#also put octavo in there

[eclaire-went-bam]

i've been making these every year since 2021 for fun i can't wait for the time ro make my 2024 one

these are in order from 2021, 2022, and 2023 lmao i got myself some disordered kins

[linderosse]

Are you planning on redesigning Aurora now that you intend to fuse her and Echo?

Yes!!!

I’ve finished the redesign, and now all I’ve gotta do is complete the little minicomic that goes along with it. Expect those out sometime soon!

(Aurora’s game, AoL, is actually one of the two Zelda games I haven’t played yet— and now that I’ve finished EoW, I’m super excited to stream my first playthrough of AoL starting tomorrow— 10/16!)

I don’t think I’ve actually written out the full context anywhere, so I’m going to take this chance to lay everything out:

Echo (EoW Zelda) is being merged with Aurora (AoL Zelda) in the Wisdomverse, and Rhyme (Cadence of Hyrule Zelda) is now also canon, and is Echo’s second adventure. This gives Silent (EoW Link) another game as well by merging him with Rhythm (CoH Link).

Imo, Cadence of Hyrule is the perfect second adventure for Echo and Silent:

CoH has two-player mode, and both Link and Zelda are equally playable, which means Echo maintains her protagonist status and gets to fight alongside her Link for a whole adventure this time.

Their names, Echo and Silent, also kinda fit the musical theme of CoH.

CoH features the Gerudo as one of the main races, who aren’t in any of the other Downfall games except EoW. It also features the Deku Scrubs in the DLC, who aren’t properly a race in *any* games except for MM and EoW.

CoH’s main villain, Octavo, goes around putting people to sleep. Sounds a bit like what happened to Aurora… but I don’t think Octavo is the Wizard— Octavo is not that bad a guy.

Cadence herself, the third part of the protagonist trio in this game, fits well as their new friend.

CoH gives Echo and Silent time to get to know each other properly before they’re cruelly torn apart in the backstory of AoL, presumably (but not certainly!) forever.

(I have indeed 100%ed CoH, then went back and completed Octavo mode, then went back again and completed main mode deathless and 100%ed it again. CoH is a really fun game, guys.)

Anyways, this means:

Echo’s journey: Echoes of Wisdom —> Cadence of Hyrule —> (Great Decline: 400 year timeskip) —> Adventure of Link

Silent’s journey: Echoes of Wisdom —> Cadence of Hyrule

Hyrule’s journey: (Great Decline) —> The Legend of Zelda —> Adventure of Link

Dawn’s journey: (Great Decline) —> The Legend of Zelda

…This is getting rather complex, isn’t it. I should probably make another version of that timeline I made for the Links, but with all the updated info, and with the Zeldas instead. So many ideas, so little time!

Masterpost

[ashmouthbooks]

two fics by missmariie, Floorspace and Heifern’t you had enough of me. both are BBC Shetland, Jimmy/Duncan.

this is the second of the homemade bookcloths I made recently - I’m delighted that I’m now able to make bespoke bookcloths in any colour and pattern I desire! decided to put this to use for a matching set of fics.

the fabric is from Søstrene Grene, backed with tissue paper. the endpapers are double sided origami paper also from Søstrene Grene, 70gsm. the text is printed on Munken Pure Smooth Cream 90gsm.

these are both A7 octavos, but slightly different: one has a spine and the other has not, instead a tiny breakaway spine that rounds out from the textblock.

[mendedrum]

"Magic, so that's what it felt like. No wonder wizards didn't have much truck with sex." Rincewind knew what orgasms were of course, he had a few in his time, sometimes even in company. But nothing in his experience even approximated to that tight, hot moment when every nerve in his body streamed with blue-white fire and raw magic had blazed forth from his fingers. It filled you and lifted you and you surfed down the rising, curling wave of elemental force. No wonder wizards fought for power... and so on.

Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic (via Rincewind)

..........

Rincewind experiencing sensory and sensual overload because he used magic for the first time (thru the Octavo 8th spell's powers).

The other implications of these quote

Rincewind is the rare wizard with a sexual life (by himself or with others)

WIzards are so used to magic that sex don't give that much pleasure to them or confuses them (Outliers: Nanny Ogg and Bengo Macarona)

Puts into perspective on how senior wizards generally don't know what to do when they feel horny (looking at you, Senior Wrangler)

Witches got their shit together much better than their male counterparts (since the gals get married and can still do their jobs properly)

...also damn what an apt description of an orgasm this is lol.

[ohmightydevviepuu]

fanbinding: bar nights and christmas lights

there's a little christmas fic that is among the several that i adore, one i come back to every year. it's small and very lovely. this year, when i pulled it up for my annual reread on a quiet and moody saturday night, i also opened up my word processor and put together a typeset. i could see it almost immediately: a little gem of an ocatvo, with a cover like a snowstorm, and christmas lights.

(to be fair to the author, the scene in the fic is very specifically about replacing an old multi-color string of lights with new white ones. about making a home in a quiet place with warm, bright lights twinkling for the season.)

so here it is--my tiny octavo of @nowforruin Bar Nights and Christmas Lights, originally written in 2015. it is a paperback sewn board book, made from bristol board covered in homemade bookcloth with a cardstock spine for some sparkle.

[admiraltypress]

I've bound my first book!!

This is an octavo sized hardcover of Cicada Sings Amongst Bamboo by @shadaras!

I didn't want my Tiny Books Bang assignment to be my first attempt at binding, so I reached out to Shadaras and typeset this fic to be the same page size as that typeset. It really did help to have another fic to practice on before moving on to the Tiny Books Bang books, and I'm excited to have this fic as the start of my collection. It really fits the vibe of a lot of my taste in fic... I definitely plan to bind a lot more canon divergence and rarepairs in the future!

I will also be working on an author's copy of this bind, it is just put on hold until FFWAD is sent off! I'll be able to fix a few minor issues, particularly the size of the book boards (these ones are a little too wide for the textblock).

The bookcloth is homemade from a piece of fabric that's been in my stash for years (too small for a lot of things) and I found the endpapers recently! I was also able to sew head/endbands, which turned out better than I had expected. I originally wanted to add a ribbon bookmark, but I ended up deciding that the ribbon I had was too wide.

I'm also really happy with how the typeset turned out for this! I had to adjust the title page several times to fix issues with the margins, but it was worth it. I also found some great public domain images to reference the title on the title page and the beginning of the story (since this is a one shot!)

My favorite spread is pages 68 & 69! It shows off so much of my formatting, including the section dividers and the shaded background for letters (copied from the original fic on AO3). But what I really love is on page 69: "a gap full of ink drops and dried scratches!"

Altogether I'm really happy with how this turned out, and I'm excited to make another copy 💜

[kamy2425]

(Discworld Fanfic) The Meaning of Death: Chapter 11

*Living Biography Books~A School Field Trip To The University~Where IS That Cup Of Tea Death Mentioned?*

“So…um.”

SQUEAK!

Rincewind squinted at the creature, fairly certain he’d heard something vaguely intelligible beneath the squeaks. “I don’t think I’ve got any cheese on me, no.”

The hooded rodent stomped its skeletal foot with impatience.

SQUEAK! SQUEAK!

Failing to make useful conversation, the Death of Rats tilted its head and pointed at a door with its miniature scythe.

“Right,” said Rincewind, chuckling nervously. “As if I’m going to follow a suspicious creature into the hallways of Death—”

The Luggage, ever the opportunist, bolted after the rat.

The Death of Rats lunged through a crack into the large, ominous door, with the Luggage crashing into it, attempting to wedge its bulk through.

“Are you quite finished?” Rincewind asked, giving the Luggage just a few seconds before its legs gave up, splayed pathetically on the floor. It glared at its owner with something between wounded pride and spite.

“I reckon it’s one of those doors you have to pull,” Rincewind said dryly.

The Luggage tilted its lid.

“Oh, don’t believe me, do you?” Rincewind muttered, stepping forward and grasping the handle. “Watch and learn—”

He froze mid-sentence, eyes darting through the now open door. The Luggage leaned forward as well, crowding behind him. A library. Not just any library—a vast expanse of books spiraling into infinity. It almost rivaled the Unseen University’s.

Almost.

But something was off. These books were... too well-behaved. No chains, no growling. No rebellious incantations trying to leap off the page. Not one book rebelling against their readers. Rincewind ran a hand along their spines and sensed something—importance. And oddly enough, they were all named after people.

“Biographies.” Rincewind muttered under his breath, “These must be books written by-wait no that’s not right.” He ran up with such energy, putting his finger breeze through the pages as his mind wandered into a world of words. 

“They’re alive.” he said, wide-eyed, “Each one of them is a person, and this is their life! Written here! Everything! This is fascinating I-”

No. Don’t. He told himself. Get a grip. You’ve done this before. 

That little curious spark inside him did him no good. Last time he got curious with a book was when he was a teenager and got dared into reading the Octavo. Long story short, it caused one of the spells to enter his head and prevented him from casting any magic. Even if he went to the whole trouble of taking it out, his magic abilities never came back. 

Just look. He told himself, no touch.

Closing his eyes, he could hear the faint, endless scribbling. The lives of millions, buzzing around him, their stories in constant conversation. But what about the others? The ones not glowing with gold lettering?

Rincewind’s gaze fell to the bottom shelf. He barely hovered a finger near one of the duller books when it began to crumble into dust. He stepped back, hand over his mouth, bumping into the Luggage.

“Sorry.”

The Luggage, as usual, showed no inclination to understand or care, already wandering off in search of the Death of Rats.

Rincewind frowned, deep in thought. If these books capture every second of a person’s life, they must also record... their last.

A sudden chill ran down his human spine. With much speed, he skimmed the titles of every book that started with the letter T. Rincewind scratched his head and turned over to the F section. 

“Ah, of course.” Rincewind sighed as his arm rose to a particular book and turned over the more recent pages. 

It reads:

2:30 pm, Twoflower is enjoying a peaceful lunch in the park. A blue butterfly lands delicately on his finger. He regrets leaving his iconograph at home.

Rincewind smiled. He could see it clearly. The non-existent pen scribbled on:

2:35 pm, Two-Flower found a coin on the ground. What a lucky day, he thought as he picked up the coin. He tossed it at a nearby fountain, closed his eyes and began to pray.

‘I hope my letter will arrive safely to him’. He wished, ‘Too bad I didn’t get a picture of that butterfly. I shall draw him one!’

Rincewind closed the book as though it were on fire. "Right. The letters…”

He cringed, picturing the pile of unopened letters stuffed under his mattress. It’s not that he disliked the guy. Quite the opposite. Twoflower was probably the only human alive who liked him. Who didn’t see him as a failed wizard or a coward. And that’s why... the letters stayed unopened. And Rincewind won’t even dare to write him back. Yup, that makes total sense.

Trying to distract himself, Rincewind decided to search for his own biography. Oddly enough, his was encased in glass, a worn, red-leather tome.

Well, that’s…ominous.

He lifted the glass and opened the book, noting the red bookmarks scattered through the pages. Just to be thorough, he flipped to page one:

“WOMAN RAN AWAY. THEN RINCEWIND WAS BORN.”

Yup. Sounds about right. The book didn’t even bother with the details. Rincewind had very few early memories, though he did recall one when he was about eight years old. Yes, that was when he first visited the University.

He visited the University as a school trip, you see. Children were lining up to place their little curious hands on an orb that measured their magical potential. On his turn, little Rincewind put up his palm on the device, which of course, caused it to break instantaneously. Having to be chased down by the staff and the students that didn’t get a turn, Rincewind hid behind the curtains for the rest of the day. Since then, the University didn’t quite remember as to why they had one more student in their faculty. And Rincewind stayed there ever since. 

It is safe to say, they never let another school trip to that place. It was, of course, for the safety of the wizards. 

He never thought much about his past. He never thought of a life outside being a wizard in general. But those little red bookmarks? They piqued his interest. As his hand touched one, the seam of gold thread flew from the book, manifesting a door in the wall. "Rincewind" was inscribed above it. The door swung open, beckoning.

A gentle force nudged him forward, but a familiar voice echoed behind him.

CURIOUS? asked Death.

The door slammed shut. Rincewind spun around, defensive.

“Curious? Me? Haha, that’s pretty much the OPPOSITE of what I do. Curious. haha.”

Death hummed as its flaming eyes looked over the non existent door,

HAVE YOU ENJOYED YOUR STAY?

“Not exactly my cup of tea,” Rincewind muttered.

WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE?

Death handed Rincewind his much awaited drink.

“Erm, thanks.” Rincewind sipped.

Blast it. 

It was perfect. 

This tea really is to die for.

For the Fic!

[hc-svnt-dracones]

OK, so, I read a really sweet middle grade book a while ago (I've been reading everything this author puts out, she's a new fave of mine, her name is Kate Alice Marshall) that was called Extra Normal, and the main character was a 12-year-old girl whose parents were basically the married couple in the Conjuring, if they were less R-rated. And the mom has mega psychic/empathic abilities.

The main character, Charlie, has 3 adopted siblings: an 11-year-old werewolf brother who was a foster child, an 8-year-old brother who was rescued from a lab ala Eleven in Stranger Things, and a 6-year-old sister who is a ghost who died in a house fire in the 1930s. But SHE, our main character, is Utterly Normal. She has ZERO supernatural capability and feels that she, therefore, needs to prove her worth to the family and to the various spooky-stuff-agencies her parents work with, which she hopes to also work with someday. There IS a villain proper in the story, and the villain is still also how parentified this poor kid is.

Anyway, in the end she finds out that she's SO normal that supernatural things that mean her harm sort of bounce right off her, and if they try to hurt her (or specifically to the villain in this story: drain her essence/energy/magical potential) it can kill them, because she lacks even the base level amount of magic most people have. In this particular story, it also means that she also cannot be tricked by the glamor the villain is able to cast over every other normal person or supernatural entity in the neighborhood, and sees them for exactly what they are from the beginning (this does not mean that she is in for an easy time, though, or that she doesn't get tricked by characters she thought she could trust. Genuinely, it was a really good read!).

ANYWAY. I just saw a post of the quote from The Colo(u)r of Magic (I think?) where Pterry describes how there are 8 levels of Wizardry on the Disc, and Rincewind has never accomplished even level 1, and how professors at UU suspect he might be incapable of level 0, which is the level most people are born at*. And now I'm thinking about Rincewind being like Charlie from Extra Normal. SO unmagical that he's unknowingly resistant to magical dangers. That the magic leaps away from him like opposing ends of a magnet, or water off a duck's back, or one of those water snake toys where the whole idea is that it's impossible to hold onto solidly. The magical equivalent of knurd.

*which seems unfair, he DID do magic in Light Fantastic-- he unlocked the door in the tower even before reading the spells from the Octavo, and I'm VERY proud of him!

[hooksbooks]

The O in ABO is for Opera Ghost

Now that the author has received it, I can show off this bind! The Phantom of the Opera is a fandom I enjoy, but I don't check in on it very often. Recently I checked in and found that @kotaka-kun had written a bunch of ABO one-shots and drabbles where Erik is an omega and Christine is an alpha. Which, hello, didn't know I needed THAT in my life but YES PLEASE. Female alpha with male omega? Absolute favorite. Erik who is absolutely worshipful of Christine but still socially awkward? Love it. Possessive Christine going "See this weirdo? This is MY weirdo, no one gets to say bad things about him. No, not even you, Erik" like a boss? The most fabulous. So, anyway, I read all their stories and decided that I really needed a physical copy of these ASAP (and then read them all again for good measure).

In a completely unrelated event in the same week, I was introduced to the dwarsligger format of books, which has its text arranged parallel to the spine so that to read the book, the spine is held horizontal instead of vertical. Like a flip-phone, for us olds.

[ID: A dwarsligger book, held open. It has a top page and a bottom page rather than a left page and right page, as the spine is parallel to the lines of text. The whole thing is about the size of a hand. /End ID]

I thought this format of book would be PERFECT for these stories, as they gave me very "it's not like other people do it, but that doesn't mean it's wrong" vibes, which I feel this format of book reflects perfectly. New, different, maybe a little unnerving, but also a little intriguing at the same time.

I format my textblocks in MS Word, and it was tricky to arrange things into a "top" and "bottom" instead of the more regular verso and recto (left and right), but the WORST part was getting the page numbers to work correctly. Because the page numbers are only displayed on the bottom pages but Word has the top and the bottom as different pages, it wanted to put the page numbers as 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. I had to go digging real deep in the MS Word niche features to figure it out. I ended up finding the information I needed on a nearly-20-year-old blog that kept referring to Word 2007 as "new Word". Whenever you need really precise, niche information, it's always on a 20-year-old blog, they're the best source of knowledge. If anyone's curious, I ended up having to do some math in the page number field codes so the displayed page number was always half of the actual page number + 1 (using integer division). So 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. became 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Unfortunately the Table of Contents field codes are a black box and don't let you edit the internals, so I had to generate the table of contents (which displayed the actual page numbers instead of the displayed page numbers) and then edit all the numbers myself.

On the bright side, this format and size of book (it's an octavo, so one-eighth of a letter-size sheet of paper) is PERFECT for a drabble collection. A title, plus 100 words, plus a page number, exactly fits on one top-and-bottom spread.

I of course made myself a copy as well as an author copy. However, there were...issues.

[ID: A black and brown copy of the same book lying on a cutting mat, front covers up. They're both titled "The O in ABO stands for Opera Ghost" with the text arranged parallel to the spine, but the brown copy is noticeably narrower and the title barely fits on the cover. /End ID]

When I trimmed my copy, I measured wrong (or rather, measured right but in the wrong place) and trimmed the right side twice. Luckily I had left large enough margins that I didn't trim off any text. I'll just trim the left side by the same amount and I'll just have tiny margins on my copy, no problem, right? Wrong. I immediately proceeded to cut off all my kettle stitches on the left side.

[ID: A hand holding a dwarsligger book open with a thumb under the stitching in the middle of a signature, showing that the knots securing the stitching have been completely cut off on the left side. /End ID]

Luckily the stitching is secured at three other points and I glued the spine well, but it was still a face-palm moment.

Technical details:

Size: Letter-octavo dwarsligger

No headbands on this one (intended to, forgot until I glued the oxford hollow on, at which point it was too late)

Rounded but not backed

Chisel-trimmed

Things I especially liked about this bind:

The format! So weird, so delightful

Things I would improve next time:

Not cutting my stitching off, ideally.

Overall, I love the stories and like the bind. (I also read all the stories through again once I had the finished bind in my hands. Still loved them.) It works, it's functional, it would have been better if I hadn't trimmed my copy way too narrow, but live and learn and it still works so it's fine.

[aaronburrdaily]

August 29, 1809

I did go to bed at 10, promising myself a rich sleep. Lay two hours vigil¹; that cursed one single dish of tea! Note: My bed had undergone a thorough ablution and there were no bugs or insects. Got up and attempted to light candle, but in vain; had flint and matches but only some shreds of punk which would not catch. Recollected a gun which I had had on my late journey; filled the pan with powder and was just going to flash it when it occurred that though I had not loaded it someone else might; tried and found in it a very heavy charge! What a fine alarm it would have made if I had fired! Then poured out some powder on a piece of paper, put the shreds of punk with it and after fifty essays succeeded in firing the powder; but it being dark, had put more powder than intended; my shirt caught fire, the papers on my table caught fire, burnt my fingers to a blister (the left hand, fortunately); it seemed like a general conflagration. Succeeded, however, in lighting my candle and passed the night till 5 this morning in smoking, reading, and writing this. "Essai sur le Caractere, les Moeurs et l'esprit des Femmes".² Par M. Thomas; second edition, Paris: 1772; small octavo, 215 pages. Well written; much historical information; many books, of which I had not heard, are quoted. He meant to be liberal and [a] friend to the sex, but like all I have read, has set out wrong; has not seen the source of the evil, though the evils are acknowledged, and of course has not found the remedy; this will remain for Gamp. "Tableau Litteraire de la France pendant le 18me. siecle." Sujet propose en 1806 par la Classe de la langue et de la litterature.³ Paris: 1807. Octavo; 91 pages; close printed; anon. This I presume to be a sort of prize piece. It is well written; his distinctions are pretty good but his eulogies extravagant. "Le Voyageur Fataliste"; comedie en trois actes en vers⁴; par Armand Charlemagne; Paris: 1806. I had foresworn French comedies and hate comedy in verse; this, though long, was not found tiresome. "Rapprochement des Arbres".⁵ Duodecimo, about 150 pages. Paris: 1807; par ———. Where have I laid that book? Will find it to-morrow and give you the author's name. It is a new discovery by which you give to any tree the sap and nourishment of another or of some branch of another, and by this means you may change and improve the colour, size, and flavour of any fruit. The results are curious and useful; pray try it. You see, Madame, I have not been idle; now allow me to attempt sleeping.

29. P.M. Slept very well till 10 when Mr. D. came in a la souedoise⁶ on some very urgent message, which I answered only by a round of curses. However, I was waked and got up. Took breakfast at \i. Feuilliéd⁷ (rummaged) in the library for two or three hours (there is an arrival of new books from Paris); then walked out with Gransbom to try the market for guineas; changed four at 8 rix dollars 36 sch. each. Waited an hour for Barth without success. Called at the post-office; no letters. No doubt my letters are stopped by the British government! 'Tis impossible that every human being can have forgotten me for four months. For my female friends I would swear, but what remedy. Me voici.⁸ Post I will go off to Hamburg or Memel. As soon as I can find Barth will hunt for passages to ——— everywhere and then determine. Called at the lodgings of Bar. Ulfspasre, for whom I had a letter from London and just now determined to deliver it; has left town. Home at 6. On the way called to see Captain Van Alen. Mjolk and brö. for middag and afton.⁹ Read an hour or two in "L'ltineraire de l'Allemagne"¹⁰; Paris: 1807. You see I am preparing! Read also a treatise (French) on the authority of parents, i.e. fathers, for women are not in question. Cannot now lay hand on it to give you the title, but will find it. The subject was proposed by the Institut National and this book gained the approbation and the prize. In my opinion no way flattering to the genius of the nation. There is, indeed, a good deal of historical fact, but much declamation and flourish.

1 This word, which has been used several times, is a Latin adjective meaning wakeful. 2 "Essay on the Character, the Morals (or Manners), and the Mind of the Women." 3 "Literary Picture of France During the Eighteenth Century." A Subject Proposed (proposé) by the Class in Language and Literature [of the French Academy]. 4 "The Fatalistic Traveler." A comedy in verse in three acts. 5 "The Bringing Together (Junction) of Trees." 6 For à la suédoise. After the Swedish fashion. 7 Another hybrid verb, and badly formed, from French feuilleter, to turn over the leaves of a book. 8 Here I am. 9 Swedish. Evening. 10 "Itinerary of Germany."

[4th-make-quail]

well, after another size change i'm almost done with my typeset! i'm gonna make it an octavo size now, which is very wee but it puts the page number at a respectable 86 pages! also had a bit of a colour scheme change to match the banner accents - i'm really fucking happy with how it's turning out! one more pass to check for widowed and orphaned lines, then i'm gonna attempt to print it next week i think :DDDD

cue lots of crying as i try every physical step for the first time, but hey! LEARNING!!!

[golvio]

I can’t wait to actually get a better idea of what TotK/BotW Ganondorf is like so I can start going off on another tangent about him being an artist.

Like...art’s always been a personal interest of his, as a character, even if the game doesn’t really actively embrace that and use that to make a point about him as a character because the man is not allowed to have Traits.

We’ve seen him do stuff like playing the organ in OOT, and then there’s the basement full of portraits in the Forest Temple that were also very likely his own works. OOT3DS took this a step further by adding assets that turned the hallway leading up to Phantom Ganon’s room into a little gallery of impressionist paintings that don’t jive with the style of the portraits outside of the basement, suggesting that they were a later addition brought in by you-know-who.

And then there was that whole bit in Wind Waker, where his primary passion was theater and performance. He performs multiple soliloquies for Link, which are among his most famous and oft-quoted lines among the fandom. He puts on a puppet show with this giant marionette that expresses his own frustration with his destiny. Even his fighting style looks like a dance.

And in Cadence of Hyrule, where he picks up music after being inspired by watching Octavo through the window, building his own instrument and refusing to come out even after the door to his home is unblocked so he can devote himself solely to practicing.

Yet…he doesn’t get to define himself as “an artist” the way other characters do. Ganon’s own interests outside of the boss room are unimportant. At best, they’re treated as set dressing to hype the player up for the boss fight.

Yuga gets to define himself as an artist. His self-esteem is wound up in his own work. His work is his only love and is used to say something about him as a character, even if that something is just “he’s a pretentious jerk who thinks he’s better than everyone else.” Ganon’s own love for art and how his relationship with it compares/contrasts with Yuga isn’t brought up at all. ALBW Ganon is barely even a character. All the passion and creativity comes exclusively from Yuga, while Ganon himself is a mere tool, a medium through which Yuga sculpts himself.

Octavo, too, is allowed to define himself through his art, his relationship with his music, his personal passions. His climactic boss fight is a literal recital, performed before an adoring audience of monster soldiers. Ganondorf, on the other hand…the audience is given the impression that he sees his art merely as a tool with which to dominate others. He’s just a big mean thug with a weapon that happens to be musical for you to stomp down to prove how far you’ve come and save the world. His personal feelings about his work, his development as an artist (including his foray into experimental electronic music and building his own synthesizer), the profoundly autistic way he expresses his passions, how his beast form that’s used as shorthand to depict him giving in to his worst impulses is defined not by traditional animalistic warlord behavior but by him devoting himself entirely to his music and forsaking all else, and how other people feel about his art is completely unremarked upon by the other characters by comparison. When you fight him, there is no audience. He’s not allowed to perform or want to perform. He’s not “supposed” to hold recitals or want people to understand and appreciate his music. He’s not expressing interest or passion in the “correct” way, and therefore his internal life is completely ignored. As the BBEG who exists solely to be killed in a test of strength, he’s not supposed to have an internal life in the first place.

TotK has this strange, dissociated reprise of the “puppet show” in WW. He’s made all these puppets in his own likeness, has sent them aboveground to perform on the great stage of Hyrule in a display that’s impossible to ignore. But the artist himself is absent. He doesn’t lend his voice to the characters he’s created, and all they can do is growl and scream, maybe occasionally darkly chuckle to themselves. None of them have faces. Even Calamity Ganon, at best, only has a distorted, unrecognizable likeness of the man whose image he was made in.

TotK itself is a game about creation and creativity. Not only that, but it seems to be pulling back the curtain on Ganon’s artistic process, the media he used to create his myriad marionettes and hostile sculptures in his own likeness. But until we actually meet the artist himself, we have no way of knowing what his relationship with his whole body (bodies?) of work is, much less whether Nintendo is actually interested in answering this question and making this association with art and the act of creating a work a more integrated part of his character instead of mere set dressing that’s breezed past by the narrative to get to the exciting stabby part.

[bombcollar]

I've been thinking long and hard about my Octavo origin headcanons so I finally put them down in fic form! Being not overly familiar with the greater LoZ lore I ended up forgoing the Vaati relation for the most part and instead asked the question: what if Octavo was also a living instrument?

[quintiliusheartripper]

Pen emoji for vytt and kytt and one more for uriah!

Ohoho…

Vytt and kytt will be done together since they are deeply connected to one another.

These two are my bad guys. Like i intentionally make them awful. I listen to a true crime podcast and sometimes i hear something so horrifying i am like “oh… write that down for vytt and kytt”. So you have vytt, a serial killer, and kytt who is a rampant sex offender that went to the flame legion for a very obvious reason.

My recent addition to their past has been deepening their own childhood trauma because i learned recently of modern places people will pay to put their children who are just “too much” whether due to trauma or autism into that still practice horrid techniques of physical torture, humiliation, and sexual assault on children in the guise of making them into good citizens. It was semi-shocking to hear of this still being practiced into the 2000’s and clearly all built up on the horrors from residential schools.

The sad part is if you go through rylands past you can see atleast 18?years ago the fahrar still used brutal near death punishment to cubs. All for the sake of making a good soldier. So you have two cubs- one who is visually an outcast even if he is brilliant and one who isnt good at anything and is often humiliated for it. However just like many of the other they didn’t have to go down the path they did. Another student, Octavos, took that abuse and went on to demand changes in the legions, even if it was often ignored in grothmar. He advocated for better surveillance and preventions of abuse, for a more united unsegregated fahrar system to support interlegion work, fought for the ceasefire (previously saving humans lives when it was dangerous and not looked kindly to do so), and more. But he was also a tribune based in grothmar at a early age and so had that voice to try and enact the changes or atleast start making people think about the change even if those around him preferred the old ways.

Regardless a massive slew of things made vytt and kytt easy targets for flame legion recruitment. Vytt was interested in power. He could see a niche to carve out. Kytt who has recognized his mesmer powers by now just wants the sex. They kidnapped two blood legion soldiers who had similar horns and body shapes and killed the warband (that reluctantly took them as cubs but would put them under the bus first). They scorched the bodies in a way that would suggest flame legion and ash would accept them all dead. Untill Tribune Octavos met Vytts cub.

As flame legion soldiers they were two very odd choices. Vytt convinced them to make him into a spy so the flame legion threw him to a monster they assumed would kill him quick (he aint a magic user anyway) but one of the things that made him special for scout work and spy work was the fact that kytt, who didnt want to do any of that, tattooed him with magic. He made a connection between them so if vytt needed Mesmer magic like disguises or portals he can easily pull kytts power and use it (all while kytt stays in the flame citadel trying to impresss the traditional elemental shamans that a mesmer shaman would do them great stuff)

That monster was Cruciata. She was a high legion interrogator with a particular hatred for flame legion. And boy was she a thorn on their sides because she would have important members kidnapped and they would be killed once she had the info she needed. Or worse she would throw them back to the flame legion with as a cruel cruel joke because whatever charr who came under her fingers were destroyed. The worst part to some shamans was the fact that however she was getting her info it was clear she got it accurate and the legions staved off the expansion into high legion territories because of it. And vytt took a different angle to this issue. He had watched her and realized something peculiar- she enjoyed the human cultural tradition of wooing and would spit in your face if you tried to bed her in the crude charr ways. Looking into her apartment at the black citadel it was even clearer that she had a soft spot for what were traditionally human things. Stolen instruments, flowers, the dresses she wore… and so he decided to romance her.

He played himself off as an unfortunate gladium from grothmar. One who would approach her with flowers and poetry, somwthing he enjoyed as a cub. It worked and when she suddenly disappeared for 9 months (or however many months it takes for charr to have cubs) the flame legion was impressed.

He would occasionally be whisked away to other places to do spy or dirty work for the flame legion. The only time kytt did work was rooting out mesmer ash soldiers and giving them to vytt or whatever flame legion was available who wanted to torture some poor soldier. Vytt never knew his dear mother that he was closw to died this way. He wouldnt have joined the flame if he did.

Vytt and cruciata would continue to get close but she was so embarrased that she fell for a gladium that everything was secret- just as vytt preferred. Sometimes she would foolishly talk about what she was doing and vytt would pass that info onto the flame legion. He learned when his cub came of age, a cub he never met untill later in life, that the reason she was able tonget the info out of charr as good as she did was because something about the magic in their inherited blood mixed with a ancient spell meant they could rifle through their brain if they specified just right what they were searching for. Vytt fell in love with her. With her admirable cruelty and the way she kept encouraging him to write. Become a poet! Become a singer! He almost did but power was waved in his face before he decided on ot. She had kidnapped a very very high up flame shaman and the flame legion wanted her gone once and for all. He will become a tribune and the flame legions scouting and spy master while kytt will become a high shaman as part of the deal.

And he took it. He would invite cruciata on a date, knock her out, and be the one to plunge the blade that would cause her to burn to ash from the inside out. He would be promoted and kytt would become even more a menace in the flame legion but he would save people when the commander helps rytlock, logan, and the pact take down gaheron. Someone had to get the citizens to safety and his mesmer magic worked long enough to hide them untill they got to a safe area. Afterall there was massive sentiment among the high legions that all flame legion should be wiped clean and the charr were in a frenzie to do just so. You think they would have believed anyones words of peace back then? Especially from male flame legion shamans like Efram?

They didnt stay for the scarlet stuff. He and kytt would break away and be their own thing But i have to go to work so i guess i should atop gushing about vytt and kytt and go onto uriah

Uriah

Now hes partyly kytts story because he is one of kytts cubs. Kytt had many other cubs and coulsnt seem to have boys. They just kept being born female which was second class in flame legion. Hes the first one born since he had become a high shaman. He convinced a centuries old shaman family to let him marry one of their daughters.. They were reluctant but gaheron sealed that deal. Uriah was soon born- an albino intersex cub. Kytt being the awful man he was was disgusted by this and demanded his young wife kill the cub so he wouldnt be associated with it but she refused. He divorced, with some violence, and convinced gaheron to drop her to a slave class for her decision to keep the cub.

Unsure what uriahs gender was he was sent to a female fahrar but he soon dropped out. His mother had been caught smuggling cubs out of the flame legion and helping people who were left for dead. She was a trained doctor after all. Kytt suggested that they should cut her arms off for the punishment and woth that uriah came home to help her cook and clean and eventually he would learn some of her nursing skills. She would take uriah with her to bandage one charr, help anothwr. It was a rough beginning but uriah would donit all over just for his mom.

Uriah will grow to be more masculine and with that he was given a apprenticeship, ironically also due to kytts influence, with a welder/blacksmith because the cub was good with making things from scraps. As a teen he would quietly make friends with others who wanted equality in the flame legion, to modernize and to give a truce to the high legions. He and his little ragtag warband would start to influence and get people to join their currently silent revolution. Uriah was good with words and having been who he was, a intersex charr that many knew from the fact he would help heal the downtrodden with his mother, he was a bit of the spokesperson and the one who could bring up words that moved people.

He and his warband sadly made the mistake to start this at the immediate aftermath of the attack on the flame citadel. They assumed with gaheron dead they could overthrow the old order. It failed. Too many shamans were still alive as scarlet hadnt mutilated them yet and many of the general populace was scared for their lives if they showed support. It would be ciolently crushed and only uriah would be left alive from his warband all because kytt thought it a crueler punishment.

With uriah known his mother begged him to leave. Either a flame legion shaman will kill him or a high legion soldier will since they talked of total destruction of the flame legion. He would relent, sadly saying goodbye to his mother and quietly escape. He would find a pact camp, announce he was a gladium because of the flame legion fight who was tired of the legions and wanted to help a bigger cause. He was good at welding. He would become a pact welder who was shy and kept to himself

Anyway i got to work so this is what you get

[otherviosmainblog]

For the anon ask game - First time I saw you was bc of the Vaati and Octavo piece you drew. I was mesmerized by your art and how easy art seems to be for you. I wanted to get to know the human behind this cool art :D i think at first i had put you a biiiitttt on a pedestal bc your art is so cool and you are so recognized XD but dw while i still admire your art i also value you as a human and friend now ^^ (and i bet u can guess who i am by my writing style alone lol) 👉👈

Haha I know who this is from ;P

But thank you! I didn't know it was the Vaati and Octavo piece that led you to find me, but I also can't say I'm surprised. ;D I'm glad we've become friends too!

[btetm]

1977 GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION By Frances A. Yates Very Good Esoteric

1977 1st Edition 3rd Printing,

GIORDANO BRUNO AND THE HERMETIC TRADITION

By Frances A. Yates

Dame Frances Amelia Yates DBE FBA (28 November 1899 – 29 September 1981) was an English historian of the Renaissance, who wrote books on the history of esotericism. After attaining an MA in French at University College London, she began to publish her research in scholarly journals and academic books, focusing on 16th-century theatre and the life of the linguist and lexicographer John Florio. In 1941, she was employed by the Warburg Institute in London, and began to work on what she termed ""Warburgian history"", emphasising a pan-European and inter-disciplinary approach to historiography. Her most acclaimed publication was Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (1964), in which she emphasised the role of Hermeticism in Bruno's works and the role that magic and mysticism played in Renaissance thinking. The Art of Memory (1966), and The Rosicrucian Enlightenment (1972) are also major works. Yates wrote extensively on the occult or Neoplatonic philosophies of the Renaissance, which she is credited with making more accessible.

Illustrated By:

Format: Hardcover,

Language: English

Dust Jacket: Yes, Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good

Published By: Routledge and Kegan Paul, London

octavo (8vo 6 × 9 152 × 229),Pages 480

ISBN:

Placing Bruno—both advanced philosopher and magician burned at the stake—in the Hermetic tradition, Yates's acclaimed study gives an overview not only of Renaissance humanism but of its interplay—and conflict—with magic and occult practices.

""Among those who have explored the intellectual world of the sixteenth century no one in England can rival Miss Yates. Wherever she looks, she illuminates. Now she has looked on Bruno. This brilliant book takes time to digest, but it is an intellectual adventure to read it. Historians of ideas, of religion, and of science will study it. Some of them, after reading it, will have to think again. . . . For Miss Yates has put Bruno, for the first time, in his tradition, and has shown what that tradition was.""—Hugh Trevor-Roper, New Statesman

""A decisive contribution to the understanding of Giordano Bruno, this book will probably remove a great number of misrepresentations that still plague the tormented figure of the Nolan prophet.""—Giorgio de Santillana, American Historical Review

""Yates's book is an important addition to our knowledge of Giordano Bruno. But it is even more important, I think, as a step toward understanding the unity of the sixteenth century.""—J. Bronowski, New York Review of Books

SKU: BTETM0002477

Approximate Package Dimensions H: 12.5, L: 30, W: 25 (Units: cm), W: 2Kg

Very Good - 1977 edition is same black and red DJ as the original 1964 edition; some age related wear and spotting. A lovely copy. xiv + 466pp Please see photos as part of condition report