#The Tower of the Angels by Philip

[a-bee-wizard]

My biggest pet peeve is when people refer to The Divine Comedy as "dantes inferno", bc like. Thats not what its called! Its called The Divine Comedy!!! If u r going to act superior online about this poetry collection the LEAST u could do is refer to it correctly!!!

[nothoughtsonlytrance]

Hey everyone! So earlier I posted my idea for a fanfic based on some fan art I saw of Sister Daniel and Blonde Phil by @cowboykate and @lumintsu! And now the first chapter is finally up on AO3! Here’s the link!

I also have the first chapter posted below if you wanna read it here. (I’ll be posting the rest of the chapters on AO3.)

Chapter 1: A Not-So-Grand Entrance

BGM: https://youtu.be/QFnNDj42Eig?si=9DZyNjeirH1sTLn6

“C’mon, c’mon, I can’t be late…not like last time!”

Phil mumbled incoherently in a panic as he grabbed his travel coffee mug and stuffed it in the bag on his shoulder mixed in with unorganized bits of paperwork. He was called in earlier to a last-minute urgent meeting held by the Council of Heavenly-Earthly Affairs, although he wasn’t informed what the discussion topic would be. Whatever it was, it was extremely important.

Phil took a deep breath and flapped his wings a few times to get a feeling for the air. He opened his door and quickly flew out into the Celestial City, darting through the ethereal streets. Each beat of his wings flapped with an urgency that was on the border of panic. He zigzagged between towering spires of light and around floating gardens, nearly colliding with a few other angels, who yelled at him to watch where he was going as he passed them by. Phil managed a breathless “Sorry!” as he twisted and turned, looking in the distance to see the shimmering building that housed the Council of Heavenly-Earthly Affairs looming closer.

As Phil slowed the beat of his wings and landed at the bottom of the grand steps, he could already hear the steady hum of the meeting from inside the grand chamber. The massive golden entrance doors loomed in front of him, shut tightly. Phil’s face grew in fear as he glanced at the ornate floating clock above the entrance.

He was late. VERY late.

Phil quickly darted around to the less dignified entrance-a small, nondescript door that was often used by maintenance angels to keep the building in shape. He prayed a silent prayer and yanked the door, squeezing through. His wings suddenly got caught in the frame and he was sent tumbling into a dimly lit corridor. Breathing heavily, Phil quickly scrambled to his feet, his pristine white robe slightly askew and a feather or two out of place.

Phil emerged into the blindingly bright council chamber, and hundreds of angelic heads turned simultaneously to look at him. At the head of the room, the Archangel Gabriel, who was chairing the meeting, stared down at him with a serious expression. Phil felt the heat rise to his cheeks as he adjusted his crooked halo.

“Ah, Philip,” Gabriel intoned, his voice echoing through the vast hall, “I was beginning to wonder when you would arrive. Might I say your sense of punctuality is in need of..amelioration.”

“Phil wanted to roll his eyes at the higher angels' use of big words but did it mentally as Gabriel’s temper was..unpredictable at times. And Phil already knew what his bad side was like. Pretty much the whole of Heaven itself did.

“M-my apologies, Archangel Gabriel.” Phil stuttered, trying to regain some semblance of composure. “I got..caught up with a flock of migrating seraphim on the way.” A few murmurs and chuckles spread throughout the assembly. Phil forced a fake smile and stepped forward, taking his place at his respective seat in the room. Sure, he had a not-so-grand entrance, but he was here and Gabriel (thankfully) left it at that. Now he just had to cross his fingers (and probably his wings) and hope that his tardiness wouldn’t overshadow his contribution to whatever critical matter was at hand.

Gabriel cleared his throat and the murmurs subsided instantly. “Now, as I was saying before Phillip untimely joined us, we have pressing matters at hand concerning the relationship between earthly destinies and celestial mandates…”

But Phil’s mind drifted far away from those discussions. The rhythmic drone of the angelic voices discussing the fine details of divine plans blurred into a gentle hum. Phil’s gaze wandered to the stained-glass windows high above, depicting scenes of cosmic splendor and past divine interventions. He couldn’t help but imagine himself soaring through those starry skies, free from the heavy responsibilities of heavenly bureaucracy. Because although Phil loved working for the Council, he had to admit it got boring at times.

And this was one of those times.

“Philip!” A sudden firm voice boomed, sending a loud echo through the room.

Phil blinked and snapped his head forward, finding the piercing gaze of Archangel Gabriel locked onto him. The room once again fell silent, all eyes turning back to where Phil sat, his face now a shade of red that was deeper than the darkest pits of Hell.

“Y-yes sir?” Phil replied, trying to steady his voice.

Gabriel’s expression was a mix of sternness and amusement. “It appears your mind has wandered far from this council. I hope you’re ready to pay attention now, as you’ve been given an assignment of the utmost importance.”

Phil’s heart skipped a beat. An assignment? For him? Usually he was given simple paperwork, but something like this? The back of his neck pricked with nervous anticipation. “I-yes, of course. What is it, sir?”

Gabriel’s eyes softened slightly, though his tone remained authoritative. “This assignment has come from none other than God himself. You are to receive the details directly from him immediately.”

Phil almost spat out the coffee he was currently drinking. He quickly placed his cup down, trying to get a hold of himself as he coughed. After a few seconds he looked up. A collective gasp echoed through the chamber upon hearing Gabriel’s words. Phil’s wings twitched nervously and his palms suddenly felt clammy. Meeting God? Himself? This was beyond the realm of normal ordinary assignments. Usually responsibilities such as these were given to higher-up angels such as seraphims or virtues, but not lowly angels like him.

“Sir, there must be an honest mistake,” Phil protested. “Why me?”

Gabriel stepped down from the dais and flew down towards Phil with a measured pace. “God tends to work in mysterious ways, Philip. He sees potential and purpose in ways that others cannot.” He eventually stood in front of Phil, continuing to gaze down at him with authoritative eyes. “You are to go immediately to the Sanctum of Light. He is waiting for you.”

Phil swallowed hard, nodding quickly. His mind raced with a thousand questions and fears, but he knew better than to voice them here. He slowly rose to his feet and flew down from his seat to the exit doors, the various angels in the room parting like the Red Sea to let him pass. As he flew down, the murmurs of his fellow angels followed him, a blend of envy, curiosity, and encouragement.

Another higher-ranking angel, a seraphim, met him at the doors to escort him to the Sanctum of Light. Once they exited, the grand doors of the chamber slammed behind him. Phil once again found himself in the long main corridors of the building. The seraphim, without saying a word, gestured him to follow them and Phil was led down a series of unfamiliar hallways that only his escort seemed to know. They seemed to stretch endlessly, every flap of his wings echoing and amplifying his trepidation. He'd never felt so small, so unworthy.

Finally, the two reached the Sanctum’s entrance, a pair of towering radiant doors that pulsed with divine energy. His escort turned to him and nodded.

“Good luck. May God grant you mercy.”

Phil wasn’t sure whether that was an encouragement or threat, but it made him gulp nervously either way. The seraphim then teleported out of sight, leaving Phil alone at the entrance doors.

It was now or never. Taking a deep breath, Phil placed his trembling hand on the door. It swung open silently, revealing a blinding expanse of pure light.

Phil trepidatiously stepped inside as the doors closed behind him. Although the Sanctum was mainly used for meditation and reflection purposes, he was feeling far from peaceful. Why wouldn’t he be? After all, he was meeting THE GOD. The Creator of all life on Earth. The Ruler of Heaven himself.

“Philip Michael Lester,”

A booming voice echoed in the air. Phil turned his head and gasped as he saw a brighter light envelop an elderly-looking man with a long white beard and eyes full of love and kindness.

Phil’s eyes widened in a mixture of awe and fear. Gulping harder, he nodded. “Uh, yes, it’s me, Lord. You said you had an important assignment for me?”

God nodded and spoke once more. “Indeed.” He clasped his hands behind his back and looked in the distance towards the Celestial City. “We have been getting several reports of multiple demonic invasions happening on Earth from undercover angels. The Council is unsure of why this is so, but after a few meetings with some earthly priests, we have come to the conclusion that it is highly possible that Satan and his Counselors are preparing for Armageddon.”

“Wait..what?? You mean…” This couldn’t be. Sure, Phil had read about some reports of demonic possessions happening among mortals as of lately, but he didn’t think it would become this bad. And now, the apocalypse on Earth was probably a few days from happening. But that still didn’t answer his question of why God summoned him. “Um, sir.” He cleared his throat. “I understand those events have been occuring, but why did you call me here in the first place?”

God turned around and smiled with a warmth that dispelled some of Phil’s fear. “Because I’ve chosen you to recruit a moral on Earth to assist you in preventing this hellish plan. The Council has already picked out who that person will be, and your task is to find them, guide them, and persuade them to help you in thwarting Satan’s plans.”

Phil’s pupils contracted in fear. He swallowed nervously. Traveling to Earth to persuade someone to help him stop an entire army of demons? No, there was absolutely no way! He had never even been to Earth before in the first place! He shook his head. “Sir, I don’t understand. Why me? I mean, I’m just a low-ranking angel who mostly works behind the scenes of the Council. I-I don’t do field work! And-“

“Because Philip,” God placed a reassuring hand on the angel’s shoulder. “You possess a unique understanding of humanity and a compassionate heart. Not only that, but your persuasion skills are beyond comparison.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you remember the time you persuaded Raphael to travel to Earth to protect those in Europe during the Black Plague?”

“Well, yeah, but that was hundreds of years ago-“

“Or the time you convinced Archangel Michael to go undercover when a group of demons were plotting an attack in America during the Salem Witch Trials?”

“Of course, but I-“

“Phil,” continued the deity, “there are many other examples I can name, but the point is that you have a gift like no other. Trust your instincts. I have faith that you will be the one to lead this rebellion. Even if you may not have faith in yourself.”

Phil nodded, though the anxiety still gnawed at him. “Are you sure that I am the one to do this? Out of all the angels in Heaven you could have chosen?” God nodded sincerely, chuckling. “Phil, I wouldn’t have summoned you here if I didn’t. Believe in your purpose.”

Phil was still trying to wrap his head around the concept of him leading a rebellion against the entirety of Hell with a random mortal from Earth. The thought seemed to be insane, but who was he to deny a request from God Himself? To deny something like that would be blasphemous, he thought. After much debate in his mind, he took a deep breath, the weight of the responsibility settling on his shoulders. “Ok, I’ll do it.”

“Perfect!” Exclaimed God. He snapped his fingers and another angel appeared before him. It was the seraphim that escorted Phil to the Sanctum before. “Phil, I’d like you to meet Zion. They will be your main point of contact while you are on Earth. If you need any assistance, just give them a heads up..”

Zion stepped forward and placed a small device that looked like a smartphone in Phil’s hands. “It’s designed to look like an earthly cell phone to avoid suspicion.” They explained. “All of my contacts are in there with everything updated. If you need anything, I’ll be at Headquarters ready for your call. I’ll also keep in touch just to check how everything’s going.”

“Thank you.” Phil nodded and slightly gripped the smartphone. God raised his hand and suddenly a portal of shimmering light appeared before Phil. “Go now, Phil. Time is of the essence. May you find courage and strength in your mission.”

Phil took one last glance towards the deity. With a final nod, he stepped through the portal, feeling the familiar pull of the mortal realm like a magnet. As the light enveloped him, he silently prayed that God made the right decision. The fate of not only Earth, but both Heaven and Hell depended on him.

And at this rate, he vowed to not let them down.

[masonhawthorne]

What I read in August

Don't Panic!

This looks like a super long list, but actually there are a lot of short stories on here!

The Henchmen of Zenda, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Morning Star, Peter Atkins ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Subsidence (ss), Steve Rasnic Tem ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Man in the High Tower, Philip K Dick ⭐️⭐️⭐️

What the Dead Know (ss), Nghi Vo ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Maze Runner, James Dashner ⭐️

Unfit to Print, KJ Charles ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Chill, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bryony and Roses, T Kingfisher ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Confessor (ss), Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Grail, Elizabeth Bear ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Babylon (nf), Paul Kriwaczek ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Unquiet, E Saxey DNF

The Ritual of the Labyrinth (ss), Esmée de Heer ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Terminal World, ALastair Reynolds ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Essays of Flesh and Bone (ss), Victoria Audley ⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Future of Work: Compulsory (ss), Martha Wells ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Lady or the Tiger (ss), Frank Stockton ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Too Like the Lightning, Ada Palmer ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Falling Free, Lois McMaster Bujold ⭐️⭐️

Dreamsnake, Vonda N McIntyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The First Fossil Hunters (nf), Adrienne Mayor ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Shards of Honor, Lois McMaster Bujold ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Red Land, Black Land (nf), Barbara Mertz ⭐️⭐️⭐️

On Planetary Palliative Care (ss), Thomas Ha ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nova, Samuel R Delany ⭐️⭐️⭐️

ss= short story nf= non fiction

stars awarded at my whim

I think the ones that really stick with me this month are Elizabeth Bear's Jacob's Ladder trilogy (Dust, Chill, and Grail, reissued as Pinion, Sanction, and Cleave).

The series is about a long-lost generation ship, which has been travelling so long that it has forgotten its destination (if it ever had one) and the people on board have developed incredible biotechnology, and some nasty internal politics.

The vibe of the Jacob's Ladder Trilogy is impeccable. It's Arthurian legends grafted onto military sci-fi. It's body mods, and body horror. It's talking plants. It's angels, and knights, and incest, and quests, and cannibalism, and wonder.

I don't quite know how to explain the way that these books fit exactly into the niche of things that appeal directly to me personally. So if you like the stuff I like, definitely read them.

The other standouts were Dreamsnake by Vonda N McIntyre, and Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer.

Dreamsnake is one of those incredible sci-fi's of the 1970s that does interesting things with gender, and familial relationships, and social structures, and concepts of childhood and responsibility and environmentalism. It also has a dreamy kind of wandering quality to it that made it really enjoyable.

Too Like the Lightning was not at all like I had expected, but in a great way. I think I had read a negative review about it some time ago, and put it to the bottom of my list, but a friend read it recently and told me I should read it. So I did. This is my jam. There's so much going on in this book I can't even start to break it down. Huge, elaborate political machinations, weird gender stuff, a narrator with an agenda. It's a lot of fun.

Honorary mention to Morning Star for being one of the strangest vampire novels I've come across.

And that's what I've got to say about that.

[likeastarmuses]

pinned post!

primary muses.

women

elizabeth 'lizzie' opal rojas | fc: rosa salazar. retired drug dealer trying to make a name for herself in the digital art world when she's not waiting on tables at a greasy diner.

felicity isabel mendoza | fc: odette annable. former biker girl in her teenage years, now a single mom and midwife who is undoubtedly the glue to her family.

nancy inez martin | fc: deborah ann woll. mousy former combat medic dealing with so much trauma from war that she's in compassion fatigue and in need of human warmth and connection.

peyton marie tower | fc: halston sage. the nepo baby who dared to be something else, refusing money and fame from her tech giant CEO father while forming a legacy with her small-town game shop.

soleil jessamine smith | fc: madison davenport. rebel without a cause seeking the spotlight, trying so desperately to be different from her backwoods roots but losing herself in the meanwhile.

twyla mae mooney | fc: margot robbie. a rainbow personified, left a cushy cosmetology job in north carolina to do makeup and costumes in los angeles.

una carys tempens | fc: samara weaving. petty thief and stripper, all in the name of supporting her much younger twin siblings while her mother suffers from drug addiction.

men

beacon jace namara | fc: daniel kaluuya. old soul music teacher in love with jazz, constantly seeking gigs where he can show off his trumpet skills.

elisha 'eli' james king | fc: jon bernthal. loud but also a sweetheart of a former firefighter from jersey living in a firewatch lookout in honor of his late best friend.

ezekiel 'zeke' isaiah lim | fc: steven yeun. mid-tier gamer/streamer who is the anchor of his large family, having spent a lot of his 20s caring for his mother who was diagnosed with alzheimer's once he graduated college.

ford atticus smith | fc: adam driver. quiet and stoic veteran who is taking care of his large family farm, as well as running his own ferry business across lake pontchartrain in lousiana.

jamie alexander thompson | fc: paul rudd. english professor and lover of sports with a few published books, mostly a dork but also occasionally perceived as a dilf.

jesse gabriel mendoza | fc: jd pardo. fresh out of prison and trying to find his place in society again, keeping out of trouble by taking care of his motorcycle and dabbling in tattoo art.

kirk tiberius james | fc: andrew garfield. longtime comic book artist looking to make his big break in the profession while managing a coffee shop in a college town.

quinn 'soap' philip shepard | fc: pablo schreiber. brooding mercenary with hardly a soft spot, thinks with his fists before his brain, and will likely try to intimidate anyone who dares to peer behind his guard.

**horror-based AU details under the cut.

please go to each individual muse to see the horror-based plot ideas i have for them! and please keep in mind muses aren't limited to the plots i've quickly scribbled down for them. i'd love to explore more verses and horror-based fandoms! some of my favorite horror movies/franchises/genres include but are not limited to:

the conjuring/insidious/the nun

evil dead

saw

slasher - child's play, friday the 13th, halloween

nightmare on elm street

ready or not/you're next

the thing/alien/predator/annihilation

pearl/x

the witch

hereditary

giallo-type stuff/dario argento horror

[moonlightmile12]

“We were stuck in our caravan, and there were fights breaking out all over the place. I remember standing on the side of the stage with Michelle Philips, and we both got thrown off the stage, and this big fight broke out between some Hells Angels and Marty Balin from Jefferson Airplane. It was a really tiny stage, very low, and when we played it was like people were towering above us.”

“It was a relief to get out, but that was terrifying too. People wanted to get away so badly there were too many on the helicopter.”

Mick Taylor

[letterful]

here be two decidedly incomprehensive lists based on highly arbitrary criteria — off the top of my head and in no particular order:

rattling like a bag of bones:

"gretel, from a sudden clearing" & "the promise" & "what the silence says" & "calvary" by marie howe,

"i watched you disappear” by anya krugovoy silver,

"song of the hen's head" & "a sad child" & "the saints" by margaret atwood,

"bruise ghazal" & "i go back to may 1937" by sharon olds,

"harold's leap" & "do take muriel out" & "the orphan reformed" & "not waving but drowning" by stevie smith,

"we who are your closest friends" by phillip lopate,

"the loft" by richard jones,

"eating together" & "death poem" & "party" & "the numbers" by kim addonizio,

"thanks" by w. s. merwin,

"the bee meeting" & "lady lazarus" & "daddy" & "sheep in fog" & "fever 103" by sylvia plath,

"yesterday he still looked in my eyes" by marina tsvetaeva,

"we don't know how to say goodbye" & "the last toast" by anna akhmatova,

"unknown girl in the maternity ward" & "lessons in hunger" & "the truth the dead know" by anne sexton,

"anne sexton’s last letter to god" by tracey herd,

"aubade" & "the mower" by philip larkin,

"the blue bowl" by jane kenyon,

"her long illness" by donald hall,

"myth" by natasha trethewey,

"in bertram's garden" by donald justice,

"the drowned girl" & "the leavetaking" by bertolt brecht,

"ovid in the third reich" by geoffrey hill,

"musee des beaux arts" by w. h. auden,

"report from a besieged city" by zbigniew herbert,

"napoleon" by miroslav holub,

"to a poor old woman" by william carlos williams,

"the emperor of ice-cream" by wallace stevens,

"me up at does" by e.e. cummings,

"snow line" by john berryman,

"the hollow men" by t. s. eliot,

"dedication" & "in warsaw" & "a song on the end of the world" by czesław miłosz—

resonating like a bright bell:

"what the living do" & "my dead friends" & "magdalene, afterwards" by marie howe,

"funny" & "a prayer that will be answered" by anna kamieńska,

"woman unborn & "i'll open the window" & "i am panting" & “tomorrow they’ll cut me open” by anna świrszczyńska,

"the book of hours" by b. h. fairchild,

"there is a gold light in certain old paintings" by donald justice,

"when eurydice saw him..." (an excerpt) by gregory orr,

"sometimes, when the light" & "the blind leading the blind" & "there are mornings" & "monet refuses the operation" by lisel mueller,

"try to praise the mutilated world" by adam zagajewski,

"the end and the beginning" & "the tower of babel" & "discovery" & "thank-you note" by wisława szymborska,

"while eating a pear" & "the dead" by billy collins,

"never again would the birds' song be the same" by robert frost,

"a meeting" by wendell berry,

"death at daybreak" by anne reeve aldrich,

"next time" by joyce sutphen,

"the god abandons antony" by c. p. cavafy,

"goodtime jesus" by james tate,

"lana turner has collapsed" by frank o'hara,

"all my friends are finding new beliefs" by christian wiman,

"angels" by maurya simon,

"dirge without music" by edna st. vincent millay,

"i’m glad your sickness" by marina tsvetaeva,

"you will hear thunder" by anna akhmatova,

"do not go gentle into that good night" & "and death shall have no dominion" by dylan thomas,

"an arundel tomb" & "love, we must part now" & "high windows" by philip larkin,

"please read" by mary ruefle,

"men made out of words" by wallace stevens,

"ash wednesday" by t. s. eliot,

"on angels" & "this world" & "if there is no god" & "encounter" by czesław miłosz.

i do love listmaking…

[readingabookmostofthetimes]

Happy 2025!

In 2024 I read the following books:

The Alchemyst, by Michael Scott

The Magician, by Michael Scott

Cursed, by Marissa Meyer

Nooit gedacht, by Latoya Morris

The Sorceress, by Michael Scott

Infernal Devices, by Philip Reeve

The Necromancer, by Michael Scott

A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, by Holly Jackson

The Warlock, by Michael Scott

The Death of Joan of Arc, by Michael Scott

Billy the Kid and the Vampyres of Vegas, by Michael Scott

The Mitford Secret, by Jessica Fellowes

A Darkling Plain, by Philip Reeve

The Traction Codex, by Philip Reeve

Angels & Demons, by Dan Brown

Boy 7, by Mirjam Mous

The Enchantress, by Michael Scott

Code of Honor, by Alan Gratz

Hoe overleef ik alles wat ik niemand vertel?, by Francine Oomen

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, by Sophie Kinsella

Girl 6, by Mirjam Mous

Good Girl, Bad Blood, by Holly Jackson

Tower of Dawn, by Sarah J Maas

As Good as Dead, by Holly Jackson

Gallant, by V.E. Schwab

De meeste mensen deugen, by Rutger Bregman

De kracht van Elena, by Petra Doom

Demon in the Wood, by Leigh Bardugo

Heartstopper volume 5, by Alice Oseman

The Goddess Test, by Aimee Carter

The Librarian of Auschwitz, by Antonio Iturbe

Het is hier helemaal (niet) perfect, by Carlie van Tongeren

The Inheritance Games, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Pawn, by Aimee Carter

Vals, by Mel Wallis de Vries

The Hawthorne Legacy, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Vervloekt, by Mel Wallis de Vries

The Final Gambit, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Hoe overleef ik met/zonder gescheiden ouders, by Francine Oomen

The Brothers Hawthorne, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Kill Joy, by Holly Jackson

Captive, by Aimee Carter

The Goddess Interrupted, by Aimee Carter

Queen, by Aimee Carter

Hoe overleef ik mijn vakantie, by Francine Oomen

Sintel en vuur, by Mara Li

Kingdom of the Wicked, by Kerri Maniscalo

De mooiste van het land, by Tamara Haagmans

Kingdom of the Cursed, by Kerri Maniscalo

The Goddess Inheritance, by Aimee Carter

Als een lopend vuurtje, by Tamara Haagmans

De vlam in de pan, by Tamara Haagmans

Caraval, by Stephanie Garber

Hoe overleef ik het jaar 2000? (En daarna), by Francine Oomen

Written in the Stars, by Alexandria Bellefleur

Laat het los, by Tamara Haagmans

Legendary, by Stephanie Garber

Kingdom of the Feared, by Kerri Maniscalo

Hoe overleef ik de brugklas? By Francine Oomen

De stoute schoenen, by Tamara Haagmans

Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline

Shopaholic Ties the Knot, by Sophie Kinsella

Finale, by Stephanie Garber

Hoe overleef ik mijn eerste zoen? By Francine Oomen

Once Upon a Broken Heart, by Stephanie Garber

The Grandest Game, by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Hoe overleef ik mezelf? By Francine Oomen

The Ballad of Never After, by Stephanie Garber

The Screaming Staircase, by Jonathan Stroud

The Whispering Skull, by Jonathan Stroud

The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown

Ready Player Two, by Ernest Cline

Delfts Grauw, by Mascha Schoonakker

Hang the Moon, by Alexandria Bellefleur

Hoe overleef ik een gebroken hart? By Francine Oomen

De schildmagiër, by Miranda Peters

The First Adventure of Sherlock Holmes: a Study in Scarlet, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Lost Symbol, by Dan Brown

Hoe overleef ik met/zonder jou? By Francine Oomen

[zineanastasia]

Hello guys I am making a BSD RP discord server if you wish to join add comment your discord user here and add my account:

zine_anastasia

Taken:🌸

Available:[blank]

< • Armed Detective Agency • >

Dazai Osamu: 🌸

Kunikida Doppo:

Yosano Akiko:

Kenji Miyazawa:

Atsushi Nakajima:

Ranpo Edogawa:

Fukuzawa Yukichi:

Kyoka Izumi:

Tanizaki Junichirōu:

Tanizaki Naomi:

Kirako Haruno:

< • Port Mafia • >

Ougai Mori:

Chuuya Nakahara: 🌸

Ace:

Karma:

Kouyō Ozaki:

Paul Verlaine:

Ryuunosuke Akutagawa:

Gin Akutagawa:

Motojirō Kaiji:

Ryūrō Hirotsu:

Michizō Tachihara:

Elise:

Kyuusaku Yumeno:

Sakunosuke Oda:

Arthur Rimbaud:

Ichiyou Higuchi:

< • Decay of Angels • >

Fyodor Dostoevsky:

Nikolai Gogol:

Sigma:

Bram Stoker:

< • The Guild • >

Francis Key Scott Fitzgerald:

Edgar Allan Poe:

Lucy Maud Montgomery:

Luisa May Alcott:

Howard Philips Lovecraft:

John Steinbeck:

Margaret Mitchell:

Mark Twain:

Herman Melville:

Nathaniel Hawthorne:

< • Hunting Dogs • >

Okura Terukō:

Jouno Saigikū:

Tetchō/Tecchou Seuhiro:

Ouchi Fukuchi:

< • Special Division • >

Ango Sakaguchi:

Santoka Taneda :

Mizuki Tsujimura :

Yachiyo Murakoso :

Takuichi Aoki :

< • Order of the Clock Tower • >

Dame Agatha Christie:

< • Rats in the house of the dead • >

Mushitaro:

Ivan Goncharov:

Alexander Pushkin:

< • Extras/other characters • >

Aya Koda:

Yuan:

Shirase:

Bella Donna:

Lippman:

Iceman:

Doc:

Piano man:

Adam Frankenstein:

Albatross:

Yokomizo:

Ayatsuji Yokito:

Karl the racoon:

Detective Minoura:

Coffee shop guy:

Sasaki:

Soseki Natsume:

[cleoenfaserum]

JO (2013) PARISIAN COP ENGLISH SPOKEN TV SERIES

This is a TV series I came across scrawling around on OK.RU and detained my scrolling because of the actor Jean Reno, who I think made a name for himself as a good actor, which he is. The movie series of the only season of 8 episodes (which I have included) Reno playing the main character is well played out, though, as far as I am concerned, not his best acting, though, he did perform well. The bottom line, I enjoyed the series, however, the script was simple with some intrigue but the highlight was Reno.

Jo (previously known by the working title Le Grand) is an English-language French police procedural television series created by Canadian-American screenwriter René Balcer with French writing team Franck Ollivier and Malina Detcheva.

The series, shot entirely in Paris, is centered on Jo Saint-Clair, a cop played by French star Jean Reno in his first lead TV role. Along with his team, Jo attempts to solve murders taking place around some of the French capital's most famous locations. (Jo (TV series) - Wikipedia)

Let's let the show speak for itself.

The lifeless body of famous organist Johan Van Vliet is found at the foot of the "Portal of the Last Judgement" of Notre-Dame. His eardrums were pierced and his face set towards the statue of the angel who plays the trumpet to sound the waking of the dead. An outstanding musician, Van Vliet was also an egocentric man known to be a womanizer. In making the victim symbolically deaf to the call of the angel, the killer seems to have wanted to prevent the victim from receiving divine mercy.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3513989466807

During a Fashion Week show, a 38-year-old former model is hurled off the Eiffel Tower. Her lover's wife is initially suspected, but Jo then follows a trail back to 22-year-old Jasmine, a showgirl in Quartier Pigalle and the dead supermodel's abandoned illegitimate daughter.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514004736695

Mountaineer Bernard Lang's body is discovered with a broken neck in climbing gear at the foot of the Luxor Obelisk in the Place de la Concorde. Fascinated by the obelisk and its history, Jo knows that the monument is also a great vantage point of the surrounding area, including the suites at the Hôtel de Crillon. And in one of them, that evening, a well-bred young woman (Miranda Raison) was cheating on her husband.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514071321271

Charlotte, a 35-year-old Mirage pilot, is found dead in front of Les Invalides, wearing a ring stolen a year earlier during the murder of a family in the south of France. Her lover, a mysterious mechanic, is quickly suspected, but while unearthing the details of that forgotten crime, Jo discovers a conspiracy.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514266159799

In a parking lot on Place Vendôme, firefighters uncover the charred body of Philip Roquin, an accountant for one of the square's many jewelry stores. His wife admits that he was kidnapped and that a ransom was requested. The investigation leads Jo Saint-Clair to a prison where a woman called Lisette was incarcerated.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514280184503

Marie-Eve Lambert, a young gallerist, is found lying on the Place des Vosges, killed by a violent blow to the head. Believing at first in a crime of passion, Jo discovers a mysterious message in the victim's hand which leads him to the Archives Nationales, where Marie-Eve was doing research on women in the French Resistance deported to Auschwitz.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514295323319

Leaving the Palais Garnier where he had just dropped off his daughter for her dance class, Raymond Sittler is assaulted on the steps of the Opera. A few seconds later, he starts convulsing, collapses on the porch and dies. Initially suspected, his mistress is also murdered at the Barbès-Rochechouart station, through poison. The investigation leads Jo to the prestigious Sorbonne University and to the door of a troubled student and his ambitious girlfriend.

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514326452919

A young geneticist was stabbed in the Paris Catacombs, a Satanist symbol etched on her back. Jo is convinced that this is a crime of passion. But the case takes an unexpected turn when the team discovers that the victim was conducting experiments with plague bacteria recovered from skeletons of the catacombs. The trail leads to a mysterious woman who could well be a serial killer on the run. She seems to already have chosen her next victims: the family of a prominent politician. The killer turns out to be Nicole Wallace (played by Olivia d'Abo), the one-time nemesis of Det. Robert Goren in the series Law & Order: Criminal Intent (also created by René Balcer).

LINK: https://ok.ru/video/3514344016567

[thetransversespectator]

A NOTE FROM DOCTOR CHERBRONKLY

During the summer of 2015, a wave of hospitalizations in the Berkeley-Oakland area suggested the development of a rare psychological phenomenon: a mass formation psychosis centered around a supposed messianic figure.

One patient, 56M, described a “blue angel” who wrote the word of God into a book using only his mind. The patient was referred to my inpatient unit by Dr. Antoine Lini, who noted a “preoccupation with religious themes” related to sites visited by this supposed angel in the Berkeley Area. Specifically, he believed this man had opened up a portal next to a tree on Telegraph Avenue, which he referred to as “the rib.”

Another of Lini’s patients, 67M, claimed to have met “the devil” at a guesthouse near the UC Berkeley Campus, and that he had changed the color of Sather Tower from green to silver using some form of magic. The patient believed this man to be a false reincarnation of Philip K. Dick and told doctors to “not believe a word he says” and to “not look at the maze he left in the closet.” He insisted that this demon’s name was Praetor.

A group of patients in a long-term unit at Herrick Hospital spoke of being “rescued from another world” by a man with deep-set blue eyes, brown hair, and a beard. He was described as competent artist (working in crayon), a smooth talker, and a shit poker player. When asked to elaborate how, exactly, he had saved them from this “underworld” they said it had something to do with a wristwatch, but that it was too painful to talk about further.

What do these cases have in common? They all mentioned the same, and quite unusual, name: Praetor Loos. You may already be familiar with this name from the now ubiquitous graffiti trend sweeping the Bay Area: the so-called “Praetorian guard” and their vandalism of government offices, streetcars, and even private residences with the apparently meaningless question: “Who is Praetor Loos?”

No such person seems to exist, nor have they existed at any point in time. Praetor is simply not a name that people seem to be given, nor is it one that people tend to adopt. As such, we have been led to assume – until now – that this name was intended to evoke Roman law and military power; a vaguely intellectual way of questioning authority. Is it possible that the Praetor Loos mentioned by these vandals did, in fact, exist?

A vital clue to this puzzle was uncovered in 2019, as a sheaf of handwritten pages – now known widely as the Telegraph Avenue Codex -- was discovered behind a wall in Berkeley by a real estate company converting an old halfway house into premium student apartments. The workers thought it must have been written by a student so they left it there, stuffed into a blue plastic binder on one of the new residence’s many handsome shelving units. Later, it was discovered by student residents whilst stoned and became somewhat of a literary scandal. I was first made aware of this Codex after one of the students who discovered it was referred to my clinic after suffering chronic syncope for a period of five months. She claimed that a satellite called the Ruby Slipper was stalking her; after a brief course of anxiolytic therapy, she was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder, Type I, with Psychotic Features and sent happily on her way.

The identity of the author remained a mystery until just last year, when an envelope was delivered to the Cao Đài temple in Tây Ninh, Vietnam from Pakse, Laos. Inside was another envelope addressed to the New Yorker containing the signed manuscript “Becoming Praetor Loos: A Psychotic Narrative.” Vietnamese police interpreted it to be a suicide note and worked with Lao authorities to stage a manhunt in the Thousand Islands region, but no trace of the author was ever found. Praetor Loos, now finally unveiled in his authentic form, is presumed to have vanished into the jungle, like Jim Thompson before him, in search of the “other world” he wrote so curiously about. 

Jonathan Cherbronkly, M.D.

[wolint]

FRESH MANNA

THE DWELLERS

Psalm 91

Dwellers are those who abide permanently or for a time in a place. A dwelling place is where someone lives, in biblical times either a tent as seen in Genesis 25:27, a house in 2 Samuel 7:2, or the territory in which one lives like in Genesis 36:40,43.

The Old Testament repeatedly promises that those who keep the covenant of God will dwell in safety-these are the dwellers in God, not so much of a physical dwelling but more of a spiritual state, a spiritual abiding or hiding oneself in God.

Proverbs 18:10 calls the Lord a strong tower where the righteous take refuge and find security: this is an intentional action on the believer’s part to hide in the Lord.

The dwelling place of the Lord is a secret place where we hide under His shadow from every attack of the enemy. As we dwell in God, Psalm 27:5 says He will conceal us in His shelter in the day of adversity.

Where do you shelter from the storms of life? When fear arises, do you run out or run into the secret place of God? To take cover under His tent? Where do you seek protection?

A hiding place, a secret hiding place is where you take shelter and plan your defensive attack and defeat of the enemy, God is the hiding place according to Psalm 32:7, only within Him do we find protection in the day of adversity.

Sometimes, our nights are filled with terror and all kinds of arrows are shot at us in the day real or figuratively but when we dwell in God, they neither intimidate nor harm us.

Regardless of the dangers we face daily, and we can see through the passage that there is no shortage of dangers, even then, God covers His own, especially the dwellers with His faithfulness.

We will do well to study the word of God as prescribed in 2 Timothy 2:15 as Satan knows the Scriptures also. He quoted Psalm 91:11–12 when he tempted Jesus in the desert in Matthew 4:6, only misapplying it for his evil purposes.

This is not to say we should intentionally put ourselves in unnecessary danger because we “think” the Lord will deliver us, like Philip Bracey of Los Angeles who on February 27, 2017, jumped into the lion exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo because he was daring to be a Daniel, believing that God will shut the Lions’ mouth but was immediately mauled by the beasts. Jesus said, “Thou shall not tempt the Lord your God” in Matthew 4:7.

A dweller in God doesn’t go seeking and courting danger, they run into the Lord for protection, security and victory says verse 4.

God protects those who trust and dwell in Him from all harm. If you don’t yet trust God to dwell securely in Him, let me encourage you to do so now, so that no harm can befall you, especially in the unstable, unsafe and uncertain atmosphere of today’s society.

Call upon the name of the Lord, the shelter, strong tower and refuge encourage verse 15, and I will answer you, promises the Lord, even as He promises to satisfy all our needs including long life, that is eternal life by His salvation. Be a dweller in God, make Him your safe refuge and hide in Him.

PRAYER: Thank you, Father, for being my Refuge from pestilence, destruction, terror and plagues. Help me continue to dwell safely in you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Shalom

WOMEN OF LIGHT INT. PRAYER MIN.

[riseofthecommonwoodpile]

And so we end this project, a little over 2,000 albums in about a year and a half. Gonna do some Sum Up things for it later, but wowzers. So much good shit. I was probably overly charitable with my 9.0's this time around, but oh well. They're celebratory I suppose.

Alias- Muted (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Aloe Island Posse- Aloe Island Adventures (6.0/10, deleted from library)

Angkor Wat- When Obscenity Becomes the Norm… Awake! (8.5/10)

Annie Gosfield- Flying Sparks And Heavy Machinery (8.5/10)

Arthur Russell- Tower of Meaning (7.0/10, probably deleting from library)

Awenden- Golden Hour (9.0/10)

Barbaro- Nolte (9.0/10)

Bone Sickness- Theater Of Morbidity (8.0/10)

Breather Resist- Charmer (8.0/10)

BT- ESCM (9.0/10)

Califone- Everybody’s Mother (Volume 1) (7.5/10)

Carlos Giffoni- Welcome Home (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Caroliner Rainbow Solid Handshake and Loose 2 Pins- Transcontinental Pinecone Collector (7.5/10)

Charli XCX- Crash (8.5/10)

The Cherry Point & John Wiese- White Gold (8.0/10)

Chicane- Far From the Maddening Crowds (9.5/10)

Chris Corsano- The Young Cricketer (8.5/10)

Cities Last Broadcast- The Cancelled Earth (8.0/10)

Cobalt- Eater of Birds (8.5/10)

Constance Demby- Novus Magnificat: Through the Stargate (8.0/10)

Cristian Vogel- Specific Momentific (8.5/10)

critical_grim- Beach Party (6.0/10, deleted from library)

Daniel Menche- Guts (8.0/10)

Dark Angel- Time Does Not Heal (9.0/10)

David Holland & Derek Bailey- Improvisations For Cello And Guitar (7.5/10)

Deathpile- Final Confession (7.5/10)

Demolition Squad- Hit It (6.5/10, deleted from library)

Derrick May- Innovator: Soundtrack for the Tenth Planet (8.0/10)

Dip in the Pool- Silence (8.0/10)

Easley Blackwood- Microtonal Compositions (7.0/10, might delete later)

Eat Static- Implant (8.0/10)

Ellen Fullman- Through Glass Panes (8.5/10)

The Ex- Mudbird Shivers (7.5/10)

Faust- So Far (8.0/10)

Fire for Effect- The Beach (7.0/10)

Future City Love Stories- 油尖旺 District (8.0/10)

Gary Clail And Tackhead Sound System- Tackhead Tape Time (8.0/10)

The Gero-P- The Gero-P (8.0/10)

Gil Evans- The Individualism of Gil Evans (8.5/10)

goreshit- with all my heart. (7.0/10)

Greg Kelley / Olivia Block- Resolution (8.0/10)

GUDSFORLADT / non-- GUDSFORLADT / non- Split (7.5/10)

Han Bennink- Solo (8.5/10)

Hantasi- Tusop® (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Hash Jar Tempo- Well Oiled (9.0/10)

Horde- Hellig Usvart (8.5/10)

Incapacitants- Unauthorized Fatal Operation 990130 (6.5/10, deleted from library)

James Rushford & Joe Talia- Manhunter (8.0/10)

Joanne Robertson & Dean Blunt- WAHALLA (9.0/10)

John Butcher- Invisible Ear (9.0/10)

John Wiese- Circle Snare (8.5/10)

Kano- Kano (7.5/10)

Kim Cascone- cathodeFlower (8.5/10)

Kit Clayton- Lateral Forces (Surface Fault) (8.5/10)

Lancaster_- Press Play (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Legal Weapon- Death of Innocence (7.5/10)

Logos- Cold Mission (8.5/10)

Magik Markers- I Trust My Guitar, Etc. (8.5/10)

Malfeitor / Strid- Strid (8.0/10)

Mammal- Lonesome Drifter (9.0/10)

Maren Morris- Hero (9.0/10)

Marina Rosenfeld- P.A. / Hard Love (9.5/10)

Mathieu Ruhlmann- The Earth Grows in Each of Us (9.0/10)

Michel Chion- Requiem (7.0/10)

Milanese- Extend (8.5/10)

Miles Davis- Sorcerer (8.5/10)

Morton Feldman- The Viola in My Life (9.0/10)

N.Y. House'n Authority- APT. (8.0/10)

New Dreams Ltd.- Eden (8.5/10)

Nile- Ithyphallic (7.5/20)

Olivia Block / Kyle Bruckmann- Teem (8.0/10)

OSCOB- Everywhere, Beyond The Skybox (7.5/10)

Pacific Despair- ~~~Devour~~~ (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Peter Brötzmann- Nipples (8.5/10)

Philip Jeck- Vinyl Coda IV (9.0/10)

Pierre Boulez- The Three Piano Sonatas (8.5/10)

Pissgrave- Posthumous Humiliation (8.5/10)

Prosumer & Murat Tepeli- Serenity (8.0/10)

Prurient- Fossil (9.0/10)

Rajlib- Palm Readings (8.0/10)

Recloose- Cardiology (7.5/10)

The Rita- Lake Depths Lurker (8.5/10)

Robert Rich- Somnium (8.5/10)

Rollergirl!- Rollergirl (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Ryoji Ikeda- Matrix (8.0/10)

Sea Of Voices- Softcore Mall Inc. (7.0/10, deleted from library)

Sierra On-Line- Glass Shutters (8.5/10)

Soft Machine- Third (9.5/10)

Spokane- Able Bodies (6.5/10, deleted from library)

Steve Lehman- Sélébéyone (8.5/10)

Tim Berne- Fulton Street Maul (9.0/10)

Trist- Zrcadlení melancholie (9.0/10)

Tristan Murail- Gondwana/ Désintégrations / Time and Again (9.5/10)

Vatican Shadow- Kneel Before Religious Icons (6.0/10, deleted from library)

VentureX- Noctis Labyrinthus (8.0/10)

Whitehouse- Erector (8.0/10)

Whitehouse- Mummy and Daddy (8.0/10)

Yoshimi- Tokyo Restricted Area (6.5/10, deleted from library)

Yukiko Okada- Venus Tanjou (7.5/10)

死夢VANITY- f a n t a s y 真夜中のアパート (8.0/10)

[twokinkybeans]

Four Times Peter’s Radioactivity Worked Against Him and the One Time It Worked In His Favor [STARKER]

Summary: Now that Peter is radioactive, his surroundings start responding to him. And he starts to respond to his surroundings differently as well. His newfound infatuation with bananas are a difficult thing for Tony to deal with. Note: there is a snippet of science-y truth in what I wrote, but I also took major creative liberty with what happens. Warnings/tags: Food kink, Praise kink, Dom/Sub undertones, Subspace, Under-negotiated kink, Teasing, Dirty Talk, “For science” sure Tones, Implied Blowjob, BANANAS! (also Peter is an adult when the sexy things happen). Read it on AO3!

Four Times Peter’s Radioactivity Worked Against Him 1. Tick Tock It’s been three days since Peter Parker got his spider powers. He’s still trying to get a hang of everything, but at least he’s got his stickiness under control. Everything is just so loud and so intense. Constantly. The sensory overload has made him cranky to say the least, but it’s not like he can just skip school. With the sweaty, yelling students, screeching chalkboards and itchy PE uniforms. Not to mention the school bell. The anticipation practically hurts as much as the shrill ringing in his ears does. Another sound that has shivers run up and down Peter’s spine is Flash’s voice. “Check out my new watch!” He announces to the class as he saunters in, wrist raised to the ceiling. He grins, showing off the expensive piece of technology. Peter doesn’t know why but the device has his eye twitch. He stands up confused and walks over to Flash, drawn by the watch, somehow. “What brand is it?“ He asks innocently. “Wow, didn’t think it’d catch your attention, Penis,” Flash scoffs. “Gucci. Nothing you could ever afford.” “Huh…” Peter frowns, unable to look away from Flash’s wrist. His eyes go wide when he notices the arms are shaking slightly. Are they supposed to do that? “I know, it’s pretty rad. Even glows in the dark!” Flash turns to Ned, who just walked into the classroom. “Ned, turn off the lights!” Ned pulls a face but moves to turn off the light anyways, but when it’s dark in the classroom, no light comes from Flash’s wrist. “It- It works, I swear!” Flash taps the glass three times. “Stupid fucking watch.” With Flash’s limited patience, it doesn’t take long for him to rip it off and toss it away from him. Peter’s newfound reflexes cause him to catch it mid-air, but the second his skin makes contact with the watch, a bright flash of light makes everyone in the room cover their eyes and scream. ... 2. Emergency Exit Peter has no idea when he started eating bananas so much. There’s just something about them that tastes absolutely amazing. How did he never realize this earlier? The fruit is now part of his daily diet now. They give him enough energy to run around school and as Spider-Man, so he’s not complaining. At least he’s not addicted to sugar or hamburgers, right? Peter munches on his second banana of the day when the fire alarm stirs the school. All the lights go out. Peter looks up at the ceiling, but he doesn’t feel any alarm. He’s learned he can rely on his gut way better now, with his spider powers, so this must be a test. He quickly stands up, though, not wanting to seem disinterested in the fact that there was an evacuation going on. The emergency exit sign lights the way to safety for all the students. Peter runs towards the fire escape and stops, wanting to make sure everyone else gets to run out first. Above him, the escape sign starts flickering. He looks up at it and frowns, wondering why now of all times it decided to give out. Maybe that’s why this test was happening? To see which emergency lights still worked? Once all of the students are out of the cafeteria, Peter leaves too. When there’s a bit of distance between him and the door, he looks back and notices the light works properly again. ... 3. Thrifted TV It’s been over half a year since Peter has last gone to the thrift store. He’s very excited to get some new-old stuff to tinker with. Ben’s death and him becoming Spider-Man put a damper on his hobbies. He was able to make his goggles and web shooters with the scrap he still had lying around, but now he’s in desperate need of some new-old stuff. The thrift store is creaky and dusty. Exactly the way Peter used to like it. Now everything just tickles his nose. Still, he can’t help the feeling of nostalgia curling around him like a weighted blanket on a cold winter’s day. Peter snakes through the clutter filled paths, keeping an eye out for hidden gems. “Peter Parker!” “Hi, Mister Cheung!” Peter smiles politely at the thrift store owner. “I haven’t seen you in a while. Thought you moved on to another shop.” The old man shuffles away from behind the counter and folds his hands together. “Wouldn’t dare, sir! You’re my go-to for old tech.” Peter glances around a table and picks up a few items to study them up close. “That’s good to hear, boy. What’s your latest project? Anything you need? Maybe I can hook you up with the right stuff!” Mister Cheung grins and excitedly bops his head side to side. “My latest project is- eh…” Peter glances down at his hands, hiding his web shooters a little more in the sleeves of his sweater. “Something for school, actually. Nothing too interesting, to be honest. Do you happen to have an old TV lying around?” “Just one, but yes! Follow me, follow me!” Mister Cheung excitedly makes his way to the back corner of his store. “This ol’ Philips still works!” He pats it proudly, with his flat palm. “Though, I don’t think you need it to work, do you?” “Nah, there’s just one part that I really need, honestly. If you’d rather sell it to someone who-“ Peter takes a step closer and the TV suddenly starts to tick loudly. Mister Cheung takes a startled step away from it and Peter gasps. His yet-to-be-named sixth sense buzzes every part of him, so he quickly jumps towards Mister Cheung, and closer to the TV. It ticks louder and louder, as a warning of something that’s about to happen. Peter shields the shop owner with his body at exactly the right moment. A loud bang thrashes through the store and something hits Peter’s back. When everything seems to be over, Peter steps away from Mister Cheung. “Sir, are you okay?” The corners of the man’s mouth curl down, but he nods. “Are you?” “Something big tapped my back, but I’m fine,” Peter says with an encouraging smile. He turns around to see a large chunk of the TV on the floor behind him. Any regular person would’ve gotten floored by that. He decides not to mention that to Mister Cheung, hoping he doesn’t notice. He looks back at the wreckage again and frowns. He squats next to it and wonders what’s drawing him towards it. Peter rummages around it for a bit and pulls out a specific piece. The CRT. “That what you need?” Mister Cheung asks quietly as he looks around the corner of the store. More items got destroyed in the process. Peter feels bad for him- for what happened. Especially once it finally clicks. CRTs emit low levels of radiation. “Not exactly, but…” He looks back again at the mess that was caused by the explosion. “Let me help you clean up.” ... 4. Wet shoes Peter never dared to dream of being in the Avengers Tower. More specifically, he never dared to dream of being allowed in Tony Stark’s lab. To work with him. On whatever project. Peter didn’t really care what they were going to work on, the invitation in and of itself already had Peter nearly puking with excited anxiety. Right now, he was being guided through the hallways by the hero he looked up to ever since he could remember. “Right, so-“ Tony explain as he carelessly points around the space as he talks. “You’re still too much of a young sprite so we’re not letting you up to the penthouse just yet. You’ve got clearance to most of the labs, though. I trust you know your way around them.” Peter somehow manages to listen both super intently and not at all. He stares straight at the back of Tony’s perfect hair with wide, wonder-filled eyes. “-if that’s alright with you. And then this…” Tony stops walking and gestures at a closed door. “…is where all the magic happens.” If Peter’s grin could grow any wider, it would have. He bounces from his left to his right foot and with an encouraging nod from his mentor, Peter moves to open the door. In Peter’s mind, a bright, inviting light shines upon him and an angel choir sings. This is everything Peter imagined it would be and more. Slowly, he sets one foot in the room, taking in the space and its contents. The desks and holo-table. The little kitchen area in the corner and the robots. Oh, the robots! And the cars on display! And the older Iron Man suits in the other corner! Peter is about ready to throw up for real. He takes another step into the room and then… There’s a loud, insistent alarm blaring through Tony Stark’s workshop and before Peter can turn around to rush out, the door shuts on him. “Woah!” Tony exclaims from the other side. “Kid, that’s the fire alarm! Barn door protocol! Everything’s fine, just don’t be startled when-“ The sprinklers turn on. Peter yelps surprised at the amount of water hitting his body and within seconds he is absolutely soaked. After a minute, the sprinklers stop and the door gets unlocked. The blaring of the fire-alarm is still going. Tony walks in, absolutely confused as to what’s going on and he finds a shivering Peter, hugging himself as all the water drips down his body, making the puddle on the floor even larger. Lucky for Tony, all of his stuff in this room is water proof and the cars were separated by glass. “Fri, was there actually a fire?” “No, sir, the smoke detectors were activated. Something is interfering with its signal.” “Is?” “Yes, sir. Is.” Tony glances at Peter and sniffs once, wondering what made the detector tick when Peter walked in. “Can you source it?” “It’s Peter Parker, sir.” The AI replies dryly. Peter scoffs out loud, causing Tony to look at him surprised. “How sensitive are your detectors?” The teen asks. There’s a slight edge to his tone and Tony doesn’t know what to think of it just yet. “Quite. More than regular ones, at least. Fri, please lower the sensitivity of the detectors.” Almost immediately, the incessant beeping stops. “Are you telling me this happened before?” Tony puts his hands on his hips as he walks towards the kitchen to grab Peter a few towels. “I only learned this a little while ago, but…” Peter sighs and turns. “The spider that bit me was radioactive and ever since that happened some devices respond strangely to me.” His eyebrows raise up to his hairline. “Do your smoke detectors happen to be the kind that have americium-241 in them?” “Well, yes, but-“ Tony interrupts himself, scoffing a laugh when he realizes why Peter asked. “That stuff’s radioactive too.” “Slightly, but yeah. Made an old TV explode, emergency exit signs become faulty when I’m near them, it’s annoying. Did you know ceramics are slightly radioactive? I’ve had old plates snap the second I touched them!” “Fri, give Peter a scan, please.” --- The One Time It Worked In His Favor Bananaddiction It’s been about eight years now and Peter practically lived in Tony’s workshop at this point. They are so in tune they barely have to talk anymore. When they do talk, nobody else can keep up with them Bruce could if he put in the effort, but then, it also takes a lot of effort. So he doesn’t usually join conversations unless the topic genuinely interests him. Peter is now completely comfortable in the workshop and around Tony. His teenage crush on his mentor might be gone, but that doesn’t mean there are no feelings left. They are now more deeply rooted inside him. More solid. Real. It’s no longer as fleeting as the puppy love he felt when he was younger. He was glad his younger self was never stupid enough to act upon his obsession with the older man, but now they are so in sync that if you told a stranger the two tinkerers are married, they would believe you. Unfortunately, Peter is painfully aware the older man would never want him in the way Peter wants Tony. He still calls Peter kid, even though Peter’s well in his twenties now. Everything about Tony’s behaviour screams at Peter that he really is just Tony’s mentee. Nothing more. And that hurts. There’s one obsession Peter still has. His extreme and undeniable love and craving for bananas. Something about it made Peter feel a little self-conscious. So, he only ever eats one in the labs. The others that he eats during the day are incorporated in his breakfast and during late night patrols. Peter never really cared to figure out why bananas are so absolutely, insanely delicious and he doesn’t want any of his now-colleagues to think he’s weird. So, his bananaddiction is a secret. Up until now. “Hey, kid,” Tony says from his seat. He’s bent over some file work as Peter walks into the workshop and tosses his backpack in a corner. “How was uni?” “Boring. Still fourteen classes ahead of everybody else.” “Good for you.” As sarcastic as it may sound, Peter can take it from Tony. He knows Tony is genuinely proud of Peter for performing so well, as it also means Peter gets to spend a lot of time in the workshop that way too. It only takes a split second for Peter’s eye to twitch and his body practically guides him to the fruit bowl in the corner kitchen like a Looney Toons character would float towards a good smelling dish. His lips are pressed together as he stares at the yellow gold in the bowl. Twelve bananas. Twelve wonderful, beautiful, delicious bananas were right there waiting for Peter to devour them. “Noticed you eat bananas literally every day, so I figured I’d indulge. Saves you some money too, since you’re still on a student budget,” Tony huffs, quietly referencing the fact that Peter still doesn’t want to get paid more than necessary for his work. Peter’s eyes are stuck on the bananas as he contemplates how many he should eat with Tony around. Not many. Not three. Maybe not even two. Maybe two? One. Definitely. Peter practically lunges forward as he takes a banana from the bowl and gratefully makes his way to Tony’s desk to have a look at what the older hero is up to. He cocks his head to read the paper. “Still working through the amendments for the Accords?” “World leaders are frustrating people, Parker.” As Tony talks, Peter strips the banana of its peel. He wraps his lips around it instantly and closes his eyes when the familiar taste hits his tongue. His eyes open wide when he realizes he just moaned. Tony’s entire body is tensed up, the ball point pen clenched between his fingers. He doesn’t look at Peter and the young adult silently hopes the man will ignore what just happened. Thankfully, he does. After an hour, the banana bowl already calls to Peter again. Like a siren on the shores or the Dark Side of the Force. The temptation is excruciating and annoyingly distracting. When Peter only had his one banana on him, there were no other bananas left to eat. It was easier to think of other things. Right now, with the other eleven bananas still waiting for Peter to stuff his throat with them, there was no telling when he’d snap. He takes a breath. And another one. He can get through this. He’s strong. He won’t break. He won’t eat another banana. “Pete, this is your fourth banana, are you okay?” Peter’s lips are still wrapped around what’s left of the third banana he didn’t mean to eat. Okay, so maybe he was weak. For bananas, at least. With big eyes, he looks up at Tony, who now stands next to him, from his desk seat. The man’s pupils are dilated and it’s only when Peter realizes what he must look like with his cheeks stuffed with banana and his lips half suckling on the length, that he looks down to see Tony’s very obvious hard-on. Peter scrambles to take the rest of the banana out of his mouth, but unfortunately for him, it makes a wet popping sound, causing Tony to curse under his breath. “I- I weally wike bananas, m-sowwy-“ Tony blinks at Peter. Once. Twice. Something about the shift in his expression makes Peter imagine a little bulb lighting up above Tony’s head. “Potassium.” Peter quickly swallows away the delectable fruit. “Wha-?” “Bananas are radioactive, Pete. You eat them because you- well…” “I vibe with them?” “Yeah, I guess you could put it like that.” Tony takes a step back and scratches his goatee. The man then turns to walk back to his desk. “Just… Just don’t eat too many a day, alright?” Peter swallows again and then nods. “I’ll try,” he replies sheepishly, a lopsided smile plastered on his face. It’s nearing 2AM and Peter is trying really hard not to grab his sixth banana. He already informed Tony that the fifth one would be his last. He can’t go back on that now. He curses his high metabolism, because he is actually hungry. There are a ton of other things in the kitchen to munch on, but his mind and his cravings still gravitate towards the yummy bananas. “Do you want me to get the stuff out of here?” Tony snorts. “You’re obviously not focussed because of them.” Peter sighs and drops himself back against his chair. “Mister Stark, it’s just so good. I can’t explain it.” A sly grin grows on Tony’s face. “Try me. For scientific purposes, of course.” Peter stares at the ceiling. When he opens his mouth to speak, Tony immediately interrupts him again. “Wait-“ Peter sits up straight to watch Tony walk towards the kitchen area. He takes one banana from the batch and tosses it at Peter who easily catches it. The fruit seems to vibrate in Peter’s hand, but that might just be his imagination. Tony grabs a chair and pulls it closer towards Peter, until he sits down right across from him, leaning his elbows on his knees. “I’m really curious how it is for you,” Tony admits. “To me it’s just a banana.” Peter faux gasps. “Just a banana?” He then smirks. “Oh, you wound me.” “Go on, kid, tell me.” Both of them laugh as Peter starts peeling the banana, already infatuated with it again. It’s a long one this time, at least nine inches. “Do you… Do you know that feeling that you get when you haven’t eaten something in a while and then you put something in that taste absolutely divine?” Peter’s mouth salivates as his eyes are still glued to the yellow fruit. “The little orgasm-in-your-mouth kinda feel?” Peter barely notices how Tony’s voice is a little lower. Darker. As a reply, Peter only nods slightly. “Every bite.” “Sounds intense.” “It is.” Peter’s lips part as he brings the length closer to his mouth. He sniffs once. “The smell tickles my nose. And… And the way it sits in my hand, the… The stiffness and the girth of it.” Peter wets his lips, breathing coming out in shorter pants. He can feel Tony’s eyes on him. Studying him intently. The man is slowly inching closer and closer, as if there is only a little bit of oxygen left in the room and it’s right between the two of them. “And then, when I put it in my mouth- when it hits my tongue, I just-“ “You ride a high,” Tony whispers. Peter still stares at the banana, half surprised with his self-control. He would’ve stuffed his face way earlier if he didn’t have Tony’s eyes on him like this. “Feels so good,” Peter mumbles. “Tastes so good.” “What do you do then?” Tony’s voice is so close to him, right next to him. Peter didn’t know when Tony had pulled the chair close enough for him to practically graze his lips past the shell of Peter’s ear. He gasps quietly when Tony’s warm hand finds its resting place on Peter’s thigh. “Like to wrap my lips around it,” Peter answers breathlessly. “Suckle on it.” “Suckle on it.” Tony’s reply doesn’t even sound like a repetition of what Peter said. It sounds like an order. Peter does as told and immediately moans when the fruit hits his tongue again. “That’s it, kid.” A shiver runs down Peter’s spine. Peter can hear Tony’s heartbeat and how it quickens. Can feel how the blood is racing downstairs for the both of them. Was this actually happening? Maybe Tony did want him? Everything that’s happening right now, sure points in that direction. “Keep going further down, Pete…” Tony encourages softly. His other hand makes its way to Peter’s back, gently massaging through his shirt. “Show me how far you can take it.” Peter sucks on the banana, letting his tongue run circles and stripes over the length. His eyes are shut and he pushes further and further until he feels it hit the back of his throat. “Oh,” Tony groans. “Perfect.” The hand on Peter’s back creeps up into his hair and clutches it tight. It starts guiding Peter to bob his head around the fruit and Peter can’t help but grin. Tony wants this. Him. Definitely. Thank you, bananaddiction. “You got a hand left, Pete.” Tony’s soft voice rumbles through Peter’s entire being, making the experience of the banana even better. “Why don’t you have a feel for how hard your nipples are, huh? I can see them through your shirt…” Peter complies, pushing his free hand under his shirt and crawling up until- OH! He moans and rolls his hips in tune with how he rolls the sensitive bud between his fingers. His eyes roll back and he doubles his efforts to feel even better. Peter sighs around the banana as it slowly falls apart on his tongue. It’s even more sublime now that Tony is helping him, steering him, forcing him. “Good boy,” Tony whispers, placing a gentle kiss behind Peter’s ear. The young man’s hips buck involuntarily in their chair but Tony’s hand that’s still on his thigh squeezes to keep him in place. Peter gasps at the pull at his hair and the hand moves to cup his balls through his jeans. Every part of Peter is on fire right now. “Nearly there…” Tony is right. Peter’s cock pulses with the need to release. He nearly has all of the banana in his mouth now and it’s not long before his right hand drops the empty peel to the floor. “Now…” Tony whispers. “Swallow.” Peter whimpers and does as told, automatically opening his mouth wide and sticking out his tongue when all of the banana has disappeared into his stomach. “Oh,” Tony coos, taking his hand out of Peter’s hair to push his thumb down on Peter’s tongue. “So beautiful…” Peter has already forgotten how to talk. His mind is swimming with lust. Want. Need. Tony takes back his hand, but Peter doesn’t see it. He still has his eyes closed, after all, relishing in the aftertaste of the banana. A soft whine escapes his lips when the hand that was gently massaging his clothed cock also disappears. However, when Peter half-opens his eyes, his smile immediately returns. In front of him, hard and aching, dripping precum, swaying and twitching, is Tony Stark’s cock. Something he had only imagined up until now as he jerked himself off in bed. Tony’s fingers curl around the shaft and stroke a few times. His other hand finds its way back into Peter’s hair. The man playfully guides Peter to follow his cock left and right. Absentmindedly, Peter opens his mouth, letting his tongue roll out in an attempt to lap at Tony’s dick. Every time just a little too far away to be successful. “Want it, Peter? You want it, don’t you?” Peter nods in Tony’s tight grip. “So hungry for cock, yet you probably don’t even realize…” Peter frowns slightly, unsure of what Tony is aiming for. “When you get off, Petey, do you eat your own cum?” The question takes Peter off guard, but he’s taken back to every single time he was in his bed, mindlessly lapping at his fingers during the afterglow. “Do you?” Peter nods again, smiling dreamily. His half open eyes still follow Tony’s hard cock in front of him. “Every time,” he manages to moan out. “So good…” “Not just addicted to bananas then?” Tony chuckles. “Bet you’re also infatuated with cum. With the taste- the feel of it when it hits your tongue.” Peter gasps, his own cock twitching and leaking in his now way-too-tight pants. “Such a slut for it, aren’t you? I know why…” Peter lets his head be pulled back until he looks Tony straight in the eye. The man grins and licks his lips, inching closer until the tip of his dick rests on Peter’s cheek as a promise that Peter will get what he wants soon enough. Tony grins wickedly. “There’s also potassium in cum, you know?”

[elcinelateleymickyandonie]

Ernest Cossart.

Filmografía

Cine

1916: The Pursuing Vengeance, de Martin Sabine.

1935: The Scoundrel, de Ben Hecht y Charles MacArthur.

1936: El gran Ziegfeld, de Robert Z. Leonard.

1936: Three Smarts Girls, de Henry Koster.

1936: Murder with Pictures, de Charles Barton.

1937: Angel, de Ernst Lubitsch.

1937: Champagne valse, de A. Edward Sutherland.

1939: Zaza, de George Cukor.

1939: Tower of London, de Rowland V. Lee.

1939: Three Smart Girls Grow Up, de Henry Koster.

1939: The Light that Failed, de William A. Wellman

1939: Lady of the Tropics, de Jack Conway.

1940: Kitty Foyle, de Sam Wood.

1940: Tom Brown's School Days, de Robert Stevenson.

1941: Skylark, de Mark Sandrich.

1942: Kings Row, de Sam Wood.

1945: Love Letters, de William Dieterle.

1945: Tonight and every Night, de Victor Saville.

1946: Cluny Brown, de Ernst Lubitsch.

1946: The Jolson Story, de Alfred E. Green

1947: Love from a Stranger, de Richard Whorf.

1949: John Loves Mary, de David Butler.

Teatro (Broadway)

1908: The Girls of Gottenberg, música de Ivan Caryll y Lionel Monckton, letras de Adrian Ross y Basil Hood.

1910: Mrs. Dot, de William Somerset Maugham, con Billie Burke.

1910: Love among the Lions, de Winchell Smith a partir de F. Anstey, con Ivan F. Simpson

1911: The Zebra, de Paul M. Potter a partir de Marcel Nancey y Paul Armont.

1912: The Typhoon, de Emil Nyitray y Byron Ongley a partir de Menyhert Lengyel.

1914: Marrying Money, de Washington Pezey y Bertram Marbugh.

1915: Androcles and the Lion, de George Bernard Shaw.

1915: The Man who married a Dumb Wife, de Anatole France, con Isabel Jeans.

1915: El sueño de una noche de verano, de William Shakespeare, con Isabel Jeans.

1915: The Doctor's Dilemma, de George Bernard Shaw.

1915: Sherman was right, de Frank Mandel.

1920-1921: The Skin Game, de John Galsworthy.

1921: The Title, de Arnold Bennett, interpretada y dirigida por Lumsden Hare.

1922: HE Who gets slapped, de Leónidas Andreiev, adaptada por Gregory Zilboorg, con Richard Bennett, Margalo Gillmore, Edgar Stehli, Henry Travers y Helen Westley.

1922: From Morn to Midnight, de Georg Kaiser, adaptada por Ashley Dukes, con Allyn Joslyn, Edgar Stehli, Henry Travers y Helen Westley.

1922-1923: Seis personajes en busca de autor, de Luigi Pirandello, adaptada por Edward Storer, con Florence Eldridge.

1923: The Love Habit, adaptación de Gladys Unger a partir de Pour avoir Adrienne, de Louis Verneuil, con Florence Eldridge.

1923: Casanova, de Lorenzo De Azertis, adaptada por Sidney Howard.

1923-1924: Santa Juana, de George Bernard Shaw, con Henry Travers.

1924: Seis personajes en busca de autor.

1924: The Steam Roller, de Laurence Eyre.

1924-1925: Cándida, de George Bernard Shaw, con Pedro de Cordoba.

1925-1926: Arms and the Man, de George Bernard Shaw, con Pedro de Cordoba y Henry Travers.

1926: The Chief Thing, de Nikolaï Evreinov, adaptada por Leo Randole y Herman Bernstein, con Romney Brent, Edward G. Robinson, Lee Strasberg, Henry Travers y Helen Westley.

1926-1927: Loose Ankles, de Sam Janney.

1926-1927: What never dies, de Alexander Engel, adaptada por Ernest Boyd.

1927-1928: The Doctor's Dilemma, de George Bernard Shaw, con Margalo Gillmore, Alfred Lunt, Henry Travers y Helen Westley.

1928: Marco Millions, de Eugene O'Neill, escenografía de Rouben Mamoulian, con Robert Barrat, Albert Dekker, Margalo Gillmore, Alfred Lunt, Vincent Sherman y Henry Travers.

1928: Volpone, de Ben Jonson, adaptada por Ruth Langner, con Albert Dekker, Margalo Gillmore, Alfred Lunt, Vincent Sherman, Henry Travers y Helen Westley.

1928-1929: Caprice, de Philip Moeller, con Douglass Montgomery.

1929: Becky Sharp, de Langdon Mitchell, a partir de La feria de las vanidades, de William Makepeace Thackeray, con Etienne Girardot, Arthur Hohl, Basil Sydney y Leonard Willey.

1930: The Apple Cart, de George Bernard Shaw, con Violet Kemble-Cooper, Tom Powers, Claude Rains y Helen Westley.

1930: Milestones, de Arnold Bennett y Edward Knoblauch, con Beulah Bondi y Selena Royle.

1931: Getting Married, de George Bernard Shaw, con Romney Brent, Dorothy Gish, Henry Travers y Helen Westley.

1931: The Way of the World, de William Congreve, con Walter Hampden, Gene Lockhart, Kathleen Lockhart, Selena Royle y Cora Witherspoon.

1931: The Roof, de John Galsworthy, con Henry Hull y Selena Royle.

1932: The Devil passes, de Benn W. Levy, con Eric Blore, Arthur Byron, Mary Nash y Basil Rathbone.

1932: Too true to be good, de George Bernard Shaw, escenografía de Leslie Banks, con Leo G. Carroll y Claude Rains.

1933: The Mask and the Face, de W. Somerset Maugham, con Leo G. Carroll y Humphrey Bogart

1933-1934: Mary of Scotland, de Maxwell Anderson, con Helen Hayes, Edgar Barrier, George Coulouris, Philip Merivale, Moroni Olsen y Leonard Willey.

1935: Accent on Youth, de Benn W. Levy

1937: Madame Bovary, de Benn W. Levy, a partir de Gustave Flaubert, con Eric Portman y O. Z. Whitehead.

1945: Devils Galore, de Eugene Vale.

1948: The Play's the Thing, de Ferenc Molnár, adaptada por P. G. Wodehouse, con Louis Calhern, Francis Compton y Faye Emerson.

1949: The Ivy Green, de Mervyn Nelson, con Hurd Hatfield.

Créditos: Tomado de Wikipedia

https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Cossart

[sisilafami]

2020

Rap:

Lil Uzi Vert - Eternal Atake Playboi Carti - Whole Lotta Red Polo G - The Goat Los and Nutty - Panagnl4e Vol. 2 Preservation - Eastern Medicine, Western Illness Sada Baby - Skuba Sada 2 (Deluxe) Medhane - Cold Water $ilkMoney - Attack Of The Future... / G.T.F.O.M.D Akai Solo - Eleventh Wind Roc Marciano - Mt. Marci Chief Keef - Ferrari Musik Rio Da Yung Og - City On My Back Armand Hammer - Shrines Max_B - Charly Tony Shhnow & 10kdunkin - Rp's & Plan B's Shawny Binladen - Merry Wickmas Babyface Ray - For You Tae Dawg - Ooze God / Dawgprint 2 Lil Baby - My Turn (Deluxe) TisaKorean - Wasteland Lil Uzi Vert - Luv vs The World 2 R.A.P. Ferreira - Purple Moonlight Pages Ka - Descendants of Cain 03 Greedo - Load It Up Vol. 01 TyFontaine - 1800 / Virtual World Moor Mother & billy woods - BRASS Boldy James - The Price Of Tea In China (Deluxe) Mad Moon - Mad Space Smino - She already decided mixtape G Herbo - PTSD B Side WTM Scoob - A Beautiful Drug / Don't Be Proud / I Went to Plu2o Young Nudy - Anyways KanKan - B4 AMGs & SRTs Drakeo the Ruler - We Know the Truth (Deluxe) Tree - The Blue Tape Yak Gotti - Gotti Outta Here KrispyLife Kidd & Ysr Gramz - Kid N Play CeeFineAss - Welcome to My City H31R - ve·loc·i·ty Baby Smoove - Hardwood Classic Lucki - Almost There Bandgang Lonnie Bands & Bandgang Javar - The Scamily Damedot - Mafia Lord (Chapter I)

Hm:

18veno – R4z / Pablo 21 Savage - Savage Mode II Akai Solo - Ride Alone, Fly Together / Like Hajime Autumn! - Ils Verront / Solitary DaBoii - Tour Vibes Dopeboy Ra - Mobstyle Duwap Kaine - Bad Kid From The 4 Flo Milli – Ho, why is you here Goonew - Big64 2 Hook - I Love You 2, Hook Key Glock - Yellow Tape Lil Durk - Just Cause Y'all Waited 2 (Deluxe) Lil Keed - Trapped On Cleveland 3 (Deluxe part) Lil Shane Krush - 5000 Degrees in the Field Los - Carlos \ G Shit Vol. 1 Master Holy - A Holy Journal Megan Thee Stallion - Good News MIKE - weight of the world NLE Choppa - Top Choppa PG RA - God's Gift Rod Wave - Pray 4 Love (Deluxe) Rylo Rodriguez - G.I.H.F Rx Papi - The Real Dominic Toretto/ Mood Sada Baby - Bartier Bounty 2 Spotemgottem - Final Destination Starlito – Paternity Leave Su'lan - Baby Glock Gang WB Nutty – TWYH (That's What Ya Heard) Yhung T.O. x DaBoii - Demon and Mufasa YN Jay - Coochie Land (Deluxe)

R&B:

amaarae - The Angel You Don't Know Brent Faiyaz - Fuck The World Teyana Taylor - The Album Liv.E - Couldn't Wait to Tell You... Brandy - B7 Kehlani - It Was Good Until It Wasn't keiyaA - Forever, Ya Girl

Amplify20 (info @ amplify2020.blogspot.com) :

Michael Pisaro-Liu - Tai Pi Bryan Eubanks - Qualia-Cosmos English - Democracy Keith Rowe - an assemblage - construct for 45 voices / GF SUC TARAB - 41 containers Vanessa Rossetto - perhaps at some time you have acted in a play- even if it was when you were a child Bonnie Jones - An Hour is a Sea Joe Foster - Since I Don't Know When Michael Rosenstein - Outer Cape Sojourn Lionel Marchetti - L'ignorance Kevin Drumm - Q Manja Ristić - Out Of Thin Air Benedict Drew - Music for crawling inside a costume Marc Baron - Elle a traversé deux fois la même rivière Shira Legmann - The Ganges Heather Frasch - The sound of objects helps me remember Zhu Wenbo - Open Reinier van Houdt - friction sleep maze (22 april 2020) / horizon without traveler (22 may 2020) Moniek Darge - Quarantine Butterfly Ivan Palacký - Sanctuary

Contemporary:

Choi Joonyong & Jin Sangtae - Hole In My Head Olli Aarni - Mustikoita ja kissankelloja Linda Catlin Smith - Meadow Naomi Pinnock - Lines and Spaces Dominique Lemaître - De l’espace trouver la fin et le milieu Manuel Pessôa de Lima - Realejo Sarah Hughes - I love this city and its outlying lands Philip Sulidae - Tupik Paolo Coteni - Nel Corso Del Tempo Lil Jurg Frey Live 5-2-2020 / Live 5-14-2020 Delphine Dora - L'inattingible Greg Stuart - Colluvium Du Yun - A Cockroach's Tarantella Clara Ianotta - Earthing Timothy McCormack - Karst Lucy Liyou - Welfare YIN YUE- An Amateur Compilation

Digital Beats:

DJ Diaki - Balani fou DJ MC - DA LEGENDARY HIT FACTORY Equiknoxx - Equiknoxx Music in 2020 Gooooose & DJ Scotch Egg - jac DJ Lycox - Kizas do Ly NÍDIA - Badjuda Sukulbembe FELIX - Oito ou Oitenta

Nice forms:

Elysia Crampton - ORCORARA 2010 Joanne Robertson - Painting Stupid Girls Lorenzo Senni - Scacco Matto Beatrice Dillon - Workaround Dylan Henner - The Invention of the Human Brannten Schnure - Ei, wir tun dir nichts zuleide! Space Afrika - hybtwibt Autechre - PLUS James Ferraro - Neurogeist Mohammad Reza Mortazavi & Burnt Friedman - Yek 2 Mark Fell & Will Guthrie - Infoldings Merula - Sleep Eiko Ishibashi - Hyakki Yagyō Various - Kulør 006 Employee - Hold Music Vol. 1

Techno / House?:

Serwed - Serwed II 33EMYBW - Arthropods Terrence Dixon - Galactic Halo Actress - 88 / Karma & Desire Nkisi - Initiation Speaker Music - Black Nationalist Sonic Weaponry Lord of the Isles - Whities 029

Jazz?:

Moor Mother - Circuit City Nick Malkin - A Typical Night in the Pit Lemon Quartet - Crestless Moor Mother and Olof Melander - ANTHOLOGIA 01 Jon Hassell - Seeing Through Sound (Pentimento Volume Two) Moor Mother - Clepsydra

Pop?:

Charli XCX - How i'm feeling now LISACHRIS - uchushimin meat computer - virtual house arrest FROMTHEHEART - things happen- it's ok! EM Records - S.D.S -零- (Subscription Double Suicide -Zero-)

New Old:

Foul Play - Origins Roland Kayn - Requiem Pour Patrice Lumumba George Lewis - Rainbow Family Henning Christiansen - Op.201 L´Essere Umano Erravando La Voca Errabando Adult Fantasies - Towers of Silence Notchnoi Prospekt - Курорты Кавказа (Health Resorts of the Caucasus) Charles Curtis - Performances & Recordings 1998-2018

[perennialessays]

Week 2

From Origins to the Future: The Hero and the Epic Quest.

This week and the next we shall engage in one of the traditional approaches to comparative practice, following various re-appearances of a myth / hero / genre through successive literary periods and in different countries. The example we shall use is the figure of Odysseus / Ulysses in epic writing and film from Homer to the turn of the 21st century. We shall consider how this figure has changed, and focus on specific episodes of Homer’s original epic poem.

Homer, The Odyssey (read in particular Book 1 and the episode of the Cyclops (in Book 9);

Dante, Inferno (read canto 26, Ulysses);

James Joyce, Ulysses (read the ‘Cyclops’ episode (the 12th, pp. 280-330 in Johnson))

Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (Film: Please watch this in advance of the seminar)

Some secondary reading on Homer’s Odyssey & the figure of Odysseus/Ulysses

Boitani, Piero, The Shadow of Ulysses: Figures of a Myth, tr. Anita West (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994). [Has an excellent chapter on Dante's Ulysses]

Doherty, Lillian E., "The Snares of the Odyssey: A Feminist Narratological Reading", in Texts, Ideas, and the Classics: Scholarship, Theory, and Classical Literature, ed. by S. J. Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 117-133. Foley, John M. (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epic (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)

Fowler, Robert (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004).

Graziosi, Barbara, end Emily Greenwood (eds.), Homer in the Twentieth-Century: Between World Literature and the Western Canon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

Jong, Irene de,  A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001)

Hall, Edith, The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2008).

Lane Fox, Robin, Travelling Heroes: Greeks and their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer (London: Allen Lane, 2008)

Manguel, Alberto, Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey A Biography (London: Atlantic Books, 2007).

Murnaghan, Sheila, Disguise and Recognition in the Odyssey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987).

Stanford, W. B. The Ulysses Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1963).

Some secondary reading on Kubrick

Bizony, Piers,  2001: Filming the Future  (London: Aurum, 1994)

Chion, Michel, Kubrick's Cinema Odyssey. Trans. Claudia Gorbman (London: BFI, 2001)

Ciment, Michel, Kubrick. Trans. Gilbert Adair (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1983)

Cocks, Geoffrey, James Diedrick, and Glenn Perusek (eds.), Depth of Field: Stanley Kubrick, Film and the Uses of History (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006)

Falsetto, Mario, Stanley Kubrick: A Narrative and Stylistic Analysis (Westport, Conn; London: Praeger, 1994)

Falsetto, Mario (ed.), Perspectives on Stanley Kubrick (New York: G.K. Hall; London: Prentice Hall, 1996)

Herr, Michael, Kubrick (New York: Grove Press, 2000)

Kolker, Robert (ed.), Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey: New Essays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Nelson, Thomas Allen, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982)

Naremore, James, On Kubrick (London: British Film Institute, 2007)

Rasmussen, Randy, Stanley Kubrick: Seven Films Analyzed (London: McFarland, 2001)

Wheat, Leonard F., Kubrick's 2001: A Triple Allegory (Lanham, MD, and London: Scarecrow Press, 2000)

Some secondary reading on the epic

Bates, Catherine (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Epic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Beissinger, Margaret, Jane Tylus, and Susanne Wofford (eds.) Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World: The Poetics of Community (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)

Clarke, M. J., B. G. F. Currie, and R. O. A. M. Lyne (eds.), Epic Interactions: Perspectives on Homer, Virgil, and the Epic Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Danow, David K., Transformation as the Principle of Literary Creation from the Homeric Epic to the Joycean Novel (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004)

Elley, Derek, The Epic Film: Myth and History (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984)

Foley, John Miles (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epic (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)

Hardie, Philip, The Epic Successors of Virgil: A Study in the Dynamics of a Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)

Hainsworth, J. B., The Idea of Epic (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991)

Hurst, Isobel, Victorian Women Writers and the Classics: The Feminine of Homer (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006)

King, Katherine Callen, Ancient Epic (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2009)

Konstan, David and Kurt A. Raaflaub, eds., Epic and History (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Merchant, Paul: The Epic (London: Methuen, 1971)

Miller, Dean A., The Epic Hero (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000)

Johns-Putta, Adeline, The History of the Epic (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)

Newman, John Kevin, The Classical Epic Tradition (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1986)

Quint, David, Epic and Empire: Politics and Generic Form from Virgil to Milton (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1993).

Roisman, Hanna M., and Joseph Roisman (eds.), Essays on Homeric Epic (Waterville, ME: Colby College, 2002)

Toohey, Peter, Reading Epic: An Introduction to the Ancient Narratives (London : Routledge, 1992)

Tucker, Herbert F., Epic: Britain's Heroic Muse 1790-1910 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2008)

Winnifrith, Tom, Penelope Murray and K.W. Gransden, eds., Aspects of the Epic (London: Macmillan, 1983)

Some secondary reading on Ulysses

Guidebooks: (These classic ‘guidebooks’ can supplement the annotations in your edition of Ulysses.) 

Don Gifford, Ulysses Annotated (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988) Weldon Thornton, Allusions in Ulysses: An Annotated List (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968) Harry Blamires, The New Bloomsday Book (London: Routledge, 1996) 

Some suggested criticism on Ulysses 

(This is a small selection of Joycean criticism, from useful collections of essays (Attridge, Latham, Hart and Hayman), to critics who read language and narrative very closely (Kenner, Senn), to works on the Homeric in Ulysses (Flack, Kenner, Seidel), to a few examples of studies which read Joyce through theoretical, historical, comparative, and postcolonial approaches.)

Derek Attridge, ed., The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) — ed., James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’: A Casebook (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) Scarlett Baron, ‘Strandentwining Cable’: Joyce, Flaubert, and Intertextuality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) Frank Budgen, James Joyce and The Making of ‘Ulysses’ (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1961) Vincent J. Cheng, Joyce, Race and Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) Leah Culligan Flack, Modernism and Homer: The Odysseys of H.D., James Joyce, Osip Mandelstam, and Ezra Pound (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) Clive Hart and David Hayman, eds., James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’: Critical Essays (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974) Hugh Kenner, Joyce’s Voices (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1978) — ‘Ulysses’ (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1980) Sean Latham, ed., The Cambridge Companion to ‘Ulysses’ (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014) Karen Lawrence, The Odyssey of Style in ‘Ulysses’ (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981) Andrew J. Mitchell and Sam Slote, eds., Derrida and Joyce: Texts and Contexts, ed. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2013) Katherine Mullin, James Joyce, Sexuality and Social Purity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) Michael Seidel, Epic Geography: James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ (Princeton and Guilford: Princeton University Press, 1976) Fritz Senn, Inductive Scrutinies: Focus on Joyce, ed. Christine O’Neill (Dublin: Lilliput, 1995) — Joyce’s Dislocutions: Essays on Reading as Translation, ed. John Paul Riquelme (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984) 

Online searchable concordance of Ulysses (e.g. if you can’t remember where the renowned Irish hero ‘Napoleon Bonaparte’ is mentioned, type it into a ‘string search’ and untick ‘whole word’) http://joyceconcordance.andreamoro.net/

Ulysses Synopsis

Ulysses: A Synopsis “Telemachia” 1 - “Telemachus” (Oxford World’s Classics, ed. J. Johnson, pp. 3-23 / Penguin, ed. D. Kiberd, pp. 1-28)- The chapter opens with Buck Mulligan celebrating a parodic mass in which Stephen Dedalus becomes an acolyte in spite of himself. Stephen is a melancholy artist obsessed with guilt since the death of his mother; his taciturn nature is contrasted with Mulligan’s clownish joviality. The Englishman Haines, their guest in the Martello Tower, combines seriousness with an enthusiasm for Gaelic culture; the three characters illustrate three possible positions in relation to Ireland, which is symbolised by the old peasant woman who brings in the milk: the dispossessed Son (Stephen), the treacherous usurper (Mulligan); the representant of English imperialism (Haines) who - through his dream of the panther, traditionally a symbol of Christ - is also associated by Stephen with the imperialism of the Roman Catholic Church. Stephen chooses errancy and exile: he gives over his key and will not come back. 2- “Nestor” (OWC 24-36 / Penguin 28-45)- Stephen teaches history and English Literature to a class of well-off schoolchildren who are disconcerted by his caustic humour and riddles. He confronts Mr Deasy (Nestor in Homer’s Odyssey) on Irish history and economics. The old headmaster cherishes his inaccurate reminiscences and promotes thrift, whereas Stephen squanders away the little money he has. Stephen views history as a nightmare. Despite the antagonism, Stephen agrees to help Mr Deasy is his fight against the foot and mouth disease which affects Irish cattle by helping him to publish a letter in the press. 3 - “Proteus” (37-50/45-64)- Stephen’s philosophical and aesthetic meditations lead him to question the reality of the outside world. Through a complex philosophical argument which hesitates between Aristotle and Berkeley, he redefines for himself the nature of visual and auditory perception. His literary recollections blend with the painful evocation of his past, especially the unsuccessful exile in Paris from which a telegram announcing his mother’s death recalled him. The sterility of Stephen’s “creations” in this chapter (which include urinating and depositing a snot on a ledge of rock [cf. Bloom’s own excremental “creation” in “Calypso”]) is pitted against the remarkable metamorphic poetic prose of the narrative and of Stephen’s stream of consciousness. Odyssey 4 - “Calypso” (53-67/64-85)- Leopold Bloom, who will increasingly become the major protagonist, is introduced in his home at 7 Eccles Street and is first seen preparing breakfast for himself and his wife Molly, who is still in bed. He goes out in search of a pork kidney at a Jewish butcher’s, where he picks up a leaflet advertising plantations in Palestine (inaugurating the theme of the lost, promised land, and of the “recall”). He brings Molly her mail, which includes a letter from Boylan, her future lover later in the day, announcing his visit. He explains to Molly the meaning of metempsychosis; the chapter ends with his defecation in the outhouse, mingled with his remarks on cheap literature. 5 - “The Lotus Eaters”(68-83/85-107) - Bloom has left his house for what will become the epic wanderings of an untypical literary hero, on an ordinary Dublin day - 16 June 1904. He first goes to fetch the reply, sent post restante, from his unknown penfriend Martha Clifford, to whom he sends amorous letters signed “Henry Flower”. He runs into several acquaintances on the way, unwittingly “throws away” a tip for the horse races (the source of a later misunderstanding), and eventually goes to the public baths. Throughout the chapter, drugs of all kinds (perfumes, tobacco, medicine, eroticism, religion, etc.) express a voluptuous narcissistic abandonment to the world of the senses. 6 - “Hades” (84-111/107-147)- Bloom goes to Paddy Dignam’s funeral together with Simon Dedalus (Stephen’s father) and other characters already seen in Dubliners. The conversation soon takes on a malevolent anti-Semitic tone which puts Bloom ill at ease. He thinks of death, remembering both his father’s suicide and the death of his son when he was only eleven days old. Bloom catches his first sign of Stephen (who does not see him). 7 - “Aeolus” (112-143/147-189)- Broken down into a series of newspaper articles complete with headings, this episode brings together, in different scenes and locations of the newspaper office, Bloom, Stephen, various “windbags” including Myles Crawford, the king of windy and hollow journalistic rhetoric. The orators outdo one another in eloquence and the parable of the captive Jews provides the Irish with a mythical model. Stephen narrates a story illustrative of the paralysis of his fellow Dubliners which nobody pays attention to, while Bloom the ad canvasser gets severely ticked off by Myles Crawford. 8 - “Lestrygonians” (144-175/190-234)- The “food chapter”: Bloom is obsessed with food (it is between 1pm and 2pm) and alimentary thoughts, and tastes and smells of all kinds percolate through into the language and style of the episode (the rhythm of the chapter is dictated by the “peristaltic” [digestive] movement of the organism). Put off by the monstrous devouring mouths in the restaurant and obsessed by the impending encounter between Molly and Boylan, he finally orders a Gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of Burgundy wine at Davy Byrne’s pub. 9 - “Scylla and Charybdis” (176-209/235-280)- In the National Library, Stephen spins out his Aristotelian theory of artistic creation which boils down to a sublimated autobiography; his paradoxes on Shakespeare’s life and works fail to convince his Platonist audience. In the complex reasoning of the young artist, Shakespeare becomes like a god who begets himself through his works. Bloom puts in an appearance; Mulligan meets up with Stephen and offers a more burlesque conclusion to the philological / theological debate. 10 - “Wandering Rocks” (210-244/280-328)- This chapter is a pause in the narrative of Stephen’s and Bloom’s day, and it has no precise correspondence in Homer’s Odyssey. This central and “pedestrian” chapter is made up of 19 episodes which offer vignettes and snapshots of the various characters and cross-sections of the Irish capital and society, including Church (Father Conmee) and State (the Viceroy’s cavalcade); the chapter breaks down the so far focalised point of view. Stephen and Bloom appear only briefly and are not mentioned among the witnesses of the Viceroy’s cavalcade through the city. 11 - “Sirens” (245-279/328-376)- The language of this chapter aspires to the condition of music and forges linguistic equivalents to trills, staccatos, counterpoints, etc. The venue is the Ormond Bar, run by two flashy barmaids or “sirens”; while the tenors are busy competing against each other in a virile singing contest, Bloom listens and replies to Martha. Having eluded the seductive snares of music, he exits, leaving behind an ironic fart. 12 - “Cyclops” (280-330/376-449)- A satire against the bellicose patriotism and anti-Semitism of the Citizen, the “Cyclops” who eventually attacks Bloom physically, the chapter oscillates between the Citizen’s rhetorical bombast and sarcastic deflations which leave unscathed neither the British Empire nor Irish nationalism, while the anonymous narrator - a sardonic barfly and debt collector - offers a brilliant instance of Dubliners’ garrulity. The narrative is periodically interrupted by parodic asides in other voices and styles. Bloom the wandering Jew, who had come to Barney Kiernan’s pub to arrange to offer some money to Paddy Dignam’s widow, finds himself involved in an argument about nationalism and attempts to expound his conception of humanity, love and homeland. At the end, his escape from the Citizen’s assault is turned into a grandiloquent apotheosis. 13 - “Nausicaa” (331-365/449-499)- Bloom rests on the Sandymount rocks (Stephen in “Proteus” had also walked along Sandymount beach) and gazes at young girls in their bloom. One of them, Gerty MacDowell, teases him into an erection by an increasingly daring exhibitionistic pose; the distant eroticism ends with Bloom’s masturbation, climaxing with fireworks. The narrating voice is that of a writer of the romantic pulp fiction then fed to women - the kind of books read by Gerty, who accordingly sees in Bloom a mysterious “dark stranger”. When the point of view shifts to Bloom, we see Gerty depart limping; Bloom dozes off in postmasturbatory gratitude. The accelerated crescendo of the first “tumescent” part is followed by the exhausted sobriety of the second, “detumescent” half. 14 - “Oxen of the Sun” (366-407/499-561)- Bloom’s and Stephen’s paths cross once more in the lying-in hospital, amidst roistering medics. The chapter takes us through a roughly chronologised pastiche of the different styles of the English language until the turn of the century, deceptively mimicking the evolution of the foetus until its birth. The painful delivery of Mina Purefoy takes on a universal value and, although the talk ominously focuses on sterility and contraception, a thunderclap and a rain shower at the moment of birth symbolise the triumph of fertility. 15 - “Circe” (408-565/561-703)- Blooms monitors from a distance Stephen’s drunken escapade to the red-light district, and follows him into the hallucinatory atmosphere of Bella Cohen’s brothel (Circe’s den in the Homeric parallel). The characters experience metamorphoses in a wild oneiric dramatisation of their fantasies, obsessions and senses of guilt. Stephen gets involved in a broil with two English soldiers and is knocked out cold; Bloom rescues him and transforms him into the ambiguous vision of his dead son Rudy. “Nostos” [=homecoming] 16 - “Eumaeus” (569-618/704-766)- Bloom leads Stephen to the cabman’s shelter, and the shared physical exhaustion (it is past midnight) and the unreliable narrator turn the chapter into an amusing, if often tedious, collection of deliberately jaded linguistic stereotypes, full of misunderstandings and approximations. 17 - “Ithaca” (619-689/766-871)- This impersonal catechism narrates the last actions of the novel: Bloom takes Stephen to 7 Eccles Street and offers him hot chocolate, they exchange views of Irish and Jewish culture, Stephen refuses Bloom’s offer of a bed for the night, they urinate together under the stars, and Stephen finally departs into the night. Bloom, back in the house, finds traces of Molly’s visitor earlier in the day, goes to bed, where he finds other traces of the visitor’s earlier presence, gives Molly an expurgated account of his day, and finally falls asleep, his head to her feet. The dialogic play between questions and answers universalises all the themes, sorts out human knowledge into vast catalogues, and finally transform the couple in bed into astral bodies. 18 - “Penelope” (690-732/871-933)- Molly’s thoughts flow freely along eight unpunctuated, meandering sentences. She begins with a reaction to Bloom’s request that she make breakfast in the morning, continuous with a celebration of her afternoon with Boylan, proceeds to review her marriage, her girlhood on Gibraltar, her infatuations and dreams of future romances, and finally returns to Bloom, seemingly reinstated into her imaginary life; this is one of the meanings of her numerous final “yesses”, also an affirmation of life itself.

Additional suggestions on Joyce's Ulysses/ Odysseus

Some of the texts through which Joyce reads and receives the figure of Odysseus/ Ulysses

Bérard, Victor, Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée [originally published in 1902-03, there are no English translations that I know of; but you can find a lot about it, and Joyce's use of it in the book by Seidel, listed below; Bérard held the view that the Odyssey was "written" by a Greek poet, but recorded the travels of Phoenician sailors - the Phoenicians were a semitic people, which is relevant when you think that Leopold Bloom (Joyce's Ulysses figure) is a Jew]

Butler, Samuel, The Authoress of the Odyssey: Where and when she wrote, who she was, the use she made of the Iliad, and how the poem grew under her hands [originally published in 1897; Butler also transalted the Iliad and the Odyssey. There are various editions, including a cheap Kindle version; and it is in the library. Butler suggests that the Odyssey takes place in the island of Sicily, around the port city of Trapani, and that it is narrated by princess Nausicaa. The relevance to Joyce's book, which set on an island in and around the port city of Dublin, and whose final words are narrated by a woman, is evident.]

Lamb, Charles, The Adventures of Ulysses [originally published in 1808, there are various editions in print, and a free Kindle version. The book really is about the adventures and was meant as a book for boys, not as a full tranlation or account of the entire Odyssey. Joyce read this as child and wrote an essay at school about it!]

See also:

Seidel, Michael, Epic Geography: James Joyce's Ulysses (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976) [not a book consulted by Joyce - of course! - but it looks at parallels between the geography of the Odyssey and of Ulysses and the movements of the characters, and relies extensively on Bérard's Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée]