with demons and well he’s just awful. You know, evil and all.”

“Okaaay,” he drawled and “Why? I mean and how exactly are you in there?”

“I wouldn’t marry him. Because you know evil and all, and well, he was a bit upset. I don’t really know how he did it but I’m trapped…forever I think. I’m so lonely. You’re the first person to talk to me in a long while.”

“How long have you been in there?” he asked, knowing this was loony but unable to stop investigating. It was in his nature to be curious and this…this was definitely on the list of interesting

“It was my twentieth birthday, 29th day of April in the year of our Lord Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Two.”

“Blimey,” he breathed out. You’ve been in there for 166 years. Uh this is 2008 I mean.”

Her shoulders slumped and she pressed her face in her white gloved hands weeping

“Oh, don’t cry, please. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

“I didn’t know it had been so long, she said miserably. Everyone I love, my family they’re all gone.”

He felt an incredible sadness fill the room. The girl disappeared and when he touched the jewel it was cold and just the slightest bit damp.

“Please come back” he whispered cradling the jewel in his hands.

#Halloween treat #ten x rose #au #unfinished fic

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