#i know there's an irony in encouraging people to read a book that in the canon of the book is something everyone says 'dont read this'

[raviniaraven]

Hey y'all should read The King In Yellow by Robert W Chambers. It's so good and deserves so much better than for its main focus to be bunched in with Racist Howard's work when he never even wrote a single story about Hastur. It has little connecting details in a bunch of the stories that on a reread I stopped and went "hey wait a minute" bc I noticed someone mentioning another story in passing. It has such a good setting and built world.

It has stories like "The Mask" that I love for the casual surreal horror of knowing something is going to go wrong, that get better when you think of the mention of the characters in the other stories and realize what's going to happen.

It has stories like "The Street Of The Four Winds" that's mostly a guy talking to a cat and delightful cat behaviors with a growing sense of unease until the shoe drops (would recommend if you like cats, it was written in 1895 and feels like watching a cat video today)

Basically if you like horror of unreliable narrators, so many of these are perfect for you, and if you want something Cthulhu-esque but without the strong xenophobic undertones of Lovecraft I am eagerly gonna point you toward Chambers

[letters-to-lgbt-kids]

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

“My therapist told me that, according to psychology, girls who often stay up til 3 am for no reason actually show a trauma response. You lacked a loving mother figure in childhood, so you deprive yourself of sleep because you weren’t taught to love yourself.” 

I came across that piece of info on social media recently, and I’d like to offer an addition: 

My therapist told me that, according to psychology, you can make up random things and pass them off as scientific… if you just put enough meaningless phrases in front of it. 

You probably caught the irony here. In fact, “according to psychology” and “my therapist told me” are completely meaningless phrases in my statement here! They make it seem like I’m presenting a scientific fact, but there’s no substance behind them. I’m just telling you my own thought. 

I did it on purpose and wanted you to catch it, but it can be more tricky to spot out there in the wild (or, well, on social media) - because intuitively, that quote up there sounds pretty trustworthy, doesn’t it? We are taught to look for a source and it conveniently provides one for us: psychology. Psychology says this, so it’s legit! 

But phrases like “according to psychology”, “my therapist says” or even “studies say” may only pose as sources. Let’s look into it a bit closer: 

“According to psychology” - Psychology is not really a source that can be quoted like that. Psychology is an immense field of study that covers lots of different areas (biological psychology, neuroscience, social psychology, behavioral psychology etc.), so who or what exactly is being cited here? A specific expert? A specific study? A specific book? 

“My therapist said” - in which context? Therapists usually give advice that’s tailored to the patient’s individual situation which likely looks different to yours (since no two people lead the exact same life), so how do you know this specific piece of information is also applicable to your situation (let alone applicable to everyone)?

The next one is especially tricky:

“Studies say” - studies can be a great source, but which study are we talking about? Who did the study? How was it done? How many people participated in it? Are the results generalizable in the way the post claims? (And before all that: is there even any specific study being cited at all here, or is this just a fully meaningless claim?) 

While we are on the topic of generalization: obviously I’m not trying to make some blanket statement that everyone who ever uses these phrases is a liar with evil intentions. Sometimes we just use simple phrases for complex concepts to make them more accessible or easily digestible, and that’s fine. 

And just as importantly, sometimes we are just human and make some thinking mistakes (such as “this connection my therapist made about MY childhood and MY behavior in adulthood must be applicable to everyone who shows that behavior. Making that connection helped me, so surely I’m helping others by posting about it!”) without any bad intentions. 

I’m just encouraging you to critically think about the information you read or share online - even beyond the basic “is there a source” check. 

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad 

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

My nana at 9 years of age was dragged kicking and screaming to school. Her math teacher had been molesting her. She told her parents. They did nothing. Best part? Her father was the principal. So obviously that teacher learned he could get away with anything and started molesting the other girls, who then blamed my nana because...I dunno, little kid logic I guess. It was unlikely their parents were going to be any more helpful than my nana's and he knew it.

My great aunt at the age of 13 was forcibly kissed by a teacher in full view of several witnesses who then gave her shit for seducing an honourable man.

My mom at 12 years of age left her physically abusive father to live with her mother and stepfather, only for her stepfather to molest her. Her mother to this day refuses to believe it.

My best friend had a longterm close male friend who sexually assaulted her in her sleep. Their entire friend group as well as the youth counselor encouraged her to forgive him because it was obviously a misunderstanding and she'd been giving off mixed signals and he'd had a huge crush on her and he wasn't intending to hurt her! So she did forgive him, publicly. And he did it again. And again. And again. And then it was her fault because she kept hanging out with him. If she really didn't want him doing it, why didn't she just abandon her entire friend group? He also got emboldened and went on to sexually assault other girls, so eventually they all started talking and went to the school against him. The youth counselor admonished my friend for going forward against him.

My other best friend decided to be "open-minded" and dated a trans-identified male. He also sexually assaulted her multiple times in her sleep but he framed her as the abuser at their youth support group for not adequately validating his identity.

My stepfather molested me from the ages of 7 to 12 and when I reported him he was dating a new woman at the time. She didn't believe it. They're still together. I can only imagine the number of girls he's been given access to over the years (he didn't go to jail, or get convicted of sexual assault).

I was also sexually assaulted in my sleep at my friend's party once. That guy's friend said I "probably wanted it".

Went to group therapy. All the women there had very different stories, but one theme that kept cropping up: they weren't believed or they were blamed.

I read books about therapy sessions with other victims. And that theme kept up. Not believed or else blamed. One woman told her story, learning to gloss it over before being dismissed out of hand, for decades before a professional finally asked her to elaborate and put her in touch with a sexual assault crisis centre. Another thing that came up in those books: knowing how hard it was for victims to come forward, and all the discouragement from people in their lives, many women must take it to the grave.

But hey, it's fine. Men have it worse. I mean we all watched a rich abusive man successfully publicly humiliate his victim while everyone said he was the victim and she was the abuser. And actually it's super common for abusive men to claim to be the victim, and police and family believe it! And it can take multiple women to come forward against one man for anything to be done, and often even that's not enough. But never mind that, men have it worse. We know this because they so--no, no, don't pay attention to hospital records or homicides or child marriages, or--Men. Say. They. Have it worse! So they do. Everything a man says is truth. That's why you must believe whatever a man says and accept every observation he makes as objective. No, there's no irony here, no historical precedent, no global trend.

[shewhotellsstories]

People say Eloise is a self centered white feminist who enjoys the privileges that come with being a Bridgerton and although that's true, she is also a sheltered teenage girl who needs to learn about the world.

Her feelings of marriage are valid and while she needs to learn that desiring motherhood and marriage doesn't make a woman lesser, it's part of growing up and learning true feminism. She's a baby feminist but viewers don't want her to grow. How many teenage girls in today's day and age are all-knowing about feminism theory? Her friendship with Theo taught her about the working class and that connection to the outside world could have been a great learning experience for Eloise. Yes she has the privilege of being a Bridgerton but that safety net is exactly why she should be allowed to advocate for things the way she wanted Whistledown to(not a critique of the character but rather the writing and the fandom)

Penelope did some selfish things as Whistledown, abusing her power (cause it wasn't just about being gossip girl for the bag) and rather than acknowledge that we're expected to sweep it under the rug. I LOVE flawed characters because the writing acknowledges their wrong doings and yet certain characters get away with murder.

Eg s1 Blair was awful to Serena and while she had her reasons for doing so, revenge and her own self worth and abandonment issues, the show acknowledged this and we wanted good things for Blair. Serena slept with her best friend's boyfriend and covered up a mans overdose but we still root for her because she is a good person and is trying to grow.

If Penelope doesn't acknowledge her wrongdoings how can she grow as a character.

"Okay publishing a burn book is wrong but I love writing and I'm good at it, maybe I should become Jane Austin or something."

(throwing in how Edwina was raked over the coals for being angry with Kate and while the half sister comment was uncalled for, she wasnt given the same grace Penelope has been given)

I'm sorry for how long and all over the place this is.

No, I get it. The issue is that some characters are given grace while others are crucified. Some characters have their circumstances considered when examining their behavior while others don't. I hate it that some characters get novellas dedicated to defending their bad behavior while others should've just known better.

And that's totally the way I see Eloise Bridgerton. She's a baby feminist! She is in her just watched Ironed Jawed Angels and has maybe read a few zines era of feminism. When I was 17, I remember saying in class that I didn't think it was possible to be a SAHM and be happy and now my opinions have radically shifted because I'm not a kid anymore. Now, if you'd ask me I'd say it's a vulnerable position to be in economically because your security is tied up in your marriage working out and or your husband never dying, but it's your choice ultimately. What a difference a fully developed brain and college professors who require you to read bell hooks and Audre Lorde can make.

But seriously, the sad irony of Eloise being raked over the coals for "doing nothing" is that she was trying to become more informed and it blew up in her face. Spending time with Theo and other members of the working class was really good for her. Sadly, Penelope should've known better than most that she was genuinely trying to expand her worldview, but Eloise is the only person getting the bad friend allegations.

And yeah, as much as I love Kate and Anthony, people were way too hard on Edwina in season two. No one wanted to hurt her, but who in her position would toss confetti?

Plus, I'm really glad someone else is seeing the endless Gossip Girl comparisons that can be made here!

P.S. If you're interested one of my favorite Kanthony fics ends in Anthony and Kate encouraging Eloise to become a fiction/social commentary writer.

[doomed2repeat]

About Theo and Eloise:

In my humble opinion:

Theo’s use as a character is to encourage Eloise to look past the surface of people. Of course he’s there to introduce her to romantic attraction, but in a very specific way, and it’s to start developing a sense of what she might like in a partner. Just because someone is perfect for you superficially does not mean they actually are, and for a character like Eloise patience and discernment are going to be very important for her storyline.

🛑 If you really really love Theo or Theloise and think they should be endgame, please stop now… 🛑

We got foreshadowing of this when Violet tries to hook Eloise up with that ton guy at the Hearts and Flowers ball. Violet picks him out for Eloise because she says he shares her rebelliousness. And that guy is rebellious and is looking for someone different, just like Violet says. But his personality is all wrong for Eloise and it crashes and burns pretty much immediately.

Theo is said to be “perfect” for Eloise. And on the surface, he might seem so. He’s a radical. He’s political. But those are his interests. Not his personality.

So let’s really look at his personality. Theo is one of the most condescending and patronizing people Eloise comes across. When he first meets her, he talks down to her, making assumptions of her based on her gender and class. Their initial banter is the stuff of meet cutes, which glosses over WHY they were bantering back and forth like that in the first place- he immediately underestimated her intelligence upon seeing her.

It’s debatable why she accepted it from him vs the other guy, but I think the biggest issue is that unlike the guy Eloise danced with at the ball, Eloise has a reason to keep talking to him despite him showing the same attitude that left her running from the ballroom floor. She needed him for something, so it was worth continuing to engage, and engaging with him for longer allows her crush to grow.

Eloise is going to be a character who needs time to really fall in love. And so she is going to need to develop the capacity for more patience for other people than her character currently has. She’s often impulsive and makes snap decisions, but Theo forces her out of that by being a character she has to work with. Which is a great thing! Through Theo, Eloise gets to explore more of her interests, which is not nothing! Credit where credit is due, she’s obviously going to want that in a partner, and I would hope any relationship they write for her would have that as an element to it. It’s valuable for her to learn that that’s possible as she starts to develop her sense of taste in men.

But he’s also not the ONE yet, which is also valuable for her.

When Eloise doesn’t kiss Theo he blows up at her. He lashes out and accuses her of being just like every other lady. Going back to the foreshadowing from the Hearts and Flowers ball, there’s some irony here- there, Eloise gets offended because the man implies that she’s Not Like Other Girls. Here, that is used against her. Theo thinks Eloise should act a certain way because she’s rebellious, but when he dismisses her as a prude, he once again reveals the superficiality of his politics when it comes to praxis.

At the time I watched S2, I hadn’t yet read the books, but I’ve read them since, and this is very similar to a scene from TSPWL, where Eloise is trying to discuss something serious with Phillip, who is trying to kiss her instead. We don’t know yet whether that scene will make it to the show or not, since show Phillip seems to have a somewhat different storyline from the books, but it was a deliberate choice to use that as a reason for Theo to lash out at Eloise in the show, and I think it’s actually about Eloise’s growth. In the similar scene in the book, she calls Phillip out for this behavior while in the show Eloise just cries. Somewhere between age 18 and 28, she won’t take it, even from men she likes, which is, frankly pretty realistic. Even the most radical feminists sometimes take BS from the “radical” first boyfriends they date as teenagers. Eloise has a realistic mix of strength and vulnerability, and Theo hit a vulnerable spot for her. She’s a feminist, but she has very little real world experience with relationships between men and women outside of her brothers, and Theo is a valuable storyline to create that experience, so that when she is ready (hopefully 10 years on, I’m team time jump Eloise), she’ll have the combination of patience and discernment necessary to find and keep the right person for her.

When it comes to Sir Phillip specifically, Eloise is interested in his words first. They write letters back and forth, they never meet in person before Phillip proposes, so we know physical attraction has nothing to do with it. When she runs off to meet him she’s partially there to assess his personality. See how he actually acts. And he’s not perfect. But even as flawed characters they ultimately compliment rather than clash. In the books we know she had been courted before and turns down multiple proposals, so she had enough experiences with men to know where she stands. Eloise was never going to settle for the first man who liked her, or even the first man she thought she might like, and in fact, so many happily married women have that story of “wow, if I had married the guy I was with at 18 it would be a disaster.” Eloise is getting that with Theo.

Because imagine Theo and Eloise long term. Imagine their verbal sparring when they’re fully on Theo’s turf, with Eloise as his wife. His condescension would get old so fast with Theo always having the upper hand. Eloise likes the buzz and mental stimulation of their banter, but ultimately she’s a woman who likes to be right, and likes to feel like she’s being heard and respected. Theo likes the novelty of a woman like Eloise, but prefers when he’s in the teachable position- giving her books to read, taking her to rallies, etc- and not when her needs don’t line up with his desires.

I won’t claim to know how they’re going to do Phillip in the show for Eloise’s season, other than what we all know the changes they’ve already made to his backstory with Marina and the twins. But I do think counting him out already by claiming Theo is “perfect” for Eloise is a pretty shallow read on what’s been seen and what’s still possible for her.

[rhondafromhr]

More ideas/headcanons for the ‘Nerds Corruption AU’

Link to the original post for those who aren’t familiar: https://www.tumblr.com/rhondafromhr/738012368733356032/dont-get-me-wrong-i-love-max-redemption-arcs-in

-The LIB adopt their human forms after the first time Max, Steph and the nerds summon them and RELENTLESSLY make fun of their true/eldritch forms. “our real forms would melt your minds” yeah sure whatever you need to tell yourself Pokey

-Tinky tries to use having Ted in the bastard box as leverage against Pete, but he just doesn’t care because that’s not his brother, it’s some other Pete’s brother from another timeline so it’s not his problem.

-Once everyone in the group starts acting like an agressive bully the way Max does, Grace finds herself attracted to all of them and has a crisis over it.

-At some point Max tries to apologize for before (“sorry for bullying you guys all these years, you never deserved that, everyone we’re currently bullying does but you didn’t.”) Now that they’re all literal monsters too they just dismiss him like “don’t apologize, we get it now, the power trip is fucking awesome!“

-Max’s signature move of using anti-bullying slogans to justify and get away with bullying is their favorite. They always tell Max how smart he is for coming up with it.

-They decide Kyle can date Brenda now but plot twist! Brenda leaves him for Ruth. Ruth taunts him for this every chance she gets and purposely makes out with Brenda in locations where he’ll have to walk by. Cue Kyle sobbing in the bathroom while Jason comforts him, leading to one of very few sweet, wholesome scenes we get in this universe.

-Ruth is confident enough to perform now, which obviously means they need to sabotage the lead in The Barbecue Monologues so she can take the role. They either just straight up intimidate them into quitting or frame them for vandalizing the school and get them expelled.

-One day Pete randomly remembers the time Brad Callahan pantsed him and he and the rest of the crew just drop what they’re doing to go beat him up. When they get called into principal Blim’s office they tell him they did it because Brad was picking on Hannah Foster earlier (“what do you want us to do? Stand by and do nothing? Being a bystander is just as bad as bullying, we learned that at the anti-bullying assembly!”) Brad has been known to do that so he believes them and lets them off with a warning. When word gets around people actually do mess with Hannah a lot less.

- (already mentioned this in a separate post but I’ll put it here too) after graduation Max, Steph + the nerds run an anime/comic book store together and Richie’s the only one who knows or cares about any of it. He’s rude and condescending to customers, everyone else is not knowledgeable and completely unhelpful, Grace tells every customer they need to go read a bible instead. They have like 1.5 stars on yelp but stay in business because the next closest similar store is in Clivesdale so nobody’s going to go there

-At some point Linda Monroe comes in and sees the gang being rude to Becky Barnes, so of course she takes an instant liking to them. She becomes an investor in the store and sort of a mother figure to all of them. She encourages their bad behavior, giving them tips for manipulating people in a more sophisticated way. Max and Steph get especially attached to her (the three bond over their dad issues) and they go to her house once a week to drink wine and and hear all the hot gossip about Linda’s rich frienemies.

-When Roman finds out about Linda’s new investment he comes to check out the store and he’s as icy towards her as usual. True to form, Max, Steph and the nerds say the rudest, most out of pocket stuff to him (Richie goes after his appearance HARD, not realizing the irony that he looks pretty similar) and eventually he storms off. Linda’s touched that they stood up for her. She cries and tells them how proud she is. Max and Steph cry a little too because this is the first time a parental figure’s ever told them that. After this they become obsessed with impressing Linda so they can hear it again.

-Grace babysits Linda’s kids sometimes and Linda pays her an outrageous amount due to being so out of touch with regular babysitting rates (“it’s one banana, what could it cost, ten dollars?” energy). Grace refuses to babysit for Tom anymore because he can’t match these rates. One night he can’t find any other sitters, so he tries to cancel on Becky but she suggests they spend a night in with Tim instead, leading to some nice family bonding (okay there can be one more cute wholesome moment, I’ll allow it.)

-They’re rivals with Frank Pricely. They hate him because Toyzone cuts into their merch sales. He hates them back for stealing Linda, who used to drop thousands per week at his store. They always scheme to screw each other over. Black Friday doesn’t happen in this timeline solely because they pay Lex to destroy the entire shipment of wiggly dolls. This is also what gets them on the LIB’s radar, Wiggly is absolutely furious.

- (This one relates to the popular “Paul is Richie’s uncle” headcanon) At some point, Paul is at his wit’s end with Richie and makes him move out in the hopes it’ll force him to reevaluate his life and stop being so awful. He doesn’t just throw Richie out, he gives him a timeline and helps him find a place. But he’s not sure if he did the right thing. He mentions this to Ted at work and Ted says his parents did the same to him and he’s totally well-adjusted. Paul just gives him a look and says “Ted…no.” This is the catalyst for him getting involved with the group and eventually getting his own corruption arc.

-After moving out, Richie becomes roommates with Max and Ruth. Steph and Pete have a luxury apartment together downtown (Solomon pays for it because he can’t deal with her anymore and wants her out of his house). Grace has a two bedroom apartment to herself - she had a roommate at one point, but they got fed up and left. Luckily she can afford it with her cushy babysitting gig.

[thesapphictimelady]

Rebinding

Word Count: 600 words

A/N: While some of these may not be true in your state, I did some research into a few different states to keep this as factual as possible. Is Mel and Jacob’s solution the best one? Maybe not. But Jacob is correct, in some states you can face jail time of 2 ½ years. All of the books mentioned have been banned or challenged at some point in history. Some books are banned or challenged because they make us feel uncomfortable with how they show us our history. We should not be comfortable learning about the things we did wrong. Books are important and should be available to everyone. There are many reasons some of these books are banned and if I had listed all of them, this would have been a lot longer. Anyways, this is super short and thrown together before I head to bed but I hope you enjoy it!

“I can’t believe this,” Jacob said from his seat at the kitchen island.

“Are you reading who gives a crap biweekly again,” Melissa asked, rolling her eyes as she assembled her lasagna.

“Mel Mel, they’re banning books!”

“What do you mean they’re banning books?”

“I mean, if our school library keeps copies of these books, we could face criminal charges!”

“Let me see that,” Melissa said, dusting off her hands, “you must be reading it wrong”

Jacob passed her his phone and set his head in his hands as she started reading aloud:

“A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein…Encouraging bad behavior? A Wrinkle in Time…Witchcraft? Animal Farm…Encouraging revolt? Fahrenheit 451…Hang on, they do recognize the irony in banning that, right?”

Jacob grimaced and gestured for her to keep reading.

“James and the Giant Peach for Witchcraft, The Giver for violence, To Kill a Mockingbird for racial slurs, Where’s Waldo for NUDITY?”

“Yeah, that one I did find kind of amusing,” Jacob said

“Well I don’t see any history or nonfiction books so it doesn’t affect your class…” Melissa said.

“Keep scrolling.”

“The Diary of A Young Girl…that’s Anne Frank. It’s banned for homosexual themes. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings…‘anti white sentiment’? A People’s History of the United States for ‘Leftist Propaganda?”

“See! This is bad! These books are important!”

Melissa handed his phone back, humming thoughtfully as she turned back to her lasagna. After a few minutes, she turned back to him.

“Jacob, what do you know about binding books?”

“Not a lot. Why?”

“I think Book Nook number 3 is going to have to wait.”

The next day, Melissa and Jacob checked out as many books as they could fit in her car from the school library and brought them home.

“Are you sure we should be doing this?” Jacob asked nervously, stroking the spine of ‘And Tango Makes Three’ (banned because the penguins are gay).

“Do you want the kids to be able to read these or not?” Melissa asked, carefully removing the cover of ‘Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret’ (Banned because of content relating to menstrual cycles).

“Of course I do!” Jacob said.

“Get to work then,” Melissa said, passing him the new covers portraying state approved books to put on the banned books.

Together, they worked through the night and into the next day, replacing covers for ‘The Wizard of Oz’ (promotion of socialist values), ‘The Lorax’ (Being anti-logging), and ‘The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe’ (Mysticism). Around noon the next day, a knock on the door jolted them from their work.

“Who is it?” Melissa called.

“Reinforcements!”

Melissa opened the door to the rest of the Abbott Crew, plus Kristin Marie.

“What are you all doing here?”

“I invited them,” Jacob said, “Please don’t be mad. There’s so many books to rebind before Monday.”

“I brought wine!” Janine sang, rushing to the kitchen to get glasses.

Melissa yawned and stepped aside to let them all in. Barbara smiled softly and held the redheads arm.

“You and Jacob are doing a good thing,” she said softly, “But it’s time for us to take over. You go to bed. We’ll take care of this.”

Melissa nodded gratefully and climbed the stairs, glancing down at her work family and smiling. She’d never admit it, but she kind of liked having people in her house. They were all crowded around the table, a glass of wine and a book in each of their hands.

“For the kids!” Jacob said, lifting his glass in a toast.

Melissa mimed raising a glass to him as she headed to her room.

“For the kids,” she whispered, collapsing into bed.

[gwyns]

I’m the anon that asked about Gwyn & Az! It’s nice getting to talk about things like this! I don’t go on twitter as much, because the e/riel’s there are truly unhinged. I don’t know why e/riel’s think it’s stupid that gwynriel’s are fine with Azriel saying “I don’t have a mate”, but we are because we’ll get to actually see it on page. Why would they want their ship to develop off page where you can’t read about it? Makes no sense. One of the best things about romance is getting to see the two characters slowly become enamored with each other.

I don’t think they have crushes on each other either (Gwyn might think he’s attractive) or are best friends (yet), but I think they are very good acquaintances. We will get to see their friendship develop on page, as well as their romantic feelings which will be so nice to see. I definitely agree that there is a mutual respect and trust between them. Azriel sees the warrior in Gwyn. He doesn’t see her as a victim. And so far, he treats her with respect and his interactions with her feel healthy compared to his interactions with Mor & Elain.

Do you think Gwyn and Azriel will become lovers/a couple first and then will have sex/explore it, or start exploring sex and then become lovers? I have a lot of thoughts on the sexuality aspect. It grosses me out how some e/riel’s think survivors of assault can never have sex or have sex that might be more kinky. I honestly feel like there’s a lot Sarah can do with them not only as lovers/a couple, but their friendship build up and them as individual characters. I don’t think Gwyn is going to fix Azriel, but she will help with his self worth and help accept parts of himself.

hiii i'm so sorry it took me awhile to get to this!! i agree it's very nice to be able to talk about this <3 i understand your avoidance of twitter they're... horrid on there. i've gotten to the point where i just drag any of them i happen to see on my timeline and they usually block me so, it's been fun!

i grow more and more convinced every day that e/riels have never read books before. when a character says something like "i don't have a mate" in a fated mates series that's the author telling us "yes he does, he's just too stupid to see it right now". of course he has a mate, sjm loves her happy endings. it's a little something called dramatic irony and i believe the greeks coined the term. like it's obvious to us, the readers, where this is going but he's oblivious to it. it's not hard to figure out

yes, yes, yes! i definitely think that by the end of acosf they're both on each other's radars. gwyn is comfortable being alone with him and az admires and encourages her. they're not super close (yet) but they find themselves liking one another's company more and more. it'll be such a seamless transition from acquaintances to friends to best friends to lovers and i can't wait for it!

now that's where this gets tricky. it's hard to tell when sjm will introduce their physical relationship but i hope it's more towards the end. i want their friendship to be at the front of their relationship for awhile. i do think that they won't become "official" or anything until after they have sex. i think they'll realize they're attracted to each other, and gwyn will be curious enough to ask him about it and az would be willing and... well you can guess the rest lol

oh definitely. azriel needs to self reflect a lot and realize he's worthy of love as is. he doesn't have to constantly try and prove he belongs when he already does. i think gwynriel have the potential to be one of sjm's most beautiful couples. the comfort they'd find in each other, how they'd help one another to see that they're worthy of everything they have and want... ugh i love it. they really do share many similarities and parallels and that's not a coincidence on sjm's part

as for e/riels being gross, nothing about their behavior surprises me anymore, unfortunately. i have to believe they're younger, stupider people that don't fully realize how harmful their thinking is. gwyn can and will have a healthy sexual relationship in the future, if that's what she wants. she's more than her trauma and assault, she's even said so, stop reducing her to only that and reflect on how your words can harm real people who have experienced similar things

[0l1v3-m4c3]

pls drop the cc headcannons from what I've seen of you, I trust they'll be top tier >:)

Tyy!! Most of them are random but I'll try my best!-

-Nikki and Neil used Mr honeynuts as an advantage and threat whenever they need max to behave(even tho Nikki prefers the Water spray but Mr honeynuts is much effective)

-nikki would let max pet the wolves because wolves look like dogs so they'll go out at night to feed treats or Give pets to the wolves, Neil would come along(so he can blackmail the cute moments of max with the wolves)

-Sasha and Max sometimes or everynight hang out in the haunted house and do self care or gossip or play uno, Max could agree with Sasha that Ansley is annoying because it reminds him of David, therye secretly besties, but that type of besties where they fight and snatch eachother's weaves and like those 'nyeahh..' type

-dolph, Neil and max are both mama's boy, max is a Mama's boy for Gwen but not that he's kind or obedient like those mamas boys, but he prefers her over David, and sometimes have rare moments of getting along with Gwen, maybe helping her brainstorm ideas or choosing the right deep words to make the book similar to cruel prince or haunted Adeline(yes I read that). And with Neil, his mum might be the reason why he likes science in the first place bc I hc his mum is a business woman so she's busy but sternly Lovingly to Neil, they have the same personality except she doesn't get nervous often, she's stern and strict but not mean to Neil, and She just wanted him to be successful like her when he's old but she's not like those mum's with high expectations, she just ENCOURAGE Neil, and Neil genuinely loves science, she teaches him how to build or maybe correct him when he said or do something wrong, probably the reason why he didn't want candy(Nikki's mum) to be with Carl(his dad) because even tho therye divorced, he still loves his mum. And with Dolph, Well he has a dad who has Hugh expectations for him to be a soldier or a leader of the army but His mum would prefer Dolph to be what he wants to be, she would teach him what he wants to learn, an artist. She'd give him attention and comfort him whenever his dad didn't really support the idea of Dolph being an artist instead of a soldier, and I hc she died so he's alone with his absent father or tried to get along with the other kids near his house but never gets to Because he's always called 'not boyish' due to being an artist(which his dad called him out for),

-Max and Nikki are often used as disguised people whenever they have a mission with the woodscouts, because Nikki can remember the lessons from the flowerscouts, being a stereotypical girl so she acts like one when she disguise, Max just acts like a cuter cutie Patootie which he used that act rarely whenever he needs something from adults or the counselors, but he also use it for a disguise in a mission against the woodscouts while the others are in th back, planning their revenge.

-david's coping mechanism is He has to think about jasper or 'this is for jasper' whenever he gets tormented by the kids or something's wrong, he has nightmares about jasper so he just thinks jasper's still mad at him(even tho he canonically doesn't know jasper is dead-) and still tried to contact jasper but when he didn't respond, it only worries him more but he kept a forced smile on his face because he doesn't wanna worry the kids(even tho they didn't really care but the trio might be suspicious). Gwen would usually tell him jasper's probably dead but David would say otherwise. And He breaks down easily or have panic attacks whenever things aren't going smoothly or he didn't think of 'stay happy' enough so he just breaks down and call himself names like failure or a disappointment(which max obviously agreed on-) and Gwen's just gonna slap him to snap out of it.

-David's second Coping mechanism is he writes irony parts in the song as a way to vent so he can brush the burden off of his chest but it's hard to figure out that he was venting half in the song...but max already did and called out that he has passive aggressiveness and plastic-ness in the song. Which maybe made David need to find another coping mechanism- and he used to have anger issues before when he was a kid

-gwen's bad at comforting since she's always busy or pressured so whenever someone vents to her, it only adds up to her stress and think 'tf should I do-' or maybe just pat their backs and say 'please stop crying' or 'there there' or maybe just leave them alone and tiredly say 'it ain't my problem', except for David who's the opposite, whenever someone would just say therye lonely, He'd give them a whole ass essay about how good life is for 48 hours but Gwen would cut him off if he said too much.

-daniel and Jen are besties when they met, like after when Jen's unknown mission failed, and they met up at the woods(I hc Daniel killed the doctors who figured out he's insane and he escaped the hospital), they be like 'omg...you're a serial killer?...SAMESIESSS EEEHHHH!!' and then they team up easily, which as a thing since if therye the opposite of David and Gwen, they fight alot so Daniel and Jen are besties and get along Very well.

-Harrison probably asked every parent in parents day if he's Normal, because of lack attention from his parents- meanwhile when he got to nerris's parents, they actually just comforted him that it's okay and tell him he didn't mean to make his brother disappear, and magic is fine and Harrison is a normal human being child like the others.

-jasper possessed the wolf in the forest episode, he tried to communicate with David but surely he doesn't know how to talk or live like a wolf so he just tried everything which leading To harming David and he regretted it, but he didn't mean to look menacing because he's still trying to figure out how to control the body and he was probably hungry- but he's glad they got to get along for a few days before David buried the wolf's body and jasper can finally get to wander around in the place where the wolf's body is buried..and when he got to David they night, he tried to call him but then slowly gets sucked back to the spooky island-(which it's the dial M for jasper) but after the trio figured out Jasper and David were friends, jasper hope they'll tell David it's not his fault and therye still friends...but they didn't. But he probably possess the bears as well or the platypus to stay with David.

-david's adopted by one of the counselors(that one With purple ish hair) when he was a kid, maybe because his parents died or in another country, but he has an uncle who looks after him and he's the type of uncle who would do adventures in the forest with David and take a picture of any animal they see and maybe the reason why he was signed up for camp camp Because it was originally for Adventures only until David(?) or Cameron made it for ANY course. But His uncle died due to an accident during exploring in the forest and killed by a Wolf or a bear but he was really old so he can't defend himskef like before, he also taught David how to Save himself from the wolves or any animal.

-i hc Max and Nikki likes rats and they use that to scare Neil and say 'LABRATS' REVENGEEE!!' and they js chase after neil while holding the rats. Also same way to frogs,

-harrison preferred to Hold his pets(I hc he bought his pets with him cuz he's lonely) by laying their backs in his palm after a quick grab on the skin cuz he knew holding animals by the skin is wrong and Animal abuse.

-nurf would chat with his mum through the bars in prison. Or maybe vent and they just have wholesome moments as Mother and son.

-spacekid is 8 and Dolph is 7,-ansley liked Sasha(please don't attack me-)

-Erin has curly hair but she straightens it or braids it, And Tabii helped her with it.

-Preston Nerris and Harrison are a trio but in their own adventures/moments since the show is focused on the other trio(Nikki, Max and Neil),

-neil has a Goldfish and a hamster at home. But his mum took care of it when she has time while neil is in summer.

-ered and nerris are Nonbinary.And max is trans and David's genderfluid

-tabii sings those type of songs like 'when he sees me'(from waitress) or 'helpless'(from Hamilton) whenever she thinks of Neil but maybe not anymore

-the flowerscouts trio are Bisexuals but therye still in the closet about liking the same gender.

-edward secretly borrows Sasha's skincare bottles for his acne/blemishes or told him the type of plants he'll grab for his acne

-jermy's their bait.

-since Gwen's an author, Im sure she had gone through miku phases or the 'obssessed with Astarian from baldur's gate or Cardian from cruel prince', and she writes fanfics of 'Canon x reader' sometimes and she has this Small cute bandage around her Middle finger(David bought her the designed bandage roll) so when she writes, it wouldn't hurt her finger.

-whenever Gwen is sad. David would sometimes play something on his phone and show it to Gwen but he's not really into social media. "David why are you showing me Amongus memes-" "I thought you said you like Fortnite?-" "THAT'S NOT FORTNITE-"

-Ered seeks for attention and validation since at home, she's probably getting treated like a baby by her dads and therye always absent due to work as agents, so all she can do Is taking care of her cousin. So at camp, she can do whatever she wants due to the softness parenting from her dads, but she does anything she likes and atkeast gets praise for it(especially from nikki-)

its not much but I'm still tryna remember moree- :')

[aakariii]

You are suggesting others to up their wealth by reading books...and how are you upping your wealth?? By showing your pussy on internet and getting fucked by different men?? That's why it's called hypocrisy is synonymous to sex workers

I’m suggesting you find better things to do with your time than sit and write weird asks to people you don’t know on the internet. And yet here you are on a sex workers page obsessing over me, please find better things to do with your time.

Read books on how to love yourself, yes, upping your wealth, cooking, hobbies, literally anything to better yourself because I promise you this is doing nothing for you except encouraging more hatred towards yourself.

Hypocrisy is actually you being on my page when you consume sex work content yet have an odd hatred for us. Have you ever watched porn? If you have, which I’m sure you have, then you shouldn’t be sending any sex worker hate or calling us hypocrites. The irony in your statement is crazy, get therapy and figure out why you hate yourself so much.

I’m good and will continue to fuck on video for money. Thanks 🩷🫶🏼

[imjustabeanie]

You seem so cool asjjdkshdjsks

Aurora, they/them

Cancer

INFP

4w5

I’m not sure what my sexuality is, but I prefer men.

Appearance: 5'5, straight black hair, brown eyes (its very brown with the right lighting). I'm built like a stick figure. Olive skin and beauty marks on my face (we match!). People have told me that I look unapproachable? It’s the rbf, aha. I'm experimenting with fashion rn, so my style can alternate between pastel blouses and skirts, or all black (alt style?).

I daydream a lot and tend to space out when I’m not talking to someone. I’m a true introvert, but I love to talk to certain people and about things I find interesting, like my fixations or a fun hypothetical situation. I also tend to get lost in new places. :’)

I value my authenticity, creativity and emotional intelligence (I can’t say I’m really empathetic, but I listen to people when they need me to and I try to be there for them). I am quite sensitive and emotional. Being hungry in a noisy place (lots of people talking) has sent me into sensory overload before I think? I got really angry, haha.

My hobbies are daydreaming, reading, writing, and listening to music. I like anime (mostly shounen), movies, and books (fantasy, thriller), especially analyzing characters with multiples layers and possible interpretations to their behaviour. I have taken a liking to buying clothes and crochet items, and plan to expand my collection of angry things in my room (I have two angry plushies and one judgmental cat bag). I also like sweet things and pretty scenery. :D

I think my giving love languages are quality time and physical touch. My receiving love languages are acts of service and words of affirmation. I wouldn't be able to stand a SO that often cuts me off when I'm trying to talk (especially when I would never do that to them), or someone that's only interested in talking about themselves. I would appreciate someone considerate with enough emotional intelligence to deal with my moody self, haha.

I kin Jade, Floyd, Dabi, Itoshi Sae and Shidou Ryusei from blue lock (look these two characters up and you'll find that they have basically nothing in common but it makes sense I swear.)

I speak English, a bit of Mandarin and Malay. I have two siblings. I plan to become a creative writer. :D

Thanks!

Hellooooo so sorry for the late answer I'm running on 3 hours of sleep lmao...also the biggest irony is who your match is 😭 I think you guessed it...

Your twst match is....Trey!

I know I teased you a lot about who it was, with deuce as my second choice but I believe that Trey would balance your personality quite well. He’s patient, understanding, kind and yet knows how to have fun. He’s quite the domestic boyfriend. I also think that appearance wise you two would look so cute! Concerning your RBF, I can see people being confused that the one they have to be wary about is Trey. Despite his appearance he does have a sharp tongue that he will use if he or his friends/lover are being insulted. The reasons I chose him is because he is quite far away from your deal breakers and his interest align with yours.

You said you liked sweet thing? Well…Trey can bake. I believe that you two got closer to each other after he asked you to test out his new recipes and give critique. Trey doesn’t mind you being a true introvert, I think he even selfishly likes it because it makes your relation more special in his eyes. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t encourage you to be more outgoing, no I believe he helps you make more friends. It’s just that he enjoys being the only one who can make you so flustered lol.

You’re one of the few people he can confide in. He feels so comfortable with you, he just can’t help it! His favorite moment of the day is when both of you meet up in his room and watch movies together or talk about books and manga you two are reading (or complaining about your siblings). He loves it when you get comfortable and start talking about your hobbies and analyzing characters with you. When he leaves for vacation back home, he always bring you a new book to read or any trinket he thinks you’d enjoy (and sweets from his family of course). He tries to get into crochet for you and your first anniversary gift is an angry cat he crocheted himself. He also asks Rook about clothes recommendations or accessories for your outfits.

Trey is also emotionally intelligent and can handle any of your moods like a champ. He loves you with all your moodiness and sensibility and if anyone judges you over this he will have a word with them. His favorite thing to do when you get worked up is to hug you and take you to a secluded place where he can help you calm down (and pepper you with kisses. Forehead kisses are his favorites). He is always here to tell you how proud he is and how happy you make him.

In short, a relationship with trey is like having a soulmate. He puts you above him and does his best to make you happy. The only problem is that, despite being comfortable with you, he still bottles up his real thoughts if he thinks it makes you happy (like we saw with riddle). Your runner up is silver.

[lilian-adamson]

Sound the Bells; Lil Adamson 

TIMING : The end of White Crest, Dec 3rd 

LOCATION:  White Crest, or what was left of it. 

PARTIES:  @lilian-adamson

SUMMARY: Lil, while waiting for the end, is reminded that she’s never been truly alone. For once, that makes her comfortable. 

CONTENT WARNINGS: Parental Death, Emotional Abuse (maybe) 

Death wasn’t something that had ever been far from Lilian’s mind. After all, most of her time was among the dead; even now, as the town evacuated and the - volunteers- stayed, the dead surrounded her. Faces of people that were long gone shimmered in and out as she nodded to the still-living as they finished up their final plans.  

It was grim, but Lil tried to give a smile here and there. She had a joke on her lip and a smile as she tried to calm down others. After all, there were two things every Adamson knew, and one was that Death came for everyone, and the second wasn’t a damn thing you could do about it. So she refused to do a dirge for herself or the others instead of leaving them with a soft smile and a wave. 

Maybe that’s why she wasn’t scared even as she started walking her way, alone a wave to the people behind her as she went through the crumbling town, working herself carefully through the thunderous everything ignoring the wind whipping around her as she steadied herself, following from the tower. There wasn’t anything she could do differently now. The letters were sent out, her phone was smashed,  the warnings from the dead were given, and now it was just the time to do what needed to be done. 

She just needed to get to the place and wait for Death to meet her. Of course, it would be the longest few minutes of her life - but hey, maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. 

She was starting to get wet as she pushed through the streets, the ghosts seeming to follow her even now as her Death drew closer. She didn’t know if the others could see them - following the exorcist as she made her way to sit near the bench, waiting for the time to stand and finish the ritual on the exact spot. 

Tucked close to her, Lil’s fingers tapped a poetry collection as she waited for the apocalypse to come to an end - either way. It had been silly, a habit from years of waiting for things to happen, but she had carefully picked a book to read, waiting for the end. Pulling open the book, she started reading where she had left off in the collection - irony be damned that she couldn’t possibly finish it. 

“Because I could not stop for death -” Lil muttered under her breath, trying to steady herself - only a few minutes left on this plane. She could do this alone.

“He kindly stopped for me –,” She heard a soft voice in her ear, a young woman sitting next to Lil on the bench - the only way she knew she was dead was the old Victorian clothes she wore - the time loop seemingly making even the dead around her look solid. Her face was kind as she put her hand over Lil’s - she could almost feel it there as she squeezed Lil’s hand.  

“The Carriage held but just Ourselves – And Immortality.” Lil heard another voice, this of a young man whose eyes were fixed on the tower that Lil couldn’t figure out was still standing. Something in his jaw reminded her of Jamie when he was in his twenties, his arms folded in front of him, a twinge of sadness mixed with comfort as she focused back on the words. 

“We slowly drove – He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For His Civility –” 

Lil said, a thunder strike coming so close to herself she could taste the electricity in her mouth as she tried not to cringe. Her hands clutched the book as she felt someone almost touching her shoulder. 

Looking, she saw an older woman, her soft smile glinting encouraging as she continued the poem in a strained whisper, 

“We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess – in the Ring – We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – We passed the Setting Sun –” 

Before Lil could continue the poem, she felt someone tug at the book, a small child looking eagerly at the page and carefully saying the following words in a confident voice, 

“Or rather – He passed Us – The Dews drew quivering and Chill – For only Gossamer, my Gown – My Tippet – only Tulle –”

Another voice layered the child as a man plucked the child into his lap as he sat next to Lil, his voice reminding her of a dad as he tucked the kid under his chin and leaned his head on Lil’s shoulder to read his hair almost tickling at her neck, 

“We paused before a House that seemed A Swelling of the Ground – The Roof was scarcely visible – The Cornice – in the Ground –”

Eyes focused on Lil - even the young man turning around slightly to look behind him as they examined her. Knowing without them saying, Lil started to say the last bit of the poem - here voice trembling with her understanding that they wanted her to finish it 

“Since then – ’tis Centuries – and yet Feels shorter than the Day I first surmised the Horses’ Heads Were toward Eternity –” 

She said, her voice getting softer at the end as she felt other ghosts that had been further away coming closer, circling the ones living around them. 

It occurred to her then that the ghosts surrounding her weren’t taunting her like they so often had done before. On the contrary, they seemed to almost be keeping a vigil around her. Keeping her from seeing all the chaos surrounding the area as the time drew nearer. Trying to comfort her by reading out loud to herself as they all knew what she was doing. In a moment that they could have made her last moments worse, there was kindness instead. They wanted her not to be alone. Even now, as she caught the eyes of the dead, they all looked at her with pity and sadness. She didn’t even know their names - she doubted they knew hers. 

“T-thank you,” Lil said softly, her eyes focused on the sky, waiting for the bells to ring, her body shaking as the softness of comfort wasn’t something she had known. But, instead, it made her tremble, in a loss; she wasn’t sure she understood. She tried to will herself to stand and get into her place, but she kept hoping for just one more moment. For just a bit more courage or comfort - or hell, just one more moment of life. 

 She was going to die. She was going too far away from her family and friends, with only dead strangers to keep her company. It caused her to freeze for a moment. 

Still, she felt soft tugs from the ghosts - words she couldn’t quite hear that sounded more like they were trying to drown out the crackling lighting and wind. It wasn’t harsh and grating like she usually heard, but soothing. Even now, they were trying to keep her calm, to keep her resolve here. Did they know? Did they know what she had to do? Did they see how she had tried to calm the others, not letting her fear show? That if she moved from this area, the town was doomed? They must have been trying to make it less scary for her, at the very least. 

They must have, as she felt a shuffle happen and a tap from the woman on her hand to look up a small smile to Lil as she got her to focus. 

For a moment, Lil blinked; the tears she didn’t know filled her eyes when she saw a woman who looked an awful lot like her looking back. 

“Come, Sweet Girl, I’ve got you. Let’s get you home,” The soft voice of June said as Lil looked up, her book falling to the ground as she reached towards her Auntie, a sudden feeling of wholeness as the destruction reached an unbearable cacophony around them. Like she had known, June stood where Lil needed to be, and once she reached her, Lil could swear that she could feel her Auntie just like she had been a little girl again, not a grown woman. It made June look as young as she had been. Her firm grip around her as she pulled her in for a moment, the smell of oranges and violets on the tip of her nose as she swore she could hear the bells ring. For a moment, she looked at her Aunt and smiled, knowing she wasn’t alone. She was never alone.

“I’m coming home, Auntie - I’m coming -”

[johnhardinsawyer]

Call the Midwives, 2023

John Sawyer

Bedford Presbyterian Church

8 / 27 / 23 – 13th Sunday after Pentecost / Proper 16

Exodus 1:8-22

Romans 12:1-8

“Call the Midwives, 2023”[1]

(There is a Line of Women. . .)

This summer’s big hit at the box office is a little film called The Barbie Movie, which delightfully skewers so many gender stereotypes.  For most of the movie, I sat there laughing and thinking, smugly, “Well, I’ve never done that to a woman – never treated a woman that way.”  There is one scene, though, that hits a little too close to home for me.  All of the Barbies gather together in pairs with all of the Kens and all the Kens – strumming acoustic guitars – sing a song to all the Barbies while staring directly into their eyes.  All of a sudden, I saw my college self, strumming my acoustic guitar, and singing a song directly at someone.  Why did I subject this certain someone to that?  The word “awkward” doesn’t even begin to describe the vibe in that moment. 

In today’s reading from Romans, the Apostle Paul reminds us, “. . . I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.”  (Romans 12:3)  I’m convinced that, here Paul could very well have written, “Don’t think you’re God’s gift to self-important romantic gestures involving guitar strumming and cheesy songs and direct eye-contact.”

To expand on this idea, recently, my wise friend Britt said, “A woman would never play a twenty-minute guitar solo.  That’s something that only men do.”  Yes, I know that this is a blanket statement and that there are probably exceptions to this rule, but I have thought about the truth of Britt’s words – and not just when it comes to guitar playing – because I’m convinced that Britt was talking about more than just guitar solos.  What Britt said has made me more conscious as I meet with people here in the church and beyond.  What is the gender balance, here?  Does everyone have a voice?  Is anyone dominating the conversation too much?  And, yes, I understand that there is some irony at play in this very moment as I – someone who is male, with male characteristics and mannerisms – stands up in front of a group of people to talk for approximately fourteen minutes.  Many of the best pastors and preachers I have ever known have been women and I tremble in seeking to follow their example.  

I also tremble to tell the story of Shiphrah and Puah, found in today’s reading from the Book of Exodus.  It is a story of terror and triumph.  This summer, we have been making our way through some of the suggested lectionary passages from the Hebrew Bible – stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph – all men.  We would be wise, though, to hear the stories of the Bible, listening carefully for the presence and voices of women. 

There is a song that comes from the Iona Community in Scotland that gives us a snapshot of the role that women have played in shaping history, going back to the very beginning:  

There is a line of women, extending back to Eve, Whose role in shaping history God only could conceive. And though, through endless ages their witness was repressed,  God valued and encouraged them through whom the world was blessed. So sing a song of Sarah, to laughter she gave birth,  And sing a song of Tamar who stood for women’s worth; And sing a song of Hannah who bargained with her Lord; And sing a song of Mary who bore and bred God’s Word. [2]

Last week, we heard the story of Joseph and his brothers.  The story ends with Joseph inviting his brothers and their wives and servants – basically everyone in their huge family – to move down to Egypt where there is food and where Joseph can provide for them.  This is what the family does.  They move to Egypt and God blesses them.  They become prosperous and end up having lots of children.  And their children have even more children.

But, as time goes on, a problem arises – a big problem as some of the Egyptians see it:  The Children of Israel – also known as “Hebrews” – are quite numerous and will soon outnumber the Egyptians.  And, what’s more, a new king has arisen who “[does] not know Joseph.” (Exodus 1:8). All this new king knows is that Joseph’s descendants and extended family are becoming too numerous, and he becomes afraid.  And his fear is contagious among the Egyptians.  I wish I could say that fear like this – the fear of being outnumbered by a group of people who are different from you – died way back in Bible times, but people in power throughout history have tried to (how shall we say) “manage” racial and ethnic demographics – sometimes in very violent and very oppressive ways.  

The historian, Isabel Wilkerson, writes that it is projected that the year 2042 will mark the first time in our own country’s history when white people will no longer be in the racial majority – something that has caused enough anxiety and fear among some white people that they have lashed out, violently, against non-white people in recent years – in a church in Charleston, in a synagogue in Pittsburgh, on public transit in Portland, and in the streets of Charlottesville.[3]  Those in power have recently attached saw blades to floating barriers in the Rio Grande River to keep people out and have sought to legislate away an entire small segment of the population, based on gender identity.

Way back in the Book of Exodus, the Pharaoh is so scared that these non-Egyptian Israelites – these people who are “different” – are going to take over the country or ally themselves with Egypt’s enemies, that he takes drastic measures – brutally enslaving the Israelite people, “pressing them into hard service in mortar and brick and every kind of field labor.”  (Exodus 1:14). But that is not all he does. . .

The king summons two Israelite midwives – Shiphrah and Puah – and tells them, “When you act as midwives to the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstool, if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she shall live.”  (1:16). Could you imagine a leader so frightened of losing power that he would order such a thing?  I wish this were the only time this has happened, but you might remember King Herod doing the same thing in the time of Jesus when rumors of a Messiah being born reached the king’s ears.[4]

Now, I don’t want to speak for Shiphrah and Puah, but I imagine that they – and a whole lot of other people – are horrified by the king’s command.  The thing that he asks is not really something that midwives do.  Shiphrah, whose name in the original language means “beauty,” and Puah, whose name suggests a cooing or gurgling “sound that a nurturing woman makes to soothe an infant”[5] might be horrified by the king, but they are midwives – who have seen and done a lot and are strong in ways that the king knows not.

Right after the king gives them this awful command, the text tells us, “But the midwives feared God. . .”  In the original language, that word for “fear” can also be translated as having a “reverent fear”[6] of God – thinking about God, in all of God’s power and mystery, with the utmost worshipful respect.  And, because the midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, feel this way about God – because they fear God more than they fear the king – they decide to not do what they have been commanded to do.  Instead, they disobey the law of the land and let the boys live. 

There is a line of women who took on powerful men, Defying laws and scruples to let life live again. And though despite their triumph their stories stayed untold God kept their number growing, creative, strong and bold. So sing a song of Shiphrah with Puah at her hand, Engaged to kill male children they foiled the king’s command. And sing a song of Rahab who sheltered spies and lied; And sing a song of Esther, preventing genocide.[7]

Yes, I know. . .  you never thought you’d hear the phrase “preventing genocide” sung to such a jaunty tune, but the song highlights just how high the stakes can be for people of faith and the lives of public witness God calls us to live.  

Civil disobedience has long had a place in the church – when people of faith have said “No” to the powers that be so that they can say “Yes” with reverent fear toward God.  It’s really a question of “Who is the ruler of our lives?”  Are we ruled by human beings or are we ruled by the God who made us, and saved us, and is at work within us?  In in a simple, but powerful, act of nonviolent civil disobedience, Shiphrah and Puah stand before the king, and – when asked why the Hebrew women are still having baby boys – they shrug and say, “Well, the babies are already born when we arrive and it’s too late to do what you asked us to do.  Maybe Hebrew women just have babies faster than Egyptian women.” (Exodus 1:19)[8]  “We’re just midwives, your majesty.  What do we know?” they say, as they give each other a knowing look.

As the saying goes, “Well-behaved women seldom make history.”[9]  And, because – in this instance – Shiphrah and Puah weren’t well-behaved in the eyes of a very selfish and very unjust law, a baby named Moses was able to be born – Moses, who would be used by God to save God’s people, and bring them out of bondage, and lead them through the wilderness to the Promised Land.  But, while today’s story points toward Moses and all that he does for his people, we don’t need to forget these brave midwives who have the courage to say “No,” even if it means risking their lives to usher new life into the world.

There are echoes of this thought in today’s reading from Paul’s letter to the Romans. . . Eugene Peterson translates them in this way: 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for [God]. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what [God] wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.[10]     

“Take your everyday, ordinary life. . . and place it before God as an offering. . . be changed from the inside out. . .  Readily recognize what God wants from you, and quickly respond to it. . .”  Or, as one of the residents of River Woods in Manchester so aptly put it this past week when we were there:  “Do your own thing by doing God’s thing.”

There are so many who have sacrificed their lives for God over the years, resulting in their own physical death – saints, and martyrs, and the like.  But there are so many others who have been living sacrifices – as Paul calls them – who have placed their everyday ordinary lives before God as an offering and God has used them for good in the world, to accomplish God’s gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love purpose in the world.  Many of us could name someone from our family or our past who have sacrificed their own needs and desires for us.  Of course, many of these living sacrifices have been men, but so many have been a mother, or a sister, or an aunt, a teacher, a friend.

There is a line of women who stood by Jesus’ side, Who housed him when he ministered and held him when he died;  And though they claimed he’d risen, their news was deemed suspect,  Till Jesus stood among them, his womanly elect. So sing a song of Anna who saw Christ’s infant face; And sing a song of Martha who gave him food and space; And sing of all the Marys who heeded his requests, And now at heaven’s banquet are Jesus’ fondest guests. [11]

And sing a song of all those who – even now – are following Jesus in how they live, in what they say and do, in who they stand up to, in how they serve, and love, and spread good news. . .   Would you count yourself among their number?  Would I dare to count myself, too?  

May we be open to the movement of the Holy Spirit in our minds and hearts, in our bodies and souls, helping us to do our own thing by doing God’s thing, not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought, but taking the gifts that God has given us and offering them to the glory of God.  

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  

-----

[1] Based upon and borrowing from a sermon I preached in August of 2020 with the title “Call the Midwives.”

[2] John L. Bell, “There Is a Line of Women,” Iona Abbey Music Book (Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, 2003) 128-131.

[3] Isabel Wilkerson, Caste:  The Origins of our Discontents. (New York:  Random House, 2020) 6.

[4] See Matthew 2:16-18.

[5] Robert Alter, The Five Books of Moses.  New York:  W.W. Norton and Company, Inc., 2004. 309-310.

[6] https://biblehub.com/hebrew/3372.htm.

[7] John L. Bell, “There Is a Line of Women,” Iona Abbey Music Book (Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, 2003) 128-131.

[8] Paraphrased, JHS.

[9] Laurel Thatcher Ulrich.  https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/09/ulrich-explains-that-well-behaved-women-should-make-history/.

[10] Eugene Peterson, The Message: Numbered Edition (Colorado Springs: NAV Press, 2002) 1557. Romans 12:1-2.

[11] John L. Bell, “There Is a Line of Women,” Iona Abbey Music Book (Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, 2003) 128-131.

[thoughtfulfangirling]

I do see why they went the direction they did. The show is definitely trying to draw attention to the fact that Emma's meddling has resulted in her current lonely position. By including Isabella's marriage in that, they get to hammer down the irony that her matchmaking has left her desperate for Harriet's company.

I just watched Mr. Knightly say to Emma that she would one day greatly regret her meddling, and that's a really great moment, especially with this setup, given that the show is making extra Emma's fault she's in the situation. She is already greatly regretting her matchmaking.

This also makes an implication even more heavy than one might get from the book that by choosing Elton for Harriet, Emma is almost ensuring to keep Harriet. I don't think Emma is like choosing to pick Elton because she's sure he won't marry Harriet, but I think he feels safe to match Harriet with because of ways he seems inaccessible to Harriet.

Harriet marrying Robert Martin, she believed, took Harriet even farther from her than Elton. But if Elton doesn't marry Harriet, she continues to have Harriet for a companion longer too.

I like what they're doing with this choice, and it was the right route to take imo if they were going to do it.

But I still much prefer the idea that the only successful matchmaking she's a part of is Ms. Taylor and Mr. Weston. Which was largely a situation of noticing infatuation among two people and smoothing the path. And given the fact that Mrs. Weston, before marrying, may have felt that she could not abandon the Churchills and therefore didn't quite offer encouragement to Mr. Weston, Harriet playing matchmaker for her would be something Mrs. Weston could assume meant Emma was giving her blessing. In fact, Mrs. Weston might have assumed those 'matchmaking' attempts by Emma would be her way of showing her that it was okay and not even matchmaking at all.

It highlights how young Emma is and how little she understands the world outside of her bubble. Though... I guess... the show does make Isabella say she would not have married if Emma had not been there to take care of Father, so I guess, in a way, the same scenario could be said for Emma in this case, where Isabella only was encouraged because her sister gave her the blessing and was letting her know it was alright to leave Father in her hands.

I'm more okay with it now I've talked myself into it that way, but Emma's transformation to realizing how little she really understand human dynamics (read especially when she discovers Frank and Jane) is such a good arch that... still, a little piqued. Ha XD

Finally checking out the BBC miniseries for Emma, and it just definitely does not feel as strong as the BBC P&P. I'm still going to enjoy watching it but the long exposition at the beginning was incredibly jarring to me and I'm no expert but the timelines for their histories seems really strange. I listened to the book recentlish and I admittedly miss things given the language being formulated less familiarly, but I have never gotten the impression Emma had anything to do with Isabella and John. I get what they're going for with it which isn't a bad choice but one I disagree with haha. So I'm not hating it ofc but I'm kinda annoyed lol

[halucygeno]

[Draft] Why Roadside Picnic is a timeless masterpiece and why everyone missed the point

(DRAFT NOTE: Otherside Picnic and PAFL are tagged because I intended to conclude this essay by explaining why I think those works, ostensibly inspired by R.P., don’t understand and fail to capture what makes the novel so powerful. My writing never got to that point, but it might still be of interest to fans of Otherside Picnic and PAFL, so I’ve kept the tags. If I ever manage to somehow finish this, I’ll take it down and replace it with the full version.)

ESSAY START:

With that needlessly provocative title out of the way, I hope people are still here and willing to listen as I try to explain myself:

[SPOILERS FOR THE WHOLE BOOK, GO READ IT IF YOU HAVEN’T DONE SO YET]

At its very core, Roadside Picnic is a character study. It acts as philosophical and social commentary too, but a vast majority of that is delivered and explored through Redrick’s character arc.

The sci-fi stuff which everyone loves referencing, and which every adaptation and “inspired” work can’t help but include: the Zone, the artefacts, bolt tossing, Mosquito Manges - none of that matters. You could replace it with magic, or dragons, or some other arbitrary plot device - it just needs to be beyond human understanding and have no clear explanation or origin, to allow for the ideas discussed by Noonan and Dr. Pillman in Chapter 3. This basic premise is all you need to discuss xenology, human psychology, “what’s a rational being”, how insignificant we are in the universe, etc.

All the other details are either little tid-bits of worldbuilding, window-dressing, or serve a specific narrative purpose. Witches’ Jelly could be any “super dangerous substance”, because what matters is not that it eats your bones, what matters is that Redrick sells it to a shady dealer, betraying the morals he espoused in Chapter 1:

All of these objects aren’t just “cool artefacts”, they’re tools for the Strugatskys to get across their themes.

And those themes are... Well, that’s harder to summarise. The main theme of the story seems to be about how economic circumstances and crises in one’s personal life can rot a person’s moral compass and kill their faith in the possibility of a better world. The events of the story turn someone like Redrick - an honest worker who believes in Kirill’s promises that science has the potential to save humanity - into an evil hypocrite, a murderer who lies to himself to justify his reprehensible actions. The question asked of the audience is “how responsible is Redrick for his own fate”, while the ending asks “will any of it amount to anything”?

To be clear, Redrick is a BAD person. By the end of the book, he has quit his job at the Institute, sold Witches’ Jelly to shady 3rd parties (which ended in a laboratory accident that killed 35), cheated on his wife (with a woman he supposedly despises) and murdered an innocent kid. He even draws sadistic pleasure from the emotional pain he will inflict on Burbridge by killing his son, savouring the irony of Burbridge being the one who kept encouraging him to take some newbie to the Meat Grinder:

But he wasn’t always like this. At the start of the story, he is cynical and rough, but he has principles. Like already mentioned earlier, in the excerpt where Noonan tells him about someone looking to buy Witches’ Jelly, he even goes as far as saying that he’ll work with the police to turn them in. The same police which, earlier in the chapter, stopped him in the street because they profiled him and assumed he was up to something:

Redrick has done his time in prison, gotten an honest job (yes, I know that he says that he still makes "a few bucks on the side”, but he’s actually relieved when he hears they’ll be walling off the Zone because it’ll mean “less temptation”. He wants to make money as a decent citizen), and he’s still being treated like a criminal and stopped by the police on-sight. And despite this, his fear of what the wrong person might do with Witches’ Jelly is so strong, he’s willing to go to them and report the buyer.

And this rejection of his prior Stalker persona is deeper than just getting a job at the institute and being willing to cooperate with police. When Kirill assumes that Redrick suggested getting the Full Empty as a ploy to sell his services, at first, Redrick doesn’t understand what he means. When he does, he feels outright insulted:

When he finds out about Kirill’s death, he is devastated, but notably, this sorrow quickly turns into a hatred of the systems which throw young men to their deaths for money. He curses Ernest for profiting from this exploitation. A key scene is when he hands Creon (a young man who just arrived in Harmont and wants to become a Stalker) a wad of cash and urges him to go back to Malta:

Another pillar of Redrick’s character is the fact that he loves and is loyal to his fiancée, Guta, despite her family being openly antagonistic towards him - not just because of his criminal past, but the fact that he’s been afflicted by the Zone:

He marries her at some point after this.

Most importantly, he actually has a purpose. This is shown when he is pestered by the emigration agent, as he makes a speech about how Harmont is a “hole into the future”, which will change life around the world for the better:

The crucial detail here is that the one who inspired him to think this way is Kirill. Redrick is always portrayed as cynical and bitter, so this high-mindedness is not coming from somewhere within him - it’s external. He’s drawing inspiration from the idealistic, honest people around him. So when Kirill dies, it is not merely the death of a close friend. It is the death of Redrick’s faith, his hope in the future. He even says “How will I get on without you?”:

Basically, Chapter 1 sets-up Redrick AT HIS BEST, so that the story can send him on a downward spiral in every chapter that follows.

Chapter 2 has several important developments, and it marks the start of Redrick’s moral decline. Before getting into that, though, I’d like to draw attention to another part of Redrick’s moral compass which is highlighted - his hatred of Burbridge and, more importantly, his hatred of Burbridge’s daughter, Dina.

Buzzard Burbridge embodies the most reprehensible, slimy aspects of being a Stalker. He is a selfish profiteer, willing to sacrifice his comrades and leave them to die just so he can get away with the loot. Redrick hates Burbridge, and, very importantly, believes himself to be better than Burbridge:

Redrick hates that Burbridge has no regard for human life, and this hatred applies in equal measure to Dina. When Dina tells Redrick that he should have left Buzzard to his death, he slaps her in the face:

This is not done out of sympathy for the man - Redrick hates Burbridge. What insults him is the implication that he should’ve left a comrade to their death - even a piece of sh*t comrade. He hates Dina, because even though what she says about Buzzard is true, it’s not a reason to abandon him to his death. Just like her father, she has no regard for human life.

In this scene, it’s also worth noting that Redrick is very respectful to Hamster. Hamster is the only Stalker to survive entering the Meat Grinder, supposedly saved by Buzzard. He seems to hang around the Burbridge household, possibly acting as some kind of servant, but is deformed and crippled from his injury:

The contrast between how he speaks to Dina and Hamster sends a clear message; Dina’s beauty means nothing. She’s evil, and deserves less respect than ugly, deformed Hamster.

Another key moment is Redrick’s conversation with Noonan in the café near the Métropole hotel. There, we learn why he quit working for the institute; money. He could no longer earn bonuses when expeditions to the Zone began being handled by robots:

Important here is that his salary still isn’t terrible, and the institute did not fire him. He chose to quit, because he wants a sense of freedom, of not being bossed around, and the money to splurge on things (like cigarettes) and have peace of mind. This is aptly summarised in the line “a man needs money so that he doesn't have to always be counting it”.

Obviously, another reason why he quit is Kirill’s death. In his final, rambling monologue, Redrick admits that he hated working for the Institute, so it’s very likely that Kirill and his idealistic visions for the future were the only things keeping him there.

So, to summarise, at this stage, Redrick’s character looks more or less like this: 1) Wants to do honest work and disassociate from his criminal past. 2) Believes the world can be saved by technology from the Zone. 3) Will never sell Witches’ Jelly to dangerous 3rd parties. 4) Needs money for a basic standard of comfort and freedom from authority. 5) Won’t abandon someone to their death, even someone as bad as Buzzard. 6) Beauty doesn’t matter if, morally, you’re an awful person. 7) Loyal to his wife and daughter.

Having lost Kirill, and with him, his hope for a better future, Redrick’s new source of meaning is his wife and daughter. His purpose in life is providing for them, especially Monkey, whose condition makes her the target of bullying.

(Side note: One thing always annoyed me. Why did they call her Monkey?! That’s asking for people to bully your kid! Was it just a coincidence, or did they really name her after her birth defect? And this is an accurate translation of the Russian “Мартышка”, no weird translation problems here.)

But this new purpose - providing for his family - crashes into him hard when he’s set-up, betrayed, caught by the police, and is forced to flee. It’s then revealed that Redrick had a trump-card up his sleeve - a jar of Witches’ Jelly and an interested buyer, willing to pay the money to his wife in instalments while he rots in prison. It’s never stated how long his prison sentence is, but Redrick estimates that evading arrest (which he did to arrange the transaction) will add another year to it.

To be clear, this jar was prepared as a last resort. He clearly doesn’t want to do this. Earlier, in the Métropole, when he's asked if he managed to procure it, he lies, saying that he didn’t:

He promises to get it later, keeping Throaty interested, but not giving it to him. Later, as he’s about to make the call, he admonishes himself:

This the first major step in Redrick’s decline, where his self-interest explicitly endangers the lives of others, and he still picks himself over others.

Before moving into Chapter 3, one part which I’d like to quickly touch on is the circumstances of Redrick’s arrest. I didn’t pick up on this on my first read, but Ernest wasn’t the one who set-up the police ambush in the Borscht. The one who set up Redrick’s arrest was Richard Noonan:

At first, I was confused as to why Redrick never realised that Noonan betrayed him, but after looking at it more closely, and despite how stupid it may sound, I genuinely think Redrick was so sleep-deprived that he forgot Noonan was the one who told him to drive to the Borscht in the first place. After getting into the cab, he falls asleep and wakes up, incorrectly thinking he told the driver to take him to the bank:

Regardless, in Chapter 3, we learn that Richard Noonan is some sort of government agent, working for the Institute or with law enforcement in some capacity. His mission is to shut down the “flow of materials from the Zone through Harmont”, which is why he has been befriending Stalkers and infiltrating their social circles, monitoring them. His activities include buying artefacts from Stalkers and rerouting them to the Institute:

If you’ve been paying attention, the Stalker which Noonan mentions in the above excerpt, the one he is stringing along and exploiting for his swag, is Creon, the Maltese Stalker which Redrick tried to pay to give up on the profession and go back home in Chapter 1. He persevered, became a successful, and what did it get him? He’s not an adventurer - he’s a pawn, drowning his sorrows in booze, getting closer to death, unaware that he’s being exploited by Noonan.

The worst part of this, which is never said explicitly, but heavily implied, is that the Institute is allowing certain Stalkers to operate because real humans are better, more effective gatherers of artefacts then their officially sanctioned robots. They are supposedly cracking down on this illegal activity, but they don’t mind taking advantage of it while they can:

There’s a sickening duality to it. Officially, Stalkers are criminalised, thrown in jail, ostracised. But behind the scenes, the Institute relies on them to deliver them materials, strings them along and keeps them on their payroll.

(Side note: I’ll let you draw whatever real-life parallels you find applicable. The ones that immediately come to my mind are the US prison-industrial complex and the funding of the the Taliban, but I’m sure you can find many, many more.)

Later, we generally get to see Richard Noonan being a horrid person - beating up a subordinate for having overlooked a group of Stalkers who were sneaking into the Zone without the Institute’s awareness.

Following this, Noonan has his conversation with Valentine Pillman, where the analogy of a “roadside picnic” is used and where the book derives its title. The general message is that we’re completely insignificant. The visitation wasn’t an instance of aliens coming to contact us or conquer us - they were just passing by and accidentally dropped a bunch of their trash on us.

Of course, Pillman qualifies this by saying that this is just his personal theory, and that there is no evidence to support this, or any other interpretation. He points out that to speculate about the motives of non-human beings by applying human psychology to them is folly, and calls xenology a pseudoscience.

For how central this conversation seems to be to the book (it’s in the title, after all), I don’t actually think that it’s a particularly interesting concept. It speaks to a general existential dread many people can probably relate to, being insignificant in the face of the infinitely complex, incomprehensible mechanisms of the cosmos. But it seems quite simple and self-contained, especially compared to the layered, interconnected themes of the rest of the book. It’s quaint.

Much more interesting to me are the things we find out about the artefacts recovered from the Zone. Eternal Batteries, seemingly capable of producing infinite energy, are used to power people’s private cars. Black Sprays, little beads which one theory claims are huge swathes of compressed space, are used to decorate jewelry:

To be blunt, Kirill was wrong. The artefacts from the Zone and the research done by the Institute are not “saving the world”. They’re accomplishing almost nothing. At best, they become the playthings of the wealthy and powerful, while the working class is literally killing themselves in the Zone to acquire them. At worst, they’re causing horrible accidents and killing people, like the Currigan labs incident:

The point of this is to show that fancy new technology does not inherently uproot old systems of injustice and exploitation. Without societal change, even something as reality-shattering as an alien invasion will be slotted into the old way of things. There’s even a passing mention of more luxury accommodations being built in Harmont in response to... tourists:

I saw another Tumblr post tagged with #roadside picnic, complaining about how people are trying too hard to make every soviet novel into something political. Well, I’m sorry. IT IS POLITICAL. You’re just not paying attention. If you disagree, I challenge you to read the above passage about “the suburbs being emptied” and tell me that it’s not trying to communicate anything about the economical systems ruling Harmont.

And if I need to spell it out, the force consuming and destroying the lives of Stalkers is not “the Zone”. It’s capitalism. The characters constantly talk about greenbacks, about needing money. The reason Stalkers need to break the law and risk their lives is either because they have rent to pay, or because they want to become financially stable enough to be free from the coercion of bosses and landlords.

The entire reason Redrick betrays his moral convictions in Chapter 2 is because of money. He leaves the Institute because his job is being automated, his pay is being cut, and he doesn’t want to live paycheck to paycheck. He wants to be free. And finally, he sells the Witches’ Jelly because he has to keep his family fed while he’s stuck in jail.

And if you still think I’m just reading too much into things, seeing what I want to see, I’d like to take you back to Chapter 2 for a few notable passages. Namely, Redrick’s experiences as he is entering the luxury hotel, Métropole:

This is Redrick, talking to a cop. Yes, the police, so eager to harass him in Chapter 1, are suddenly asking him if he’s alright, offering to help, calling him “mister”. So what changed?

Well, he is wearing a suit, holding a suitcase, standing in front of a fancy hotel. They assumed he’s rich. That he’s a respectable citizen, that he’d never need to steal anything.

There’s a genius reversal here - in Chapter 1, Redrick was an honest lab worker, but was profiled and stopped by the police. In Chapter 2, while the cop is trying to help him, he’s on his way to an illegal deal with a suitcase full of contraband. He’s an actual criminal, but he’s treated with kindness, because he looks upper-class.

And if you still somehow think this is all a coincidence, I ask you - why is this scene here? Why was it written? Seriously, it’s such a random moment, a complete non-sequiteur from everything happening beforehand, and I never hear anyone talk about it. Redrick, out of nowhere, begins having strong hallucinations and has to stop to catch his breath. If the key information being conveyed here is “Redrick suffers from hallucinations”, why not just have him catch his breath and move on? Why add this random cop, trying so hard to be helpful?

The answer is simple. It’s not a “random cop”. It’s social commentary on how cops exist to protect and serve the ruling class.

In the hotel itself, we have this moment where Redrick steps into an elevator full of absurdly, comically obnoxious rich people:

If you’ve been ignoring the attached excerpts so far, I urge you to read this one. I cannot adequately summarise how seeping with contempt and revulsion these descriptions are. Redrick closes his eyes to try to “shut out” these people, to not have to look at them. The young boy is eating chocolate, of course, drooling, while his mother has the Black Sprays we talked about earlier on her necklace. This is the privileged, wealthy elite and Redrick HATES them and what they represent. It’s textbook class antagonism.

And this doesn’t just affect Redrick. Returning to Chapter 3, Noonan visits Redrick’s house and speaks to Guta, who tells him about their struggles with Monkey, whose condition had worsened, destroying most of her cognitive abilities:

Noonan is wealthy. He’s one of the people who uses a car powered by an Eternal Battery. He lives in hotels. But more importantly:

Noonan genuinely sympathises with Redrick and Guta’s plight, and the suffering they’re going through because of Monkey’s condition. He genuinely wants to help them, and is ready to, but then remembers his boss. He remembers that his job is not to help the ones who are struggling and need it the most, but to serve the system. To label these people criminals and “infiltrate” them, monitor them, instead of simply befriending them.

Of course, Richard Noonan is an awful person. But we're almost given the sense that, given his position, he doesn’t even have an opportunity to be a good, honest person. When he genuinely feels sympathy for those he exploits, he forces himself to stop and suppresses his good nature. Because that’s what’s expected of him, what his job requires. He’s there to protect the interests of the Institute - the ruling class.

I really hope these examples adequately demonstrate what I believe to be the main political themes of the story, because I’m going to put those aside for a moment and go back to the personal, moral journey of the main character.

The only thing of note left in Chapter 3 is Redrick’s father and his reaction to news of the lab accident.

[UNIFNISHED DRAFT ENDS HERE]

(TRANSLATION NOTE: All quotations are taken from the Antonina W. Bouis translation, despite there being an arguably more accurate translation by Olena Bormashenko. This is out of habit, not preference - I’m more familiar with the Bouis translation, which made searching for quotes easier.)

(Huge thanks to Antonina W. Bouis and later Olena Bormashenko for bringing this book to an anglophone audience, to Irena Lewandowska and Rafał Dębski for translating it to Polish, and to Siergiej Rajkov and Milan Asadurov for doing the same in Bulgarian.)

[perpetual-stories]

22 Essential Literary Devices and How to Use Them In Your Writing

hello, happy Monday. Hope you’re all having a wonderful day!

I will skip the pre-info and dive right into it.

What Is a Literary Device?

is a tool used by writers to hint at larger themes, ideas, and meaning in a story or piece of writing

The List of Literary Devices:

Allegory. Allegory is a literary device used to express large, complex ideas in an approachable manner. Allegory allows writers to create some distance between themselves and the issues they are discussing, especially when those issues are strong critiques of political or societal realities.

Allusion. An allusion is a popular literary device used to develop characters, frame storylines, and help create associations to well-known works. Allusions can reference anything from Victorian fairy tales and popular culture to the Bible and the Bard. Take the popular expression “Bah humbug”—an allusion that references Charles Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol. The phrase, which is often used to express dissatisfaction, is associated with the tale’s curmudgeonly character, Ebenezer Scrooge.

Anachronism. Imagine reading a story about a caveman who microwaves his dinner, or watching a film adaptation of a Jane Austen novel in which the characters text each other instead of writing letters. These circumstances are examples of anachronisms, or an error in chronology—the kind that makes audiences raise their eyebrows or do a double-take. Sometimes anachronisms are true blunders; other times, they’re used intentionally to add humor or to comment on a specific time period in history.

Cliffhanger. It’s a familiar feeling: You’re on minute 59 of an hour-long television episode, and the protagonist is about to face the villain—and then episode cuts to black. Known as a cliffhanger, this plot device marks the end of a section of a narrative with the express purpose of keeping audiences engaged in the story.

Dramatic Irony. Remember the first time you read or watched Romeo and Juliet? The tragic ending of this iconic story exemplifies dramatic irony: The audience knows that the lovers are each alive, but neither of the lovers knows that the other is still alive. Each drinks their poison without knowing what the audience knows. Dramatic irony is used to great effect in literature, film, and television.

Extended Metaphor. Extended metaphors build evocative images into a piece of writing and make prose more emotionally resonant. Examples of extended metaphor can be found across all forms of poetry and prose. Learning to use extended metaphors in your own work will help you engage your readers and improve your writing.

Foreshadowing. At its core, storytelling has one ambition: to capture and sustain your reader’s attention and keep them reading your story. Foreshadowing, or slyly indicating a future event, is one technique a writer can use to create and build suspense.

Humor. Humor brings people together and has the power to transform how we think about the world. Of course, not everyone is adept at being funny—particularly in their writing. Making people laugh takes some skill and finesse, and, because so much relies on instinct, is harder to teach than other techniques. However, all writers can benefit from learning more about how humor functions in writing.

Imagery. If you’ve practiced or studied creative writing, chances are you’ve encountered the expression “paint a picture with words.” In poetry and literature, this is known as imagery: the use of figurative language to evoke a sensory experience in the reader. When a poet uses descriptive language well, they play to the reader’s senses, providing them with sights, tastes, smells, sounds, internal and external feelings, and even deep emotion. The sensory details in imagery bring works to life.

Irony. Irony is an oft-misunderstood literary device that hinges on opposites: what things are on the surface, and what they end up actually being. Many learn about dramatic irony through works of theater like Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet or Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex. When deployed with skill, irony is a powerful tool that adds depth and substance to a piece of writing.

Metaphor, Simile, and Analogy. Metaphors, similes, and analogies are three techniques used in speech and writing to make comparisons. Each is used in a different way, and differentiating between the three can get a little tricky: For example, a simile is actually a subcategory of metaphor, which means all similes are metaphors, but not all metaphors are similes. Knowing the similarities and differences between metaphor, simile, and analogy can help you identify which is best to use in any scenario and help make your writing stronger.

Motif. A motif is a repeated element that has symbolic significance to a story. Sometimes a motif is a recurring image. Sometimes it’s a repeated word or phrase or topic. A motif can be a recurrent situation or action. It can be a sound or a smell or a temperature or a color. The defining aspect is that a motif repeats, and through this repetition, a motif helps to illuminate the central ideas, themes, and deeper meaning of the story in which it appears.

Motif vs. Symbol. Both motifs and symbols are used across artistic mediums: Painters, sculptors, playwrights, and musicians all use motifs and symbols in their respective art forms. And while they are similar literary terms, “motif” and “symbol” are not synonyms.

Oxymoron. An oxymoron is a figure of speech: a creative approach to language that plays with meaning and the use of words in a non-literal sense. This literary device combines words with contradictory definitions to coin a new word or phrase (think of the idiom “act naturally”—how can you be your natural self if you’re acting?). The incongruity of the resulting statement allows writers to play with language and meaning.

Paradox. “This sentence is a lie.” This self-referential statement is an example of a paradox—a contradiction that questions logic. In literature, paradoxes can elicit humor, illustrate themes, and provoke readers to think critically.

Personification. In writing, figurative language—using words to convey a different meaning outside the literal one—helps writers express themselves in more creative ways. One popular type of figurative language is personification: assigning human attributes to a non-human entity or inanimate object in an effort to express a point or idea in a more colorful, imaginative way.

Satire. Satire is so prevalent in pop culture that most of us are already very familiar with it, even if we don’t always realize it. Satire is an often-humorous way of poking fun at the powers that be. Sometimes, it is created with the goal to drive social change. Satire can be part of any work of culture, art, or entertainment—it has a long history, and it is as relevant today as it was in ancient Rome.

Situational Irony. Irony: it’s clear as mud. Theorists quibble about the margins of what constitutes irony, but situational irony is all around us—from humorous news headlines to the shock twists in a book or TV show. This type of irony is all about the gap between our expectations and reality, and it can make a memorable and powerful impression when we encounter it.

Suspense. No matter what type of story you’re telling, suspense is a valuable tool for keeping a reader’s attention and interest. Building suspense involves withholding information and raising key questions that pique readers’ curiosity. Character development plays a big role in generating suspense; for example, if a character’s desire is not fulfilled by the end of the book, the story will not feel complete for the reader.

Symbolism. An object, concept, or word does not have to be limited to a single meaning. When you see red roses growing in a garden, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think literally about the rose—about its petals, stem, and thorns, or even about its stamen and pistil as a botanist might. But perhaps your mind goes elsewhere and starts thinking about topics like romance, courtship, and Valentine’s Day. Why would you do this? The reason, of course, is that over the course of many generations, a rose’s symbolic meaning has evolved to include amorous concepts.

Verisimilitude. Verisimilitude (pronounced ve-ri-si-mi-li-tude) is a theoretical concept that determines the semblance of truth in an assertion or hypothesis. It is also an essential tenet of fiction writing. Verisimilitude helps to encourage a reader’s willing suspension of disbelief. When using verisimilitude in writing, the goal is to be credible and convincing.

Vignette. A writer’s job is to engage readers through words. Vignettes—poetic slices-of-life—are a literary device that brings us deeper into a story. Vignettes step away from the action momentarily to zoom in for a closer examination of a particular character, concept, or place. Writers use vignettes to shed light on something that wouldn’t be visible in the story’s main plot.

I’ll make a post going into each of them individually in more detail later on!

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