#fay/fable

[ink-stains-and-constellations]

I officially have three spellings of 'fae' in my neopronoun collection. This was not originally intended, but I am not unhappy with how it has turned out. (Can you tell I like faeries lol)

[zerozeroren]

Fay and her quirky girlie fashion

(She sews these herself with her mom's assistance, but embroidery is entirely made by her, she loves embroidery)

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Propaganda under the cut.

Theresa

throughout the ENTIRE series shes pulling the strings and commiting VERY morally questionable acts and also ruining certain characters lives for "the greater good" of albion, which ITSELF becomes extremely questionable as the series progresses. literally thee ultimate morally grey girlboss

Morgana Pendragon/le Fey

Sure, she did brainwash merlin into killing Arthur, also tried to kill Merlin, and took his magic, plus kill some of the knights (gwaine and lancelot). But like she was taught to fear magic then found she was magic and fear took over. Plus merlin poisoned her, hurt morgouse, hid his magic and pushed her down the stairs. Oh and Uther turned out to be her father and what is more damaging than finding out you're related to him through blood, and no less because of a affair, cheating on a woman who's death caused a kingdom-wide ban on something that morgana didn't get to choose, and possibly others didn't choose either. Also her outfits are absolutely awesome, even when it's 'crazy homeless woman in the woods chic'. Also I'm convinced she's the one that told Arthur those threats he used in the first episode. She defo sussed he's bi and decided to help.

She was a straight up hero in the first season, then spent some time with her sister and came back evily smirking everywhere. She is played by Katie McGrath so of course she's girlboss (also she's royalty)

[queersrus]

Literature theme

[literature theme]

types of literature, a general theme with nothing too specific picked out

mystery theme(link)

(Nick)Names:

auto, autobio, autobiogra, autobiographi/autobiography, aca, acade, academ, academe, academi, academia book, bookette, booketta, bookelle, bookella, bookine, bookina come, como, comedi/comedy

drama, dys, dysto, dystope, dystopi, dystopia, dystopian esse, essey/essay/essae, essie fictia, fiction, fanta, fantasy, fable, folk, folklo, folklor/folklore, folktai, folktale, fae/fay/fai/fey, fairy/faerie/fayrie, fairytale/faerietale

gen, genre, genra/genera histo, histori/history, historia, historica, historical, histfi, historfi, histofi, histoficti, horr, horro, horror litera, literatura, literature, literaturette, literaturetta, literaturelle,

literaturella, literaturine, literaturina, literar, literari/literary, lege, legend, legenda, lyr, lyre, lyri, lyric, lore myth, mytha, mytho, mythos, mythic, mythica, mythoca, mythaca, mytholo, mythology/mythologi, mag, mage, magi, magic, magica,

magical, mem, memo, memoi, memoir novel, novela/novella, nonfi, nonficti, nonfictia prose rome, roma, roman, romanti, romantic, romantica, romana, romanta,

romantica, romance, romancia, rev, revi/revie, review, rea, real, reali, realis, realism, realisme, realisma scifi, sciefi, sciefic, scienfi, scienfic, scienficti tale

1stp prns: i/me/my/mine/myself

li/le/ly/literarine(literaturine)/literaturself li/litere/literacy/literarine/literaryself(literacyself) bi/be/by/bookine/bookself gi/ge/genry/genrine/genreself

2ndp prns: you/your/yours/yourself

lo/literature/literatures/literatureself lo/literacer/literacers/literacerself(literacyrself) lo/literaryr/literaryrs/literaryrself bo/booker/bookers/bookerself go/genrer/genrers/genrerself

3rdp prns: they/them/theirs/themself

lit/literature, lit/erature, liter/ature, litera/ture, literature/literatures, litera/cy, literacy/literacys, lit/eracy, lit/literacy, lit/literary, liter/ary, litera/ry, lit/erary, literary/literarys bo/book, boo/k, bo/ok, bo/ook, book/books, book/mark gen/re, genre/genres, gen/genre

Titles

the literacy expert, the literary device, the literature librarian, the literature reader, the reader of literacy/literature, the writer of literature, the author of literature

*one who writes literature, one who reads literature, one who oversees literary devices, one who hoards books of literature

author, writer, reader

*one can be replaced with any prn.

feel free to ask to be tagged when we post

[dailydemonspotlight]

Bai Suzhen - Day 146

Race: Drake Arcana: Fool Alignment: Dark-Neutral December 16th, 2024

Ahhh, snakes, what has mythology done to you? These adorable little limbless critters have become the subject of so many baseless rumors in so many mythologies! From Adam and Eve's downfall at the hand of a lying serpent, to the Hydra's great many heads, snakes have had a bad rep in many mythologies, and... well, it makes sense. A snake could have spelled the end of a life, back in the day, as untreated venom would kill a person slowly, and there wasn't any quick fixes or antidotes back then. However, in today's society, I intend to rehabilitate the Snake's image, and I'm not the only one who liked them- in fact, as the story of Bai Suzhen, today's Demon of the Day, shows, the ancient Chinese were rather big fans of them, too.

The Legend of Bai Suzhen, also known as the Legend of the White Snake, is a rather well known Chinese fable originating in Hangzhou, and it's a story with many iterations and places it's spread to- it's gone beyond just China and spread to Japan and many other countries nearby, even all the way up to France. The basic premise of the story is one that's been repeated often, but in several different forms throughout many mythologies- an animal turning into a human to pursue their true love. This trope can be seen in varying forms with many other fables, such as with some stories related to the Selkies, for example... though the story I'm thinking of is far less... consensual. Ew. Still, the White Snake falls on the more wholesome side of the coin, instead being a tale about one Bai Suzhen, a powerful snake-demon who hides far under the water.

Depending on the tale, Bai Suzhen either achieves a human form through a gift from one of the eight immortals or from her own diligence, and she attains this form due to a longing for human life. She ends up falling for a human doctor named Xu Xian at first sight, possibly due to her being saved by him in a past life when she was just a snake, and as she meets with him more they form a bond that quickly turns into a romance. Now, this is where things change again, depending on the retelling- it's sometimes seen as a tragedy, while others claim that Xu Xian was tricked by the evil snake, but either way it ends with Bai Suzhen's true form being revealed. In the retelling I'm working off of, a buddhist monk named Fai Hu appears before the couple and tells Xu Xian that his newly wedded is a snake spirit, procuring a wine to transform her back into her true form. As she drinks it, she shifts back into a snake, and the now heartbroken Xu Xian ends up going into shock, suffering a breakdown that leads into his death.

Desperate to save her husband, as her feelings for him were genuine, Bai Suzhen ends up stealing a herb from the land of the immortals and brings her husband back to life. However, the newly revived Xu Xian follows along with Fai Hu to a temple to cleanse himself, leading to Bai Suzhen attacking Fai Hu by 'unleashing the waters and flooding the temple,' actually being a really clever tie to a Chinese Idiom that goes as follows: 大水冲了龙王庙 (大水沖了龍王廟), or "surging waters flooded the Dragon King temple," meaning to not be able to recognize a familiar person and causing a dispute between them. This can be seen in the story as in the fact that Bai Suzhen attacked her own husband, who likely didn't recognize her, and it led to a major scuffle. However, during the battle with Fai Hu, the couple's child they bore together would end up offering sacrifice to his mother in more widely accepted (and far less tragic) ending to this tale (whatever that means) and ends up collapsing the pagoda around them, causing the family to reunite with each other, recognition back in their eyes.

Overall, the story is pretty intertwined with a lot of other elements that show themselves in Chinese literature, but the ultimate theme at the end of the day is the dedication and love shown between a weird doctor and his hot snake wife. D'awww... Anyway, what's the deal with her design in SMT? (Also, in a lot of retellings, there's more characters such as an emerald snake that accompanies Bai Suzhen named Xiaoqing, but the retelling I was working off of culled that as it was a general rundown of the overall plot of the play.)

Bai Suzhen's design in SMT takes a lot from both sides of her being- her immortal snake-spirit side, and her human side- and combines them both into a unique and honestly gorgeous design. The white color palette is rather obviously a tie to her being the white snake, while the green jade atop her headdress may be a connection to Xiaoquing. I'm not so sure where the flowing robes come from, but they certainly add a very unique vibe to this already fantastic design, so I'm not complaining. Overall, she's a very fun and well-designed demon with a huge folkloric presence, and she's a NON VILLAINOUS SNAKE IN A MYTH! At least, in most retellings. There are... exceptions. Thanks for reading, and have a good one :)

[petit-atelier-de-poesie]

NOTE DE LECTURE : Le nom sur le bout de la langue. Pascal Quignard. 1995

Encore une fois, il m'a fallu du temps pour me défaire des mots de l'auteur et retrouver les miens pour exprimer mon ressenti. Ce livre extrêmement court est inégal mais aussi infiniment dense, et Pascal Quignard, toujours aussi énigmatique au premier abord, laisse inévitablement son empreinte dans l'inconscient des lecteurs. 

J'ai commencé ma lecture par la fin, à savoir le "Petit traité sur Méduse". C'est un récit très personnel de l'auteur qui, lorsqu'il était enfant, voyait sa mère chercher le mot, le regard perdu dans le vague, et le laissait lui suspendu à ses lèvres.  Je me suis trouvée moi-même bouleversée, médusée ou plutôt sidérée, par cet exposé sur le manque du mot, le langage acquis puis omis, sur le rapport de l'auteur au monde et au langage, au silence aussi et plus tard à l'écrit, à cette jouissance-là. Je fais le lien avec le manque et le désir, la vie et la mort, le rapport au temps et à l'autre, le rapport à soi et au sens. 

Puis je suis retournée au début, j'ai lu une sorte de prologue intitulé "Froid d'Islande" dont je garde aucun souvenir, et continué ma lecture avec le conte dont l'ouvrage porte le titre "Le nom sur le bout de la langue". C'est une fable au sujet d'une amoureuse qui devient brodeuse, et envoie en mission son amant pour tenir sa parole et se jouer du prince des Ténèbres et des Enfers. Il s'agit là comme dans un conte de répétions et de dissimulations, de mémoire et de mensonge, de promesse et de tendresse. 

Avant de retourner enfin au texte par lequel j'avais abordé ce livre, le fascinant "Petit traité sur Méduse", dont la magie m'interroge encore, comme une réminiscence.

[pupsmailbox]

STARTING WITH F

MASCULINE︰ fabian. falan. falcon. families. faris. farley. faron. farrell. felipe. felix. fenix. fenton. ferdie. ferdinand. ferdy. fernando. finlay. finley. finn. finneas. finnegan. finnian. finnick. finnigan. finnley. fischer. fisher. fitz. fitzgerald. fitzroy. flanagan. fletcher. flick. flint. florence. floyd. flynn. ford. forest. forrest. fortune. foster. fox. fran. francesco. francis. francisco. franco. frank. frankie. franklin. franny. fraser. frazier. fred. freddie. freddy. frederic. frederick. fredrick. fredy. freeman. fulton. fynn.

FEMININE︰ fabiana. fabiola. fae. fahari. faiga. faigy. faith. faithe. faiza. fall. fallon. fallyn. families. fancy. fannie. farah. farrah. fatima. fatimah. fatoumata. fawn. fay. faye. fayla. felecia. felicia. felicity. fenton. fern. fernanda. ferne. fiadh. fina. finlee. finleigh. finley. finnley. fiona. fiora. fiorella. fleur. fleurette. flor. flora. florenca. florence. floretta. florrie. florry. flossie. flower. fortune. fraidy. fran. francene. frances. francesca. francine. francis. francisca. frankie. frannie. franny. freda. frederica. freida. freya. freyja. frida. frieda. frona.

NEUTRAL︰ fable. fabrice. fae. faint. fairy. faith. falcon. fallen. fallon. false. families. fang. fantasia. fantasy. fargo. farley. farren. farris. fate. favor. fawn. fay. faye. fears. feat. fee. felice. felix. felony. felt. fem. fen. fence. fenix. fenyx. fern. fernley. ferocity. ferris. fiction. fig. figure. fin. finally. finch. finder. findley. finish. finite. finlay. finlee. finley. finn. finnick. finnlee. finnley. firefly. firework. firey. fisher. flag. flail. flair. flash. flax. flight. flint. flip. flood. flora. florentin. florentine. floret. florian. floris. florry. flow. flurry. flux. flynn. focus. forest. forever. forfeit. forlorn. forrest. fortune. foster. fox. fran. francais. frances. francis. frankie. fraud. freddie. free. freedom. fresh. frey. friday. friso. fritz. fritzy. frost. fuschia.

[justforbooks]

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

I received a special copy of this book from one of my very best friends. It was originally published in 1982 – not new, but an important classic. The Mists of Avalon is a ~900 page retelling of the legends of King Arthur, his Companion Knights, including Sir Lancelot, and the Round Table – but from the perspectives of the women involved, including Queen Guinevere (here Gwenhwyfar), Arthur’s mother the Queen Igraine and her sisters, Queen Morgause and Avalon’s Lady of the Lake Viviane… and most centrally, Arthur’s half-sister and lover, Morgaine, who we have also known as Morgan la Fay or Morgaine of the Fairies, and Viviane’s sometime successor as Lady of the Lake. Among others. (Sorry. These name changes are a bit to follow. Lancelot here is Lancelet, etc.)

I generally stay away from books of this length in recent years – I don’t know when I last read a book of 900 pages. It took some adjustment around paid reviews and deadlines, but I’m grateful I was able to find time for this one. It took a little over two weeks but was worth every minute. I enjoyed being able to sink into a story this sprawling, which does call for some in-depth engagement, as we follow generations and lifetimes, a quite convoluted family tree, and shifting allegiances (and names).

My own background with the Arthurian legends is weak, although I definitely loved T.H. White’s The Once and Future King when I was young (high school? earlier still? that one over 600 pages), and I remember an illustrated book of the tales of the knights of the Round Table at some point… I have a loose sense of the romance and idealism of Arthur, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Camelot, but brought no muddied plotlines to this reading. It seems The Mists of Avalon is understood partly as corrective to Morgaine’s reputation as evil sorceress from previous tellings.

There’s no question that Bradley’s is a big, complicated, engrossing story. Its prologue begins with a brief, italicized reminiscence of Morgaine’s from later in her very long life; these retrospective views will punctuate the book. Then we move (with book one, “Mistress of Magic”) to Igraine, who will be mother to both Morgaine and Arthur, when she is a teenaged bride to the much older and coarse Duke Gorlois of Cornwall. Igraine was raised on Avalon, that magical, misty island where an ancient, pagan, woman-centered religion has long been fostered. She has some priestess training and some of the Sight, but it’s been her duty to be a wife and a mother: her daughter Morgaine is Gorlois’s child, and she will later marry Britain’s High King Uther and have a second child who will become the fabled King Arthur. So we begin with Morgaine’s infancy and before Arthur’s birth. I will begin fast-forwarding here… much has been written about this book, and you don’t need my plot summary.

Morgaine will become a priestess of Avalon, and she will become very powerful indeed, but will have to serve the Goddess in ways that pain her deeply. In four parts – “Mistress of Magic,” “The High Queen,” “The King Stag,” and “The Prisoner in the Oak,” we see her play the role of the maiden, the mother, and the crone. She is fierce in her protection and promotion of the religion in which she is trained. It is central to the story of Arthur’s reign, in this telling, that (under Gwenhwyfar’s influence) he shepherds Britain toward a homogenous Christian faith, away from a diversity of indigenous traditions, including the goddess cult of Avalon, and Morgaine fights that transition mightily. Her story is, I think, a tragedy, and includes strong threads of that classic tragic element, hubris (a term Arthur invokes once).

Bradley has chosen to tell this story mostly in a series of close-third-person perspectives, so that the reader can see the thoughts and feelings of one character and then another (the exception being those italicized first-person moments with an older Morgaine), so that we understand that each is dealing with insecurities and ultimately, mostly, good intentions, which heightens the sense of tragedy: that both Arthur and Morgaine want the best for Britain, that Viviane knows she will hurt her beloved niece Morgaine but feels it necessary for the greater good. It is a very fine literary trick to set up no absolute villains or heroes, but rather to offer us flawed humans who try hard and fail. It is hard, though, not to sympathize with the side that wishes to preserve its tradition as one of several, rather than the one that wants to squash out all but one religion.

There are many plot threads, romances, love affairs, couples that produce children (all-important heirs) and those that don’t. There are many themes, a number of which involve women’s various roles in society: to bear children, to be chaste, to support their mates, to participate in political machinations (or not), to be involved in one religion or another. An important difference between the rites of Avalon and those of Christianity centers on sex, which is either a grievous sin in all contexts except strict (marital) reproduction, or a beautiful celebration of life, the natural world, the God and the Goddess coming together. [Same-sex encounters are not many, but also not absent. No surprise that Avalon and Christianity handle them in different ways.] Morgaine’s tradition is inherently feminist, and at odds with Christianity, in that it holds that women belong to no man and may take lovers as they choose and as serves their worship and their life’s work.

This is a work of fantasy (as in magic and sorcery), and a classic retold, as well as historical fiction, as Arthur’s legend offers a version of how the Great Britain we know today came to be. Bradley’s work offers another take, in which a brave woman undertakes to defend indigenous traditions in a time of political and religious upheaval. The outcome, I think, doesn’t change much, but the way we view the different players involved matters a great deal. It’s also, of course, about human relationships. Morgaine, Arthur, Gwenhwyfar and Lancelet go back to childhood together, and there is a refrain late in the book of recalling the few of them who had once been young together. There’s a pretty strong thread of sympathies between friends, lovers, enemies, and those who move between those categories, even when they wind up killing one another.

Bradley’s storytelling is absorbing. It was easy to fall into a world very different from my own here, in the details of women’s lives in royal castles – dark, monotonous, filled with gossip and spinning and sex that’s not entirely consensual, even for privileged women – and in the rapture of Avalon’s powerful priestesses. The mysticism of that religion, the spell of Goddess-blessed sex, and the strong feelings of characters willing to die for their beliefs are all evocatively told. The romance, intrigue and pathos of that famous love triangle between Arthur, Gwenhwyfar and Lancelet is powerful and discomfiting. Heavier scenes are as well written as the light-hearted and humorous ones; Bradley’s characters’ humanity is always present. It was a hell of a journey, and I’m glad to have made it.

Whew. Thanks, Liz.

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at Just for Books…?

[thievesandwitches]

anya chalotra. cisfemale. she/her. 28/800+ ⸻ king roberon cole welcomes morgan faye to fabletown—or, as they were once known, morgana le fay from arthurian legend. before the magic mirror, they come glamoured in the mirage of fragrant herbs drying in a sun-soaked room, intended for both elixirs of life and draughts of death; dark hair cascading down a slight frame whose shadow seems to move independent of the source; commandments spoken to those who idolize her power, or those who fear it all the same; patience for the beginning or the end, whichever presents itself first. the tale from which they hail exalted their + cunning and + persuasive, but decried their - vindictiveness and - self-serving in equal measure. no matter; this time, they shall write their own. in accordance with the fabletown compact, they are granted amnesty for any and all transgressions, even that which is little known: much of morgan's power has been siphoned from her followers, including the nine magical sisters of her fables, and it would fade significantly without the 13th floor under her control. + leader of the 13th floor ⸻ 

FULL BIO COMING SOON

[grimmertales]

it  is  with  immense  excitement  that  king  cole  welcomes  the  following  fables  to  town.  please  review  the  checklist,  the  blogroll,  and  submit  your  blog  through  the  ask  within  the  next  twenty-four  hours,  whereupon  you  will  receive  a  link  to  our  discord  server.  we  will  begin  plotting  tomorrow,  april  22,  at  7  p.m.  cst  /  8  p.m.  est;  members  may  begin  posting  their  introductions  then.  —  see  you  around,  fable.  i  hope  you  find  what  you’re  looking  for.

odile von rothbart (mikey madison) as odile.

margaret häcker (lea seydoux) as gretel and a detective slot + wolf (the big bad wolf)'s wc.

nisa zemheri (esra bilgiç) as snow white and the representative of fabletown + wolf (the big bad wolf)'s wc.

robin goodfellow (dev patel) as puck.

yvonne robertson (ruth wilson) as lady macbeth and a mayoral secretary slot.

ginevra villa (jane de leon) as guinevere and a performer slot.

chaisee tan (davika hoorne) as cinderella.

dorothy gale (alexa barajas) as dorothy gale and a performer slot.

phillip fairbanks (charles melton) as prince charming and the head physician of the knights of malta.

hansel häcker (yokohama ryusei) as hansel.

haruka russo (serena motola) as princess kaguya and a librarian slot.

briar thorne (daniela nieves) as briar rose (sleeping beauty).

faye darlowe (madelyn cline) as tinkerbell.

mali narak (mint ranchrawee) as rapunzel.

robin loxley (michiel huisman) as robin hood and a proprietor of the lucky pawn slot + maris leaford (maid marian)'s ex-husband connection.

morgan faye (anya chalotra) as morgana le fay and a leader of the 13th floor slot + wolf (the big bad wolf)'s resurrector connection.

gawain (tamino) as gawain and a physician at the knights of malta slot.

peter peverell (archie renaux) as peter pan.

belin abaci (ayça ayşin turan) as beauty.

pleasance hargreaves (eve hewson) as alice liddell (alice's adventures in wonderland) and a bartender slot at the trip trap.

[zerozeroren]

Expectations, expectations

[scotianostra]

Happy 60th Birthday Scottish actress Blythe Duff, born 25th November 1962 in East Kilbride.

Her love of acting started with youth theatre. On leaving Hunter High School she joined The Company, a youth opportunities theatre company, based at the Glasgow Arts Centre in Washington Street and spent her summers with the Scottish Youth Theatre. She entered the profession in 1983 with her first job at the Young Playwrights Festival, I’m sure she would have known my old school friend, who won The Young Scottish Playwright of the year award back then, may he rest in peace.

Blythe worked in theatre for seven years, appearing with Scottish Opera in Street Scene as Shirley Kaplan in 1989, and at the Coliseum Theatre in London with the English National Opera. She also performed on the soundtrack album which was released on Decca Records in 1989. She was working for Scottish Opera when she landed the role of Jackie Reid in the sixth series of Taggart in 1990. Her first appearance was a community police officer in the second episode of the sixth series, “Death Comes Softly”, on 3rd December 1990, in which she is credited as playing WPC Reid. In the third episode, which first aired on 31st December 1990, she was credited as playing Jackie Reid and her character was seconded to CID as DC Reid. By series eight in 1993 her character was promoted to Detective Sergeant. She became the longest-serving member of the Taggart cast after James Macpherson left the show in 2002. The last Taggart was shown in 2011, seeing Jackie Reid finally reach Detective Inspector.

Apart from Taggart, and a couple of short films Blythe has only really appeared as herself, voice overs and quiz shows etc as well as crime shows and documentaries. She has however performed on stage regularly and was a double winner, in 2013 and 2014, of the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland, for her role as Fay Black in Iron, Rona Munro’s psychological drama set within a women’s prison.

Duff is married to former police officer Tom Forrest and became stepmother to his two daughters Sarah and Katie. She was made a patron of Scottish Youth Theatre in the year 2000. Blythe was Chieftain of Bute Highland Games in 2009 and Chieftain of the Cowal Games in 2011.

She was given an Honorary Doctorate in June 2011 from Glasgow Caledonian University for her outstanding contribution to the performing arts.

In 2020 Duff and singer Cameron Barnes teamed up to re-imagine the classic Christmas song Fairytale of New York to raise funds for freelance creatives and their families.

Blythe said about growing up in Calderwood, East Kilbride, surrounded by references to Shakespeare due to the new town’s habit of clustering local street names around a certain theme. “The streets all had brilliant names” she says. “You live next to Edmond Kean and Hamlet and MacBeth, all these theatre references on street signs. I wonder whether or not that was soaking into my subconscious from an early age. I only thought about that when I was older but I like the idea.”

Duff has recently joined Joinsed the cast of the World Premiere of New Musical Wild Rose, she recently commented, “I really can’t wait to start rehearsals for Nicole Taylor’s brilliant Wild Rose. The film really landed with so many people and I have a feeling the musical will live up to all expectations. It was late 80s when I last played on the Lyceum stage so I can’t wait to be in that beautiful theatre again.

The production begins its life in Scotland where the piece is set, opening The Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh in 2025 as part of the company’s Spring season. Based on the excellent, critically acclaimed award-winning film of the same name written by Taylor, directed by Tom Harper and produced by Faye Ward (Fable Pictures), the production opens on 14th March, with previews from 6 March, and runs until 5th April.

[dreamyrainlabs]

A bunch of OCs based on my irl friends (yes, this loser here does have friends... I know, unbelievable).

Poofbloom works as a mushroom collector and is a scientist specialized in fungi. He is also a femboy.

Fay Fable is a storyteller who is half alicorn half dragon because my friend deserves to be special. And she works as a librarian.

Miss Misty is a perfume shop owner, she is very fabulous but underneath the fashion and frivolity she is a talented chemist.

Seagleam is a lighthouse keeper who loves to tell ghost stories, she is a great swimmer and loves the coast.

I was gonna make more, but then university started and I lost sight of it. Maybe another day. For now I'm happy.

[morally-grey-girlbosses]

Bracket is up! Matchups are in text form under the cut. Reminder that all of these matchups were chosen randomly, and that this bracket will be run in a double elimination style, so a character failing out in round one does NOT prevent them from proceeding into the tournament.

Ursula Boulton (Merge Mansion) vs. Betty Grof (Adventure Time)

Evelyn Wang (Everything Everywhere All At Once) vs. The Coin / Boss (Blaseball)

Morgan Le Fay (Fate) vs. Edelgard Von Hresvelg (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

IMOGEN (Stellar Firma) vs. Amalexia (Elder Scrolls)

Maeby Funke (Arrested Development) vs. Manon Blackbeak (Throne of Glass)

Taylor Hebert / Skitter (Worm) vs. GLaDOS / Caroline (Portal)

Cleo DeNile (Monster High) vs. Nico Robin (One Piece)

Helen Richardson / The Distortion (The Magnus Archives) vs. Calanthe (The Witcher)

Irving Braxiatel (Thieves & Tardises) vs. Nefera DeNile (Monster High)

Alina Starkov (Shadow & Bone) vs. Lady Barbrey Dustin (A Song Of Ice & Fire)

Eclipsa Butterfly (Star vs. the Forces of Evil) vs. Jennifer Check (Jennifer’s Body)

Moira O’Deorain (Overwatch) vs. Captain Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Carribbean)

Iron Maiden Jeanne (Shaman King) vs. Artemis (Greek Myth)

Tomie Kawakami (Tomie) vs. Dame Obsidian (Murdle)

Rachel (Animorphs) vs. Juri Han (Street Fighter)

Shego (Kim Possible) vs. Asajj Ventress (Star Wars)

Tabitha Scarlet (Scarlet Hollow) vs. Morte Asherah (Sands of Destruction)

Theresa (Fable) vs. Morgana Pendragon/Le Fey (BBC Merlin)

Nailgun Sue (IRL) vs. The Witch (Into the Woods)

Chara / The Fallen Human (Undertale) vs. Nimona (Nimona)

Klaasje Amandou (Disco Elysium) vs. Margot “gottiewrites” Garcia (An Unauthorized Fan Treatise)

Prince Ianthe Naberius the First, the Lyctor Prince, the Saint of Awe, previously known as Ianthe Tridentarius, the Princess of Ida, heir to the House of the Third, Mouth of the Emperor, the Procession, House of the Shining Dead (The Locked Tomb) vs. Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade Series)

Anna Croft (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint) vs. Sailor Galaxia (Sailor Moon)

Ms. Pauling (Team Fortress 2) vs. Lady Alcina Dimitrescu (Resident Evil)

Charlie Magne/Morningstar (Hazbin Hotel) vs. Vriska Serket (Homestuck)

Willie Jack (Reservation Dogs) vs. Gretchen Klein (The Wilds)

Rachel (Tower of God) vs. Galadriel (Lord of the Rings)

Charlie (Don’t Starve) vs. Pomegranate Cookie (Cookie Run)

Rose Quartz / Pink Diamond (Steven Universe) vs. Filo (Shield Hero)

Tokiko Shigure (Ai: The Somnium Files) vs. Sandy (TokiDoki Cactus Friends)

Shion Sonozaki (Higurashi When They Cry) vs. Banica Conchita (Evillious Chronicles)

Mima (Touhou) vs. Yūko Ichihara (xxxHolic)

Yuno Gasai (Future Diary) vs. Laerynn Coramar-Seelie (Critical Role)

Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs. Granny Weatherwax (Discworld)

Catherine Earnshaw (Wuthering Heights) vs. Susie Haltmann (Kirby: Planet Robobot)

Lae’Zel (Baldur’s Gate 3) vs. Starlight Glimmer (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic)

Dr. Frank-N-Furter (Rocky Horror Picture Show) vs. Angela (Library of Ruina)

Miranda Vanderbilt (Monster Prom) vs. Jinx (Arcane / League of Legends)

Rose Thorburn Jr. (Pact) vs. Eva (Umineko When They Cry)

Empress Phillipa Georgiou (Star Trek) vs. Shiv Roy (Succession)

Paige Duplass (The Silt Verses) vs. Akua Sahelian (A Practical Guide to Evil)

Poison Ivy (DCEU) vs. Nickel (IDW Transformers)

Joyce Messier (Disco Elysium) vs. Reagan Ridley (Inside Job)

Kalina (Fantasy High) vs. MegaGirl (Starship)

Sloane Parker (Eidolon Playtest) vs. Power (Chainsaw Man)

Marcille Donato (Dungeon Meshi) vs. Raiden Ei / Beelzebul (Genshin)

Patty Bladell (Insatiable) vs. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley (House MD)

Tanya von Degurechaff (The Saga of Tanya the Evil) vs. Fang Runin (The Poppy War)

Nomi Malone (Showgirls) vs. Han Sooyoung (Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint)

Wu Zetian (The Iron Widow) vs. Lariska (Bionicle)

Teresa Agnes (Maze Runner) vs. Emma Perkins (Hatchetfield Series)

Lucrecia Mux / Maligula (Psychonauts) vs. Nadja of Antipaxos (What We Do In The Shadows)

Akako Koizumi (Magic Kaito) vs. Junko Enoshima (Danganronpa)

Blackberry (Chicory: A Colorful Tale) vs. Malva (Pokemon)

Vermouth (Detective Conan) vs. Kumoko / Shiraori (So I’m a Spider So What)

Eleanor (Do Revenge) vs. Bryony Halbech (Red Valley)

Asuka Langley Soryu (Neon Genesis Evangelion) vs. Terezi Pyrope (Homestuck)

Leliana (Dragon Age) vs. Archbishop Rhea/Seiros (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Grimora (Inscryption) vs. Anthy Himemiya (Revolutionary Girl Utena)

Audrey Redheart (Wandersong) vs. Kyoko Sakura (Puella Magi Madoka Magic)

Fujiko Mine (Lupin III) vs. O-Ren Ishii (Kill Bill)

Anne (WOE.BEGONE) vs. Gwendolyn Poole (Marvel Comics)

Lappland Saluzzo (Arknights) vs. Avrana Kern (Children of Time)

Harley Quinn (DCEU) vs. Cassandra Jones (Rise of the TMNT)

Faith Lehane (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) vs. Rosalyne-Kruzchka Lohefalte / La Signora (Genshin Impact)

Revan (Star Wars) vs Rue Kuroha / Princess Kraehe (Princess Tutu)

Eve (The Bible) vs. Prospera Mercury (Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch From Mercury)

May Angelica Jones Goodwin (It Takes Two) vs. Elle Williams (The Last of Us)

Marina (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas) vs. Naksu / Mudeok (Alchemy of Souls)

Patrick Bateman (American Psycho) vs. Sucre (OFF)

SHODAN (System Shock) vs. Cocolia (Honkai: Star Rail)

Alana Bloom (NBC Hannibal) vs. Halea Haumea (Phantomarine)

Delirium of the Endless (The Sandman) vs. Arcee (IDW Transformers)

Morganthe (Wizard 101) vs. Wu Zetian (History)

Jude Duarte (Folk of the Air) vs. Miranda Pryce (Wolf 359)

Perihelion/ART (The Murderbot Diaries) vs. Kanamori Sayaka (Keep your Hands off Eizouken!)

Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum (Adventure Time) vs. Anais Watterson (The Amazing World of Gumball)

Croix Meridies (Little Witch Academia) vs. Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)

Harrowhark Nonagesmius (The Locked Tomb) vs. Big Mama (Rise of the TMNT)

Katherine Pierce (The Vampire Diaries) vs. White Gladys the Orca (IRL)

Doctor Carmilla (Doctor Carmilla & the Mechanisms) vs. The Handler (Umbrella Academy)

Catra (She-Ra & The Princesses of Power) vs. Liliana Vess (Magic: The Gathering)

Jasnah Kholin (Stormlight Archive) vs. Liraz (Daughter of Smoke & Bone)

Lilith Clawthorne (TOH) vs. Medea (Greek Myth)

Odin (The Bifrost Incident) vs. Enma Ai (Jigoku Shoujo)

Mordred (Fate) vs. Nana Daiba (Revue Starlight)

Beatrice (Umineko When They Cry) vs. Hester Shaw (Mortal Engines)

Balalaika (Black Lagoon) vs. Any Female Praying Mantis (IRL)

Veronica Sawyer (Heathers) vs. W (Arknights)

Angelica Pickles (Rugrats/All Grown Up) vs. Eleanor Guthry (Black Sails)

Asha Rahiro (Kubera One Last God) vs. Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

The Administrator (Team Fortress 2) vs. Shadowheart (Baldur’s Gate 3)

Noi (Dorohedro) vs. Leopardstar (Warrior Cats)

Sue Miley (Your Turn to Die) vs. Beatrix Kiddo (Kill Bill)

Juliette Cai (These Violent Delights) vs. Rat God (Mad Rat Dead)

Petra Solano (Jane the Virgin) vs. Kycilia Zabi (Mobile Suit Gundam)

Franziska Von Karma (Ace Attorney) vs. Monika (Doki Doki Literature Club)

Anne Boleyn (History) vs. Cinder Fall (RWBY)

Kokomi Teruhashi (Disastrous life of Saiki K) vs. Major Margaret Houlihan (M*A*S*H)

Mrs. Lovett (Sweeney Todd) vs. Enyo (Granblue Fantasy)

Claudia (Interview with the Vampire) vs. Essun/Syenite/Damaya (Broken Earth Trilogy)

Lady Eboshi (Princess Mononoke) vs. Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower (Bloodborne)

Entrapta (She-Ra & The Princesses of Power) vs. Ilsa Faust (Mission: Impossible)

Princess Azula (Avatar: The Last Airbender) vs. Dahlia Hawthorne (Ace Attorney)

Samantha Groves / Root (Person of Interest) vs. Charlotte “Lottie” Matthews (Yellowjackets)

Shanoa (Castlevania) vs. Sally Reed (Barry)

Evil Lynn (He-Man) vs. Makima (Chainsaw Man)

Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls) vs. Raphaella La Coginzi (Doctor Carmilla & The Mechanisms)

Edalyn Clawthorne (The Owl House) vs. Yennefer of Vengerberg (The Witcher)

Toriel Dreemurr (Undertale) vs. Monaco (Hetalia: Axis Powers)

Elizabeth Swann (Pirates of the Carribbean) vs. Vala Mal Doran (Stargate)

Wanda Maximoff (MCU) vs. Adelina Amouteru (Young Elites)

Mapleshade (Warrior Cats) vs. Amy Dunne (Gone Girl)

Gertrude Robinson (The Magnus Archives) vs. Hornet (Hollow Knight)

Homura Akemi (Puella Magi Madoka Magica) vs. PearlescentMoon (Double Life SMP)

Lady Bone Demon (Lego Monkie Kid) vs. Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson Series)

Jung Sun Ah (Devil Judge) vs. Muu Kusonoski (Milgram)

Romanadvoratrelundar (Doctor Who) vs. Electra (Starlight Express)

Rouge the Bat (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Akane Kurashiki (Zero Escape)

Wen Qing (The Untamed) vs. Yubel (Yu-Gi-Oh)

Ponyo (Ponyo) vs. Renata Glasc (League of Legends)

Aubrey (OMORI) vs. Menou (The Executioner and Her Way of Life)

Olivia Octavius (Into the Spiderverse) vs. Anna Limon (Mabel)

HG Wells (Warehouse 13) vs. The Shapeshifter (Odd Squad)

Miles “Tails” Prowler (Sonic the Hedgehog) vs. Isabella (Promised Neverland)

Riley Grace Davis / Bonesaw (Worm) vs. The Fairy Godmother (Shrek 2)

Misty Quigley (Yellowjackets) vs. Nami (One Piece)

Olivier Mira Armstrong (Fullmetal Alchemist) vs. Lucretia (The Adventure Zone: Balance)

[fay-and-the-forest]

First Tumblr post!

Hi everyone! I decided to create this Tumblr blog to publish all Fay-related content.

Let’s address a few subjects first…

-What is Fay?

Fay, or Fay’s story, is the provisional name of my literary/creative project. Fay’s story is a fable/fairytale-like short novel with an episodic estructure.

The story features talking animals and plants who live normal lives in a forest in the way you’d expect. But the forest has a peculiarity: every year, a small and magical creature called Lumin is born. Lumins are pixie-like creatures who ensure the forest creatures have a peaceful and happy death. The novel follows the story of Fay, a curious and innocent Lumin, as she helps animals and plants and learns what life is (and what her life is) along the way.

In Fay’s story, you might find a taste reminiscent of other works such as The Little Prince, The Moomins, and just fables in general. I intend for it to appeal to children and adults alike.

-How will the novelette be?

It will have some illustrations with a vintage feel – just like an old children’s book!

Don’t expect lots of action. Although Fay and friends have little adventures around the forest, the novel is mostly conversational.

Each chapter covers the wish of a dying forest creature. It will have a prologue and six chapters (this may change in the future).

-What will we find in this blog?

Any kind of content about Fay’s story I come up with: Illustrations, character designs, fragments, sneak peeks, character info…

-What stage of the process is the project at?

The novelette is currently being proofread/changed/rewritten (all by me). The illustrations are in the making too.

-Will we be able to read it?

Yes! I intend to publish it for free, although I don’t know in what medium, as I’m not really fond of Wattpad and the like. That’s something I will have to consider in the future.

Another thing to point out is that the novel is being written in Spanish, my mother language. If there’s interest in the project, I might consider writing it in English too, once the Spanish version is finished.

-When will it be finished?

I don’t know. Since this is a project I’m doing for fun and for free, I have to prioritize lots of other things in my life as of now. There are also my health problems: although I can live and work with them, there are times when I go through a worsening that makes me bedridden for a week. This is why I don’t feel comfortable setting a deadline. However, if I see there are people interested in the project, I might try even harder!

-Can we see your other works?

You can see my illustrations, doodles, etc. on my Twitter account (@erin_draws_)!

I have written several short stories for fun or for writing class. I’ll consider uploading them to Medium or another site.

That’s all for now! Thanks for reading. :)

[xtruss]

Mohamed al-Fayed, Tycoon Whose Son Died With Diana, Is Dead At 94

An Egyptian businessman, he built an empire of trophy properties in London, Paris and elsewhere, but it was all overshadowed by a fatal car crash that stunned the world.

— By Robert D. McFadden | September 1, 2023

Mohamed al-Fayed in 2003 outside the Court of Session in Edinburgh, where a judge was asked to consider whether the car crash that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, and his son Dodi, was caused deliberately. Credit...David Cheskin/Press Association, via Associated Press

Mohamed al-Fayed, the Egyptian business tycoon whose empire of trophy properties and influence in Europe and the Middle East was overshadowed by the 1997 Paris car crash that killed his eldest son, Dodi, and Diana, the Princess of Wales, died on Wednesday. He was 94.

His death was confirmed on Friday in a statement by the Fulham Football Club in Britain, of which Mr. Fayed was a former owner. It did not say where he died.

The patriarch of a family that rose from humble origins to fabled riches, Mr. Fayed controlled far-flung enterprises in oil, shipping, banking and real estate, including the palatial Ritz Hotel in Paris and, for 25 years, the storied London retail emporium Harrods. Forbes estimated his net worth at $2 billion this year, ranking his wealth as 1,516th in the world.

In a sense, Mr. Fayed was a citizen of the world. He had homes in London, Paris, New York, Geneva, St. Tropez and other locales; a fleet of 40 ships based in Genoa, Italy, and in Cairo; and businesses that reached from the Persian Gulf to North Africa, Europe and the Americas. He held Egyptian citizenship but rarely if ever returned to his native land.

Mr. Fayed lived and worked mostly in Britain, where for a half-century he was a quintessential outsider, scorned by the establishment in a society still embedded with old-boy networks. He clashed repeatedly with the government and business rivals over his property acquisitions and attempts to influence members of Parliament. He campaigned noisily for British citizenship, but his applications were repeatedly denied.

“It’s the colonial, imperial fantasy,” Mr. Fayed told The New York Times in 1995. “Anyone who comes from a colony, as Egypt was before, they think he’s nothing. So you prove you’re better than they are. You do things that are the talk of the town. And they think, ‘How can he? He’s only an Egyptian.’”

Mr. Fayed at a party at the venerable London department store Harrods in 1989. His takeover of the store in 1985 struck many Britons as akin to buying Big Ben. Credit...Fairchild Archive/WWD, via Penske Media, via Getty Images

He reveled in the trappings of a British aristocrat. He bought a castle in Scotland and sometimes wore a kilt; snapped up a popular British football club; cultivated Conservative prime ministers and members of Parliament; sponsored the Royal Horse Show at Windsor; and tried unsuccessfully to salvage Punch, the moribund satirical magazine that had lampooned the British establishment for 150 years.

His takeover of the venerable Harrods in 1985 struck many Britons as shameless brass, something akin to buying Big Ben. A year later, as if securing a jewel in the crown of British heritage, Mr. Fayed signed a 50-year lease on the 19th-century villa in Paris that had been the home of the former King Edward VIII of Britain and Wallis Warfield Simpson, the divorced American woman for whom he abdicated his throne in 1936.

But Mr. Fayed’s triumph as an Anglophile was the made-for-tabloids romance between his eldest son, Emad, known as Dodi, and the Princess of Wales, who had recently been divorced from Prince Charles (now King Charles III) and alienated from the royal family. It began in the summer of 1997, when Mr. Fayed invited Diana and her sons to spend some time at his home on the French Riviera and on one of his yachts. Dodi was there too.

The Egyptian-born nephew of the Saudi billionaire arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi, Dodi was a notorious playboy who gave lavish parties, financed films, dated beautiful women and was once briefly married. He and Diana had been acquainted, but by many accounts they fell in love on the Mediterranean sojourn. As their romance bloomed, the British press pounced. Paparazzi hounded the couple everywhere they went.

A cameraman filmed the site of the car accident in Paris that killed Diana, Princess of Wales, and Mr. Fayed’s eldest son, Dodi al-Fayed, in 1997. Mr. Fayed declared that they had been murdered by “people who did not want Diana and Dodi to be together.”Credit...Jacques Demarthon/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

In the early hours of Aug. 31, 1997, a Mercedes-Benz carrying Diana and Dodi and driven by Henri Paul, a Fayed security agent who was drunk and traveling at a high speed trying to elude carloads of pursuing paparazzi, slammed head-on into a concrete pillar in a tunnel in Paris. All three were killed.

Controversy exploded over the cause of the crash and the implications of the affair. Some tabloids suggested that an immigrant had been an unfit suitor for a princess. But friends said that the couple had planned to marry, and that the Fayed family had offered Diana and her sons a warmth that contrasted with the way Britain’s royal family had shunned her after the divorce.

As rumors and conspiracy theories swirled, Mr. Fayed declared that the two had been murdered by “people who did not want Diana and Dodi to be together.” He said they had been engaged to marry and maintained that they had called him an hour before the crash to tell him that she was pregnant. Buckingham Palace and the princess’s family denounced his remarks as malicious fantasy.

The deaths inspired waves of books, articles and investigations of conspiracy theories, as well as a period of soul-searching among Britons, who resented the royal family’s standoffish behavior and were caught up in displays of mass grief. In 2006, the British police ruled the crash an accident.

And in 2008, a British coroner’s jury rejected all conspiracy theories involving the royal family, British intelligence services and others. It attributed the deaths to “gross negligence” by the driver and the pursuing paparazzi. It also said a French pathologist had found that Diana was not pregnant.

Mr. Fayed called the verdict biased, but he and his lawyers did not pursue the matter further. “I’ve had enough,” he told Britain’s ITV News. “I’m leaving this to God to get my revenge.”

Mr Al Fayed, with his wife Heini, at the funeral of Princess Diana in 1997. Diana, Princess of Wales, 36, Dies in a Crash in Paris. August 31, 1997.

Mohamed al-Fayed was born Mohamed Abdel Moneim Fayed in Alexandria, Egypt, on Jan. 27, 1929, one of five children of a primary-school teacher, Aly Aly Fayed. Details about his early life are murky.

His accounts of growing up in a prosperous merchant family were discounted by British investigators. He sold sewing machines and joined his two younger brothers, Ali and Salah, in a shipping business. In the early 1950s, Adnan Khashoggi set the brothers up in a venture that exported Egyptian furniture to Saudi Arabia. It flourished.

In 1954, Mr. Fayed married Mr. Khashoggi’s sister, Samira. Dodi was their only child. They were divorced in 1956. In 1985, he married Heini Wathén, a Finn. They had four children, all born in Britain: Jasmine, Karim, Camilla and Omar.

Information on survivors was not immediately available.

The Fayed shipping interests profited handsomely from an oil boom in the Persian Gulf in the 1960s. Acting as middlemen for British construction companies and gulf rulers, they helped develop the port of Dubai, the Dubai Trade Center and other properties in what is now the United Arab Emirates.

Mohammed Al Fayed stands in front of the east stand of Craven Cottage, home of Fulham. Photograph: Kieran Doherty/Reuters

Mr. Fayed at the Craven Cottage stadium in London in 2012 before an English Premier League soccer match between Fulham and Sunderland. Mr. Fayed was Fulham’s owner and club chairman. Credit...Alastair Grant/Associated Press

Mr. Fayed, who made all his family’s major investment and financial decisions, moved to London in the mid-1960s. He added “al-” to his surname, implying aristocratic origins. After buying the Scottish castle, he expanded its estate to 65,000 acres; after acquiring the Fulham Football Club, he built it into a top team in a nation infatuated with the sport. (He sold the team in 2013 to a Pakistani American businessman.) A heavy contributor to the Conservative Party, he nurtured relationships with members of Parliament and Prime Ministers Margaret Thatcher and John Major.

In 1979, the Fayed brothers bought the fading Ritz Hotel in Paris for under $30 million and, with a 10-year, $250 million renovation, turned it into one of the world’s most luxurious hotels. Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed dined in the Imperial Suite before their fatal crash.

In 1984-85, in their greatest commercial coup in Britain, the Fayeds paid $840 million for the House of Fraser, the parent company of Harrods and scores of other stores, and invested $300 million more to refurbish the chain’s flagship, in London’s exclusive Knightsbridge section.

After the sale of Harrods to Qatar in 2010 Mr Al Fayed stayed on as honorary chairman for six months

Mohamed Al Fayed in the Harrods food halls. Photograph: Mark Richards/Daily Mail/Shutterstock

Prodded by a business rival, the government investigated the Harrods deal and in 1990 concluded that the Fayed brothers had “dishonestly misrepresented” themselves as descendants of an old landowning and shipbuilding family. The government report said the money for Harrods had probably come from the Sultan of Brunei. The sultan denied it, and Mr. Fayed, who was not accused of wrongdoing, called the report a smear.

In investigative reports by the press and the police, Mr. Fayed was accused by many women of unwanted sexual advances, job-related sexual harassment of female employees at Harrods, and even sexual assault involving teenage girls. He denied the allegations and, although he was questioned by the authorities in Britain, he was never prosecuted on such charges.

Mr. Fayed was bitter about being stymied in his quest for British citizenship, although all his children by his second wife held that status. As he noted, he had lived in Britain for decades, paid millions in taxes, employed thousands of people and, through his enterprises, contributed mightily to the economy.

Mohamed Al Fayed leaves the High Court in London, after giving evidence at the inquest into the death of his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

“They could not accept that an Egyptian could own Harrods, so they threw mud at me,” he told reporters. He sold Harrods in 2010 to Qatar Holding, the sovereign wealth fund of the Emirate of Qatar, for more than $2 billion, and announced his retirement.

— Robert D. McFadden is a Senior Writer on the Obituaries Desk and the Winner of the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for spot news reporting. He joined The New York Times in May 1961 and is also the Co-Author of Two Books.