#i think it has a lot of similarities with gothic fiction in a compare and contrast way

[rad-roche]

part of the reason i like noir fiction (specifically literary) is that writing it well is challenging. there's no particular prose style you have to hit, necessarily, the trappings of the genre are more to do with its subject matter and endings (sex, death, greed, and usually unhappy as a result of the sex, death, and greed). but a lot of them gravitate towards a certain style, myself included, because it just works so well, which is paring back everything you can, as much as you can. that's fun to do! it turns into a game. it's easy to overwrite something, but it's a real bitch to pack an entire location into one telegrammatic sentence and then have that be good. i still think i miss more than i hit, but that's the nature of it, because when you do pull it off you feel like you could fight a truck and win. the IT'S SO OVER WE'RE SO BACK highs and lows swing higher and lower because there's nowhere to hide from your reader

[vickyvicarious]

If you wanted to read a comparative literature meta between Dracula and another novel, which one would you choose?

Ooh... This is a really interesting ask. First of all, it's not if - I definitely would want to read that! The only difficulty is in narrowing down the candidates. It's hard to choose, honestly. Ideally it would be nice to compare a novel that explores some of the same themes but in a different way.

The Beetle is also a horror novel that has the fear of foreigners/the other as typified by a supernatural entity arriving in London. It also has multiple narrators as well, who all have to hunt down their fleeing foe on a train in order to save the main woman in the cast. But it doesn't really delve much into old vs. new for example, and it is just... so bad. Every character is worse, the writing is worse, comparing these two books is all the way through just a case of ragging on Marsh's work for being worse, honestly. Ideally for me, both books in such a meta would be good.

Varney the Vampire, Carmilla, and The Vampyre are all classic vampire stories, and it's interesting to compare them to Dracula when you think about what kinds of influences Stoker may have taken from them. But they don't share the same themes as much outside of that. Varney is a penny dreadful and outside of superficial aspects of some scenes/character roles I don't see tons of resemblance to Stoker's work; it's written as a sprawling dramatic tale designed to keep entertaining casual readers over time, unlike the still large yet self-contained and more intense in tone novel by Stoker. (Admittedly, I'm less than halfway through Varney so that's what my opinion is based on. I do find the treatment of Flora as a victim of a vampire to be an interesting point of comparison to the way Mina and Lucy were treated.) And the other two are both much shorter and more constrained to their horror story. They don't have as big of a cast and they don't have as prolonged fights against their vampires, either.

Other classic 'gothic fiction' such as The Phantom of the Opera, The Picture of Dorian Gray or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have their own merits as well. Phantom has a similar path in adaptations making the main antagonist into a troubled romantic hero. But that's more about adaptations than the novels themselves, which don't have as much in common as others on this list. Dorian Gray could be a good comparison as far as homosexual subtext (or really, just text in DG) and if one wanted to discuss the idea of nonaging beings. But while Dracula doesn't age and doesn't really grow/change and there are some potentially interesting discussions to be had there, that's more a case of those two characters rather than the two novels as a whole. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is presented as more of a detective story, which is both true to, and an aspect of Dracula that doesn't usually get as much attention as it should. So that could be fun. There's also an interesting thread with Jekyll's experimentation as a 'new manmade' horror vs. Dracula's 'old supernatural' horror, and potential contrast between that very homegrown versus foreign danger, and even the idea of an alternate self being released. But the Bloofer Lady and Mr. Hyde, for example, are very different cases in many ways. And there's again a much smaller cast and scale to the story, so there are a lot more pieces of Dracula that don't have as much of an equivalent to compare. (That too could of course be interesting to contrast, but it's a different sort of meta more focused on the novel's role in the genre for example, than the closer comparison your ask makes me envision.) Honestly, with its themes of culpability/respectability, I see it comparing more easily to Dorian Gray than Dracula.

The Woman In White would actually be quite an interesting comparison, even though it's not really in the same genre. It's not a supernatural horror, however much it flirts with dramatic gothic imagery especially at the beginning. But it does have a bunch of other stuff in common. The villainous foreign Count is an obvious one, but specifically Dracula and Fosco's attraction to certain individuals and like of breaking them is another link. Both have intelligent heroes who are quite methodical about their approaches. Jonathan and Laura's experiences have quite interesting similarities (as well as, to an extent, Lucy and Anne, not just to one another but to the aforementioned characters as well), especially in the contrasting ways they are treated later in the novels. The use of female characters in general has some really discussable similarities and differences (Mina vs. Marian as well as in general). Mr. Fairlie and Mrs. Westenra fill a similar role. Both books are epistolary, with a heavy focus on the characters themselves gathering documents with different perspectives of events to help them figure things out (that detective aspect). Trains and timetables are important in both in a way, and though Dracula is more intentional about the contrast of modern/ancient there is a potential thread to be discussed there. In general, they both get weird about foreigners in ways that could also be talked about at length, specifically in regard to the villains vs. the heroes and how nationality and perceived nationality/stereotypes play into their respective roles. The idea of madness vs. sanity is also a theme in both, and both have characters with differing degrees of memory loss and inability to talk about their experiences. If we're looking for an overall comparison of both novels as a whole, as well as multiple different points of connection/comparison, I think this may be the best one so far.

Of course, this is all just thinking of more contemporary works to Dracula. It's also a list influenced by what I've been reading and thinking about more for the past year, so there are probably other books I'll think of later. But for now, that's my long and rambly answer!

[bethanydelleman]

Could you please elaborate on the "enmity" between Brontë and Austen?

This question relates to this post.

Charlotte Brontë wrote of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice:

And what did I find? An accurate, daguerreotyped portrait of a commonplace face; a carefully-fenced, highly-cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen in their elegant but confined houses. (1848)

[A]nything like warmth or enthusiasm, anything energetic, poignant, heartfelt, is utterly out of place in commending these works: all such demonstrations the authoress would have met with a well-bred sneer, would have calmly scorned as outré or extravagant. She does her business of delineating the surface of the lives of genteel English people curiously well ... [But] She no more, with her mind’s eye, beholds the heart of her race than each man, with bodily vision, sees the heart in his heaving breast. Jane Austen was a complete and most sensible lady, but a very incomplete and rather insensible (not senseless) woman. (1850)

So I think it's safe to say she wasn't very into Jane Austen's works.

Also, the lack of "physiognomy" part makes me laugh because it's clear the Brontes were all addicted to phrenology (a pseudoscience where skull shape was used as an indication of intelligence/personality/propensity to commit crimes etc.). St. John trusts Jane Eyre while she's still passed out because of her head shape and in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, Helen is freaked out when her husband reveals his real head shape to her which has been hidden under his curls.

There is a hilarious insert about it in The Younger Sister by Mrs. Hubback written in 1850:

Had phrenology then been in fashion, it is possible that the origin of this weakness would have been discovered in the absence of the bump of self-esteem; but this not being the case, and in consequence, his head never having been phrenologically examined, I cannot answer for more than the entire absence of the quality, and Mr. Howard cannot be brought forward in evidence of any phrenological theory whatever.

Poor people in the early 1800s! How did they know themselves before phrenology was invented!!! It's like a modern person saying that without Myers-Briggs no one understood personalities... but I'm on a tangent.

Anyway, I've read that Charlotte Brontë disliked Austen because people compared her to Austen and she thought they wrote different genres. As this article states: In short, Bronte criticized Austen so fiercely because critics kept attempting to put her and Austen into the same category of "lady writers," criticizing her not on the strength of her own work, but based on the idea that she and Austen must be similar and pursue the same narrative goals.

To which I say to Charlotte: fair.

As to if Austen would have liked Jane Eyre, I like to joke about how JA mocked Attic Wives in Northanger Abbey, but to write a novel mocking Gothic tropes, one must read a lot of gothic fiction. It's clear that Austen read and liked a lot of the novelists of her time, even if she wanted to do something a little different or a little better. That's my take anyway.

[maoist-mizer]

Mid-Year Book Freakout 2023

tagged by my beloved, @hauntedmoors 🫀

1. Best book you’ve read so far this year?

Probably We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I was already familiar with her since I remember reading The Lottery in high school, but this story really blew me away. I can’t wait to tuck into more of her writing, and just in general more gothic fiction, and just the weird and freakish overall.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far this year?

I haven’t read many novel sequels this year, and none of them stuck out so I can’t really list anything. But I would say the second saga of Chainsaw Man, as a sequel, has been a highlight.

3. New release you haven’t read yet?

I’m such a loser, I literally got A Day of Fallen Night signed in person by beloved Samantha Shannon and I still haven’t read it yet 😭😭😭

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?

I don’t really keep up to date with upcoming releases, I just find out Somehow like through tumblr or my Goodreads mutuals, but I do know that the next Heartstopper volume is out sometime this year, so I’m looking forward to that.

5. Biggest disappointment?

I have three for this: Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi, Pet Sematary by Stephen King, and Vengeful by V. E. Schwab.

BtCGC was immensely boring, especially the writing — I guess you could say it’s own hype killed it for me. I heard that it was initially a play, or something along the lines of that? If so, then I think I can confidently say that with how it was written, it did not suit the medium.

Pet Sematary also disappointed me for not living up to its expectations as there’s this short section before the story starts where King basically says it’s one of his darkest stories yet and blah blah it chilled him so he had to put it away for a while before publishing it, so, obviously, I was quite excited!

But, once I actually got stuck into it, it just didn’t really stick out to me as anything special, well, at least compared to coming off reading Shawshank Redemption and ‘Salem’s Lot. Plus, ableism is quite rooted into this one so at times it just was difficult to enjoy, personally.

As for Vengeful, I felt that it was an unnecessary sequel. It didn’t add to Vicious, if anything I’d say it detracted from the overall story by following around all these new characters when what made Vicious so fun was the dynamic between Victor and Eli.

6. Biggest surprise?

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid was quite unexpected. It wasn’t one of my favourites so far from this year, but, regardless, was a big surprise since it deviated far from my expectations.

7. Favourite new author (debut or new to you)?

Sayaka Murata. I loved Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings so I’m intrigued for any future projects of hers! It was interesting how fundamentally similar these two books, like two sides of the same coin, but told in two very different ways. Fantastic stuff.

8. Newest fictional crush/newest favourite character?

Merricat my beloved <3 (also Fami and Asa)

9. Book that made you cry?

I’ve never cried while reading soz

10. Book that made you happy?

Love & Autism by Kay Kerr. I just felt very seen reading this, being able to identify myself within the pages. It also felt special to me since for once it’s not a book about autism addressed to allistic people, it’s a book about autism, written by an autistic author, for an autistic audience.

Tagging: @swordfaery @ignorantsackofeyeballs @moodymika @sarenite (no pressure if you don’t want to do this, also if you just see this post and want to do it feel free to continue the chain)

[cassiusapologist]

Hi how are you doing? :) first of all i apologize if there is a link or info on your blog and i didnt see it because im on mobile but like.. what is this blog about? 😅 So much brutecass?? I love them so much, i love you so much for your art!! Thank you for existing <3 Because on tumblr there was practically nada about them so yeah im pretty much quite surprised to see so much content. But what do you focus on/what do you like and why perhaps if you dont mind? Im really curious. Also you said this was a sideblog. What is your main one? Do you have a sideblog for all your different interests? 😅 Thank you and have a wonderful day 🤗

hi! I don't have an about or post for what this blog is about, but it's basically just my brutecass sideblog! mostly I just wanted a low stakes space to post about them and chill without getting stressed out about whether or not it was fine to skip the story telling and draw them kissing or wondering if I was secretly disappointing anyone.

this is going to get way longer than I mean for it to get.

tbh, up until very recently, I didn't care much for cassius. this blog actually started with the intention of focusing on cassius and his role in brutus' life through a haunted house/gothic horror/greek tragedy framework, and it was strictly a story telling interest, but after five minutes I realized that I loved cassius a lot and there's a lot of interesting stuff happening with him historically that I had been overlooking, actually, and that's why my twitter bio says that I owe him ten bucks and a fancy dinner.

my first love has always been history: as a kid, I spent a lot of my free time reading historical non fiction texts. I don’t know how to love things halfway. if I find someone in history that grabs hold of my heart, I’ll sit in that space forever. I found machiavelli at 15, and eleven years later I still can’t shut up about him. brutus goes back further than that, and cassius occupies a similar space now. I have over ten years to catch up with on cassius lmao [as evidenced by my other blog, @diinadam, which rapidly descended into some kind of dead romans chaos]

as for brutecass specifically, it's like, oh my god. they knew each other as children. they knew each other up until they died. the part of the national's empire line that goes 'there's a line that goes all the way from my childhood to you.' the way that appian compares cassius to a gladiator against brutus as a philosopher. the dialogue shakespeare wrote between them makes me cry. I love tragedy. I love poetry. ‘for 2000 years the name of cassius has been tied to brutus.’ for 2000 years, your name hasn’t been alone. I think a lot about how they clashed and fought but picked each other anyway. brutus didn’t last the month after cassius died. he probably introduced cassius to his mother and his sisters when they were boys.

on a less serious note, I also just think they’re neat. I love a conspiracy to kill a tyrant!!

and to answer your question do not have sideblogs for all of my specific interests, brutecass is the only thing that has enough of a...... focus of interest, I guess, that I wanted to have a space separate from my main blog. 

my general history/literature/sometimes movies/part time art blog is @diinadam and my personal is @cassiusapologist!

have a nice day, anon!! 💞

[literaila]

i think i might read later. i don't know which of the 3 to read, but i'm sure i'll figure it out. also have to do math, i'm going to school tomorrow so.

literally. his voice. it's just ?? indescribable. i'm guessing you liked it? and yes, i have! i really loved it, thomas sharpe got added to my fictional crush list. he's gorgeous. so is lucille, but she's worse. actually, whenever i read pride & prejudice i always get reminded by thomas & crimson peak in general. just not gothic, but i mean, they're both set in the 19th or 20th century. that doesn't make sense, does it..? just realized.

oh, of course. you're obviously stunning, even when dancing like a buffoon. yeah, okay. i'm sure you'll forget in about a month or so. you'll see, darling.

it's very long, if i'm being honest. ah, yeah, don't you like spencer reid? i've read your writing about him, 'ten seconds of space' broke my heart. quite literally, it shattered. is it good so far? do you like it? it's something about hospitals and stuff, right? sorry i'm asking so many questions. just curious on what you think.

my favorite is definitely nicole! i think i really hate the father, though. what was his name? robert? whatever. he's just annoying in general. for me. there's movies too? my best friend really likes miraculous lady bug. in my opinion, it's overrated. i don't know how oblivious they can be, they both look the same, in and out of costume.

god, i barely want to live 80 years, let alone 200. death must be peaceful, i think. the way i see it, there are 2 types of death. a cold one, and a warm one. i could ramble on, but that just seems weird.

i almost always feel like i'm on my death bed. i hope my last words are something funny. don't want anything stupid carved in my grave. plus it's fun! well.. i can't get up from bed, but i can go on my phone the whole time.

what shows are you currently watching, sweet? i don't really have time to watch anything a lot, only a few episodes. it's gonna take long to finish a season or two.

exactly! and my phone runs out of battery so easily. i've never let it die before. ever.

i ran out of pocky :( plus i think eating the same strawberry pocky everyday is getting a bit boring. i'll make sure to remember trying matcha next time i go shopping! i swear on it. i think i'm going to make some ramen and drink ramune while watching the new 'what if' episode

— 🐢

plenty to choose from. let me know what you picked.

could compile a list of all the things i love about it. lucille, while beautiful of course (who can resist), makes my blood boil. i know she’s a fictional character but. just. everything about her. it is very similar to pride and prejudice in the time respect, though definitely different things going on. i mean, england compared to america. terrifying. still, they give the same vibes. you know, besides the ghosts.

…i’m assuming you didn’t like the waltzing bit in crimson peak then? don’t worry love, i’ve got an alarm clock brain. also, dancing is always prevalent. at every waking moment.

verrry long. i guess i like spencer reid (yes). i’m actually really bad at characterizing him cause i’m not a genius so… quit that (not literally, i’ve got so many drafts) and moved on to dumb quips.

ten seconds of space is good only for the counting sequence. that was so genius of me. i am so sorry you have to read those last two sentences.

greys anatomy is surgical intern type stuff. more about drama honestly. not sure why i love it. it’s probably mostly nostalgia, but honestly there’s some good topics within it.

awww i like the dad. he reminds me of myself. though, nicole is awesome. mlb is my only solace in life. it’s magic obviously, so they don’t look the same to each other. duh. i won’t hold a grudge against you for it though. too much.

i bet you’ll live thousands of years. i’m psychic so you should be worried. death is peaceful in a way— not that i’ve died before but… still.

you what?!?!?

i assure you, any last words of yours will be good. unless they’re something like “tell them-“ and then you die. that would be boring.

that sounds soooo fun. id quite literally die.

just greys anatomy. i don’t like to divert my attention from anything— it’s the same with books. plus, i’m on a roll.

hey, me too! i think my phone has died once in the history of phones. and it was probably on vacation or something.

not boring, familiar. never too much pocky. i had some myself today actually. forced my grandma to go to the store… and made cookies.

that sounds like a lovely time. i’m so behind on ‘what if��� it’s sad. i’ll catch up soon.

-v

[titleleaf]

hi ❤️ a long while ago you mentioned Edward, Edward on here and i read it and i LOVED it. i don’t read much historical fiction but i love that time period and that fucked up relationship between edward and the earl. could you recommend anything similar, preferably including those kind of relationships? thank you 🥀

Omg, thank you so much for joining me in the wild dark world of Lolah Burford! (I almost called her Lylah Clare, which seems fitting on some level.) 

I’m trying to think of anything I’ve read with a relationship that’s comparable to the dark push-pull between Edward and the Earl — it’s so squarely gothic but it goes into psychological territory that 18th and 19th century gothic lit couldn’t quite broach directly, I wish I had a really good rec off the top of my head because it’s such a striking aspect of the novel. 

The 18th and early 19th century isn’t so much my wheelhouse for historical fiction (I’m much more in late Victorian/Neo-Victorian/early 20th century hell) but there’s a lot of academic writing about queerness, taboo relationships, and the Gothic genre in that era — if you’re interested in that era and the novel’s thematic influences that might be a good place to start. I also recently asked for gothic lit recs dealing with trauma/queerness and got some good ones here.

For fucked-up 70s historical gothic romances, these ones are more hetero than Edward Edward but sound bonkers enough to be on my next-up-to-read list regardless:

This Other Eden - Marilyn Harris

The Flesh And The Devil and The Silver Devil - Teresa Denys

For dark m/m period novels about complicated relationships:

As Meat Loves Salt - Maria McCann

Dark Water - Elizabeth Lowry

Gaywyck - Vincent Virga (cornerstone 70s queer gothic but it’s tonally more of a loving pastiche of the 20th century gothic than the 18th century like EE is)

Lolah Burford has several other bonkers-sounding books like MacLyon, Alyx, and Vice Avenged but I don’t think any of them deal with m/m relationships or anything as close and dark as in Edward, Edward— Vice Avenged sounds very much thematically in line with some of the 18th century libertine stuff in EE, so I might pick it up next.

Hilariously, Goodreads features Edward, Edward on a list of “M/M Books With Potentially Outside Of Comfort Zone Themes”  — I wish it was easier to sort lists on Goodreads more like on Letterboxd, by publication date and the like. I feel like I should be tagging in @chthonic-cassandra and @forthegothicheroine as two people much better informed wrt [libertines in fiction/the Gothic and the taboo/20th century Gothic romance/just about everything] than I am. It’s really interesting to me that Burford’s other work comes up in an academic context (at least judging from a trawl through Google Scholar) in critical overviews of the romance genre and nonconsent in the m/f 1970s romance novel — I would love to read an annotated version of EE or even just an essay on it dealing with its own unique complexities. 

[thelanguagecommunity]

“what language should I learn?”

“is it better to learn [x] or [x]?”

“is it worth learning [x]?”

I get this type of question a lot and I see questions like these a lot on language learning forums, but it’s very difficult to answer because ultimately language learning is a highly personal decision. Passion is required to motivate your studies, and if you aren’t in love with your language it will be very hard to put in the time you need. Thus, no language is objectively better or worse, it all comes down to factors in your life. So, I’ve put together a guide to assist your with the kind of factors you can consider when choosing a language for study.

First, address you language-learning priorities.

Think of the reasons why are you interested in learning a new language. Try to really articulate what draws you to languages. Keeping these reasons in mind as you begin study will help keep you focused and motivated. Here are some suggestions to help you get started, complete with wikipedia links so you can learn more:

Linguistic curiosity?

For this, I recommend looking into dead, literary or constructed languages. There are lots of cool linguistic experiments and reconstructions going on and active communities that work on them! Here’s a brief list:

Dead languages:

Akkadian

Egyptian (Ancient Egyptian)

Gaulish

Gothic

Hittite

Old Prussian

Sumerian

Older iterations of modern day languages:

Classical Armenian

Classical Nahuatl (language of the Aztec Empire)

Early Modern English (Shakespearean English)

Galician-Portuguese

Middle English (Chaucer English)

Middle Persian/Pahlavi

Old English

Old French

Old Spanish

Old Tagalog (+ Baybayin)

Ottoman Turkish

Constructed:

Anglish (experiment to create a purely Anglo-Saxon English)

Esperanto

Interlingua

Láadan (a “feminist language”)

Lingua Franca Nova

Lingwa de Planeta

Lobjan

Toki Pona (a minimalist language)

Wenedyk (what if the Romans had occupied Poland?)

Cultural interests?

Maybe you just want to connect to another culture. A language is often the portal to a culture and are great for broadening your horizons! The world is full of rich cultures; learning the language helps you navigate a culture and appreciate it more fully.

Here are some popular languages and what they are “famous for”:

Cantonese: film

French: culinary arts, film, literature, music, philosophy, tv programs, a prestige language for a long time so lots of historical media, spoken in many countries (especially in Africa)

German: film, literature, philosophy, tv programs, spoken in several Central European countries

Italian: architecture, art history, catholicism (Vatican city!), culinary arts, design, fashion, film, music, opera

Mandarin: culinary arts, literature, music, poetry, tv programs

Japanese: anime, culinary arts, film, manga, music, video games, the longtime isolation of the country has developed a culture that many find interesting, a comparatively large internet presence

Korean: tv dramas, music, film

Portuguese: film, internet culture, music, poetry

Russian: literature, philosophy, spoken in the Eastern Bloc or former-Soviet countries, internet culture

Spanish: film, literature, music, spoken in many countries in the Americas

Swedish: music, tv, film, sometimes thought of as a “buy one, get two free” deal along with Norwegian & Danish

Religious & liturgical languages:

Avestan (Zoroastrianism)

Biblical Hebrew (language of the Tanakh, Old Testament)

Church Slavonic (Eastern Orthodox churches)

Classical Arabic (Islam)

Coptic (Coptic Orthodox Church)

Ecclesiastical Latin (Catholic Church)

Ge’ez (Ethiopian Orthodox Church)

Iyaric (Rastafari movement)

Koine Greek (language of the New Testament)

Mishnaic Hebrew (language of the Talmud)

Pali (language of some Hindu texts and Theravada Buddhism)

Sanskrit (Hinduism)

Syriac (Syriac Orthodox Church, Maronite Church, Church of the East)

Reconnecting with family?

If your immediate family speaks a language that you don’t or if you are a heritage speaker that has been disconnected, then the choice is obvious! If not, you might have to do some family tree digging, and maybe you might find something that makes you feel more connected to your family. Maybe you come from an immigrant community that has an associated immigration or contact language! Or maybe there is a branch of the family that speaks/spoke another language entirely.

Immigrant & Diaspora languages:

Arbëresh (Albanians in Italy)

Arvanitika (Albanians in Greece)

Brazilian German

Canadian Gaelic (Scottish Gaelic in Canada)

Canadian Ukrainian (Ukrainians in Canada)

Caribbean Hindustani (Indian communities in the Caribbean)

Chipilo Venetian (Venetians in Mexico)

Griko (Greeks in Italy)

Hutterite German (German spoken by Hutterite settlers of Canada/US)

Fiji Hindi (Indians in Fiji)

Louisiana French (Cajuns) 

Patagonian Welsh (Welsh in Argentina)

Pennsylvania Dutch (High German spoken by early settlers of Canada/ the US)

Plaudietsch (German spoken by Mennonites)

Talian (Venetian in Brazilian)

Texas Silesian (Poles in the US)

Click here for a list of languages of the African diaspora (there are too many for this post!). 

If you are Jewish, maybe look into the language of your particular diaspora community ( * indicates the language is extinct or moribund - no native speakers or only elderly speakers):

Bukhori (Bukharan Jews)

Hebrew

Italkian (Italian Jews) *

Judeo-Arabic (MENA Jews)

Judeo-Aramaic

Judeo-Malayalam *

Judeo-Marathi

Judeo-Persian

Juhuri (Jews of the Caucasus)

Karaim (Crimean Karaites) *

Kivruli (Georgian Jews)

Krymchak (Krymchaks) *

Ladino (Sephardi)

Lusitanic (Portuguese Jews) *

Shuadit (French Jewish Occitan) *

Yevanic (Romaniotes)*

Yiddish (Ashkenazi)

Finding a job?

Try looking around for what languages are in demand in your field. Most often, competency in a relevant makes you very competitive for positions. English is in demand pretty much anywhere. Here are some other suggestions based on industry (from what I know!):

Business (General): Arabic, French, German, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish

Design: Italian (especially furniture)

Economics: Arabic, German

Education: French, Spanish

Energy: Arabic, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish

Engineering: German, Russian

Finance & Investment: French, Cantonese, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish

International Orgs. & Diplomacy (NATO, UN, etc.): Arabic, French, Mandarin, Persian, Russian, Spanish

Medicine: German, Latin, Sign Languages, Spanish

Military: Arabic, Dari, French, Indonesian, Korean, Kurdish, Mandarin, Pashto, Persian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Urdu

Programming: German, Japanese

Sales & Marketing: French, German, Japanese, Portuguese

Service (General): French, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Sign Languages, Spanish

Scientific Research (General): German, Japanese, Russian

Tourism: French, Japanese, Mandarin, Sign Languages, Spanish

Translation: Arabic, Russian, Sign Languages

Other special interests?

Learning a language just because is a perfectly valid reason as well! Maybe you are really into a piece of media that has it’s own conlang! 

Fictional:

Atlantean (Atlantis: The Lost Empire)

Dothraki (Game of Thrones)

Elvish (Lord of the Rings)

Gallifreyan (Doctor Who)

High Valyrian (Game of Thrones)

Klingon (Star Trek)

Nadsat (A Clockwork Orange)

Na’vi (Avatar)

Newspeak (1984)

Trigedasleng (The 100)

Vulcan (Star Trek)

Or if you just like to learn languages, take a look maybe at languages that have lots of speakers but not usually popular among the language-learning community:

Arabic

Bengali

Cantonese

Hindi

Javanese

Hausa

Indonesian

Malay

Pashto

Persian

Polish

Punjabi

Swahili

Tamil

Telugu

Thai

Turkish

Urdu

Vietnamese

Yoruba

If you have still are having trouble, consider the following:

What languages do you already speak?

How many and which languages you already speak will have a huge impact on the ease of learning. 

If you are shy about speaking with natives, you might want to look at languages with similar consonant/vowel sounds. Similarity between languages’ grammars and vocabularies can also help speed up the process. Several families are famous for this such as the Romance languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Romanian), North Germanic languages (Norwegian, Swedish, Danish) or East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian). If you are a native English speaker, check out the FSI’s ranking of language difficulty for the approximate amount of hours you’ll need to put into different languages.

You could also take a look at languages’ writing systems to make things easier or for an added challenge.

Another thing to remember is that the languages you already speak will have a huge impact on what resources are available to you. This is especially true with minority languages, as resources are more frequently published in the dominant language of that area. For example, most Ainu resources are in Japanese, most Nheengatu resources are in Portuguese, and most Nahuatl resources are in Spanish.

What are your life circumstances?

Where you live with influence you language studies too! Local universities will often offer resources (or you could even enroll in classes) for specific languages, usually the “big” ones and a few region-specific languages.

Also consider if what communities area near you. Is there a vibrant Deaf community near you that offers classes? Is there a Vietnamese neighborhood you regularly interact with? Sometimes all it takes is someone to understand you in your own language to make your day! Consider what languages you could realistically use in your own day-to-day. If you don’t know where to start, try checking to see if there are any language/cultural meetups in your town!

How much time can you realistically put into your studies? Do you have a fluency goal you want to meet? If you are pressed for time, consider picking up a language similar to ones you already know or maintaining your other languages rather than taking on a new one.

Please remember when choosing a language for study to always respect the feelings and opinions of native speakers/communities, particularly with endangered or minoritized languages. Language is often closely tied to identity, and some communities are “closed” to outsiders. A notable examples are Hopi, several Romani languages, many Aboriginal Australian languages and some Jewish languages. If you are considering a minoritized language, please closely examine your motivations for doing so, as well as do a little research into what is the community consensus on outsiders learning the language. 

[michelles-garden-of-evil]

Shadow Over Seventh Heaven Review, Part I: Last Night I Dreamt I Went to Maljardin Again

Once, April Tennant had been the greatest screen star of all. Even now that this stunning creature was gone, the victim of a hideous accident, her name still cast a magic glow. And nowhere was her haunting spell more alive than within her great walled estate of San Rafael.

It was here that April had lived in her storybook marriage with famed actor Richard Morgan. It was here that her memory was worshipped still. And it was here that lovely young Jenny Summers came as Richard Morgan's new bride--to discover the terror behind the tinsel in this place transformed from a paradise of the living to a hell of the undead.... (inside front cover)

Welcome, fellow Strangers and all others who happen upon this post. This week, I have decided to begin a new series exploring the Gothic novels written by co-creator and first headwriter of Strange Paradise, Ian Martin, under the pen name Joen Arliss. Mostly, the purpose of this series will be to compare the plot and characters of Strange Paradise and those of his novels and what that may indicate about his original intentions for the overarching story of the soap opera.

I got the idea to start this series while writing my review of Episode 26, after the contents of an article referenced in one of the scenes reminded me of the events in this book. On his now-defunct website Maljardin.com, Curt Ladnier covered some of the similarities between “Here Goes the Bride,” the CBS Radio Mystery Theater drama from which this book was adapted, and Strange Paradise, but I wanted to dive deeper and do one of my characteristic overanalyses. So fly with me to the grand southwestern estate of San Rafael and together let’s explore Shadow Over Seventh Heaven--and let me warn you, there will be spoilers for the entire Maljardin arc of SP.

As noted above, Shadow Over Seventh Heaven is an adaptation of a radio drama that Martin wrote for CBS Radio Mystery Theater. CBSRMT is, perhaps unquestionably, Ian Martin’s most famous work. Created by Himan Brown in 1974 and running for 1,399 nightly episodes, Martin wrote a total of 243 (including many adaptations of literary classics) and acted in 255, typically in supporting roles. He continued writing and acting on the series all the way until his death in 1981 at the age of 69. Given my tendency to procrastinate, which sometimes makes it difficult to write just one episode review a week even when I’m not busy, I envy him for being such a prolific writer. I suspect that all the soap scripts he wrote got him into the habit, and he just couldn’t break it.

Even more extraordinary is that he wrote and published five novels during the same period that he worked on CBSRMT. His first was Nightmare’s Nest (1979), an adaptation of the CBSRMT play “The Deathly White Man” (and not the other drama, also by him, of the same name), which is his answer to Jane Eyre and which also has some interesting connections with SP which I plan to explore in another review series. Next came this novel, and then Beloved Victim (1981), adapted from “A Lady Never Loses Her Head,” which I don’t recall having anything noteworthy in common with SP, but I may need to re-read it to make sure. He also wrote two mystery novels, The Shark Bait Affair and The Ladykiller Affair, for the Zebra Mystery Puzzler series, but those are both very rare now and I haven’t yet read either, so I can’t say anything about them. The book Mystery Women: An Encyclopedia of Leading Women Characters in Mystery Fiction does, however, provide some information on their protagonist, Kate Graham, along with short plot summaries. As someone with two trunk novels from the last decade and about fifty pages of a third--which I mostly stopped working on after I started this blog--I also envy him for this. How on Earth did he find the time?

But I digress. Like that of “Here Goes the Bride,” the plot of Shadow Over Seventh Heaven draws heavy inspiration from Daphne du Maurier’s famous Gothic romance Rebecca, but with some major differences in plot and characterization. The novel fleshes out the radio drama some more, adding additional details and plot twists that aren’t present in the original play, which arguably make it more interesting. One gets the impression that he had a lot of story in mind while he penned the original drama, but knew he could only squeeze so much into a 45-minute radio play and so had to leave many of the most interesting details out.

But that’s enough background information. Let’s begin our analysis and see what Ian Martin’s later work can tell us about his original intentions for Strange Paradise.

Introduction

The face is lovely, matchless....

Opening like some gigantic and exotic flower as the camera zooms in...

It fills the screen, flawless, enticing....

The lower lip glistens, pulled away from those perfect teeth, trembling ever so slightly, promising undreamed-of delights for the man brave enough to taste its forbidden fruit....

The skin glows with an inner light....

The eyes beyond the thick fringe of dark eyelashes shimmer with the deep violet of a tropical night....

The pitiless exposé of the camera is defeated, no matter how close it probes in close-up....

This is beauty without blemish....

This is everyman's dream woman--sex symbol of the nation, and most of the world....

This is April Tennant!

Strange to think of her dead, for on the screen she is captured forever in all her vibrancy and stunning beauty....

Impossible to think of her lying, mangled and bleeding on the rocks, while the hungry sea licks out as if to possess her.

Incredible to think of her cold and in the grave. Which she has been for twelve months--or this story never would have begun (p. 5).

The first page of the novel introduces us to April Tennant, this novel’s Rebecca and also its Erica Desmond. Like Rebecca, she is the first wife of the protagonist’s love interest, whose tragic death will cast a shadow over her former estate. Like Erica, she was a famous actress--probably more so than Erica ever was--but the cause of her death is not the same as the alleged cause of Erica’s. In Episode 5 of Strange Paradise, Erica’s grieving husband Jean Paul claims that she died of eclampsia while pregnant with their son, although evidence uncovered by other characters in later episodes leads them to contest that claim. Instead, April’s death resembles that of Huaco, the wife of Jean Paul’s ancestor Jacques Eloi des Mondes who died when she fell from a cliff on Maljardin, Jacques’ island estate.

In this introduction, we also see what will become a theme of the novel: gaze. Not just the male gaze--the obvious POV of the introduction--but, more generally, the viewing of April Tennant almost exclusively through the eyes of other characters, both male and female. We never learn much about her inner life, even as we learn those of Jenny (our protagonist), Richard, and others. April is largely a mystery, a larger-than-life figure of ideal beauty who, in the eyes of the public, is more a legend than she is flesh and blood. It’s the same mystique that surrounds celebrities in real life that often makes other people forget that they, too, are human--if, indeed, that’s what April was. Or is there more to it? I guess we’ll have to find it.

Chapter 1

The first chapter begins with a detailed description of San Rafael--and by detailed, I mean that Ian Martin spends one and a half pages describing its wall, followed by two on the mansion itself. I won’t type out too many passages from this book for copyright reasons--for, unlike Strange Paradise, this book is still under copyright--but I will include some highlights. The wall surrounding the castle “was thick enough at the bottom to withstand any tremor of the California earth...topped by a corona of jagged broken glass and it ran for a mile and three-quarters in a great semicircle away from the rocky Pacific coast and back to it again” (p. 6). On its gate,

The ironwork swept and swirled in great balanced curlicues, and the frame was heavy and studded. The studs held great sheets of blackened steel, heavy enough to withstand a battering ram, blocking any vision of the grounds the wall concealed. And the vertical members of the scrollwork reared high above the frame of the door and the top of the wall in a bristling array of spikes, sharp as swords, arched forward to further discourage any hardy trespasser who might try to climb their height (pp. 6-7).

In case you haven’t already figured it out, Martin loved his purple prose. If you don’t like Byzantine descriptions of architecture, ironwork, clothing, or anything else, you probably shouldn’t read this book or any of Martin’s other novels. (Nightmare’s Nest is far purpler, however, than this one. There’s an entire chapter in there devoted to describing the protagonist’s lush Edwardian finery.) Fortunately for me, I love this kind of thing and will gladly devour description after description of gates covered in iron curlicues. My literary tastes tend toward “more is more” and I’m not ashamed to admit it.

We learn that San Rafael is a reconstruction of an old Spanish mission, commissioned by April and built in part by Richard himself, “who personally took charge of putting in all the glass that fronted on the sea.” The gardens that surround it give it “a riot of color--bougainvillea, hibiscus, passionflowers, trumpet vines--all enhanced and set off against the majesty of rows of carefully spaced Italian cedar, or Lombardy poplar” (pp. 7-8).

Despite all this radiant beauty--and as one might expect for reconstructed ruins from the era of Spanish colonialism--the estate is believed to be cursed, at least by “the superstitious peons who built the walls” (p. 9).  (That’s what the book uncharitably describes the Mexican builders--some parts of this book haven’t aged well, as you will see.) Two men died while rebuilding it, followed by April herself around a decade later.

Surprisingly, we learn at the end of this chapter that Richard Morgan’s background differs from that of Jean Paul Desmond. An actor himself, he “was king of the theater, and of East Coast entertainment. Their marriage was a royal one, and it vaulted both of them to new and undreamed-of heights of popularity” (pp. 9-10). It was this popularity that drove them to wall themselves in at San Rafael and use the police and guard dogs to keep rabid fans and paparazzi away--which, ultimately, didn’t work and only led to “a new wave of interest and snooping” (p. 10).

Chapter 2

Here we meet Richard’s sister Lisa, who is...well...quite an interesting character. She’s a beautiful woman with short hair, a deep voice, and--most importantly--an unusual, creepy level of attachment to her brother.

Cersei Lannister Lisa Morgan.

Lisa has just received a phone call from the Philippines where her brother is. The call has left her “literally stunned” (p. 11), which means that the modern slang meaning of “literally” dates back 30+ years longer than I thought. Surprisingly, she isn’t drinking wine to calm her nerves like Cersei above, but that’s her loss.

As she gazes at the ocean to the west, her housekeeper, Conchita Aguilar,  enters. Chita (as she is usually called) has not just worked as April’s housekeeper for most of her life, but also "she and her husband, Juan, had quite literally brought up April” (p. 13); as a result, she is fiercely loyal to the family of her deceased mistress. Here is a portrait of her:

Looking at the tiny woman with her bright button eyes, the black Indian hair swept stiffly away from her face, parted in the middle and tidily put away in a tight bun low on the back of her neck, Lisa was surprised at the sudden urge to go and take this familiar person in her arms--or better still have Chita take her in hers.[...]Chita might be tiny, but she was all steel and whipcord (p. 13).

Sound familiar?

Yes, Chita bears a resemblance to our beloved Raxl. They even have a similar background, for Raxl, too, comes from a people indigenous to Mexico, according to Episode 23.  Like Raxl, Chita is very old and has a mysterious magnetism that draws some people to her (which, in Raxl’s case, includes me). There are some minor differences--Chita doesn’t worship the Great Serpent, she uses gratuitous Spanish instead of gratuitous French, she has a living husband and grandson--but they are, in most ways, the same character. It’s clear that Ian Martin didn’t want to part with Raxl, and I don’t blame him one bit.

Also, for whatever reason, he was oddly insistent on both of them having a specific hairstyle. If you read the original script for the show’s pilot, you will see that he was almost as specific about Raxl’s hairstyle, mentioning “her hair tightly drawn over her ears to a small bun,” but less detailed about those of the other characters. Just an odd detail that probably bears little significance, but that I noticed.

Lisa tells Chita that Richard is on his way home with a new wife, a young, very wealthy orphan named Jenny Summers whom he met in the Philippines. This angers the ancient housekeeper, who argues that Jenny can never come to San Rafael

Because there is no place for her here--en la casa de La Señora! Everything here is hers--she still lives here, and will always live here. Her perfume is in every room, her pictures are everywhere, every ornament and ashtray and book I keep just the way she last touched it. There is no room for any other wife here! Oh, she will feel it, she will know it, because La Señora would never permit another woman to take her place (p. 16)!

Lisa insists that, despite the risk that Jenny won’t want to live on the estate and despite her equal displeasure about the situation, Chita keep an open mind regarding her and try not to be such a Mrs. Danvers about the situation. (OK, so she doesn’t actually say the last part; that’s just my paraphrase.) She also tries to pressure Chita into helping her take down the mementos of April at Richard’s orders, which she objects to, both for sentimental reasons and because they don’t have time to have the enormous fresco of April that adorns the former chapel. (Symbolism!)

“It was a breathless and yet terrible beauty. For any woman who stood next to it had to be eclipsed” (p. 20).

Yes, you read that right: they rededicated the mission’s former chapel to the silver screen sex goddess April Tennant. After their wedding, Richard had a giant fresco of her painted there in place of its former altar. This is a clear indication that one or more of the people in this household worship April, whether literally or figuratively. More than that, the portrait glows like that of THE DEVIL JACQUES ELOI DES MONDES, and seems, like Jacques’ portrait, to be alive, the living essence of a dead person. “Most haunting of all was the feeling that this was the woman--that she could not have died, that any moment she would step off the wall, and her silver laughter would fill the house again (p. 20).”

I’m sorry, Jacques. ;)

Coming up next: Jenny arrives at San Rafael and tries to adjust to living on an estate where almost everyone but Richard acts like they hate her.

{ Next: Part II -> }

[holdenhrry955]

Goth Subculture Truths For Youngsters

Content

What Are Goths Personalities Like?

How To Be Goth.

What Does It Suggest To Be Goth?

Goth: Everything You Require To Recognize

There is much more to it than simply style and there is even more to it currently than simply the songs. Personally I position the songs ahead of fashion as well as style in importance. I think obtaining extremely academic regarding goth sort of defeats the purpose of the sub-culture. It's interesting to trace the musical and visual DNA back to its roots, but in fact taking part in the sub-culture is a much more natural process. It is a lot more comprehensive and extra inclusive than it utilized to be.

No goth only bague vancaro tete de mort listens to goth music, unless they are trying as well hard, or are a purist. If you enjoyed any type of songs before discovering goth, keep listening to it. Individuals can obtain a little outrageous regarding what makes somebody a "real" goth. Attempt to disregard this; you do not need to validate on your own. Respond to "yes," or, if you want to prevent more inquiries, state "Well, I like goth fashion" or "I such as goth songs."

This Gothic effect is accentuated even more by the fact that eyes are painted black.

Of course, the more extreme the makeup, the more eyeshadow will be used to make the eyes look more like those of a dead person.

Not only does the makeup make the face look more like a cross, but it also accentuates features that are less visible in the eyes.

For one, make sure that you are dressed in all black (no more dotting the t-shirt with black dye).

Most people who choose to get in on the goth subculture do so because they have something in common with other members.

Tristania has actually remained to succeed with subsequent releases and also has since been regarded as among the globe's best goth steel bands. The goth subculture has endured a lot longer than others of the exact same period, and also has actually continued to diversify. The band shares influences with other bands in the first wave of what is called goth music. During this duration their style was mostly referred to as scary punk or goth-punk. Outrageousness which gleam like comets through the darkness of gothic and superstitious ages.

The goth kids on the show are depicted as locating it bothersome to be confused with the Hot Subject "vampire" kids from the episode "The Ungroundable" in period 12, as well as a lot more frustrating to be compared to emo children. The goth children are typically illustrated paying attention to goth music, creating or checking out Gothic verse, drinking coffee, flipping their hair, as well as cigarette smoking. Morticia Addams from The Addams Family members developed by Charles Addams is a fictional personality as well as the mother in the Addams family members. Morticia was played by Carolyn Jones in the 1964 television program The Addams Family, and after that played by Anjelica Huston in the 1991 variation. Some of the very early gothic rock and also deathrock artists taken on traditional horror movie images and made use of horror movie soundtracks for inspiration. Their audiences reacted by adopting proper gown and also props.

What Are Goths Individualities Like?

Darkwave, a spin-off of goth rock that developed in the 80s. It incorporates aspects of synthpop and new age, integrating dark, reflective lyrics and a touch of grief. Nevertheless the term, initially starting as a post punk design, at some point became its own point as bands began to make greater use of synthesizers and drum equipments. Significant bands consist of Clan of Xymox, Dead Can Dance as well as Black Tape For a Blue Girl. Recognize the personalities and also different descendants of goth music.

Goth is not only limited to goth rock, yet consists of some post-punk, deathrock, darkwave, angelic wave, grey rock as well as afterpunk. Grey rock is the Portuguese term for post-punk/ goth rock and also afterpunk is the Spanish term.Deathrock, which is the American counterpart that developed around the very same time as goth performed in the UK. Created in Southern California, deathrock is a spooky as well as atmospheric descendant of hard rock which contains glam rock imagery, punk-inflected sound as well as perspective, shock rock theatrics as well as b-movie ideas.

Just How To Be Goth.

This often makes them open to objection as well as taunting from others. As a result, the ones that don't "suit" with other teams collaborated so they a minimum of belong somewhere. As the influence of the music press faded and similar people had the ability to collect online in online forums and on social networks, goth made a rebirth, with occasions like the Whitby Goth Weekend break increasing in appeal. By the late 80s and also 90s, goth had actually discolored as a young people society, and was the source of some ridicule by the music press. Throughout the years, goth fashion has actually taken elements from Edwardian as well as Victorian clothing, heavy steam punk, cyperpunk, go crazy, fetish wear, cosplay as well as even more. The Visigoths or goths, were an old individuals from what is now Germany as well as Scandanavia, also called barbarians, well-known for the sacking of Rome in 410 ADVERTISEMENT.

Use of standard scary movie props such as swirling smoke, rubber bats, and webs featured as gothic club decoration from the beginning in The Batcave. Such recommendations in bands' songs as well as pictures were initially tongue-in-cheek, yet as time took place, bands and also members of the subculture took the connection a lot more seriously. As a result, morbid, superordinary as well as occult themes became much more noticeably significant in the subculture. The affiliation in between scary and goth was highlighted in its early days by The Hunger, a 1983 vampire film starring David Bowie, Catherine Deneuve and also Susan Sarandon. The film included gothic rock team Bauhaus carrying out Bela Lugosi's Dead in a bar.

The Nickelodeon cartoon Invader Zim is also based on the goth subculture. As there are so many kinds of goth in the contemporary age, there is additionally several kinds of gothic style to select them! Although goths can be identified for being fans of black, it does not quit there. The birth of the light goth scene has actually produced an enormous surge in the blending of all points dark and gothic with light pastel shades. This differs substantially with the conventional charming or fetish style - both noted by attractive figure-hugging gothic corsets as well as littlelatex numbers. This reveals that there is large variation in gothic fashion when it pertains to various sorts of goth in the subcultures. Emo comes from post-hardcore, pop punk as well as indie rock design while gothic rock is a form of hard rock, glam punk and also post punk.

. Enter the regional goth scene as well as take part in goth events, nightclubs, and also performances. Meet new individuals in your scene and listen to tales from when the elders were about. Deathrock, originating on the West Shore of the U.S, deathrock is a much more scary as well as climatic variation of punk. When deathrock bands began to become prominent, as well as trip, they were after that able ahead over and directly affect the UK goth scene. Some deathrock bands include 45 Tomb, Christian Fatality, Bloody Dead and also Sexy, Alien Sex Ogre, Kommunity FK, and so on

What Does It Indicate To Be Goth?

However I such as the ordinary all black, system boots kind point. I have actually constantly wished to do this yet I would certainly be looked down upon by my household. Nonetheless, I seem like I recognize absolutely nothing of the culture itself. If I truly do wish to pursue it, I do not intend to just enjoy the design and also appearance. I need to know what it implies to all of you to be goth. I feel that if I pursue this I will be totally positive. I feel I 'd finally be comfortable with the means I look.

What is a goth club?

They are NOT mainstream.

Goth clubs are much different from regular night clubs. But most goth clubs play a variety of music like EBM, Industrial, Dark Wave, and Witch House to name a few. Most songs you will hear at Goth clubs will never be played on the radio – and that's how we like it!

Gift Suggestions For Goth Types.

You can discover these sorts of garments in a range of gothic-friendly shades. While black is one of the most typical, dark purple and also blood red are likewise typical shades for gothic fashion clothing and accessories. Due to the appeal of gothic styles and also styles, you can find gothic accessories virtually anywhere. A number of websites are dedicated to supplying a full-line of accessories as well as you can also discover this sort of garments at a number of chain store. Several gothic teenagers, though, choose to shop at neighborhood pre-owned stores as a result of the used look and also vintage appeal of the dark clothes that they can discover there. In either case, gothic accessories as well as outfits are generally inexpensive.

[shalebridge-cradle]

Bisclavret Round-Up

Unholy took about three months to write. Fairy Tale took five. Hindsight took six.

Bisclavret took nineteen, and that should be the biggest indicator to you that I didn’t know what the hell I was doing.

This was my first venture into another fandom, and out of my comfort zone (though not entirely – supernatural elements for life). I’m not sure whether or not I did the source material and its characters justice, however, especially with the supernatural element I went with (Wolves are believed to have gone extinct in England in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century), but I will try to explain my reasoning behind some of my decisions here.

The Characters

My main concern.

We get a good view of Monty’s thought process throughout the show, through the framing device of writing his memoirs and views of his private affairs. Phoebe and Sibella, on the other hand, are characters we don’t get much of in the way of examination – we only see them through Monty’s eyes until the very end, where they reveal themselves as more than that.

Sibella is a bit self-centred, and extremely practical when it comes to how she sees her place in society, which implies some self-confidence issues. Phoebe is more idealistic, and independent, but still hopes for a match fit for a storybook. But, towards the end, Sibella demonstrates she is more than a vain god-digger, afraid of losing the man she loves and willing to potentially compromise her image to save him, while Phoebe shows that she is not nearly as innocent or naive as the people around her consider her to be.

I interpreted the two women’s characterisations as thus; Sibella believes she is bound by society’s view of her. Phoebe does not. This, I believed, needed to be the focus.

Which is where we introduce…

The Whole Werewolf Thing

“[Post-modern Gothic] warns us to be suspicious of monster hunters, monster makers, and above all, discourses invested in purity and innocence. The monster always represents the disruption of categories, the destruction of boundaries, and the presence of impurities and so we need monsters and we need to recognize and celebrate our own monstrosities.”  - J Halberstam, Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters

I gave a number of possible causes of the D’Ysquith ‘family curse’, if it is one – the actions of the first countess, Gregory D’Ysquith burning down a monastery (divine punishment is a possible cause), but I never gave a specific answer. I think I might be operating on the logic of the original Bisclavret – it’s irrelevant.

The reason there isn’t is because I intended it as a metaphor – which I think I’ve made clear with my chapter updates here (though you don’t have to read it that way, Death of the Author and all that), but I never quite decided and what it was a metaphor for. In terms of this particular narrative, it can be read as a metaphor for feminism, and/or a metaphor for same-sex attraction.

Feminism

Edwardian Era England, where A Gentleman’s Guide takes place, is not overly-represented in fiction. Not surprising, considering it’s a pretty short time period between the surprisingly long Victorian era and the world-changing events of World War One. However, when you think of that time period, a certain group tends to come to mind – the suffragettes.

(Just a note. Agatha D’Ascoyne, the character from Kind Hearts and Coronets who inspired Hyacinth D’Ysquith in the musical, was a suffragette. She has no lines, apart from “Shush!” – Deeds, Not Words.)

We know what these people wanted – Votes for Women. They were not prepared to wait for society to change to get it, and when peaceful protest was ignored, they began to act out. They refused to fit into their role of quiet, demure, loyal wives, and for some groups, this was seen as threatening. Anti-suffragette cartoons of the time often depicted these women as old, ugly and/or selfish for wanting similar rights to men instead of accepting their place as a ‘lesser being’.

The point I am trying to make is, being in defiance of the role you are expected to play – which Sibella is afraid to show – was seen by many to be ugly. Beastly.

Phoebe runs Henry’s country estate for him. Phoebe flaunts societal expectations by proposing to Monty, instead of waiting for him to propose, the ‘proper’ way to do things. While she is feminine, she does not fit the idea of what a woman ‘should be’.

Sibella makes a point to meet her obligations as a wife, though she does surreptitiously carry on an affair. She sacrifices her own happiness to get what she wants in a socially acceptable way. She has no intention of leaving Lionel in the source material, but she convinces herself that a rich, good-looking, polite man – what society thinks of as the ideal male – is what she wants, and realises on her wedding day that it isn’t.

And goes through with it anyway.

When she can no longer fit that mould, when she refuses to go along with Lionel’s plan to leech off the countess, when she undermines and argues with her husband, that’s when things start happening. Indeed, her ‘beastly’ outbursts manifest as standing up for herself. She ends the story as a much happier and self-assured person than she was at the beginning, and attempts to bring justice to other women.

Same-Sex Attraction

This is a bit more straightforward. We’re coming right off the back of the Victorian era here, where Oscar Wilde and others like him got their lives ruined. Same-sex relationships aren’t viewed in a positive light at all at this time – you like the same gender? Off to prison with you, deviant!

As people that were (and often still are) villainised, misunderstood and attacked for the crime of existing, some members of the LGBT community reclaim monsters such as vampires, werewolves and the Babadook as their own as a means of subverting their image in a heteronormative society. Being ‘monstrous’ is not bad. Being different is fine. You may feel malformed and wrong, but you are not. You and your quirks are accepted.

For some, the ones to fear are those who appear in the daylight.

Sibella, for all her talk of being a monster, only fights back when threatened. Morton has a heart attack when put in the position of his victims, subverting the formula he’s used to. Lionel, fearing that Sibella will leave him and damage his image, resorts to violence against Sibella and several other women he sees as substitutes for her. Mary attempts to murder Sibella for getting in the way of a monogamous man-woman relationship. In her eyes, Sibella is an irredeemable villain, but Phoebe can be ‘fixed’.

If you want to look deeper into this link between horror and the LGBT community, here’s a video essay discussing gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender representation in horror films.

There are only a few non-metaphorical references to werewolves. The wolf head in Eugenia’s dower house is a family member – as previously mentioned, wolves went extinct in England during the reign of Henry VII. St Hubert’s Key is a charm that more often than not looks like a nail, and was supposed to be able to rid the body of disease caused by a dog or wolf bite. There is some science behind this – the metal was heated before being pressed to the wound, and, if the subject was at risk of contracting rabies from the injury, the heat would likely sterilise and cauterise the potential infection site.

Not the First Murder-y Heir

There are a couple of characters named or directly taken from Israel Rank – Autobiography of a Criminal, the inspiration for Kind Hearts and Coronets and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder. I’ve compared these works before, so I’ll just go over those that appear here.

Esther (Lane) – The third object of Israel Rank’s affections, and a governess. Knows more than she’s letting on in Israel Rank, and in this story as well.

James “Jim” Morton – Appears for about a page to explain Israel’s disillusionment with the ideal male – while Morton seems great to some, he really isn’t. Since Jim only appears as a child in the book, his characterisation here is drastically different.

Lord and Lady Pebworth – Almost directly lifted from the book, with Lady Pebworth being a bad singer and Lord Pebworth an older gentleman who lets his wife get away with a lot. The difference here is that Israel introduces the Hollands to the Pebworths, while the Pebworths are hoping the Hollands introduce them to Lord and Lady Navarro.

Sir Anthony Cross – Quiet, very well-off, slightly older gentleman who is quite taken by Sibella, but it doesn’t go anywhere. Acquaintance of the Pebworths. Pretty much the same guy.

Ethel D’Ysquith (Gascoyne) – An ancestor Israel is quite taken with, not only due to the resemblance between the two. He’s made the 3rd Earl of Highhurst because I didn’t feel like making an imaginary preceding title (Monty is only the 9th Earl, while the 10th Earl Gascoyne is about five generations before Israel – Ethel was the 6th Earl) and the 2nd Earl, Roland, had already been named in the musical. Phoebe’s description of him is meant to heavily imply he was also a werewolf. If I had read the book before fleshing out the D’Ysquith family tree, he would have taken the role that the first countess plays in the narrative’s events (Ethel Gascoyne hid in a tower with an Italian magician for 20 years).

Kate Falconer – The character who would later be known as ‘Boat Girl’ in Kind Hearts and Coronets and Evangeline Barley in A Gentleman’s Guide. Her great crime is to go on holiday with her boyfriend, and gets poisoned for her troubles. She survives here, and I used her to try a formatting technique (while she speaks, none of her dialogue is in quotes: in a way, she is voiceless).

(Sir) Cheveley Drummond, (Lady) Enid Branksome, and Catherine Goodsall – only mentioned briefly. Drummond is described as handsome and ‘interesting’ by Israel, Lady Enid is a young woman from a penniless but aristocratic family, and Catherine Goodsall in an actress whose abusive husband was beaten so badly by a Gascoyne he joined the navy and never came back to land.

In addition, Lionel’s later characterisation comes directly from Kind Hearts and Coronets, since he gets  almost none in the musical. His breakdown in Chapter 11 follows his emotional journey when asking for a loan – affability, begging, threatening suicide, insults and physical violence.

Literary References:

Not always relevant, but there is a wide enough variety that I’m collecting them.

Every chapter title, and the tagline of the work, comes from Manners and Social Usages by Mary Elizabeth (Mrs. John) Sherwood. It’s a bit out of date by the time of this story (written in 1884), but Sherwood does have some great phrases in her etiquette handbook.

Ruddigore is mentioned in chapter 2, only because it is a musical theatre production (opera) where ancestors play a role and family expectations are subverted.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy. Hamlet. It’s Hamlet.

When in the chronicle of wasted time, I see descriptions of the fairest wights, and beauty making beautiful old rhyme in praise of ladies dead, and lovely knights...  Shakespeare’s Sonnets, Number 106.

I desire, and I crave… Fragment from Sappho’s poetry.

The countess closes her book; something by a George Reynolds. George W. M. Reynolds wrote Wagner the Wher-Wolf (with that spelling) in 1857.

I met a lady in the meads, full beautiful, a faery’s child: Her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild. La Belle Dame sans Merci (The beautiful lady without mercy) by John Keats.

Sibella also briefly mentions Algernon Blackwood, a supernatural fiction writer who wrote a short story about a werewolf (portrayed quite differently here) that a character in 1909 could have possibly read (the story was first published in 1908).

In addition, the whole story is named after a very early depiction of a sympathetic werewolf, Bisclavret by Marie de France (and the most direct I think I’ve ever been with a title). It depicts, naturally, a werewolf (who is also a knight, because not being human doesn’t disqualify you from doing that – cutting social commentary for the 12th century) who is trapped in his wolf form after being tricked by his wife and her lover. Through chivalric behaviour to the king on a hunt, he works himself back into the royal court and, when his former wife pays a visit, bites off her nose. The king thinks the sudden aggressive behaviour from his pet prompts further investigation, the wife reveals all, and the knight is restored to human form. Also, all of the wife’s children are born without noses from then on. Lionel getting his nose bitten off is a reference to this poem.

Uncategorised Trivia

This work was written with the UK spellings of certain words, because it takes place in England. Previous works all took place in the US, and so used US spelling.

Les Patineurs Valse is French for The Skater’s Waltz. Reference to Asquith Jr. and Evangeline Barley.

All of the racehorse names Sibella finds are either variations, anagrams or synonyms of actual racehorses in the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Sir Hugh is Sir Huon, Gil Owen is Neil Gow, Irish Lass is Irish Lad, Supervision is Oversight and Pinnacle is Meridian.

Lionel was right to be concerned about Phoebe’s flower arrangement. Red begonias represent love, lavender-coloured heathers represent admiration and loneliness (and are a reference to another fandom I write for), tuberoses are symbolic of wild or forbidden passion (and was commonly used as a funeral flower), and verbena is reference to romance and sweet memories. The dead foliage is meant to mean sadness. Overall, the intended meaning is I miss you, my love.

[chipmunkfanno1love]

Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure Speculation: Varian and Vex Shipping

Though Varian has often been shipped with Cassandra, lately it has been a mixed bag of very strong opinions regarding the ship, especially some negative ones about Varian being too young for Cassandra who is in her 20’s while he’s in his teens. Personally I don’t have a problem with them becoming a couple, so long as they wait until Varian is legally an adult (such as it was with Ferb and Vanessa in “Phineas and Ferb”). I could see them as a couple if the creators of the show flashfoward to the future with an older Rapunzel and Eugene are telling their story and the fates of their friends to their children.

Personally I want to keep out of the arguments, and talk about this from a purely fictional opinion. While I do think Cassandra and Varian had great chemistry together in “Great Expositions”, so far Varian’s feelings for Cass are just an innocent crush (I even heard a rumour that Chris Sonneberg said it wouldn’t go any further than this) which Cass doesn’t requite. So I think the chances of these two becoming a couple, even when Varian’s older is pretty slim. Still, I do hope these two become friends again.

Anyway, the point of my topic is to bring up a potential new love-interest for Varian, and while I am pretty open about his love life and who his future girlfriend could be, I’m pretty keen on this ship I’m about to suggest.

The ship is between:

Varian

and

Vex

I imagine this ship is going to have a lot of mixed feedback. Some may not like it because they’re strong for the ship between Cassandra and Varian, while others won't like the ship because they simply don’t like Vex. Hear me out though, here are some good reasons why I think Varian and Vex could make a good couple.

1. The two appear to be close in age to each other. I imagine they’d be some cute teenage romantic tension between these two. It would be adorable to see the growing puppy love (which may eventually blossom into true love) between them.

2. Vex seems to me like a younger counterpart to Varian’s old crush, Cassandra, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Varian becomes attracted to her. Plus the fact that they both look up to her could give them something to bond over (though it might also cause some jealousy too if Vex develops a crush on Varian).

3. I get the feeling that Varian is attracted to tough women. While his crush on Cass was partly to do with her saving his life, I also think it could be that he admired her for her strength and courage. I reckon if he got to know Vex he would come to admire her own strong qualities. Perhaps like Cassandra before her, Vex could also learn to admire Varian’s compassion and smarts (though she may find his optimism annoying at first). I reckon in time these two opposites could attract.

4. Both are former juvenile delinquents of sorts, what with Varian taking over and almost destroying an entire kingdom, stealing a precious ancient relic, not to mention kidnapping Queen Arianna and later attempting to murder her and Cassandra. While Vex as far as I know hasn’t done that, she had her fair share of crimes including bribery and playing part of a kidnapping. Plus who knows what else (her selling weapons suggests a few possibilities). Over time I can see these two learning to empathise with each over their past crimes and connect over their desires to redeem themselves in their current roles, e.g. Varian in helping Princess Rapunzel and Vex in being Deputy to Captain Quaid the Sheriff of Vardaros.

Fun Fact: I reckon their ship name could be V.V (Varian and Vex). Unless of course Vex isn’t Vex’s real name. I believe she could have changed her name, much like two other former criminals we know (Eugene and Lance).

-

Here are several movie and TV couples that I think could be good examples of how these two could interact as a couple and/or even friends:

Zuko and Mai from “Avatar: The Last Airbender

The one thing I have noticed is that Varian and Zuko’s falls from grace and eventual redemption stories have a lot of similarities to each other, especially since they both had something to do with their estranged relationships with their fathers’ (though I am no way saying that Quirin is cruel and abusive like Lord Ozai was). Both are also rebellious risk-takers who want to do the right thing but often take misguided actions which have terrible consequences to them, though both are eager to make up for their past mistakes and help their respective main character (Rapunzel/Aang) in their destiny. Of course, nerdy alchemist Varian is much more friendly, optimistic and clumsy compared to the hot-tempered, moody and athletically-inclined Fire Prince turned Fire Lord, Zuko. Still, he certainly has his angsty moments which are very similar to Zuko’s. 

I think it makes sense that Varian gets a girlfriend with a lot of similarities to Zuko’s girlfriend, Mai. Mai and Vex are certainly similar in the sense that both are moody, cynical action girls who both seem to have trouble expressing their feelings. Maybe Vex’s cynicism is the result of growing up in her rough town. She had to be tough in order to survive, plus there is a hint that maybe she’s an orphan, so there’s potential that she could be carrying a lot of emotional baggage and even fears of abandonment. She probably pretends not to care about anything because she’s scared if she does she’ll get hurt, similar to how Mai pretends not to care because she was taught to repress her feelings from a young age by her controlling mother.

Either way, like Zuko and Mai, I think both Varian and Vex could bring the best out in each other. Varian could help Vex to open up more, while Vex could help Varian recover from his past wounds (in her own Vex way). I’m sure she can empathise with Varian’s dark past as she wasn’t always on the right side of law herself, or at least her neutral siding didn’t exactly make her stand out as a good guy, until she made the decision to become Captain Quaid’s deputy and therefore firmly planted herself on the good side.

I can definitely see Varian and Vex having a fight similar to Zuko and Mai’s during the party scene of “The Beach”. Also I can also see Vex wearing the pants in the relationship like Mai does (Mai’s warning to Zuko in the series finale never to break up with her again sounds like something I imagine Vex saying to Varian). I believe they will show affection to each other in the same way Zuko and Mai do. This confession of love from Mai sounds like something that Vex would definitely say herself: “I don’t hate you.”

-

Wednesday Addams and Joel Glicker from “The Addams Family Values”

A lot of people have compared Vex’s looks and personality to Wednesday Addams from The Addams Family franchise:

While I certainly won’t deny the similarities, I believe that Vex was inspired by Mattie Ross from the 2010 version of the film True Grit:

Nonetheless, I can’t deny there are similarities between Vex and Wednesday. I just hope Vex isn’t quite as morbid, lol. Still, I do wonder if the writers do bring in more of the similarities into later episodes (if Vex does make future apperances).

Personally I don’t find that Joel Glicker was the most well-developed character ever. He was more the overprotected nerdy boy who fell for the dark gothic girl. Still, I guess that Varian has similarities to Joel in the sense they are both nerdy characters who are a little insecure and intense (though I do hope Varian has better self-esteem than Joel). I think it would be funny if Varian had a reaction to seeing Vex for the first time similar to Joel’s when he met Wednesday. Somehow I doubt it will happen, but it’s still funny and kind of cute at the same time

Wednesday meets Joel. See 1:59 to 2:17:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us3JQh-m2FM&list=PLlXqHikVVQDQerwZg0GuBzJPXel5MIPHi&index=6&t=142s

I wouldn’t call Wednesday and Joel’s relationship the best, and I certainly wouldn’t want the ending of their relationship to happen between Varian and Vex, but underneath all the morbidity and insecurity, I think there’s a lot of cute moments between these two. They are definitely an interesting example of opposites attract, plus there is some adorable awkwardness between them that I think could be brought to Varian and Vex’s relationship. I personally see Wednesday and Joel’s relationship being an example of how Varian and Vex’s friendship and eventually relationship starts out, perhaps even hinted at as spoof material within the show.

Some examples could be Varian attempting the “yawn and stretch move” on Vex, but she holds up a knife and says “Touch me with that arm, and you’ll lose it.” or simply “Don’t even think about it.” causing Varian to fearfully back away from her on the seat. Though perhaps Varian does something that really impresses Vex, whether it’s showing his braver, angsty side (which I believe that Vex would find attractive) and/or he uses one of his inventions to help the town of Vardaros. Because Vex is a little reluctant to show she’s impressed, she simply says thank you and a half-hearted comment to Varian for his good work. Though Varian can tell that how moved Vex is from a small smile she shares with him and a sign that she’s warming up to the possibility of being affectionate with him, as shown by Wednesday here:

Even Wednesday and Joel’s farewell and first kiss I could see Varian and Vex spoofing, though in their own individual way.

Wednesday and Joel’s first kiss

https://youtu.be/ZibUVA54BWY

So while I hope they’re not exactly like this couple, it would be cute if we saw some spoof references like this. :)

-

Arnold Shortman and Helga Pataki from “Hey Arnold!”

I’ll be honest with you guys, I’m probably one of the few people who hasn’t seen the most of the Hey Arnold! TV series and movies. I’ve only seen a few episodes. Still, from what I’ve seen of these two, they seem to have similar personalities to Varian and Vex, plus I imagine their relationship being similar too.

Like Arnold, Varian is friendly, optimistic and always there to help out his friends. While Helga and Vex are similar in that they are both tough, aggressive girls who don’t like to open up about their feelings.

I could definitely see Vex being rather mean to Varian at first, calling him “dork” or “nerd”, but overtime maybe she’ll start to lessen up on the insults and starts to respect Varian for his smarts and the positive affect his inventions could possibly have on Vardaros, though she still keeps him at an emotional distance due to trust issues, and it will probably take a bit of time but perhaps Varian’s mixture of kindness and tough love towards Vex could eventually be the thing that slowly breaks down her emotional walls.

I could probably see Vex developing a crush on Varian (though perhaps not as obsessively as Helga though) but has a hard time showing it. She’ll probably show him affection by punching him in the arm, which is meant to be friendly but hurts because Vex is stronger than she looks.

Maybe she might convince Captain Quaid to give Varian a job as the Alchemist of Vardaros, saying that he can help the people of Vardaros with his inventions and alchemy. Though this is possibly true, I believe she would more suggest the idea to Quaid so she can convince Varian to stay in Vardoros. Varian considers the offer, partly because he believes he can be helpful to the people of Vardaros and the other half because he’s starting to fall for Vex and wants to stay with her. I think he turns down the offer at first (which will probably hurt Vex) but promises he’ll return to visit once he’s helped Rapunzel achieve her destiny and reunite her with Cassandra. Though he may even decide to stay in Vardaros as their professional Alchemist after the mission is finished, eventually becoming Vex’s boyfriend.

-

A bonus unofficial couple I could compare them to is:

Hiro Hamada and Karmi from “Big Hero 6: The Series”

There’s no denying that Hiro and Varian are very alike. Both are intelligent and creative child prodigy inventors who are both adorkable and clumsy. Both have lost and/or almost lost family members, and as a result have almost committed murder in order to avenge their loved one’s, though have tried their best to make up for their past mistakes. They are also the one of youngest in their respective group of friends (though not quite with Varian as Keira/Angry and Catalina/Red have now officially joined the group and are a few years younger than him).

While Karmi is rather different from Vex, they do share anti-social and moody tendencies. Deep down underneath their moody exterior though, both have the drive to do the right thing.

Like Hiro and Karmi, I could imagine Varian and Vex having a rivalry of sorts during their first meeting. Perhaps Varian gets jealous over Catalina (Red) and Kiera (Angry) looking up to Vex over him as an older sibling/mentor figure due to them respecting her “tough as nails woman” exterior. Also maybe Vex could get jealous if Quaid starts paying more attention to Varian and his inventions, e.g. maybe he could invent a special smoker to calm Quaid’s bees, impressing the Captain of Vadaros greatly and gaining Vex’s envious resentment.

Over time though, like Hiro and Karmi, these two could learn to respect each other and their talents, eventually forming a friendship, which over time shows signs of romantic attraction between the two teens.

-

Even if Varian and Vex don’t become a couple, I would still love it if somehow they did meet on the show and eventually become friends. I’m sure it would be cool to see how they interact with someone in their own age group.

What do you guys think? I’d love to hear your feedback, but please refrain from harsh negativity.

[aceandaroacts]

On Being a Happy Family of One

[This month, I'm hosting the Carnival of Aces, a blogging festival where participants respond to a topic. The topic I've chosen for this month is "Conscious and Unconscious Differences". You can see the other submissions and join in here!]

Considering the experiences you’ve had that are tied to your asexuality, how have they made you stronger?

Hi! I'm aceandaroacts. If you met me in real life, I'd introduce myself as a coder of custom software and grandma-at-heart. But this is the internet!

The most important thing to know about me is not the things I've built, places I've gone, or the experiences I've overcome. It's my attitude: "I can do this!"

When I first started thinking about topics to write about for this month's Carnival of Aces, I was torn between several ideas. I love fashion. I understand none of it, and never know what I'm doing, but I have fun with it and am trying to figure out how to be more... visible? as one of the few agender people at my company. I also have a cool history with being forced to dress like a Gothic nun half my life and building cosplays and cool Halloween costumes in the present half. But that felt a little too intersectional, and might not be as useful from an academic lens.

I thought about cryptography, clandestine communication, and the obsession with language and selective secrecy I had as a kid, and how that connects to a lot of ace symbols - the black ring on the middle finger, ace cards, cake, dragons... and how I wound up spending two months and hundreds of hours consuming all the ace content I could find, because words and language and symbols are so important!

And I thought about my life; how it compares to the default narrative, and how I'm going about building my own.

This month's theme is conscious and unconscious differences. Unconscious, as in automatic, or as in: before I knew I was asexual. Conscious, as in: intentional. It's broad enough to wrap around all the above, but specific enough in the "how does this make you stronger" bit that I think we'll still see some cool patterns and strengths arise that help to establish our own narrative tropes.

I bought "unsexy" conservative outfits before I know I was asexual. I avoided people that showed too much interest in me automatically. I unconsciously avoided conversations about dating, sex, attraction, and masturbation with friends by walking away or changing the topic. My favorite colors have always been purple, silver, black, and white. Strategy games were my favorite. I'd obsess over characters that were mysterious, building all kinds of different backstories and futures for them in my head. I never had sleepovers, and didn't understand why people would want them. I was the "lone wolf" in my friend groups - a drifter that got along pretty well with all kinds of people, but ultimately did whatever they wanted with or without company. Around 60% of my friends were adults; I had great relationships with the teachers and staff members at my school, and I knew all the local librarians by name. The gender split of my friend group was always pretty close to 50-50, and populated with extremely different perspectives - punk anarchists, exchange students, female football players, native american sci-fi enthusiasts, anorexic wrestlers, etc. I loved words, loved codes and ciphers, loved fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and music with lyrics. I avoided drama like the plague. I had a very unstable home life, and moved locations almost every year. Home only extended as far as to the skin on my body. I never dreamed about weddings or fancy houses or kids (or even pets!). P.E. (Physical Education) was the worst - I felt uncomfortable in the dressing rooms, so I would arrive early before people started undressing and would change in the restrooms so I would have privacy and avoid seeing naked people as much as possible. I never obsessed over my body - I could go for months at a time without looking in a mirror. My reputation was based on my academics and random hobbies, not my looks or relationships. People sought me out as a mentor and constantly told me I was "mature" and "an old soul". When fights broke out, people looked to me as a fair and impartial judge of the situation, and respected whatever verdict I reached. It felt a lot like being a Buddha!

Realizing I was asexual didn't change much of that, but it did cause me to face choices head-on: would I try to find a partner, or not? Would I try to live with other roommates, or not? Would I try to be attractive, or not? Would I go to bars to make friends, or not? Would I worry about having a weak social network, or not? Would I want to live in a retirement community, or not? Would I want kids around, or not? What would my milestones in life be? How would I fulfill my human need to be social? Who would I trust to take care of me in an emergency?

I'm estranged from my birth family. I'm asexual, aromantic, agender, touch-averse, romance-repulsed, sex-repulsed, and introverted as can be. I tried dating and was so miserable that I wound up finding asexuality because of it in the first place. I don't trust myself to be a parent since my own parents screwed up so badly that it left me with three mental illnesses and a decade's worth of unwinding bad life lessons. So I'm in a fun position!

The "normal" life journey story goes like this: You grow up with two loving biological parents, get your education, graduate, get further training or education via school or a first job, find your partner in life, get into a steady career, get married and live together, have kids, raise those kids, watch them get their education and jobs and move away, then retire and die at an old age. My life only has the education and job bits (retirement? in this economy? die old? on this polluted planet?). I'm not going to look for a lifelong partner. I'm not having kids or adopting. There's a whole lot of white space where everyone else has milestones, and I've consciously accepted that as okay. I'm a family of one, and it's great!

The first milestones I set for myself were to find good roommates, help out fellow child abuse survivors, and own a home. I've achieved them! My next milestone is to do something big and artsy that makes a decent amount of people happy. I have no idea what it will be, yet - right now I've been doing lots of little things: teaching workshops, building costumes, painting, home renovation projects. I'm gonna try being in a music band this year. The milestone after that will be to have a big impact via a community-service type initiative. There's a woman in my city that created an LGBTQ homeless shelter that's an actual home-like environment (seasonal housing with free counseling, job training, stocked pantry, etc. aimed at guiding people to independence and self-sufficiency) which I thought was really cool, and I'd like to do something that's on a similar scale. After that, who knows? Maybe publish a book instead of writing 12 of them and letting them collect dust? Maybe run a small rainbow-themed cafe that makes fancy desserts? So many possibilities!

It's exactly these differences that bleed into my strengths. I'm super independent/self-motivated/self-directed, because I've had to be to survive. I excel at navigating uncertainty, ambiguity, assessing risks, and forecasting outcomes and trends, because my life has a lot of uncertainty and risk compared to the average population. I'm quick to pick up on communication styles and tailor my messages accordingly, because I've had to be mindful about it when navigating my parents and people that developed crushes on me and/or became stalkers. My superpower at work is my ability to dodge all of the politics at play and get everyone on board with factually beneficial solutions (so I still come across as an objective party vs someone playing favorites or only looking out for themselves). People have faith that I'm an expert in all things IT, even when I mess up, because I ask good questions and make fewer assumptions. (I assumed I was cis for 22 years and surprise! I was wrong. Anyone can be wrong. Especially if they are never forced to think about the thing!) I'm great at organizing live events - I plan multiple award shows and get-togethers. I also run an ace & aro meetup in my city! (The experience of being isolated will make an organizer out of you real quick!) People seek me out as a mentor and coach at work because I'm already satisfied with my life and who I am, and I genuinely want to help others without expecting anything in return. I intentionally stay in touch with and work to expand my friend group, which means I have a great professional network of actual friends that I find interesting and fun to be around, and not just LinkedIn faces. If I weren't ace, I wouldn't be doing that. And if I still didn't know I was ace, I wouldn't be doing it half as much as I do now - when you really focus on it, it's so worth it!

So, yeah. Asexuality is a part of me, and it's great. How does your identit(y/ies) make you great?

[vancilocs]

31-47 for ninida, lazlo(was it lazlo, call me out of i wrote it wrong) aand max?

add an s and make it laszlo and you’re golden! (it’s actually laszlowaria but ain’t nobody got time for that)

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing?

Ninida drinks somewhat, not much, rarely to the point of being hammered but tipsy maybe once a week or so. He’s a lot more jovial and affectionate when drunk, likes hugs, will pet your hair if you have it, laughs and is just a general good sport. Complete opposite when hungover, just leave him into his blanket burrito to recover. Will growl if someone comes too close. Kinda exasperated if people are drunk or hungover around him, complains about it, but if it’s a friend he’ll help in whatever way needed.

Laszlo can drink you under the table, he’s a regular in a local bar when not on duty and has a pocket flask for when he is. Never hammered during working hours but a little tipsy maybe, only blackout drunk if knows he has no duties. Even more out of it when drunk, somehow falls off the floor. His stories have no end, rambles in circles until he passes out, stories may or may not be true at all. Quietly looks after drunk and hungover people by making sure they aren’t in immediate danger, otherwise stays out of it.

Max can drink more than you’d think, she’s short but also has a pretty good resistance… might have drank a tad too much at parties when she was younger. Very rarely gets drunk anymore. Louder and more emotional in every way when drunk, laughs one second, cries the next, gets angry immediately. A mother hen when others get drunk, as a bartender she’s pretty good at spotting when people have had too much.

32. What do they dress like? What sorta shops do they buy clothes from? Do they wear the fashion that they like? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear makeup? What’s their hair like?

Ninida doesn’t care about makeup or fashion, just skincare sometimes and the functionality of the clothes (as long as he can show his arms). Lots of pockets, a bulletproof vest under the hoodie. Gloves are cosmetic. Sleeps with sweatpants or underwear on.

Laszlo is colourblind and mostly wears black, puts comfort and functionality over looks, but with a thotty twist. His hair he keeps just long enough to tie up, otherwise his nose and medusa piercings are the most he’s done for his looks. He mainly wears the catsuit given by his boss, otherwise it’s capri pants and t-shirts that don’t get stuck on his shin and forearm spikes. Sleeps with a t-shirt and underwear.

Max takes clothing very seriously, orders mainly online from specific goth brands that carry her size, has outfits planned. Makeup is a second job to her and barely ever steps out the house without it, also makes sure her hair is in ship-shape. Very looks-oriented.

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties?

Just… boxers, comfy

Boxers mainly, sometimes backwards, sometimes he forgets

Comfy panties, cute to give confidence but nothing that chafes, she’s on her feet a lot as bartender. Has a bunch of lacy ones for sure.

34. What is their body type? How tall are they? Do they like their body?

He’s typical for a nedian, some 172 cm maybe, slim, a bit less muscular than many others but not too bad of a twink. He’s okay with how he looks, women are the more beefy ones anyways

Around 180 cm, a little over maybe, thicc as a tree trunk. Typical strong arms and thighs for climbing but also some belly fat and love handles to spare. Just an absolute unit and he’s pleased with that

Max is short, some 155 cm and fat. She’s lost a little weight with a diet change to homecooked scheduled meals, but she’s still fat, and she’s completely fine with this and looks bomb as hell

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?

He doesn’t really feel guilty about the things he does for fun, doesn’t feel the need to. Though in the end cheating on his wife dipped from “guilty pleasure” to “complete douchebaggery”

He doesn’t have enough braincells to feel guilty, dude was a police officer corrupt as they can be once upon a time. Maybe drinking on the job is a bit of a guilty pleasure but hey, he’s got good tolerance and not enough booze in his flask to get him too messed up.

Buying new makeup and clothes can be a bit of a guilty pleasure, but she neeeeds them. Using them and making herself look glam is something she feels no guilt about though, yes she might look a lil over the top but so what? It’s her style and she likes it

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing?

Can design and build guns like the best of ‘em, it’s a hobby and a job, as well as testing the guns out at a firing range. Can’t sing at goddamn all

An excellent marksman and slick as hell, can talk himself out of pretty much any problem. Knows where to find a connection and how to utilize it to end up on top. On his free time he likes to play cards, hang out in a bar, snoop around casually, maybe find someone to share his bed for the night, who knows. Not a singer.

She’s got great style and impeccable makeup skills, somewhat artistic too but those are just some flower doodles. Enjoys making videos and makeup tutorials, cooking, hanging out with friends. Can hold a tune but mainly just hums.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction?

He can pour over technical manuals, likes comics, longer novels get boring. A pretty fast reader though, has no interest in poetry.

A bit of a slow reader and prefers bigger text for his eyesight, has a hard time concentrating on longer text so he doesn’t really read books. Alternatively he does enjoy poetry and comics since there’s less to read.

Enjoys reading, usually fiction, crime novels and horror, sometimes romance. Enjoys poetry a lot, especially of the gothic kind.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had?

Admires tenacity and skill, never giving up despite struggles is inspiring. Wishes he could demand respect and earn it in a way people like Mhairi do, he feels like a bit of a little fish still (esp. compared to dad)

He can respect honesty, positivity and tenacity, even if it’s someone trying to catch him. Also appreciates patience because he knows he can be a bit of a mess. Being able to focus better would be nice.

Max appreciates honesty and open-mindedness, you can be blunt with your honesty, just don’t be mean, and be open to other views and facts than your own. She’s always looking to improve, if anything specific then just not being so hot-headed herself

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging?

Texts and emails are so much easier.

He won’t remember what he wrote on a letter so messages and emails work best

Loves an old-fashioned wax-sealed love letter as much as any dramatic hoe but obviously texts and emails work the best

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert?

Too much soda and energy drinks, a caffeine fiend. Could probably stay up without if the weather is warm but still drinks his Red Bull

Mostly drinks alcohol or just water, he stays up long whiles with no help.

Likes her coffee, but mainly just a cup in the morning and an extravagant Starbucks drink during the day, maybe one in the evening. Might have something sweet during shifts at the bar, just for a little kick.

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship?

Hetero/demisexual, primarily an ass man, but a tight bod in general is a sight to see. Hair is nice to touch. Mentally likes tough women who know what they want and know to demand it, likes brains as much as butts. Needs affection and love and dedication, he’s serious about this shit

Bisexual, doesn’t really have a preference, maybe leans more towards thicc guys and gals, prefers a chubby belly over washboard abs. Mentally just be interesting, keep his attention, share views, not super into uptight nerdy scholar types. Needs attention, love and for the other one to take initiative for him to show love back, for now kinda casual about relationships because he tends to go too serious too quick and end up hurt

Bisexual, likes tough girls and cute boys, chubby people, stronk and soft, sparkly like she is, similar views and attitudes, not interested in super shy and quiet people who don’t like going out or don’t hype her up.

42. What are their goals? What would they sacrifice anything for? What is their secret ambition?

His main goal is to blow up beat Vim in the market, his feelings are hurt and feels like his old man’s time has passed, no familial feelings anymore after the stunt Vim pulled, now it’s just rivalry. Kinda sacrificed a relationship to have the family he wanted, too.

Right now he’s just seeing if this sticks, so far he’s enjoyed captaining the Vandal and maybe even dipping his toesies back into corrupting law enforcement… this time being the one corrupting, not the one corrupted

Her ambitions are to make the makeup channel a full-time job and quit bartending, can eventually do that and make bank from being an influencer while also being a mom.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people?

Not religious really, just tiny remnants of the kind of voodoo-type religion most common in where he’s from. Biggest thing religion-wise are the beads he got from his mom he keeps in his pocket, it’s more sentimental than that he actually believes in higher powers. Has no opinion about believers or non-believers unless they try to tell him how to think in which case he gets pissed

His people are generally atheistic, not religious at all himself, kinda finds it odd. But it’s none of his business, just keep it to yourself thank you. Will listen to stories though.

Not particularly religious, wears some religious stuff as part of her style but doesn’t really follow anything herself. Keep it to yourself.

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most?

Summer, he thrives in warm and humid. Active and happy during warm months. Hates the cold, gets drowsy, outside gets janky and eventually freezes entirely. Whines about cold.

Used to mild, medium weather, very dry, was baffled about rain and clouds. Appreciates the lack of dust outside his homeland. Summer tends to get hot, winter is too cold, not a fan of snow, likes rain. Likes fall.

Loves the fall, pumpkin spice, Halloween, spooky times. Manages heat well, hates sleet and snow but has good jackets to stay warm. Now if just her boots wouldn’t get so dirty.

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves?

Depends greatly, he might be a whiny brat to some, a genius to some. He has been knocked down enough pegs to make him a bit humbler than he’d be otherwise, but he’s still an eager little man trying to become something great at any cost

He’s very much not welcome in his homeland, kind of an outsider everywhere else, his people aren’t so often seen. He’s just chilling and he has his talents, he’s a bit of an enigma to others, a horrible criminal to some and a disaster to his crew

Some may think she’s just a fat bitch, those are people she hasn’t allowed to bully her, others think she’s a role model. She’s a great friend and a mom, too.

46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves?

He’s a bit awkward but he’s that in general, got more gun skills than people skills, which is pretty noticeable. He’ll shake your hand and say his name and what ship he’s from.

There’s something off, the handshake is firm but he might just forget to actually say his name or what ship he captains/who he works for, in general he seems… capable? If a bit scatterbrained.

Shakes your hand, smiles, introduces herself, she immediately feels like a pleasant person.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event?

Doesn’t feel at all home in fancier events, doesn’t like dressing up formally, even if nedians don’t do black ties. Avoids fancy chitchat and events and maybe just raids the snack bar and bails.

Pretty at home actually, doesn’t particularly like formal wear but he’s used to wearing it, slips out from one conversation and into another without internalizing any of it or adding anything of substance. Gets tipsy and eats a bunch, just wanders around, gets stuck staring at a curtain for half an hour,

Likes dressing up but prefers a bit more casual parties, like dinners, not as formal. Loves to talk and have a drink and compliment ladies on their clothes.

[dcarevu]

DCAU: Beware the Gray Ghost

“When crime haunts the night, a silent crusader carries the torch of justice. Those with evil hearts beware for out of the darkness comes the Gray Ghost!”

Batman meets his influence, while simultaneously, in a way, meeting himself from another universe. How is this possible? Find out next time, same bat-time, same bat-channel! Well, okay, maybe not, you could just scroll down… So was this episode a tired, old has-been or a star worth remembering?

Episode: 18 Robin: No Writer(s): Garin Wolf (Teleplay), Tom Ruegger (Teleplay/Story), Dennis O’Flaherty (Story) Director: Boyd Kirkland Animator: Spectrum Airdate: November 4, 1992 Grade: A

Beware the Gray Ghost is a fantastic episode of Batman the Animated Series with something there to satisfy the older and newer fans, bridging the gap between them. And in fact, historically, it kinda did just that, bringing new respect to a certain actor who guest starred in this one! It is also an episode that I noticed has a very distinct feel to it, turning it into a tribute to not only the old Batman show from the 60’s, but also just old, Twilight Zone-esque noir crime shows in general. The music, the plot, some of the more subtle details, it’s all there. But instead of using these to craft some sort of parody or critique, it all ends up being a very respectful look at days past while undoubtedly still being Batman the Animated Series.

“The Graaaaaayyyyy Ghost!”

Spectrum animation is back with this one (which is odd, because apparently they shut down after bankrupting themselves with Heart of Ice… Anyone know how this all worked?), but in addition to that, my copy of Batman the Animated Series on Blu Ray just arrived! I couldn’t be happier that the first episode we watched on Blu Ray was a Spectrum episode. This created a very noticeable leap in animation quality. I’ll go more into detail at the end of this post also, giving my basic first impressions on how the Blu Ray release stacks up against the DVD one. But yeah, I’ll say it right now, it makes the show go from beautiful to breathtaking. Some of the color-usage in this episode is the best the show had done up to this point, and a variety of styles was used.

We have the scenes which are in exclusively black and white (displayed when we get a look at the original Grey Ghost tv show), we have the sepia-toned bits showing Bruce Wayne’s childhood, we have the bloody reds when explosions and fires happen (fire count!), and then we have the typical dark-deco look of the show. They all flow together seamlessly, and you can’t help but admire how realized this episode must have been before it was finished and then aired on TV. I cannot think of a single way I would improve the look of this one, aside from one or two funky-looking shots of Batman. 

One of the few funky shots of Batman...

...but they’re made up for by how awesome some of the other shots are.

The closest to a perfect episode (animation-wise) you’re gonna get. Period. Char (again, my watching-buddy, and DCAU-virgin) pointed out the animation for when Batman and Grey Ghost are hauling ass away from the exploding remote-controlled cars too. Very dynamic angles were used that only studios like Spectrum and TMS could have pulled off.

If Akom worked on this scene, it would have been such a disaster. Speaking of Akom, now I’m thinking of their version of an explosion/fire vs Spectrum’s. Just for funzies, let us compare shall we?

From The Cat and the Claw (Part 2).

These next few are from Beware the Gray Ghost.

The difference is quite clear. One makes you jump out of your seat in awe. The other makes you jump out of your seat because you’re about to upchuck your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

When I mentioned earlier something about this episode never straying into parody-territory, well, it does not necessarily look back at the genre/Batman show and play it completely seriously either. They walked a thin line between both and decided to put Bruce Wayne into a setting that we can all relate to; sitting in front of the tv, watching your favorite show before bed.

The Gray Ghost in this story isn’t an old, retired superhero, or a superhero turned villain. He’s an actor, and one that played in a somewhat dated, silly “superhero” drama. This immediately adds a sense of seriousness and realness to it while also managing to not let the cornier aspects go. Both worlds exist in this episode. The whacky Gray Ghost show, and the noir, gothic world of Batman the Animated Series. They don’t necessarily have to merge in a typical way and clash tones, because they are able to reference and display the Gray Ghost show as fictional. The way it’s used makes it all relatable, and it gives us a look at what influenced the dark knight, along with a borderline-tragic story about the downsides of fame and being known for one thing and one thing only. Batman may seem super-powered to the many thugs that he battles in the alleyways, but he is a human just like you and I, one that did have a childhood at one point. Even if that childhood was tragically ended with a few bullets. Batman feeling the level of nostalgia that he feels in the episode is so god damn adorable, and it’s another moment, much like The Cat and the Claw, where we see him being Bruce Wayne, not Batman, but also somehow being himself. It's that middle ground between the brooding, shadowy figure and the rich, chillax playboy.

A smile we rarely get to see.

“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” Bruce acknowledges the cheesiness of the explosion causes.

While Batman is enjoying his childhood tv show, at one point almost seeming to forget why he’s watching it in the first place, we see Alfred subtly bringing that memory to life even more. Batman may no longer have a father, but Alfred is the closest thing he could ever hope for. TV superheroes clearly are not Alfred’s thing. He even mentions that fact when he says he prefers his fireplace to a black and white screen. But that’s not the point. The point is that Bruce is being transported back to feeling the warmth and protection of a father figure, while throwing out all of his worries for a bit and feeling a sense of thrill and enjoyment. Alfred seems to understand this. He knows Bruce more than anyone else could. Almost all of the flashbacks we see in this show are sad ones. And that gives the ones like this so much more power.

Alright, now, for those of you who don’t know (like all two of you), this episode has the very special guest star, Adam West. To me, this elevates the episode immensely, and strengthens the central themes and thesis tenfold. We go from a story about an actor being kind of a one-trick pony to the same story being told by someone who lived it. We go from a story where Batman gets to meet his idol to that same story featuring that very idol. And not just an idol to Batman, but an idol to many kids and adults who were around when Batman was still airing. Even those who went back and watched it later! Hell, when I was 5 or 6, I watched the shit out of Batman: The Movie, and I’m only 23. And y’know, we have things like Catman in The Fairly Oddparents, and the Fearless Ferret episode of Kim Possible. I’m not knocking on those, but damn, Adam West had to get tired of Batman goofs at some point. In fact, the team behind Batman the Animated Series was a little bit nervous that he wouldn’t wanna participate. But I’d be willing to bet that this episode made him feel good.

The Gray Ghost kinda reminds me of Arthur from The Tick. Great shot here, by the way.

The Gray Ghost is posed in the same way as Batman in the end credits. Such a cool detail that I actually missed my first time watching.

I love that despite wanting to stay far away from 60’s Batman vibes, the team wasn’t ready to dismiss it as bogus. And I get the sense that maybe Batman’s reverence in this episode is not only representative of all the Batman fans’, but also that of the crew behind Batman the Animated Series. They wanted Adam West to feel welcomed, and like the show wouldn’t exist without him (because it likely wouldn’t). So honestly, hats off to them. To further show a lack of satire, it wouldn’t surprise me if that is why Bruce Timm’s voice and image was used for the main villain.

Bruce Timm’s voice acting wasn’t the best, and I’d be willing to bet that he hated doing it, hahaha. Still a really fun nutjob of a character.

I’ll relate it to the episode of The Nostalgia Critic where he squares up against Mara Wilson. Mara Wilson, in real life, saw a Nostalgia Critic video about one of her films, and was kinda offended by it. But through a series of events, she and Doug Walker (the main creator and actor of NC) ended up cool, and he even put her in one of his videos! To make it even better, he actually had her play the antagonist, or probably more accurately, the protagonist. She basically ended up embarrassing and getting even with the Critic character in the episode. It’s still one of Doug’s favorite episodes to this day, and I have a feeling that he set the plot up like this to show her that he actually respects her quite a bit, and to soften the blow of the shit he’s thrown her way over the years. The team behind Batman the Animated Series may have done a similar thing in making Adam West’s character, along with Kevin’s Batman, defeat Bruce Timm’s character together, and if that’s the case, I love it. Not only does Adam West get the admiration of their version of Batman, but he also gets to help Bruce Timm’s character get his comeuppance. And then, of course, West’s character gets the attention he deserves at the end.

I know this is a video release, but it looks a lot like a thicker Blu Ray case. Kinda like, well, the Blu Ray release of Batman TAS!

Oh wow, never noticed this foreshadowing either. Matt Hagen will be a name that we’ll see pop up in a couple of episodes.

Garin Wolf, Tom Ruegger, and Dennis O’Flaherty obviously treaded carefully, but likely without even thinking about it. Because it is so genuine-seeming and charming. And honestly, thank you, Adam West, for being such a great sport throughout all the time you were alive. I wish there could have been another official DCAU tribute after his death, but this being the one thing we got should be more than great enough for any Batman or comic book fan out there.

This dude was pretty obviously voiced by Alfred’s voice actor. Times when having a voice with so much character takes me out of the show!

A look at some of the Gray Ghost episodes. I’d kill for a Gray Ghost animated series, following what we have shown here.

Wow, that Batmobile is awfully close to the ground.

Just a nice still. Boy does he ever look like a classic pulp costumed crimefighter. They nailed his design. 

A picture of Bruce Timm after he saw the finished product of I’ve Got Batman In My Basement.

Before I go, I’d like to, yes, mention the Blu Ray copy of the show I just received! So far, I’m mixed on it. While the visual and audio quality is mostly superior, there are a few moments of a shot being too bright or whatever. Also, I don’t know, I think that the dirtiness is part of what made the original show look so charming, and it was truly meant to be seen on the technology that was around at the time. Everything is so crisp now, and it just doesn’t look as old as it once did. On the other hand…they got rid of the spot above Batman’s lip during the theme song! Hot damn! That makes it about 10x easier to sleep at night… From what I understand, there are also some new special features and such that I can’t wait to view. All of the old ones are there too, which brings me to the pilot, The Dark Knight’s First Night. I was really, really, really hoping that they would bring in the original sound for it. On the volume 1 DVD, I was always kinda weirded out that it said the original music and sounds were lost. I mean, as far as the music goes…it’s just music from the 1989 Batman film, how hard can that be to get ahold of..? Hell, one of the versions on Youtube has the original music and sounds, so what gives? Could it be a copyright issue or something? I don’t know, but this same problem exists on the Blu Ray release too. Kind of a shame. Oh, but wait, as a plus, this complete series doesn’t just include every episode, but it also comes with Mask of the Phantasm and Subzero! I hate when complete series box sets don’t come with the movies that are just as much part of the series. This is an incredibly consistent problem across basically every tv show ever, and I get why it’s a thing, but it still annoys me. This problem doesn’t exist with Batman the Animated Series any longer. Well. Kinda. Mystery of the Batwoman is strangely…not included? I know that this one was technically released much later, and I also remember it sucking, but it’s still a part of the show! Why not include it? Personally, if I were in charge, I also would have thrown in Batman and Harley Quinn too, but believe me, I wasn’t banking on that one. I can forgive its absence. Overall, though, I’m super happy to own this, and even though I’ve seen all of Batman the Animated Series already, this gives me something new to enjoy with it. Also, even though it’s not a perfect release, I think I still consider it a step up over watching the show on DVD. At least, if we’re talking flat screen TVs (watching the entire show on VHS would be awesome, honestly). I give the Blu Ray release a B. Maybe a low A.

Char’s grade: A Fire count: 9

Next time: Prophecy of Doom Full episode list here!

[freakscircus]

thinking about my top 10 stephen king books... because he is my favorite author and it was his birthday recently. i’m putting them under the cut here:

this list is by no means exhaustive, there’s a lot by king i haven’t read. for example, i haven’t read the dark tower which a lot of people consider one of his best. so this is just a top 10 of books i’ve read by him:

10. Misery Plot: a famous author gets into a car accident, and is found and nursed back to health by his biggest fan. however, she quickly becomes controlling and violent as she makes bigger and bigger demands of her favorite author, who is totally dependent on her in his injured state. - i appreciate this book but it is not something i would ever read again. the sympathy i felt for paul was just too great. the themes and mood of this book are just so bizarre, i absolutely love it. 

9. The Mist Plot: an otherworldly mist engulfs a little vacation town after a violent storm. a group of people are trapped in a supermarket and must decide what they can do, as going into the mist almost ensures certain death - i definitely liked the mist, it’s a novella so it is short, but it’s very interesting and quite stressful to read! but i suppose that makes a good book. i can’t really say why i find this book so interesting without spoiling it though, so pick it up for yourself!

8. The Shining plot: jack torrance becomes the winter caretaker of an old and majestic hotel, bringing his family with him. however, this hotel has a horrific past that continues to haunt it into the present. alone and snowed in, jack begins to lose his sanity and becomes obsessed with the overlook hotel, with his family trapped and forced to stay despite the deterioration of jack’s sanity and the violence and horror that ensues - i really enjoyed this one, but i honestly think it fell flat compared to the movie. i would have enjoyed this had i not watched the adaptation, but i think it loses out for sure. i absolutely adore the themes and setting though... isolation, cabin fever, haunting, and a horrific and large empty hotel. it reminds me of the isolation and horror of the hotel in silent hill as well. i really like the motif that king uses of the main character discovering the rotten interior of their surroundings, despite a pristine veneer. however in this case instead of overcoming, the main character rots along with it. i would really push you to read this book first if you’ve never watched the movie so you have nothing to compare it against.

7. The Talisman plot: a young boy has to save his sick mother, who has isolated herself in a desolate seaside hotel and has accepted her impending death. however, he discovers that there is a parallel universe to his own, where each person has a twin whose fate is directly intertwined with their original selves. jack must weave between worlds and travel a great distance to foil an evil plot in order to save his mother’s life - i like this one... it’s not horror fiction at all. if you like king for horror classics like carrie and misery, i don’t know if you’ll like this one. it’s pure fantasy, including magic powers and an otherworldly realm that is similar to medieval england. but i really enjoyed it, it’s a really satisfying adventure book.

6. Christine plot: an awkward and straightlaced teenager is inexplicably drawn to an extremely old and dilapidated red plymouth fury. after becoming the owner of the fury, his personality changes into a combative and obsessive version of himself that is almost unrecognizable to his childhood best friend. strange things begin to happen to anyone who goes against him, as they are inexplicably killed one by one in violent hit and run accidents.  - i really didn’t think i would like this one. anyone i explain the plot to thinks it’s super hokey and probably really campy and bad. however i really liked it! it’s super nuanced even though the antagonist is literally a car. i could not put this book down, the progression of arnie’s transformation is just so fascinating.  5. Dolores Claiborne plot: a woman’s firsthand account of how she did not murder her employer leads to a horrific telling of her life, and the choices that she has made. dolores chose to marry young and her regret and resentment over her husband is paired with a life full of poverty and difficult choices. - this was the book that introduced me to stephen king and i fell in love immediately. it’s a bit hard to get into this one, the narrative style is a bit odd. but once you do, it is incredible. the themes remind me a lot of v.c. andrews, so you get a very gothic horror feel from this one.

4. The Stand plot: a government created superflu virus wipes out almost the entire population of earth. a small percentage of people born with a rare immunity to the superflu survive, but they must decide what to do now that everyone they know has died right in front of them. large cities are full of dead bodies and horror, and options seem slim. two parallel settlements begin to arise, but tensions run high when one plots to destroy the other. - god i love this book. i fell in love with almost every single character, and it felt like i really bonded with each of the protagonists. i read this book over a very leisurely and enjoyable summer full of reading time and finished right in september, so it was very bittersweet to say goodbye to this one. it’s not purely horror, but it’s very stephen king. because of this book one of my potential girls names for a future daughter is nadine, which is funny when you read the book and realize who nadine is. anyway... absolutely love this one and i believe this is king’s most challenging book to read, but the most satisfying.

3. Dead Zone plot: johnny smith, a young man with a very normal life is suddenly involved in an almost lethal car accident. he is in a coma for years, losing over a decade of his life. however when he awakes, he realizes he has psychic powers. this story runs parallel to the story of the american election at the time, where a dangerous wild card candidate has risen to primacy. johnny’s newfound powers allow him to foresee that if this man gets elected, it is possible he will lead the world to nuclear destruction. - i love this one too! it seems so relevant in this political time. john smith is so loveable, and he is such a perfect protagonist. this is an easy read that you can finish in a week if you have the time.

2. Carrie plot: an awkward and socially stunted highschool girl is mercilessly bullied by her peers and isolated from everybody. her mother is overly religious and controlling to the point of abuse. one day, she discovers that she has psychic powers that act up when she becomes enraged. as she is pushed to the brink from the abuse of her peers and mother, her psychic powers begin to turn violent. - i truly cannot believe this is king’s very first novel. it is so perfect. the themes, the imagery, the plot is just incredible. this is a short read, i read it on a flight from rio de janeiro to sao paulo. if you don’t know where to start with king, or you’re not a huge reader, i would recommend carrie. i would say this is on par with the original movie, which does a very good job at adapting the book.

1. It plot: a demon emerges every 27 years to feed on the misery and rot of a seemingly idyllic small town in maine. the facade of a wholesome and beautiful town masks the racism, homophobia, and abusive tendencies of many of its residents. fate brings together a number of troubled or abused children who are the only ones who are able to take on the demon, which manifests itself as a clown. however as the children bond and come of age together, they struggle personally through the misery and abuse that color their lives. their struggles bring them together, cementing their friendship and strength through overcoming their own personal demons to fight the one that is preying on the horror and sickness of derry. - i love it. this book is sick and disturbing at times where i can still remember scenes that i will probably have to skip on a second read. however, there are many themes in this book i do enjoy. if you really loved either it movie, i’d recommend picking this book up. i found neither adaptation really did it justice, but how can they? this book is over a thousand pages of character development, backstories, growth, and coming of age. the horror is not only pennywise, but what these kids have to endure that steals their innocence and bonds them together. this is just artful writing, and i would recommend reading it over a very hot and slow summer. my highest recommended book out of all of them, but it is a tough read. it’s long and complex with multiple parallel stories running all at once. it’s impossible to grasp every detail on just your first read.