#fire & hemlock

[fairytale-poll]

BEST MODERN FAIRYTALE ADAPTATION! ROUND 3, MATCH 3 OUT OF 4!

The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley is based off various fairytales; Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones is based off Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer.

Propaganda Under the Cut:

The Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley:

The Sisters Grimm was a formative read for me as a kid. It’s fun and episodic, but over time it also examines both what place fairytales have in modern lives and uses fairytale characters as an allegory for self-determination.

Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones:

One of my favorite books. "As she clears out her old bedroom, Polly discovers that below her memories, in which she led an entirely normal and unremarkable life, there is a second set of memories, which are rather unusual." It's about memory and taking control of your life. Also books. It's one of those books that get better the more you re-read it.

The coming of age fantasy of all time. Giants in supermarkets. Stories that come true backwards and sideways and upside down. Memory fuckery. The hardest part about being a hero is the sheer embarrassment and that's how villains win. Bad driving. Friends, ex-friends, age-inappropriate crush, people you're supposed to be able to rely on who are useless, people you're warned against who save you and who you save in return but all the same that thing they did is not okay. Laughter and phantasmagoria and this is exactly what growing up is like y'all.

Everyone, especially those who have been let down by JKR and Neil Gaiman, needs to go read Diana Wynne Jones. She's the original, they're the bad mimeograph (JKR) and the reflection (Gaiman). Just go read them, okay.

[tiodolma]

what do you mean, "does he look like a killer?" the force moves darkly near a creature that is about to kill.

[twinsunstars]

Scalder, thinking: I don’t think anyone here is well versed in knowing how to act during an event of a fire breaking out. Considering Omega being around, the possibilities of a fire could be high. So… *lights a torch she took from one of the labs* Even though I’m not in charge any longer, it’s up to me to make sure everyone knows how to handle a situation like this. *later, doctors on Tantiss working normally, following their routines* *Scalder walks around, waiting for someone to notice the fire smoke she started* A doctor: By the Force, FIRE!! *the doctors start freaking out* Scalder: Oh, a fire? What’s the regulations? What do we do? The doctors: *screaming and running to get to their own safety* Hemlock, materializing out of nowhere: Oh my god, it’s happening! Everyone stay calm! Stay FUCKING CALM!!! *Emerie getting the news, immediately running to the Vault and locking it down and making sure the kids are safe* Emerie, running to the kids: Hey, it’s okay, everything’s fine. Omega: What’s going on? *all doctors are running around and screaming for help* Hemlock: Commander Scorch, call for help!! *Scalder tries to get them to listen and follow protocol while watching the chaos, eventually giving up and making a loud alarm go off after extinguishing the small fire she created, standing up on a table* Scalder: Everyone, this was just a test drill. There is no actual fire, just a training exercise. Hemlock: What?? *a doctor drops down from the ceiling after trying to escape that way* Scalder: So, what did we learn? *a doctor faints, causing more chaos*

part of a new incorrect quotes series, Tales From Mount Tantiss!

Tales from Mount Tantiss Incorrect Quotes Masterlist

[no-where-new-hero]

I'm applying for a Diana Wynne Jones Community on here, so if you're interested in being invited to it should it be approved, please interact with this post!

[windsroad]

You know since I last read fire and hemlock I think I deceived myself into thinking the age gap was not that strange, or that they weren’t really romantically involved at the end, but .. no…

He really does know her as a child and then there’s a gap and she’s 19 and he’s like well I am in love with you. Basically. He doesn’t say that but there’s enough kissing for that to be obvious. Like when did that happen. When she was 10 and you clearly were playing kid games together or when she was 15 and you were uncomfortable with her obvious crush.

The large age gap would not bother me, I would not care, but DWJ really did do that in the weirdest way possible huh

It’s not like I’m saying the book is canceled or whatever i don’t do that. I just mean. DWJ what the hell.

[unfavorableinstigation]

The names of the knights in Fire and Hemlock are so iconic. Tan Audel, Tan Hanivar... The sounds parse instantly as mythic. Not just mythic, but Big Mythic - there's a quote I think from Neil Gaiman about the difference (he thought) between horror and fantasy, where fantasy never has just one anything - in order to build the world you have the clan of werewolves, whereas horror only has The Big Bad Wolf, and the article matters. I actually don't really think that's a good genre distinction, but it certainly is a good stylistic one. The Tans have Definite Article Energy.

So many DWJ books end up hanging their Big Mythicalness on Arthuriana, where once you know the names, you have this whole extra incredible tapestry of a backstory to tack onto them, and the Tans are exactly the opposite. Their names proclaim a history they manifestly don't have, which is such a fascinating thing when you consider 1) that Polly named them, and 2) what she spends the whole book trying to do.

I have no idea what all this means, I have struggled to truly comprehend Fire and Hemlock every single time I read it, but I did think it was funny that, seemingly, DWJ got bored of Arthuriana and decided to try the whole "mythic resonance" thing from scratch, growing the wheat and all.

[chelshiart]

Fire and Hemlock!! Aka the one with like a gazillion recommendations for other books 😂

[the-leafiest-leafwing]

why did tui lowkey give all her main characters the lamest names ever and all her side characters the coolest fucking names on the planet

[resident-wof-expert]

Unsorted WOF thoughts part 70:

Tui has a sense of humor.

Belladonna and Hemlock are both the names of poisons. She was subtly calling them a toxic couple way before we even knew a single thing about them.

[atmilescross]

Send help I was pitching Fire and Hemlock to someone and was using Tam Lin references to describe it without remembering to clarify it's a Tam Lin retelling, accidentally referred to Polly and Tom as "lovers" and didn't realize it for four minutes then had to rush back and add a comment saying ALSO ITS A RETELLING OF THE BALLAD OF TAM LIN. BUT ITS A CHILDRENS NOVEL SO THE HEROINE IS ACTUALLY LIKE A CHILD/TEEN SO MY USAGE OF THE WORD "LOVER" HERE WAS IN A VERY LOOSE SENSE IN TERMS OF TROPES AND THE RELATIONSHIP IN THIS BOOK IS MUCH MORE COMPLICATED THAN THAT***********

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

(faq · submit a book)

[fairytale-poll]

BEST MODERN FAIRYTALE ADAPTATION! ROUND 2C, MATCH 2 OUT OF 2!

Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones is based off Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer; Carrie (1976) is based off Cinderella.

Propaganda Under the Cut:

Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones:

One of my favorite books. "As she clears out her old bedroom, Polly discovers that below her memories, in which she led an entirely normal and unremarkable life, there is a second set of memories, which are rather unusual." It's about memory and taking control of your life. Also books. It's one of those books that get better the more you re-read it.

Carrie (1976):

Ohhh Carrie is so special to me. Cinderella who takes revenge by arson, we love to see it. A fairy godmother who used to bully Cinderella and uses her good deeds as a way to apologize, we love to see it! The movie is pretty rad because it really leans into the religious/gothic aesthetic you might expect from a Grimm fairy tale and ramps it up all the way, it's such a gorgeous movie!

[tiodolma]

[theteaisaddictive]

now that i really know what to look out for, the neglect and borderline child abuse in fire and hemlock is sticking out so jarringly. like ivy you let your child’s hair get matted and infected with lice — and that’s without even getting started on how she’s practically getting groomed right under your nose

[no-where-new-hero]

there is no catharsis in modern literature quite equal to the moment in fire and hemlock when polly, alone and abandoned in bristol, sees the horse car parked in the small narrow street.