#instead of writing about literally ANY of hamlet

[leofromsomewhere]

damn, that's awesome and/or intense. i don't fully get it though, i gave up reading partway through act 2

Ok but consider: A production of Hamlet that starts with the last scene and then Horatio has to play his role in the rest of the play, but he’s still completely dissolved in tears. Everyone else is oblivious and he has to keep it together for the sake of storytelling, but his voice cracks as he says “I think I saw him yesternight”, regret filling his tone, and he frantically holds on to Hamlet as he begs him not to follow the ghost; he practically chokes on his words as he shouts, “Be rul’d!” And he knows it’s no use, but he’s so reluctant to play his part in this and he can barely keep his emotions at bay. And then the end of the story draws nearer. He takes longer and longer to say his lines. He hesitates, tries to stretch out the little time he’s got left with Hamlet. He doesn’t want to be in this narrative, but he is. Until finally, as Hamlet decides to duel Laertes, Horatio simply gives up. Reluctantly, but knowingly, he accepts the fact that there’s nothing he can do but play his part and relive it all, just to honor Hamlet’s legacy and story. And Hamlet dies in his arms a second time.

[girl-named-matty]

Solomon post no.2

Time for Round Two! 

I asked all of you about a week back after posting my original Solomon post what I should do next and @sallowgauntsupremacy requested that I do the imperio scene. Because this scene is tricky, I did take my time with it but I’m ready now! 

So, to start this off–setting scene: MC and Sebastian are walking back from the Feldcroft Catacomb. Ominis is still down there (as far as I know) after MC has either cast Imperio on him to get by him or they have talked something out and he allowed them to leave. Now, on the way to Feldcroft, MC and Sebastian spot smoke coming from the Hamlet and rush to help. Like anyone would do, Sebastian and MC help defend Feldcroft from the goblins.

Now let’s get started. Who are our defenders? Anne, Solomon, Sebastian, and MC. All of them are pretty capable, right? Well yeah! But the thing is, during the entire fight, Solomon is shouting at Sebastian and MC to get out of the way, and to leave. Anne says “There’s nowhere to go”, because there obviously isn’t. But Solomon having Anne, who is very ill, fighting while telling the two perfectly healthy teens (Sebastian and MC) to get away kinda implies that Solomon is completely okay with having his ill niece fight goblins who want to kill her. 

We all know that then, Sebastian uses the Imperius curse on a goblin so that the goblin will take its own life over killing Anne. Now this action in itself is always tricky because on one hand, I can understand why he did it. As someone who has a sister that I would do anything for, I understand where he’s coming from. But from a moral perspective, what he did was drastic and is morally wrong. 

But how does Solomon see it? That Sebastian is somehow the worst thing that’s ever happened to him and Anne. I also want to point out the fact that Feldcroft was literally on fire in some places so Sebastian was just trying to save his home, his sister, and quite literally anything else that he has that he still loves.

When Solomon confronts Sebastian, it’s immediately hostile, like any other time Solomon confronts anyone. It’s like he still has it in his head that he’s an Auror and has an excuse to talk that way to children or even just anyone else in general.

Now, we all know that Solomon is infamous for calling Sebastian “Boy” instead of his name, which I mean doesn’t really matter but in this scene, he’s shouting at Sebastian.

Sebastian says he was saving his sister (which he did save her) and then Solomon brings up that it’s from an Unforgivable curse, also something that is true. But here’s when things start getting interesting and really frustrating.

Solomon goes on to completely ban Sebastian from Feldcroft and from seeing Anne entirely. In my opinion, this is a direct act of disowning Sebastian. He wants nothing to do with his nephew. But my question is why, WHY disown him over this? Now a lot of people would look at it as “Well Sebastian did something illegal, so that’s why”. If Solomon actually cared about Sebastian doing illegal things, he would’ve thrown him in Azkaban by now. But Solomon doesn’t because he’d probably be a hypocrite because of it.

Now it’s never been confirmed but there are some heavy implications from Sebastian that Solomon used an Unforgivable against an enemy in his time as an Auror. This has never been directly confirmed but there’s enough evidence that Solomon used an Unforgivable or at least did something very bad/close to illegal, if not illegal thing because he left the Ministry right before they kicked him out. (EDIT for this part: Because I don’t want to re-write this part and I still do have some good points. For confirmation about a few things, read this post.) 

Also, Sebastian using an unforgivable on a goblin may not be considered illegal in the wizarding world. Yes it is morally wrong but using unforgivables on creatures such as goblins hasn’t been confirmed to be illegal. 

Another reason why I don’t like Solomon for disowning Sebastian is that means that he now has nothing. He has no home to go to and by Solomon’s terms, no family. Sebastian is Fifteen, at the very most barely Sixteen by this point. He is NOT an adult, he isn’t even allowed to Magic outside of the School grounds! Which means if he were to ever leave where he’s grown up during this time, he’s completely defenseless. 

As a guardian, you are supposed to raise the children you’ve been given with care. Solomon never did–or at least he had a funny way of showing it. Sebastian acts the way he does because during the most crucial years of his life, he didn’t have a good male figure in his life. He acts rashly because he’s rebelling like any other teenaged boy would do. Now am I justifying Sebastian using an unforgivable to make a goblin end its own life? No. I’m not particularly fond of what he did. But I am saying I can understand why. 

And yes I understand as the twins' guardian (or at least, Anne’s guardian at this point), Solomon gets to call the shots but saying Sebastian is never allowed around Anne again is cruel. Anne is the only real family Sebastian has left and Solomon, in my opinion, was wrong and out of line for that. 

Now at this point in time, MC goes to speak with Solomon. When MC walks up to him (yes, Solomon is outside instead of helping Anne inside) and says “Pardon me, Mr. Sallow.” and you can probably guess what’s gonna happen next… 

YEP! More shouting!

Immediately MC is hit with “whAT sEbStiAn dID wAS iNeXcUsAbLE” Like YES, WE KNOW. But what ever happened to civil conversation? What ever happened to discussing things like normal people? This man is an ex-Auror, trained for discipline, yet he can’t stop running his trap every five seconds. I’m starting to believe that the Ministry almost fired him for how much yapping he was doing over him actually doing something bad. 

Now MC can answer with either “Sebastian saved his sister” which leads you to defying Solomon or you can choose the one that says “Sebastian went too far.” For the sake of this, let’s choose “Sebastian went too far” which would be the option where you agree more with Solomon. If you choose that option, MC will say “Sebastian acted rashly, but he acted out of instinct to save Anne.” 

I love how MC mentions that it's an instinct for Sebastian to protect Anne. Because it’s true! I have several siblings and younger family members, whenever they are in the slightest bit of danger, I react quickly! It is an instinct to protect the ones you love and sometimes it makes you act rashly! 

Solomon then says this. And then this:

Now this is the one line that could possibly disprove the fact that Solomon may have used an Unforgivable in the Ministry but this could also be him saying that he doesn’t condone it because he knows the repercussions or him just being straight up with it. Either way, he is correct. What Sebastian did cannot be undone but mercy can still be given. Especially because, as I said earlier, this could be considered completely legal. (that doesn’t make it right, but my point still stands. And yet again see this post because I also didn't want to have to re-write it)

He then says MC is just as guilty as Sebastian because MC is “defending his actions” which makes no sense because MC wasn’t the one who cast the Unforgivable?

Then Solomon repeats his line about how Sebastian is banned from Feldcroft and has been disowned. Then he says “Unforgivable Curses are so named for a reason” Which like–bro, didn’t you use one?

Then he threatens to tell the Headmaster if either Sebastian or MC “continues down this path”. But like, bro why don’t you notify your neighbors that you left the Ministry because you did something illegal? (Unforgivable or not)

So, what’s the conclusion of all of this? 

Solomon was in the wrong for what he did to Sebastian by disowning him and banning him from his home. Sebastian still has the right to see Anne (because Anne never agreed to banning Sebastian and goes to see him later) and Sebastian is still legally a child. If he had waited till Sebastian was eighteen and was legally an adult (and in the wizarding world, seventeen is also considered the age of an adult) and then disowned him, that would be reasonable because Sebastian can take care of himself now. Now yes, I know for the sake of the game that’s inconvenient but Solomon’s presence is also very inconvenient to just about anyone else in the game, so. 

I don’t condone Sebastian using an unforgivable on the goblin–I don’t. It was morally a very bad thing to do but I can understand why he did it. Now, I will never understand anything Solomon does because he’s wrong 99% of the time and is just not a good person. 

And there was my many cents on this quest. (also sorry that this was a bit of a rant lol) Taglist: @endeavour12345 @dat-silvers-girl @kukukha-sanctuary @boomingsmile @prissaoe @sunnyrealist @sebsslave @sallowgauntsupremacy

[totheidiot]

tell me about ur hamlet tma headcanons

ASK AND YE SHALL RECIEVE. okay so i haven't thought too deep into it, it's sort of like this idea i keep thinking back, never really taking it seriously. i swore, for some reason, to never write tma fanfiction because i just know i am not going to get their voices right. but. who knows.

okay, so you know how much theatre aus happen in like high school settings, right? but i was thinking like what if i changed it a bit? like the main characters would still be teenagers but i thought, what if it was some town youth club theatre thing? people of all ages can join and audition for the parts or help around backstage (i might have had this idea just for some of the older characters just to have a part). also town vibes instead of high school, it's all chaos. are those a thing? town theatres for everyone?

elias is the owner of the theatre ofc, peter lukas funds the play. jon plays hamlet obviously (imagine him delivering the 'to be or not to be' soliloquy!! better yet, imagine him saying the men delights not line !!), martin previously worked backstage for extra cash but horatio's actor became sick and he needed to play the part (like you said !!) (think of the homoerotism of jon playing hamlet and martin playing horatio !!).

at first, i had thought of tim and sasha playing rosencrantz and guildenstern but i thought of something more perfect, the most genius thing i have ever thought of : breekon and hope as r and g. IT'S PERFECT. r and g are literally always together in every scene and you cannot refer to them individually, LIKE BREEKON AND HOPE. they are like older than jon martin sasha tim, like in their mid-twenties.

so, sasha and tim need roles now. i am not so sure on them actually; polonius and laertes but not so sure. i do have a little self indulgent idea of tim playing gertrude just because but i don't know.

ophelia, i feel like either georgie and melanie ? melanie playing ophelia would be hilarious like jon and melanie have this frenemy thing going on and it's announced that they are playing love interests, they are both like, !!!!!. and melanie is like, i am so glad i died.

SIMON AS GHOST OF HAMLET SR. A GOOD IDEA IF I HAD ANY. claudius, i don't know at all. michael and gerry work in background and flyers art and they constantly get into romantic banters about if it should be more gothic or colorful. (gerard insists it should be gothic since it's more truer to the theme. michael wants to be colorful for that irony). gertrude is the director and she needs to face thousands of comparisons to gertrude from hamlet.

and lastly, i figured out the sasha-tim casting. daisy plays polonius, sasha laertes and tim plays gertrude. out of the major characters, we only really need claudius.

THANK YOU FOR READING THIS DISORGANIZED RANT !! i will think about this moree.

[takiisieju]

tagged by: @roofgeese (Thank you, I love such things)

tagging: @spacestephh (no pressure hun) @melonbitter @mistalintu

1. are you named after anyone?

Not really.

2. when was the last time you cried?

Last week. At home, sitting across from my boyfriend, silently, face unmoving.

3. do you have kids?

No. I'd like to, maybe later, maybe adopt.

4. do you use sarcasm a lot?

I clown loud and proud. No sarcasm, only stupid jokes.

5. what sports do you play/have you played?

Pioneerball, at school. It's basically volleyball, but you can catch the ball instead of immediately hitting it. I was mediocre but very passionate. And mocked for it, because apparently joy is forbidden.

6. what’s the first thing you notice about other people?

Their style and aesthetic. Their eyes and expression. And whether they smile back at me.

7. eye colour?

Dark brown, almost black.

8. scary movies or happy endings?

Happy endings, I hate horrors.

9. any special talents?

I don't consider my skills talents. I can draw, write, sing, write songs, cook (bake mostly), do magic and fortune telling. But my real talent is I can screech like a nazgul. And move my ears.

10. where were you born?

Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia.

11. what are your hobbies?

Music, daydreaming, makeup and watching video essays and educational and political videos on YouTube.

12. do you have any pets?

A cat named Cat. Technically, I also still have my old cat named Peach, but he doesn't live with me. In a year or two I might also co-parent Theo, my partner's cat.

13. how tall are you?

5'2''. Hobbits forever.

14. favourite subject in school?

English literature. It was so interesting and so relaxing. I also learned Hamlet's monologue there. Read it with the most passion.

15. dream job?

Independent comics author. It's literally the only thing I dream of, getting that job. And I intend to get it. I won't fucking stop.

But if I lose this passion as I grow older, maybe at the end of my life, I'd like to open a cafe. Just a nice family place with my favorite meals and neurodivergent-safe atmosphere.

[eruhamster]

The issue is that there is fanart and fanfiction out there that aren't amateur, just that it's 99% amateur because that applies to 99% of art and writing in general. People specifically put fanfiction and fanart on a lower pedestal when the only real difference is that they are based on copyrighted material, which would absolutely be true of many classics. If you refuse to accept Dante's Inferno as any sort of self-insert fanfiction, then what about going with something more recent-- Wicked, a musical that makes up a story about what came before the public domain story of Wizard of Oz. Wicked is 100% fanfiction. This is like. Undeniable. And yet it is not talked about as such.

Fanart is much easier to argue. Sistine Chapel is one thing. But what about John Everett Mills' Ophelia?

This beautiful painting is undeniably fanart. It is art of what today would be copyrighted material, made by a man who is a fan of that material. To argue otherwise is purely based on an idea that the modern concept of 'fanart' and 'fanfiction' are lesser.

You might argue that the fanart and fanfiction you typically see are not as beautiful as Ophelia. Sure. And the art and fiction you typically see are not as beautiful as Ophelia, either. It's like arguing your 6yo's fingerpaint drawing is not art just because it's not as beautiful. Beauty, technique, and skill do not decide what is and isn't art or writing or fanart or fanfiction. Those are separate things.

The only thing that makes something 'fanart' or 'fanfiction' are that they are art and writing based on an existing property that the creator enjoyed. Dante's Inferno might be slightly more gray in this area but he still wrote a political hitpiece where he self-inserted himself in with long-dead people he thought were super cool, like Virgil. That would be embarrassing to see today. I don't think that it should be controversial to point out that level of embarrassing that people excuse just because they grow up being told it's a beautiful classic without putting any critical thought into why. But Wicked is literally just a fanfiction musical piece of Wizard of Oz. Ophelia is literally fanart of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Any argument otherwise is purely based on societal hangups about IP law. It is human nature to create new art after being touched by existing art and stories. You need to have some serious critical thought on this subject instead of just assuming all fanworks are lesser. In reality you just have that assumption because anything that might be as good as this stuff are buried in the weeds with all other fan-content due to copyright laws.

Anyone who says the divine comedy is fanfiction has not actually read it. They may think they read it but really they just stared at each page and then set it down they did not read it.

[aemiron-main]

i was looking at paintings for a totally non ST related reason and had a realization- El seems to parallel Ophelia

And I saw this very very interesting quote about Ophelia from this article, saying something about how

“She needs to be a blank page on which the male characters can write to leave a record of the behaviour they are capable of.”

Now, I want to be EXTREMELY clear when I say that I know that El is a wonderful, complex character who is not a blank slate by any means- however, in the show, she does seem to serve as a sort of ‘blank slate,’ in terms of how men like brenner and hopper and mike see her/perceive her/treat her. Brenner treats her the most literally as a blank slate, manipulating her and projecting his own ideals and beliefs into her and literally experimenting on her. Hopper, while absolutely a much better father figure, still seems to do a similar form of projection- he lost his daughter, and now he’s trying to raise El, but he’s struggling due to his fear of losing her (a fear that exists largely due to losing Sarah), which causes multiple arguments between them, with him seemingly being overprotective. While he’s not projecting Sarah onto El persay, he is projecting that same fear of losing a daughter onto her.

Now, when it comes to Mike, he seems to project his feelings for Will onto El. She works as a “blank slate,” in terms of romantic relationships for Mike because she hasn’t been raised in a normal upbringing, she’s been raised in the lab instead, and as a result, has virtually zero understanding of romantic relationships when her and Mike first get together in s1. Mike is able to project his romantic feelings for Will and his attempts to conform to heteronormativity onto her.

As well, this excerpt from the article mentioned above reminds me of El, especially with how all three of the main male figures in her life (Brenner, Hopper, and Mike) are paralleled to eachother. And even more than that, the part where the article mentions Ophelia being “daughter, sister, lover,” etc, makes me think of how El is often reduced from being and individual, from being El, into a pigeonholed role instead- Hopper sees her more as a daughter rather than an individual initially, Brenner sees her as an experiment/a daughter in his weird way, and Mike sees her as a superhero and as his girlfriend. None of them seem to just see her as El initially- Hopper definitely does eventually, I think he comes to see her as more of an individual at the end of ST2 when he sees her makeover and they have their conversation in the truck, Brenner still never gets to that point, and still sees El as a weapon, an experiment, as a daughter, unable to see her as an individual. Mike doesn’t seem to see El fully as an individual/who she is either- he sees her as a superhero, as a girlfriend, and those two perceptions of her (and therefore mike and eel’S romantic relationship) are getting in the way of Mike’s ability to know El on an individual basis, outside of those roles that he has assigned her. (This also ties into how El and mike don’t even really have any hobbies in common and both show disinterest in the other’s interests/hobbies- their romantic relationship is actively getting in the way of their platonic friendship/being able to see eachother as individuals)

As well, the dynamic between mike and el reminds me of hamlet and Ophelia to an extent in the sense that hamlet acts as if he is in love with Ophelia but doesn’t treat her as if he’s in love, instead treating her poorly- just like how mike claims to be in love with el but he never shows it. As well, Hamlet tells Ophelia that he never loved her, which seems to align with Mike’s feelings imo (I personally don’t think that he ever romantically loved El)

Anyway! I could be totally off base because I’ve never actually read hamlet, but just some thoughts! I’ve also seen people claiming that there’s subtext suggesting that Hamlet was gay, so that could align with Mike! And we also get shakespeare references in the Bingham house!

[coffee-in-veins]

Since we both want to forget about the DD tinfood; what do you think would be some good rations to take into a dungeon? What do heroes like/despise? Eating habits? Bonus points for the heroes' favourite foods, or some signature dishes from their homeland.

Thank you for this ask, and sorry for taking so long to answer! This ask actually allows me to share a lot of things I've looked into for my writing of "Restructured, refractured, recalled" - but it’s mostly background flavour work to add the text its flavour, and usually isn’t too noticeable. Still, I’ve spent quite some time reading and thinking about it. Hyperfixation at its finest, what do you do.

LOADS of ramblings are incoming! Thee hast been warned.

So the thing is, I have to admit that I'm biased in a way - I was researching it all from the perspective of my Heiress, and thus, the decisions made in the food provided (and the housing, technically, but that’s a separate story) are made with her personality in mind, that being cold, calculated and completely, utterly devoid of any understanding of empathy. Therefore, the sustenance was akin to solving a puzzle - how to feed the heroes without it being too costly.

The biggest number of heroes Hamlet could house at any given moment (provided there are fully repaired and upgraded barracks and we count one additional slot provided by Shieldbreaker DLC and no one is out on a mission) is 29. This is huge, considering that Hamlet, if taken in its most literal sense, is a tiny settlement, with a population of fewer than 100 people from what I could gather. Interestingly, “hamlet” is defined as “a small settlement that has no central place of worship and no meeting point, for example, a village hall”, but Hamlet in DD has a whole Abbey. Which I think is supposed to be bigger than mere church...? But frankly, I’m far from being a religious person, so I’m not sure how that is supposed to work or is it yet another “here’s a tin can, don’t think about it if you want your sanity back” thing. We might never know. If someone knows about it, feel free to write to me; I’d love to understand it.

The point of this tangent is that if we assume that Hamlet has a population of 100, adding 29 heroes is impossible for the town to feed on its own. That might explain the need to provide the sustenance for the expeditions out of the Heiress’ pockets at a full price instead of getting it as a tax, for example, from the lands she supposedly owns. And an argument could be made that it’s only a 2:100 ratio when we first come to Hamlet and that the first Vestal is from the Abbey itself, and the first PD is a scholar from a Sanatorium (hence them always being the first additions to your team that you get), and that the population of Hamlet increases with the infrastructure you re-build and the more monsters you clear out the more people come to Hamlet, thus making the food situation more manageable. Another argument can be made that Hamlet is merely a name that historically stuck, and the actual population is much higher than the name would suggest. The fact that even in its most dilapidated state, the town has stone buildings and bridges, and a working harbour, as well as noblemen with titles as high as Countess coming to the Estate in the past somewhat supports this idea. A small settlement wouldn’t be able to feed and support the revelry that Ancestor was supposedly having before your time. Then again, it’s very hard to understand what is a limitation of the game, what is a deliberate artistic choice and what is simply the rule of cool, here.

Now to the food itself.

First of all, there’s foraging during the expeditions themselves. Save for Ruins, there’s always a non-zero chance to find or get food if you know what you’re doing. A bag of herbs can cleanse enough things to sustain a party for at least some time. The real quality of said sustenance is dubious at best, but when the alternative is starvation, one cannot be picky. It’s hard to say for sure what can be found in each location but we can speculate. There’s fish, sea monster meat, whale meat (based on the corpse in one of the rooms) and seaweed in Cove; most likely wild game carcasses and gnashers in Weald (fun fact! rabies virus is extremely susceptible to heat, just 50 degrees Celsius is enough to destroy it, so technically, cooked gnasher meat should be safely edible for heroes); stolen food from surrounding farms and swine carcasses themselves (for completely desensitised heroes) in Warrens - based on the quest for stealing their food, humans and swine require the same or extremely similar sustenance, after all. Also, there are molluscs and barnacles in Cove, rats and mice in Ruins, Weald and Warrens, nuts, berries, acorns and wild greens in the Weald and lichen most likely everywhere, all of which can be used to stretch the rations for longer. 

Second of all, Hamlet is sea-side which has a huge benefit we might not appreciate enough nowadays, that being - an abundance of relatively cheap (Hamlet seems to be in middle latitudes (despite there being surface corals, I hate it here, I hate it here so much), so salt extraction cannot be achieved by solar power alone and requires some fuel source; fortunately, Weald is in the convenient distance), available sea salt for any needs. Namely, for food preservation. Yes, one can argue that having fishfolk in the Cove increases the cost, but I'd argue anything in Hamlet is far from being monster-proof, so I assume that the possibility of being butchered by some eldritch horrors during work hours is simply included in the baseline cost.

Regardless, having access to the sea/ocean and a huge forest, as well as farms (we know they canonically exist because of the Bumper Crop event and well, Farmstead) makes salted meat and fish quite readily available for heroes during their expeditions. Moreover, salted meat, fish and lard can be used in cooking during camping and eliminates the need of salting the pottage it is added to, serving a double purpose. 

Now, on the topic of something more affordable - such as bread. Bread in itself isn't as storage-efficient as it may look at a first glance - even if we're talking about denser, heavier "peasant" (that is, rye, oats or barley instead of more expensive wheat) wholewheat bread. However, considering there's a town which can be tasked with it, ordering the baking of hardtack and flatbreads specifically for the purpose of providing for the expeditions looks like a reasonable choice. They are cheaper (requiring no yeast, beer barm or beer), and need only water, flour and salt, all of which Hamlet has access to. And, well, this is one of the most sufficient, calorie-dense and cheap options - ideal for our heartless, calculating Heiress. Far more affordable than meat, for example. Furthermore, it can be used to thicken and enrich some sort of stew or pottage, and we can see some sort of (presumably?) stew, pottage or soup being cooked during the camping in the pot that heroes canonically carry with them. Providing hardtack instead of grains can even be considered being "merciful" or "caring" since cooking them in some sort of gruel is far easier, and the resulting dish is far more nourishing than having to deal with plain grains on the expeditions (by either making porridge/gruel out of them or having to make some sort of flatbread by themselves). 

Also, an abundance of salt means we probably have pickled/brined vegetables as a part of the rations. Pickles are sturdy, easy to transport, don’t require refrigeration and again, have the added bonus of salting otherwise unsalted stew. What types of vegetables those might be is tricky to suggest, but it is known that onions, carrots, peas, beans, rutabaga and cabbage were used a lot during medieval times. Parsnips were used up until the 16th century, from what I can find, and considering other anachronisms, they are a safe bet to add. Dried beans and peas are easy to transport and can be used as a base for stews and pottages, especially combined with other ingredients. The inclusion of fresh vegetables is more up to debate since they require more prep work. But onions, carrots and other roots are quite easy to transport and deal with, even during the expedition, and should last the canonical week well enough while adding quite a lot of nutrition to the supposed pottage. Especially if we consider that cabbage, peas and carrots were the cheapest available options for nourishment - again, ideal for our Heiress, who is only interested in keeping her hired muscles fed, not fed well. 

Then there are eggs. They have an added bonus of not requiring to kill the hen, and therefore are relatively cheap. Cheaper than chicken meat, that’s for sure (and yes, I am aware, that cockerels were mostly raised for meat, killing a hen was more flaunting wealth than anything else in medieval times). Raw eggs are rather fragile, however, fresh eggs can last a week or two without refrigeration making them a nice addition to the meal, if it was possible to carry them - because honestly, adding just a couple of eggs to the gruel adds a lot to its nutritional value. On the contrary, hard-boiled eggs only last a couple of hours before starting to spoil but are far easier to transport, possibly playing the role of some sort of "on the road" snack, for a lack of a better term. However, they are far better used as an ingredient for our next option.

And the option is pastry! There is evidence of pies being abundant in the medieval period and them being used as meals during the working day. Pies had a wide variety of fillings, from extremely expensive beef or veal and venison to much more affordable pork, to fish, to fruit. Pies are not considered long-lasting provisions, but they could’ve been used as a “food for the first day” sort of rations, while longer-lasting products or raw products that required cooking were kept for the last days of the expedition. Again, there were types of very bland pastry, basically water with flour and a bit of salt, which was merely a holder for the filling, and I think it would fit the type of food the Heiress could provide for her mercenaries. More costly fillings (such as meat or cheese) can be diluted with vegetables while providing more volume, thus lowering the cost even further. I’m not entirely sure what can be the thing that heroes fry during their camping. It can be some sort of root vegetable, chopped and cooked. Or can be some sort of pastry or dumplings that have probably gone stale during the expedition and are re-heated in molten lard to make them edible again. Honourable mention goes to halusky, a variety of dumplings cooked in the Central and Eastern European cuisines. These are small lumps cut from a thick flour and egg batter and dropped into boiling water. The lack of filling makes them – say it with me – cheaper and thus, more valuable as food to give to the mercenaries, however (and I can say it from experience) they are extremely filling, especially if combined with lard.

Also, one cannot forget about cheese as a product with high nutritional value, good shelf life and the added benefit of easy transportation. Cheese as a type of food was commonplace in medieval times, as were whey cheeses (cheeses made from by-products of the production of harder cheeses) due to having no other ways to increase dairy shelf life. Again, because there’s no need to kill the cow to get the cheese, the product was way cheaper than meat. It is dense, has a good nutrition-to-volume ratio, and can be used in stews or eaten by itself, making it very versatile.

Another way of sustenance that was mentioned before is lard and butter. Although butter production in large quantities is way more cattle-heavy, and thus less probable in Hamlet which is canonically situated in dense woods on the seaside. On the other hand, lard is way more available, especially if we consider that pork was the staple meat of medieval times, much like poultry is now. Lard can be salted and/or smoked, and preserves extremely well after it, while serving as a meal when combined with bread. Also, hot lard can be used for meat preservation and cooking, but since it’s liquid, I doubt any of it was used during expeditions. Lard itself, however, in its solid form, is far more viable, as a very calory-dense product, an oil source for frying (since we see some sort of a frying pan during camping) and as a reliable, relatively cheap ingredient.

Another way of adding sustenance was using mushrooms. There’s a history of mushroom consumption, and we even have some medieval recipes requiring mushrooms. Wild mushrooms can add nutrition to pottage or be fried with onions and leaks on lard as a separate dish. They also can be dried to last for a while. The problem is the bigger bipedal mushrooms of the Weald that wouldn’t mind reversing the roles and eating the mushroom hunters and the fact that they possess danger in themselves. While it would be bad enough to have food poisoning, having food poisoning in the middle of an expedition surrounded by eldritch horrors sounds like a very high-risk play. I have no doubt that mushrooms were given to Seekers (level 0 heroes) instead of meat when they were in-season as relatively cheap sustenance, but adding avoidable risk factors for high-level expeditions sounds like a bad investment. After all, high-level heroes are money sinks with their skills, gear and weapons. Therefore, they most likely got other foodstuffs instead of mushrooms.

One more good food that could’ve been used and is relatively cheap is dried fruits. Nothing fancy, though, something simple and readily available in middle latitudes such as dried apples, pears or plums. There’s a source called “Naturalis historia” which, while describing real-world Italy (which is undoubtedly far more southern than Hamlet’s position, not gonna lie), mentions twelve kinds of plums, thirty kinds of apple, forty-one kinds of pear, sorb, cherries and multiple nuts including chestnuts which would’ve probably been available in one capacity or another. Dried berries could also be added as long-lasting, easy-to-transport addition to rations. Namely, dried berries, including rosehip berries, were often used to simply eat or brew drinks.

If the topic of sweeter foodstuffs is touched, one cannot forget about honey. Sugar wasn’t readily available due to sugarcane not being grown in Europe until the mid-15th century and therefore was stupidly expensive. Moreover, sugar was considered valuable mostly for its “medical properties”. Honey, while also isn’t particularly cheap, was far more available for the population. It can last for years without the need for preservation or refrigeration, making it an enticing option for more valuable mercenaries.

On the topic of pottages, stews, drinks and basic sustenance, we cannot forget one crucial component without which no long-term expedition can be carried out – fresh water. In cooking, for drinking, water is required in expeditions, especially when there’s basically zero chance of finding it, like in the Cove or the Ruins. Therefore, the heroes would also have to carry waterskins with water. Said water would most likely be diluted with either wine or vinegar to prevent it from going bad. It is unclear whether Hamlet uses wells or the bridges we see are over actual rivers, but medieval settlements were seldom created without direct access to some source of fresh water.

Finally, there’s the question of flavouring. And while true, spices were extremely costly in the medieval period, costing a ludicrous amount of money, there were quite a few options to spice things up that could’ve been used – especially for preparing the food for longer-lasting, higher-value mercenaries (levels 4 and up let’s say) which Heiress would be interested to keep around at least as a money investment she had committed to. Such spice options include garlic, leeks, onion, rosemary, mint, thyme, horseradish, basil, oregano, sage, parsley, dill, lovage, marjoram and cilantro to name a few. Maybe ginger and some types of pepper (long pepper I believe) that were native to the east.

Thus, the average rations that could’ve been provided could include:

hardtack or flatbreads;

some sort of treated meat (most likely salted due to availability of salt, but cured and smoked, or processed into sausages are also an option);

lard;

cheap dried fruits (like apple, pear or plum);

cheese or whey cheese;

root vegetables (maybe pickled);

dried peas or beans;

drinking water in a waterskin;

additives (salt, flavouring, honey) if provided and/or available.

Again, we know that the meat is provided based on Reynauld’s paranoid barks (“Look, it's all pink. Cook it properly”), and we know that the bread is provided from Junia’s paranoid barks (“The Verses say nothing about fuzzy bread... hmmm...”). “Apples and cheese” and “Stale bread” are foods available in DD2 (as much as I hate to mix those two together, especially because of the potato mentioned there...) and the picture for Hunger shows us some bread, waterskin and sausages, so we know they were canonically offered to heroes.

Now, bonus round!

Please note that mostly I have headcanons for characters used in the fic the most (since the abovementioned work was done mostly for writing RRR), and some will be far less thought-through than others.

Abomination/Bigby – he always gives me pause, so again, thank you, @engelsschwert for discussing him with me and offering help. Probably a very polite eater and tries to mimic someone whom he sees as “refined”, such as Alhazred, because he sees himself as eating “like an animal” otherwise. Rather territorial about his food and has food anxiety after being held captive by the cult. Probably loves stews and hearty, hot pottages because they feel “homey”. Doesn’t like fish because fish bones tend to stick in the teeth and make transformations even more unpleasant than they already are.

Antiquarian/Josephine – I can easily picture her loving sweet pastries of more expensive variety and especially those which included almond milk or almond puree. With saffron, if we want to make it extra rich.

Arbalest/Missandei – she is a girl of simple needs, those needs being a mug of good booze and a fine piece of roast fresh from the fire, still dripping fat. Her guilty pleasure is venison and bear meat. Probably used to be a poacher to satisfy them.

Bounty Hunter/Tardif – he loves tooth-rottingly sweet Turkish coffee (or the closest equivalent DD world has to offer). The problem is, despite the fact that Hamlet is a settlement with an operating harbour, I doubt he can enjoy that quite often. The price is simply too high for a mercenary. The idea of dairy makes him sick unless it’s used in baking. One of the few people in Hamlet who knows what carob is and what it tastes like. Prefers any fruits in dry form. Preferably in a pie. Uses kneading dough as an outlet for anger issues – he needs the process, not the result, but just throwing it away is wasteful, so he ended up taking baking as a hobby. Rey is wisely silent about cooking being “unmanly” when Tardif is the one doing it.

Crusader/Reynauld – he’s the only man in Hamlet who knows how to dance around Lent rules without technically breaking them, from arguing that barley geese are grains to guiding pigs into rivers to make them mythical waterhogs or asserting that beavers are fish, Rey knows what he’s doing and isn’t afraid to abuse that knowledge to the fullest when the need arises. Can cook for sustenance but would rather not, since it’s “women’s work”. Has a huge sweet tooth and love for snacks and is in even bigger denial about it because it’s “unmanly”. He spends time blessing every meal even when in a hurry, even for his teammates, and even when they would rather him not do it (eventually most heroes just accepted it as inevitability). Has access to Abbey’s alcohol stocks but doesn’t see much point in inebriation. I have to thank @engelsschwert for his fav food, that being “the poor knights”. Preferably with cream and marmalade with just a pinch of vanilla and cinnamon but he’d rather die of shame than ask for those.

Flagellant/Damian – tried almond milk because of Tardif. Flagellation has not been the same ever since. Actively denies loving it while Tardif nods in agreement and makes another batch of almond cookies. Which mysteriously disappear each and every time. Because of Rey and him, Tardif takes part of his mercenary wages in almond flour. Not that anyone but the Heiress would know. And live.

Grave Robber/Audrey – she would kill for spices. Literally. Ma girl is starved on spices she had as a noble lady. Cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, peppers, saffron, vanilla – all of those make her mouth water and rational decision-making take a backseat. Probably receives part of her wages in spices. Is extremely picky about her food if she has an option to be. Became friends with Rey because he always knows how to get adequate food during Lent. She loves custard tarts with spices and sugar.

Hellion/Boudica – canonically is fine about eating raw meat and cannibalism but is rather peer-pressured by the Spirits and tribe elders to follow the tradition than sees it as desirable on her own. Has a soft spot for animal and bird-shaped pastry. She sees complicated dishes as a show of weakness but is drawn to them out of curiosity and because they, well, taste good. Her favourite dish is a wild boar roast with cranberries and wild garlic and a slice of black blood bread.

Highwayman/Dismas – is utterly feral about his food and keeping it safe. Whenever he shares food, it’s a big gesture for him. If he actively caters for another person’s food preferences, it’s adoration. Food is basically his love language. Has a taste for meat, and yes, knows well how to cook rats – along with stray dogs, cats and whatnot. Can find food in the most improbable places. Desensitized to the point of being fine with eating cooked swine and fishfolk if it means survival. Loves jerky and needs to have some sort of emergency ration hidden on him to feel sane. Tried coffee once a long time ago and regrets not knowing what it was to look for more of it. His favourite dish is baked pork foreshank which was pre-boiled in dark beer with spices. Not that he can afford this dish often. Or at all.

Houndmaster/Willam – he loves some hearty pork pie, especially of gala variety. Preferably with a pint of nice ale. I wanted to give him some nice shepherd’s pie as his fav dish but it has potatoes which are blasphemy. Dunno why, he gives me strong Irish vibes. I can easily see him enjoying some crubeens and sharing them with Fergus. He’s a bad drinker and cannot hold liquor well but wants to keep up with others (namely Dismas), and usually, it ends badly for him. Has a habit of giving Fergus a bite of his own food and then finishing it, which some find endearing while others view as disgusting.

Jester/Sarmenti – has chronic lead poisoning from sugar of lead he was fed in the Court. Because of that he is irritable and has headaches and abdominal pains. He loves garlic and eats it demonstratively while showing off his Crimson Curse mutations to mess with people. His favourite dish is baked hedgehog with cameline sauce. He hates fruit pies because those were the ones which contained sugar of lead and he has had bad associations ever since. Overindulges in wine and has quite a taste for it thanks to Baldwin. 

Leper/Baldwin – not gonna lie, ancient Israelite cuisine isn’t my strong suit. Probably milk- or broth-stewed meat with spices, from what I managed to find…? Veal meat was considered opulent, as was the meat of wild game hunted during the royal hunts. His eating habits most likely changed a lot after his illness, and now he simply prefers softer and lighter foods, which are easier to digest and usually reserved for the sick. Based on being an absolute unit of a man, eats quite a lot. Probably has a strong longing for olives. Has a softer temper and is willing to share but when stress mounts on him, snaps at people because of their table manners and their constant tries to cheat him out of his portion of rations since “he won’t be alive for long anyway”.

Man-at-Arms/Barristan – used to love rather opulent dishes back in his days of glory hounding, something like cherry chicken with rose water. Might enjoy stews and soups more now simply because they remind him of how he was humbled during his campaigns.

Musketeer/Margaret – canonically has a masochistic bark about loving Wraith peppers (a type of chilli peppers native to South America) and makes me cry in tin cans. No further comment.

Occultist/Alhazred – canonically likes or at least drinks coffee based on his masochistic bark. May have shown it to Dismas as a re-discovery. Has an affinity for consuming inadequate quantities of dried fruit, especially southern ones and tiny crumbly biscuits. Dislikes greasy foods because they leave stains on scrolls and books easily and he has a bad habit of absentmindedly eating whatever is in the vicinity while reading, and because of his concentration on the text, he doesn’t really register the taste or what exactly he’s eating. Once, someone placed a wax piece where his biscuits usually are as a joke. Alhazred didn’t notice and doesn’t know to this day why he had that weird constipation one time.

Plague Doctor/Paracelsus – she eats butter. No. You don’t get it. She just eats it as is. Plain butter. In chunks. Preferably from cold storage. Splintered in tiny frozen bits. Sometimes with a sprinkle of flaky unrefined sea salt. It’s her favourite. Says it saves time for more important things. Junia used to cook meals for them both, and Para doesn’t have the heart to throw away the jars and pots she used to bring food in. Now dragging Para to eat so she won’t die from her horrendous diet is mostly Audrey’s and Bigby’s job.

Shieldbreaker/Amani – again, ancient Turkish cuisine isn’t my forte but I can speculate. Because she is a woman in an ancient ottoman world, and an “object”, she probably didn’t get much meat to eat previously. And she might love her dolma, but the allure of breaking a taboo and eating pork is incredibly alluring, so she gets cheap thrills from that. Has a sweet tooth, even though you wouldn’t think that based on her physique and misses more intricate desserts dearly. Is disgusted by what people in Hamlet consider to be “tea” and would rather drink spoiled water. Is forced to eat in a specific manner as it is uncomfortable for her to hold the bowl and eat as most heroes do during camping due to lacking one hand.

Vestal/Junia – loves cheese, especially soft cheese and cream cheese. Especially loves to incorporate them into baking. Making cheesecakes is her passion, she ponders a lot about recipes and she silently respects Tardif for it and is probably the only person who can cook with him even if she is intimidated by him at any other time. Characters in her steamy novels often indulge in cheesecakes too. Is generally saddled with making church bread and cooking during camping much to her chagrin. Knows how to turn a stirring spoon into a weapon. Has a knack of taking grumpy and/or antisocial heroes and making them finally eat.

PHEW! This was a lot. Hope it answers all your questions :}

What’s my final score? ^^

[writers-hq]

Romeo and Juliet — from, uh, Romeo & Juliet

Everyone likes to bitch about “oh they were only 13 and they knew each other for 4 days” but no one talks about how incredibly horny Juliet is. Romeo is the Petrarchan romantic, Juliet just talks about getting him into her sheets. And we fully support her. Let’s just gloss over the poor communication and bad decisions that ensue. They are tweens, after all.

7/10 for effort — 3/10 for jumping to fatal conclusions instead of taking a minute to check if your girlfriend is really dead

Hamlet and Ophelia — Hamlet

D’you know, we are given literally nothing about Ophelia and what she wants from life or love in the text? Zilcho. She’s passed from pillar to post, told what to do by her father, her brother, Hamlet, the king and queen, until she’s finally like fuck all of this shit I revoke my sanity in the name of tragedy and starts handing out flowers. Then Ham and Laertes go all chest-thumping brah wrestling and jumping in her grave but honestly. I’d take a nunnery over this performative fuckery any day.

-1/10 — give us the Ophelia POV remake we deserve

Antony and Cleopatra — clue’s in the name

The OG party couple buuut there’s also a fair bit of pass-agg manipulation going on, and, y’know, the whole issue of his other WIFE. And then there’s that one scene where Cleo’s basically the crying girl in the bathroom surrounded by cheerleading strangers telling her she deserves so much better than that dickhead. And THEN the ultimate drama of Antony attempting to make a big death speech and her being like no no shush your face your queen is speaking now and then proceeds to steal the whole fifth act with full throttle regal drama. Honestly we’re here for all of it.

5/10 — super toxic but also v entertaining in a ‘Real Housewives of Rome’ way

read more...

[spiteful-crow]

I hope you don't mind me sharing the tags here! I can literally talk about this topic for months (and I feel I have been doing that, actually, haha).

YES! This is how I see it, too - Sherlock did not know how else to describe Jon, so he settled for "imaginary friend", but both of them are aware Jon isn't just that - he represents parts of Sherlock, which Sherlock cannot live out. He is all the impulses Sherlock suppresses for his mask to not crack. I already mentioned how the "outer person" we see in Sherlock is the so-called persona (as opposed to the "inner person" aka the anima). And you know how a "persona" is defined?

I already explored the first part enough, I believe, so I highlighted the second part, which is something both Sherlock and Jon directly address in the game (during the story about the Hamlet play)

In his notes, Sherlock writes "If acting is pretending to be someone you are not, I suppose I have never stopped."

Like... Yes, he pretends to be someone he is not. He pretends to frown upon emotions, while being solely led by his emotions through the entire game. He pretends the entire time, and every part he removes from himself, he projects into Jon so that this part can continue existing without being seen by anyone else. He acts like an idealised persona, which leaves no room for human error and subjectivity. But he isn't, that's the tragedy of it all - he isn't any less a feeling human than any of us.

As for why FW set it up like this - not only did he have to meet Watson, they also said a few times that they wanted to show how Sherlock becomes the "broken genius" we all know. I always read this as them intentionally making him lose touch with Jon (his irrational part), so he can become more like the Sherlock Holmes we know from the books, which, of course, is up to interpretation, but apparently, they interpret him like this.

I also believe one of the reasons why Sherlock gives up on Jon so easily is partially because they wanted to portray a situation, in which a person is forced to grow up very fast, in which a person is so disillusioned with the world, that they can no longer allow themselves to believe and hope. I think finding out that his beloved mother tried to kill him during a psychotic episode really burst Sherlock’s bubble. I also think he partially blamed her inability to cope with Siger‘s death for her mental illness, and therefore decided that unlike her, who kept lying to herself that her beloved lives, he will no longer let Jon „soften the blow“ for him. His biggest fear is ending up like her, and he thinks he will achieve mental health by focusing on rationality only and facing the truth, any truth, head on. Of course, he completely ignores the fact that humans aren’t meant to be only rational and that a healthy portion of coping is also essential for a person. But instead of finding a middle ground, he decides to deny himself all humanity.

Then, there is the tulpa-theory (it is also hinted twice in the games, that Jon is a tulpa - Sherlock finds books about the concept in both games and even comments how "he is an expert" once). I don't know how far this is true, but even if Jon is something like a tulpa, he could still be created from Sherlock's suppressed aspects. The tulpa theory rather explains why Sherlock can see and interact with Jon, and not so much what Jon represents - which is, imo, his anima.

HOWEVER, it is worth mentioning, that Carl Jung himself spoke about thoughtforms (which tulpas ultimately are) as a way to communicate with one's unconscious. Here is a longer quote from Jung, describing his communication with a thoughtform in his fantasies:

"Philemon and figures of my fantasies brought home to me the crucial insight that there are things in the psyche which I do not produce, but which produce themselves and have their own life. Philemon represented a force which was not myself. In my fantasies I held conversations with him, and he said things which I had not consciously thought. For I observed clearly that it was he who spoke, not I. He said I treated thoughts as if I generated them myself, but in his view thoughts were like animals in the forest, or people in a room, or birds in the air, and added, "If you should see people in a room, you would not think that you had made those people, or that you were responsible for them." It was he who taught me psychic objectivity, the reality of the psyche. Through him the distinction was clarified between myself and the object of my thought. He confronted me in an objective manner, and I understood that there is something in me which can say things that I do not know and do not intend, things which may even be directed against me. Psychologically, Philemon represented superior insight. He was a mysterious figure to me, At times he seemed to me quite real, as if he were a living personality. I went walking up and down the garden with him, and to me he was what the Indians call a guru"

This just sounds like Jon and Sherry to me. I think generally, the devs took a lot of inspiration from Carl Jung and his psychology.

And I would also like to add that according to Jung, individuation, which is the goal of analytical psychology, can only be achieved by coming to terms with the unconscious components of the personality.

This is a loooooooong way to say - to fully become the person he is, Sherlock needs to embrace Jon, and therefore, embrace himself.

Jon, the concept behind the term „anima“, and Carl Jung

This is going to be a small info dump about the term „anima“. Everyone who has finished Sherlock Holmes Chapter One knows that Sherlock calls Jon his anima before they enter the garden.

It‘s an important moment if you (like myself) are struggling to understand what Jon is. Imaginary friend doesn’t quite fit, imo, as Jon is shown to be too independent to be one. Why would Sherlock desperately call for him and ask him to „intervene“, if he could simply imagine Jon at any time? It’s implied that Jon has a will on his own and that his departure is a decision Sherlock cannot simply revoke.

This is where the term „anima“ comes in handy. In the art book, Jon is described at a personification of Sherlock’s survival instincts, his will to live, and his desire to be happy. And this already kinda describes what an anima is.

The anima, in historical philosophy, is the irrational part of the soul, as opposed to the rational mind.

Here are some other definitions which can be found online:

an individual's true inner self that in the analytical psychology of Carl Gustav Jung reflects archetypal ideals of conduct

an inner feminine part of the male personality (I will ignore this definition for now and focus on the less gendered one)

There is also a graphic, which is supposed to describe what an anima (Jon) and a persona (Sherlock) are:

I also found this more detailed explanation, which makes the term easier to grasp:

Picture the surface of the ocean. Above the water is everything you are aware of. Beneath the water is everything you are unaware of. All of it is "you". That water is the line between conscious and unconscious. On the surface of the water is a ship, a big iron-clad battleship for most people. The ship is there to protect the ocean from all the big horrible things outside of it. That's your persona. The persona is like a Navy with a mission to protect the whole ocean. At least, it thinks that is what it is supposed to do. It is led and driven by Captain Ego. It so happens that there's also a submarine underneath the ship. It has the same job as the ship on the surface, except it protects against all the horrible things in the depths of the ocean. This submarine is what Jung called the "anima" […] . The pilot of this submarine, usually opposed in almost every way to Captain Ego is The Shadow. Most of us walk around all day at the mercy of that ego and its persona, except of course when the Shadow rears its face and does something out of the blue that we did not expect.

This figurative ocean already explains Jon‘s nature fairly well - unlike Sherlock (the persona) who faces the outer world, Jon (the anima) protects Sherlock (the person) from what’s beneath the surface. Jon is the irrational part, which wants to forget the traumatic memories, which wants to have fun and enjoy life and which doesn’t prioritise the truth as much as it prioritises happiness and wellbeing.

According to Jung, every person has a persona and an anima. In Sherlock‘s case, his circumstances lead to these two parts of himself being separated from one another so much that they form two whole people. I think it shows very well how much Sherlock wants to distance himself from everything irrational by creating a whole separate person to outsource his irrational parts into.

In this context, the ending and Jon’s departure can be seen as Sherlock picking the truth over his own wellbeing and ultimately severing his ties to the irrational part of himself, which wants happiness. It explains why Sherlock accuses Jon of lying - because coping is not „truthful“ from a rational standpoint. It also explains why Jon seems so unhappy in each ending - because from his point of view, Sherlock has made the wrong decision - Sherlock doesn’t allow himself the „weakness“ of being human and therefore being unable to handle the painful truth. And this explains pretty well why Sherlock’s psyche is so fragile in The Awakened and why he desperately begs for Jon to return. Sherlock cannot handle the horrors he faces without the little, irrational part of himself, which shields him from trauma and does the coping for him. However, submarine under the ocean can no longer be located by him, because he has chosen to no longer listen to it and let it protect his psyche, and the horrors attack him from below the figurative surface (which is funny considering Cthulhu lives under the literal surface lol).

A person cannot be happy if they only value rationality and neglect their emotional needs entirely. Happiness is a feeling, too, after all. And this is the person Sherlock becomes post Chapter One. His pursuit of the truth pushes him to the brink of death multiple times, because without Jon, Sherlock will not pick his own wellbeing over his ideals. No matter what horrors he faces, he doesn’t know when to stop, so he doesn’t stop until he sees the case to the end. He is no longer in touch with the irrational part of himself, which wants to survive.

This lack of survival instinct can be seen in the books, too, imo. Book!Holmes shows no fear of death when facing Moriarty, which in itself is already questionable.

Is it healthy to be excited about dying for the greater cause? I am no psychologist, but that’s definitely nothing I would describe as healthy. There is also the part where book!Holmes describes himself as a brain. Oh well.

I am rambling a lot so I will put an end to this, but I want to conclude that Jon is definitely buried somewhere deep, and he is a very essential part of Sherlock, but Sherlock will definitely need to find a way to reconnect with this part if he wants to be happy. And he better start listening to Jon again, too!

I like to think that he does, at the end. I like to think that ultimately, he will choose himself over everything else and find happiness and peace, because he deserves nothing less.

[betweenthescarletmoon]

Maaza Mengiste has written the most wonderful, gorgeous, treasured, poetic, profound article I have ever read, and i am so glad she spilled all those words to tell us an actually riveting and fascinating (and even subtly heartbreaking) story of Oscar Isaac's life. I want to read everything she has written.

Everyone check out her Esquire article about Oscar, it feels like a dream from how all-encompassing and immersive it is.

I'm gonna talk about it a bit so read it before getting spoiled by me.

I feel like this article, unlike literally any other piece of content or media about him, gave me such meaty psychological information, about how he thinks, about how his experiences shaped him, about what he believes, about how he copes. It was a story interweaved with so much care, so much tenderness as it was putting his life out for all the world to see. I can tell that a man as charming, as funny even during his grieving process (like during the Hamlet theatre set in between rehearsals), perhaps as proud and private as Óscar, felt comfortable for the first time to dig deep into things that he had all the right to keep to his chest.

Of course, there's another article (and perhaps a few more) that mentions some of these important parts of his life, but there's something about Maaza, who absorbs these stories. She analyzes them. She explores his psyche behind his words, and shows what she finds to us. It's so entrancing.

It clarifies the mystery to me, about how he depends on his characters, on these really intense months with new co-stars or co-theatre-actors, to truly feel and process all the wonders and tragedies that life throws at us. It explains why he plays characters with so many struggles (many of them struggles of loss, particularly the loss of parents, or of childhood trauma), and why he says that each of them represents a part of him that lies dormant, waiting to be triggered or awoken by a different situation in life. It explains why he plays Hamlet, and Jonathan Levy, and Llewyn Davis, and Marc Spector, who all hold so much resentment yet so much longing towards their parents, these parents who either are in the process of slipping from these men's hands, or have died already.

The detachment, the outsider-complex, the mixed and complex identity, the chaotic and unstable life of moving and moving and moving, the trauma of death and new life happening at the very same time, all feed this need to bury oneself into someone else, just for a while. To get to know this other someone, to discover all their different intonations and emotions and behavior and dreams and fears. To connect with this someone else that is inhabiting your body, in an indirect, third-person way. Disconnecting from your soul to watch yourself from the outside. Learning about who you are (or could be) from a safe place.

I do this in writing all the time. It's truly a normal thing, to wish to get lost in something, in art, to see yourself through that because you can't understand your identity on your own. It may not be the healthiest coping mechanism in the world, but it's a human response. To twist the chaos of your life, the confusion of your pain, into a story. Into a character. Even into a celebrity. (Am i doing that right now? Perhaps.)

I just hope to keep analyzing that and arriving at a safer, healthier place myself. To resolve things internally, and grieve, instead of choosing to escape. To show who i am to safe loved ones instead of recurring to comedy as an armor. To try to explore myself, rather than explore someone else. I hope we all learn to do this. I hope óscar does too. He deserves to find himself.

[lee-scribbles-and-doodles]

I decided to give I Am Not Starfire a chance and... frankly I personally didn't like it that much. I don't hate it, but I'm also probably never going to reread it. I'm going to make this semi-review/reaction as fair as I can. Also these are just my opinions, so if you disagree with them just take them with a grain of salt and move on.

So one red flag that DID get obliterated was Mandy's last name being Koriand'r. It's, thankfully, just Anders. Not sure if this was changed mid production due to backlash or if the ad makers just screwed it up, but whatever.

Just 11 pages in (4 of which are the cover and credits) Mandy is already slutshaming her own mother for the way she dresses. /sarcasm/ Great way to get you to like the character. /sarcasm/

Starfire has an absolutely hideously drawn thigh gap in her introduction page.

Just about the only thing the comic does right in depicting teenagers is Mandy and her friend Lincoln, who both seem dedicated to being edgelords, incorrectly labeling themselves anarchists despite being the typical anti-establishment type teen. I knew and do know a lot of teens who act like this. Any other attempts to write teens here are, frankly, cringe worthy.

This Starfire is clearly based on her 2003 counterpart, which seems odd because this book is marketed towards teens, and that show aired and ended in 2006. For context, I'm 24 now, and that show would have ended when I was about 9. I'm just barely a Gen z. Most people who are actually teens right now would primarily associate this Starfire's characterization with the TT Go! spinoff... which I believe has the target audience of 4-7 year olds. It just seems like a weird decision to not go with her comic personality in this context.

The narrative very directly tries to compare the conflict between Star and Mandy as being similar to that of immigrant parents and their children... which I guess is there, but the story itself doesn't do much with that premise. Unfortunate, as I feel more focus on that could have actually made the story interesting.

Mandy is an extremely toxic person, as she's one of those "I'm not like other girls" characters, and that makes her very hard for me to sympathize with.

I've seen defenders go "Of course she's toxic she's a teenager" but like... the narrative clearly wants us to sympathize with her, but her behaviour at certain points makes that extremely difficult. She's mean to literally everyone other than Lincoln, often for no reason whatsoever.

Just about the only thing that I'm able to sympathize with her is some of her classmates harassing her about the Titans, and the fat phobic comments she gets. However, that can only justify her behaviour to a certain extent.

The sad thing is I WANT to like Mandy, as it's rare to get fat lesbians (or fat wlw in general) in media but she's just so... ugh, at points. She's also fairly generic in terms of female YA protagonists. I feel like I've seen her a million times, with the only difference being she's not straight.

Her completely blowing up over a selfie that Claire took is stupid. She doesn't even bother to explain why it upsets her, she just yells at this poor girl and storms off. Claire is then the one to be made to apologize, despite Mandy's blatant over reaction and unwillingness to communicate.

The way the story uses Gen z stereotypes to try to relate to its audience is the kind of thing I found extremely cringy when I was teenager. Judging from some reviews I've read written by actual teens, the feeling seems to be present here for the target audience to at least some extent.

(Think how 90s cartoons and teen sitcoms had an overabundance of skateboarding and rap to try and be "cool with the kids." Yeah, it's like that but with social media and boba tea).

"It's not fun, it's hamlet" is an actually legitimately funny line imo.

Also her bird is cute.

I like Claire's fruit backpack.

Honestly, one of the only genuinly positive things I can say about this is that I like the overall art style.

For some reason Blackfire decides to attempt to kill Kori and Mandy at her school instead of taking them to Tamaran? Petty queen, ig.

Blackfire is extremely underutilized. She spends the majority of the comic spying on Mandy before the big fight.

Mandy, at the very least acknowledges she was a shitty daughter towards the end, and seems to be making attempts to be less so in the epilogue.

Her new superhero costume is lame tbh. It's just typical goth clothes with bracelets and a tiara.

Still kind of annoyed that Claire had to apologize over a selfie and that Mandy's over reaction wasn't really called out.

Other than the selfie thing, Mandy's crush on Claire is cute.

So basically, not nearly as terrible as I was worried it was going to be, but it's otherwise pretty standard YA that doesn't do much new aside from being connected with DC Comics. If you're into that kind of thing, it'll be a pretty standard read but otherwise not super remarkable imo.

Side Note: Raven is pretty in this.

Also, she and Gar snuggling is cute.

ALSO, absolutely obsessed with this image of Gar.

What the dog doing?

[shazos]

Rouxls is Hiding Something Big: A Deltarune Theory

FORENOTE- For some needed context, it may help reading my previous Deltarune theory here for important details that I will cover in this post. (My previous theory provides notable evidence on why Gaster is indeed the “Knight” figure talked about by multiple characters in Deltarune.)

Now, this is going to sound crazy. But after much time of poring over and analyzing Deltarune, I have come to a conclusion. One that I’ve been convinced of for awhile now. Something that’s been lying right under all of our noses without many of us even realizing it. We have all been bamboozled. Hoodwinked. Tricked. Why, you may ask?

Because the comically stupid and inept Duke of Puzzles is actually... not an idiot. No, he’s the complete opposite. He is a downright mastermind.

As collective players, we are all falling into the same trap once again. Putting faith into a character’s preconceived personality !

When their true personality turns out the complete opposite of what we expected...

It is here, my evidence for this claim begins—and we delve into the true identity of Rouxls Kaard. Buckle up everyone, cause this one’s gonna be a fun ride. 👀

So, to spill the beans up front, and get it over with. I believe Rouxls Kaards identity... is none other than W.D. Gaster in disguise.

Now. I didn’t immediately become invested in this theory—I was skeptical at first like everyone else. But, once I began examining Deltarune and all of its characters a bit closer...things weren’t exactly adding up about the Duke of Puzzles.

Point #1: Anagrams

I initially began to become suspicious of Rouxls Kaard because of his odd name. Sure, it is a play on the words of the term, “Rules card”. But it is spelt in such a peculiar way. If it were just simply a play on words, I think that there would be a much better way of going about spelling it rather than just jumbling a bunch of random letters together. There is a very intriguing reddit post found here that goes more into depth about his name that ties well into my theory. The thing that stood out to me in particular, is that Rouxls’s name is actually also an anagram for “A Dark Soul RX”, (with the left over RX typically being used in terms relating to doctors/medicine.) Not only is Gaster a Doctor, but he’s also always associated with darkness and the research of souls. Toby loves his anagrams—so I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest if this was intentional. But it doesn’t end there.

I’ve noticed that Toby Fox has a tendency to tease certain things about his games through merch. And wouldn’t you know it—he has in fact, a particular item on fangamer of a “dark heart.” One which description describes the Angel’s Prophecy. Hm...

But let’s back on track onto my second observation, shall we?

Point #2: The Physical Resemblance to Gaster

Now, there seems to be some interesting foreshadowing related to inverted colors in Deltarune. Before Ralsei takes his hat off, he appears black. But once he takes his hat off, voila, his colors are inverted, and he is revealed to actually be a white goat highly resembling Asriel.

In addition, the entire Dark World is literally just. An inverted version of a normal world.

The Dark World could have hypothetically been the created world/experiment that Gaster had fallen into in the first place. After all, his experiment had to do with “darkness”, and “negative” photons--AKA the Dark Fountains, and the negatively/inverted landscapes of the Dark World.

And how does Rouxls Kaard appear inverted anyways? Well, he looks like THIS.

He even has the strange dangling lip thing—which another character said to directly resemble Gaster, Seam, has as well:

In addition, if you look at Rouxls’ text-box profile very closely, his eye colors are actually mismatched which is a rather interesting detail!

Point # 3: His Accent is Extremely put on.

I think anybody that has read any sort of Shakespearean/Old English writing, can instantly realize that Rouxls is as bad as imitating an Old English accent as a high-schooler reading Hamlet for the first time. Rouxls absolutely butchers it. He practically adds eth, and est at the end of any word he chooses, and calls the job done. What is even more interesting though, is when he gets nervous or panicked, he drops the act all together and talks normally.

Point #4: He is Pretending to be Dumb; His Puzzles are Actually Impressive!

I found it intriguing how there are countless puzzle traps in all the forest areas and in the Card Castle prison that were actually very well done. You have to flip the spades, diamonds, hearts, etc to unlock doors, and open secret chests. They require a decent amount of thinking skills, and are actually competent. But who made them?? Oddly enough if you observe one of them in the forest areas, it appears that Rouxls Kaard vandalized one of the puzzles to make it harder for the player to beat it—which further implies that he actually indeed made those puzzles himself. This shows that Rouxls is much more competent than only being able to make a single box shove puzzle that is comically easy. Where else do we see a place full of plenty of rather well made puzzles + traps seen? All throughout the Core in Undertale—a place which Gaster himself created!

Point #5: Rouxls IS Aware the World is a Game--AKA DON’T FORGET TO READ NPC DIALOGUE FOLKS!

I think it is well aware by now that Rouxls likely wants us as the players to underestimate him--and deem him a fool so we wouldn’t bat an eye at what he’s actually up to. But the most biggest give away to this is something that I have surprisingly seen no one mention at all. And oh boy, it is the most damning evidence that Rouxls is no idiot to be trifled with.

To the left of Seam’s shop, there can be found a little group of former puzzle-makers that used to live at Card Castle, until they were fired and replaced with Rouxls Kaard. They are now all out of a job, and are just barely scraping by since the Spade King didn’t give them any severance pay. However, Rouxls Kaard offered them a way to get money--by selling the tutorials he made.

These tutorials go over TP, stats, information about Susie, Ralsei,  and Kris. Rouxls Kaard has never once met any of the players yet--and he knows everything about them. He knows about stats. He knows the world is a game.

HOW??

In addition, when you talk to Rouxls in his shop, he calls you three the Heroes of Legend. He is well aware of the Angel’s Prophecy. He knows.

Whenever any character in the world of Undertale & Deltarune knows that the world is a game, it is an instant red-flag. It goes to show that they know much more than they let on. Flowey and Sans are big examples of this in Undertale. Pure hearted, dorky idiots that we trust earlier in the game--but wind up seeing the real side of them later on.

...So why should we treat Rouxls any differently?

Point #6: The “Control Crown”

Something that I immediately thought was kind of weird, was the fact that Rouxls Kaard was able to control the K. Round with a “Control Crown” device. If he is so stupid, how was he able to create a full on mechanical device that can brainwash a life-form into being violent/cause it to triple in size?! That is genius material right there!

But things start to take on a much darker side when you begin to look at the subtext of this realization, which I will get to in a moment...

First of all, Seam claimed these exact words.

The remaining king was the Spade King-- as the King of Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs are seen to be locked up in the Dungeon. Therefore, the Spade King put the Knight, and his strange son into power. IF it were the Spade King in power, the dialogue box WOULD have said “himself”. Therefore, the Knight, and his strange son were put in place to control the kingdom. And who are they?

Gaster/Rouxls Kaard, and Lancer.

Evidence to back this up:

Lancer calls Rouxls his “Lesser Dad”. And Rouxls calls Lancer, his Strange little darling/son.

The Spade King is not in charge. During his boss-fight, he states that he obeys the word of the Knight.

If you observe more of Lancer’s dialogue in the scene right before the gang enters Card Castle, he states that his dad, (Spade King), recently forced his troops to listen to Lancer instead. Therefore, Lancer is by all respects actually second in command to the Knight.

One of Rouxls main interests is...Lawmaking. Even though he is just supposedly an innocent Duke of Puzzles.

Another one of Rouxls main interests is...Cages, and long strolls in the dungeon... 

There are innocent puzzle-makers locked up in the Prison who are terrified--they were arrested for the simple act of making a puzzle without a license. HM, I wonder who could have possibly locked them up? *Wink wink nudge nudge*

And what ties this all together, is perhaps the most obscure, tiniest detail that no one would have likely observed on a first play-through. If you go to the first floor of Card Castle and click the description tablet next to the elevator to the Prison, it claims that the Prison used to just be a Basement Which Just Happened to Have a Lot of Cages. This is backed up by the caged animals in the basement, who say that they miss the “good old days” when they used to be the only ones there in cages, and not a bunch of people behind bars.

In summary, Rouxls is locking up a bunch of innocent people, and playing nice to our faces. He IS the knight. And he is not to be underestimated.

Point #7: Rouxls’ Plan is Already Set in Place

The part where this theory gets a little dark, ties back to my mentioning of the control crown earlier.

If you observe the throne room, it looks like it was recently torn apart in a sort of...conflict.

Why was the Spade King the only king left un-caged to begin with? Why wasn’t he locked up too?

Well...Rouxls Kaard needed someone to put him in charge. But not only that—he needed a scapegoat. Someone to blame. Someone to be “The Bad Guy” for the Heroes to fight.

The Spade King...is actually innocent. He is obeying the Knight, because he is being controlled by a Control Crown. The throne room is in ruins because the Spade King likely fought against this at first, but Rouxls won and successfully put the Spade King under his command. I thought it was strange how the King was so...violent. So irredeemably evil, and even murderous toward his own son Lancer. Yes, it could be argued that this is indeed his true personality, that he is a complete, abusive jerk. But, the whole ending battle of Deltarune chapter 1 feels so...set up in a way? It feels so starkly good vs evil, black and white. Almost like a play.

And oh boy. I think I was onto something.

If you pay close attention to the fight with the Spade King, there is a brief moment at the beginning where he is completely shrouded in shadow. Except. For. His. Crown. It glows stark white in comparison to himself. Like a Chekov’s Gun if you will.

And even more interesting, in the supposed good/pacifist ending, the Spade King is locked up in Prison, the other three kings are still locked up in cages, everyone else is freed, and Rouxls and Lancer now have full control of the kingdom...

Guys. We just played right into Gaster’s hands.

Point #8: Seam Knows that Rouxls is the Knight...

The final observation that genuinely makes me convinced in this theory, is a small detail I noticed at the end of the Pacifist run of Deltarune. Once you have beaten the game, and all of the prisoners are freed, everyone comes to celebrate at Card Castle for your victory. Everyone, except for Seam. That is because Seam knows what the “Strange Knight” did to Jevil. He knows who the Strange Knight is. And he knows what the Knight’s true intentions are.

Point #9: Extra Tidbits I noticed:

When compared to the other denizens of card castle, Rouxls seems out of place. He is the one vaguely humanoid character among a bunch of card and chess themed Darkners. 

His puzzle is... too easy.

Rouxls is oddly excited about overthrowing the king/taking his place. 

Rouxls is well versed in calligraphy of all things. (Relation to fonts + letters.)

Rouxls “sparkles” have an odd resemblance to the shining save states...?

He makes pop culture references, such as ones seen here and here. Could just be random throwaway jokes, but often times more “aware” characters such as Sans and Papyrus are keen on breaking the fourth wall at times/making references to relate with the audience.

His hair looks strangely out of place. Especially the hairline which is really receded to an unnatural degree on the left side. It’s a wig guys...

He gets a suspiciously new position for no reason at all. In any normal situation, he would be extremely unqualified for it if he were as stupid as he makes himself out to be.

Rouxls is literally wearing armor, akin to a medieval knights.

If you pay close attention, Rouxls has a few very subtle similar speech patterns to Gaster. They both occasionally repeat words twice. They both use the words wonderful and truly a lot, etc.

When Kris and the gang beat the K. Round, Rouxls said it was just to test their abilities.

Rouxls theme has leitmotifs from Gaster’s theme.

End of discussion. Deltarune’s finale is legit going to be Gaster getting his wig snatched.

[stellalunathewitch]

(I hope it’s okay to write different takes on this because I LOVE writing about the Sallows 🤣)

Even though I don’t agree that it should of happened that way, I actually want to present that: Solomon did NOT try everything, let Anne AND Sebastian suffer, and has been described by the devs as emotionally abusive towards Sebastian. I’ll present this below.

So the thing is, Solomon flat out tells you he knows the only way to cure Anne would be to find a the caster of the curse, however as he thinks it’s a goblin and they are attacking, he follows it with:

“and the goblins aren’t likely to explain themselves any time soon”

So he is basically again, saying that if he simply reported the attacks to the Ministry or really any other enforcement, conducted his own search (sort of how Sharp does for Fig on the down low), AND put in the work… he would have found answers and a way to undo the curse as it’s a unique one and only a caster would know. But what would that have gotten him? Closer to the TRUTH, probably get some arrests made, and interrogate a reversal from said caster. You know, how Aurors get things done.

But what did he do?

None of that. He decided to take her to healers at St. Mungos to see if there was anything they could do for her, but much like Samantha Dale’s brother, it’s a unique curse and can only be undone if it’s “broken” by how it was caused (or knowing who casted). So instead after a few more attempts that summer, Solomon decided to help her make peace with it and let her live the rest of her life until the end this way. He also decided to keep to himself about the attacks likely due to a personal matter (I will elaborate), but in doing so only leaves the lives of his niece and nephew and other villagers at risk as a report to ANYONE, could have stopped Ranrok’s damage from spreading. You know what he also didn’t do? He didn’t offer to move away the kids to safety as the goblin attacks didn’t end after Anne’s curse. YET, he only offered it when he witnessed Sebastian use an unforgivable?

You know, one thing that never sat right with me was Solomon’s lore, and it’s that he suddenly quit his Auror job and went to go live at a hamlet near Hogwarts for unknown reasons (implied from NPC dialogue to maybe be about him). It’s also mentioned on his wiki that it’s possible he left the Ministry because he used unforgivables and after a while, felt disgusted with himself and left. Aurors are also cleared to use unforgivables (at least during the 90s as seen by Mad Eyed Moody). So it’s not wrong to be against the dark arts, they’re obviously looked down upon for a reason, but if this is indeed the case, I do ask this: Why does Solomon get to retire early to a hamlet after possibly taking it too far with an unforgivable (hinted from Anne to Sebastian after you ask him why he won’t go to the Ministry about you two) and redeem himself… but Sebastian being young, clearly influenced by a book not meant for him to find and fulfill, deserve no redemption or to learn from this huge mistake with an unforgivable and be sent to Azkaban right away? I ask this generally, really. There’s no wizarding juvie and a lot of prisoners don’t just get to serve time in Azkaban and leave. It’s literally a slow death of a wizard. Azkaban is a place meant for threats to ALL kind. Does one singular 15-16 year old who committed ONE irreversible major mistake thinking he was doing the right thing deserve that?

This may be a fault in the game but we really don’t see much of what Anne really feels (before THE EVENT) other than the fact she doesn’t like it when Solomon and Sebastian fight and she just wants him to stop searching as she can see it’s changed him (this is also implied by what other npc’s comment about him within game files). One thing Anne DID express and show, is that despite her situation, she does not decline Sebastian’s attempts when he presents them and DOES constantly go on about how much she misses being at Hogwarts and her old life. You can even find her practicing her spells in her home too. Then when Sebastian presented her the shrivelfig, she TOO, looked so hopeful that it would help. So this begs the question, yes Anne has made peace with it, but would she really stop Sebastian if it meant he WAS closer to a cure that wasn’t the way it ended?

About Sebastian’s Search for the “Cure”:

I think it’s obvious the cure was never in the book. If anything at the start Sebastian was looking at ingredients or really any remedies that could help. However they were constantly declined by Solomon. If you pick apart the mission where we go to the home on the hill that’s been burned down in Feldcroft, you notice Sebastian is intrigued, confused, but interested in this thing called “ancient magic” it is that you tell him about. He’s never heard of it, but after you show him a glimpse of it through the portal, he has a realization. That realization is “maybe I’m going about this all wrong. Maybe the answer behind Anne’s curse lies within what caused it… which is the dark arts.” (He was wrong obviously but being as this was his 2nd year in his search, he was now starting to get desperate.)

This is what starts the domino effect for his quest line. Before he was cautious regarding it and even had second thoughts in the Great Hall about it. After he received that book and had spent all his free time reading on it, he is suddenly “convinced” he’s on the right track, except he wasn’t. You can actually see a board with his research and constant trial and errors where he circled or scratched out his findings in the Undercroft I think. There’s a tumblr post that goes into detail of what it contains, but pretty much, that book was never going to give him the answer. The only thing it was going to achieve was a plan of Slytherin for an heir to find, but as that wasn’t the case, manipulating the subject into believing it would get them where they wanted would also do the trick. Salazar did love “manipulation” and sick games (as we can see from his Scriptorium).

The “Emotional Abuse”

Before, we could only see it by how it’s portrayed in game, but after last stream, the writers in charge of Sebastian’s story shed some light about him, and one thing they said is that “despite his emotional abuse at home and struggles, he doesn’t let that affect his personality at Hogwarts and does his best to be himself.”

So they just told and confirmed to us that, yes, Solomon is emotionally abusive towards Sebastian. As for how long, Sebastian mentions he was always that way with him when you first get to Feldcroft, but it only worsened after Anne got cursed. The next thing I’m going to say is all speculation, but it’s been observed that it’s also “possible” Solomon made Sebastian sleep in the little cot outside the home too, which would explain how Anne ran out that night on her own without her brother as you’d think they stick together, but again, there’s no backing to this. (There’s also a rumor that he’s the one that tampers with her kit and keeps her sick according to a letter in the home and Solomon seen using it, but there’s no actual backing to this “theory”.)

One thing we CAN pick apart from context clues they drop is that Solomon and his brother likely rarely saw eye to eye. So when he died, Solomon only carried on that anger into Sebastian. Now this doesn’t necessarily mean he hates Sebastian, but probably Solomon feels some sort of guilt that he never got to end on good terms with his brother, is angry at this, and instead projects it into Sebastian. Then there’s the hint we get that since Sebastian is just like his father (looks and behavior probably), it only brings Solomon back to that anger at the reality.

The Wrap Up

I pretty much wrote this because there wasn’t an option I agreed with in the poll but also to offer another take based on what I’ve seen from MANY replays I’ve done on this game (blame Gossip Gaunt lol) and my need to dig at the files and collecting pieces direct from the devs in the form of their streams or guides.

Solomon didn’t deserve that but he didn’t do “everything”, Sebastian shouldn’t have done that, WE shouldn’t have ever given him the book, but I also think he’s capable of redemption, and for him Azkaban isn’t the answer. Well, to me, at least.

[astrangergivingthestrangewelcome]

I Went to Elsinore(Kronborg Castle) and now I have Hamlet at Elsinore Cinematography UPDATES

Sorry this is going to be a long post aimed at lovers of Hamlet and especially Hamlet at Elsinore (1964). So I am backpacking in Denmark currently and was poking around the castle, paying my respects to Hamlet, and trying to see all the places shown in the film. I quickly noticed that a LOT of the tapestries and pictures shown in the film are still up in the castle today, in the same room and sometimes even in the exact same location. Some of them have information connected to them on display and it actually makes their placement in Hamlet at Elsinore so much cooler and more poignant.

So let's start in the tapestry room, where Claudius and Gertude hold court. The Kronborg Tapestries are a whole thing where each tapestry represents a different person/event in Danish royal history. Used to be 43 of them, now there are only 15 left, and 7 left in Kronborg. So look at this image.

Seem familiar? It's the tapestry that Hamlet and Horatio stand under when they first meet and discuss the ghost.

It's in literally the exact same spot today. And who is he? Well, here's the plaque (but I'll explain too)

It's the Danish king Erik VI, who was murdered by his brother Abel for the throne in the 13th century! Granted this part of Danish history did not influence William Shakespeare to write Hamlet (Erik VII managed to avenge his father without getting himself killed), but still. The whole time Hamlet and Horatio are discussing what the ghost's appearance could mean, in the background Erik VI is there looming over things like a clue, which is really cool! Let's look at another tapestry.

So what's that behind Claudius? Let's zoom in

See that king guy? That's the guy on the left here, as he hangs in Kronborg today.

He's Christopher II! Here's what the plaque says.

So behind Claudius' head is the tapestry of a notoriously bad king who was pushed off his throne for a bit, which feels meaningful. I'm still a bit confused and pissed off though, because today in Kronborg, the tapestry hanging right next to him is Abel, aka the king who murdered his brother Erik VI before being killed himself. Here's what his plaque says about him.

Literally why would they have the tapestry of Christopher II over Claudius' head instead of Abel when Abel is the superior choice??? (the tapestry even has a snake in the grass for fuck's sake!) I have no idea, maybe the castle didn't have that tapestry then or something, but it was a major missed opportunity, and I think it's fitting that it's hanging in Elsinore today in any case.

One more thing! So you know this image from the duel?

Here's the picture

That is an actual picture of a wrestling match details here:

So right before the duel, the two men who come to blows twice in this story are placed in front of this violent fight fight fight image right before they cause an absolute ruckus like in the painting. That seems pointed.

There were lots more film painting I found in the castle with no info attached, but I'm thrilled with what I did find, particularly Erik VI behind Hamlet in his conversation with Horatio. I think that's so cool. Kronborg Castle lives up to the hype without Hamlet, but with a background in Hamlet at Elsinore specfically it is REALLY cool to poke around. Highly recommend 100000000000000/10

[palimpsessed]

Fan Fiction Year in Review 2021

I did one of these last year and thought it was interesting to look back over what I had written and think about what I may write going forward. This retrospective list of questions is from @captain-aralias.

If you're a writer, I'd also encourage you to do this. Tag me so I can see your thoughts 🥰

List of Complete Fics for 2021

1. Lotus-Eaters and Sirens - G, 557 words

2. It's a Kind of Magic - M, 15,806

3. The Thrill of the Hunt - M, 11,230

4. Chamber by Chamber - E, 19,043

5. The Hex Files comic - G, 183 (It has a storyline and words that I wrote so I am counting it)

List of In Progress Fics Started in 2021

(because I have a LOT of words 😤)

1. Sleeping with the Fishes (co-written with @the-greater-grief) - M, 7,786 by end of 2021

2. Slings and Eros - M, 52,882 by end of 2021 (This fic alone makes up half my total year’s word count!)

I also wrote a bunch of non-fic things, mostly about AWTWB, that I hadn't expected because I wasn't used to getting asks like I did last year. I'm going to include them, too, because time spent writing is time spent writing.

1. Baggage - regarding Simon's literal and figurative baggage in WS, 480

2. AWTWB and Chosen Ones - thoughts about Simon's arc, Smith Smith-Richards, the Mage, and Chosen Ones, 686

3. The Watford Goats and the World of Mages - working out my ideas about the the goats in AWTWB and Agatha's journey, 314

4. The rest are all tumblr asks linked on my blog at the bottom of my Masterlist 19,147

Total:

4 complete fics, 1 comic, 2 in progress fics, 3 meta, 9 asks

word count: 128,114

word count for fics: 107,487

Thoughts: In my review post last year, I noted that all of the fics (4) I had completed were for events, and I predicted it would be the same for 2021. In fact, it was not! I figured out pretty quickly that I have a problem with over committing when it comes to fandom events and forced myself to scale back. I did participate in some events, but most of the content I made for those was art.

Best/Worst Title?

Best: Slings and Eros

I love this title, even though I have this fear that it won't make sense without my long explanation. Which I'm giving. I just feel like this title does so much. I even made a whole other post about it once. It's a play on words from a Hamlet soliloquy, which feels meta in itself since Shakespeare has to have quite a hold over the World of Mages (even though this isn't a magickal fic). Beyond the source, though, is the context, which is Hamlet trying to decide if he should end his own life and framing that life as enduring a series of trials ("the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune"). I liked this quote particularly for my fic, because it's a Greek Mythology AU, and Greek myths frequently feature stories of a hero enduring a series of labors in order to achieve some overarching goal. This is true for the myth that directly inspired this fic, Eros (or Cupid) and Psyche, and also true for my fic. It's also a big feature of the classic Hero's Journey, which of course, ties back perfectly to the idea of the Chosen One. I also liked the fact that I was removing the word "arrows" from the quote, just as I removed Eros/Cupid's arrows from the story and replaced them with a sword, which felt far more appropriate for Simon. And instead, I could use "Eros" which very conveniently sounds almost exactly like "arrows" and also hints to the source material, Simon's characterization, and one of the major themes of the fic.

I also really like Lotus-Eaters and Sirens and Chamber by Chamber.

Worst: Sleeping with the Fishes

I stand by this title, and I think it makes sense once you've read past the first 1 or 2 chapters, but without any context, it probably sounds like a Mafia AU, when it's actually a tennis and texting AU. I like it, but I feel like it was probably not a great choice in the grand scheme of things. I just saw an opportunity for puns and went for it.

Best/Worst Summary?

Best: Chamber by Chamber

"I'd give him all that I am.

I'd give him all that I was.

I'd open up a vein.

…

I'd tie our hearts together, chamber by chamber.

Simon and Baz have been through a lot. They've also been hard at work on communicating their needs and feelings. Here's some (therapeutic) smut."

This maybe is unexpected because it's a book quote followed by "here's some smut" and there's no actual plot to summarize. But the "chamber by chamber" quote is what inspired the series that culminates in this PWP one shot, and it's smut, so...it really does tell you all you need to know.

Worst: Lotus-Eaters and Sirens

"Simon has some thoughts about sirens while watching Baz drive away from their eventful trip to the Omaha Renaissance Faire.

(This is when Simon is being cute and happy on battle adrenaline and car snogging, and reality is trying to creep back in.)"

I just reread this summary for the first time since I posted it probably and it's so clunky. I don't even know why I have the second part there. I am contemplating how much it would matter this late in the game if I rewrote it, or at least deleted the second part.

Best/Worst First Line?

Best: Chamber by Chamber "Baz is squirming beneath me. It's good. It's hot. It's perfect." Yup. It sets the scene, it sets the mood, it also helps to set up some dom/sub dynamics they're playing with in this fic, too. Also I wanted it to be reminiscent of the night spent kissing at Pitch manor. (Simon on all fours above Baz.)

Worst: It's a Kind of Magic "I can tell it's happening almost before it does. I've had lots of time to learn. I know the signs better than he does, now." I think this opener is weakest among all of last year's fics because it takes its sweet time to get to the point. I don't think I define the "it" in that first sentence for several (admittedly short) paragraphs, and even then, I think I imply, rather than state, that the "it" is Simon slipping into a depressive spiral.

Best/Worst Last Line?

Best: This one is going to be a tie between Chamber by Chamber (the fic not the series) and Lotus-Eaters. Despite them both being one shots with no plot, I really think both of them pack a wallop in their final lines and I am incredibly proud of them! I'm not going to include the last line of Chamby because, plot or not, it actually is a spoiler. For LEAS, I feel like it's safe, though, so I'll drop that one here. "And then…Well. Then I drown." What really makes this line punch for me is that it's a Simon POV taking a Baz line from canon and reversing it from "burn" to "drown", fitting in perfectly with the siren/water imagery Simon uses for Baz in the fic. (Also, points to me for using water imagery for Baz before AWTWB!) It also goes a little further in that the fic is sort of in conversation with the part of CO where Simon compares Baz to a siren (the kind on police cars) and turns that on its head, by having him revise his comparison to the other kind of siren (the singing, ship-wrecking kind). That part in CO runs parallel to Baz's part comparing Simon to an open fire, which is, of course, where the original quote "and then you burn" comes from.

Honorable mention to the Hex Files comic because I intentionally set up Penny's final line to sound like a spell, in order to make it ambiguous about whether she was actually casting on Shepard in the last panel.

Worst: Looking back, I really like all of my last lines. I felt incredibly good about every one of them when I figured out how I was closing out each of these fics and I don't think any of them need improving. So, for this I will say, the worst lines are the ones that don't exist yet because the fics aren't finished and I am a completist.

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, fewer than you thought, or about what you predicted?

I think I wrote fewer fics than expected (even though I did not place expectations on myself) but more words overall, so I guess I'm about equal. 2020 was obviously a very unpredictable year, so not really a great barometer of actual productivity. I was back working full time in person by the start of 2021, and then the day after Baz's birthday, I had surgery which kept me laid up for the better part of 6 months. Of course, I thought I'd be a lot more productive writing wise during that time, but I didn't really account for how tiring it is to regrow bones so...I spent more of that time on art. Plus, we got AWTWB?! After that, my brain melted and then I was going back to work with a COTTA deadline looming.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year?

I wouldn't say "never predicted", especially because I was already planning it in 2020, but I wrote my first smut! And it ended up being one of my favorite things I've written so far. It was something I hadn't planned on doing, because smut felt intimidating and way out of my depth. But then I was rereading WS, as you do, and the chamber by chamber scene always sticks with me, especially Simon talking about "all that I am...all that I was..." and how those two ideas of his self-identity and self-worth really weigh on him and his relationship with Baz and what it would look like if he really could give all of that to Baz. And then I spiraled about trauma and liminal spaces and monster parts (my love). And I realized I was going to have to write a smut fic if I was ever going to know peace.

What's your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest?

Torn between two lovers... Chamber by Chamber (if it's not obvious by now given how I haven't shut up about it) and Slings and Eros. Both of these fics were/are incredibly challenging to me as a writer--Chamby for the smut but also what I think was an ambitious agenda about dealing with trauma throughout the three part series--and Slings and Eros for being a plot-heavy (for me) epic complete with epic poetry that is very likely going to break 100k. Both of them have been exercises in patience in their own ways, and labors of love that I have enjoyed even when I haven't.

Okay, NOW your most popular story?

Going by kudos and bookmarks, it's Chamby

(To the Manor Borne is still my most kudosed and A Man of Letters is still my most bookmarked overall)

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

I would have liked to see more love for my Penny/Shep comic but it's not Snowbaz and it's the very first comic I did, so maybe that's to be expected. Actual fic-wise, I'm kind of surprised that The Thrill of the Hunt underperforms its Chamber by Chamber colleagues because this fandom seems rabid for vampirism and that's what it's all about. But maybe people read the first one and get impatient for the smut and skip to the last part? I would like to see more engagement on Slings and Eros because it's my current project and I'm excited about it, but it's a beast and I get that a lot of people don't want to read WIPs, especially longer ones.

Story that could have been better?

I didn't answer this last year, and I'm not going to answer it this year, either. I just don't think it's worthwhile for me to hash over what ifs in my fan fic. If I think something can be better, I keep working on it until it is better. Otherwise, it won't see the light of day.

Sexiest story?

The one with the sex in it. 😉

Saddest story?

I think this is LEAS. There is soft and sweet to balance out the sad, but it's not really ever happy. Simon is riding a high from the Ren Faire as he contemplates how much he is just head over heels for Baz, but the undercurrent to all of that is how much he feels like he isn't good or good enough for Baz. He loves him but he can't give him what he deserves; he wants him but he's going to drag him down. It's a lovely meditation full of devotion, but that devotion is telling Simon that he isn't worthy and that's sad, even if he closes the fic reaffirming how hopelessly in love he is with Baz.

Most fun?

When I first went to answer this, I thought it meant most fun to write, but there’s another question about that further down. So then this means the story that is the most fun. And I have no idea how to answer that 😆. Probably Sleeping with the Fishes. Texting is usually a fairly good time. Anyway. I’m still keeping my original answer since the other question is combined with easiest to write, which is different from my answer here. So starting it felt like pulling teeth, partly because it required a lot of research and reading and outlining, and then I got the completely inadvisable idea to write epic poetry, and then had to slog through several chapters to get Simon and Baz into the same place...but SAE has been the most entertaining for me, I think, because of the character dynamics. Getting to write the first Penny, Agatha, and Fiona POVs was so freaking fun. Also, the boys are absolute disasters and I love to watch them just completely lose their minds over each other in every scene. And knowing where it's all going is just SO GOOD and I can't wait for the payoff!

Story with the single sweetest moment?

I think it's SAE, but I don't really want to tell what the moment is because I don't want to spoil it? There's a thing at the beginning, about Baz leaving offerings in Simon's shrine. And at one point, when Baz is having a really hard time, Simon does this really adorable and heartfelt thing that echoes the offerings Baz leaves, as a way to try to let Baz know that he isn't alone. And it just...is a very Simon thing to do and I love it. (Chapter 7 for those curious.)

Hardest story to write?

It's a Kind of Magic needed so many rewrites. I had written The Thrill of the Hunt and didn't realize until I went to write Simon's story in the series that his had to go first, and Baz's second. So then I had to sort out how I wanted to write part 1 when I already had part 2, and what parallels I was going for, and what the ultimate goals were in each part, etc. I think I had a much clearer idea in my head for what I was trying to accomplish with the Baz part than I did with the Simon one. I had a sense of what I was trying to get at, but I think I wasn't sure how to get there, or maybe even where "there" was. I started and re-started it so many times and just chipped away at it for a solid two months fruitlessly before I think things finally started to make sense in my head. Then I had story pieces and had to decide how they fit together and what order they went in. Then Baz started to lead me in a new direction I wasn't really prepared to go. Ultimately, it all feels very smooth and satisfying, but it was such a struggle the entire time. I had been most worried about writing Chamby and I sat down, wrote a full outline in one day, and just went point by point until I had 19k. It was wild. All the hard stuff had already happened I guess.

Easiest/most fun story to write?

I kind of already answered this. I think it was Chamby. There were some lines in there that had me howling when I wrote them. (Baz compares the tightening in his bollocks to the event horizon of a black hole.) There’s a line about them not holding back with each other, and I feel like I was doing the same—just letting them go and do their thing. It was also incredibly moving for being unapologetic monsterfucking PWP, but for the most part, I just had such a great time with it.

Did any stories shift your perceptions of the characters?

I think SAE has gotten me to think the most about the characters, in so far as it is an AU, and I'm spending a lot of time exploring the ways in which canon and the source myth converge and diverge and how that informs the characters and their dynamics. I don't think it's shifted my overall perception of the canon characters, but the ones in my fic, yes.

Most overdue story?

Same answer as last year, so we're moving on...(I get random bursts of creative energy and then they dissipate before I can capitalize) (but I will persist)

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote smut, and I co-wrote a fic, and I started a fic off with poetry in a form I'd never written before, and I made a comic, and I started a super long fic with a fully developed "external" plot. I think what I learned is to take risks.

This year's theme and the story that demonstrates it?

Liminal spaces! I haven't screamed about them for a while, but that was really the driving force behind so much of my writing this past year. Chamber by Chamber is the obvious one, but also SAE, probably just one of many reasons those two are my favs.

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

Write what feels good when it feels good. But also venture out of my comfort zone once in a while. Since this is next year already, my immediate goal is just to keep working on my posted WIPs, but also to let myself think about/work on other things, too, because I feel like I need that reminder.

[highladyofink]

A while ago, for  my creative writing class, we were given an assignment of explaining memes (yes, I know it’s unbelievable to the point of being surreal but very boomer-ish, and I had a similar reaction when I found out about it).

So I spent a couple of hours scouring the internet for memes about content I adore, because I write best when it’s about something that makes my heart go ka-thunk or has had a deep impact on me. But partly because I’ve too many NSFW memes of a nature that will have me locked up in a nunnery, lobotomized.

Finally, I found two and wrote a long ass explanation as opposed to the paragraph we had been asked to because moderation is for losers.

Here goes nothing:

The phrase "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" means that it is advisable to follow the conventions of the area in which one is residing or visiting. This Tumblr text post takes quite a literal meaning to the saying and alludes to the long morally ambiguous history of assassinating one's opponents, political or otherwise.

It particularly refers to the assassination of Julius Caesar, the celebrated Roman general and military veteran, statesman, praetor (the second highest of the Republic's elected magistracies), Pontifex Maximus (the priest of the highest order presiding above all in the Roman religion), and dictator of Rome. Understandably, such an impressive and extensive military and political portfolio led to Caesar having numerous enemies, especially with some of his political allies turning into conspirators of his assassination.

Hence, the meme talks about eliminating one's opposition in what is now considered a historically accurate and hilarious Roman characteristic.

So that was the first meme. Caesar should be the patron saint of victims of backstabbing. Lame? Okay, moving on to the second meme.

This one is about Patrochilles. The meme talks about Horatio and Hamlet too but it's been over a decade since I read Hamlet so I just wrote about my favourite mythical gay babies instead.

If you get easily offended, stop reading beyond this point. Also, no offense intended to any of the parties I accuse in the following text.

Due to retrograde notions of purity and chastity imposed in Europe by the Church, anything that differed in the slightest from the draconian claustrophobic moulds of cisgender heterosexuality, many allusions and canonical content regarding the spectrum of gender and sexuality were obliterated for millennia.

For instance, the Greek hero Achilles from Homer's Illiad, famed as Aristos Achaion ("the best of the Greeks") and one of the finest warriors to the west of the Aegean Sea, is noted for his role in the destruction of the impenetrable city of Troy by killing the eldest Trojan prince, Hector. This is the aftermath of the accidental killing of Achilles' philatos ("most beloved"), childhood companion and closest friend, Patroclus, by Hector who mistakes him for Achilles.

Upon discovering the murder of his beloved, Achilles sinks into a spiralling abyss of grief, refusing to move a muscle or do anything other than weep over the body of Patroclus for over a week. His heartbroken sobs could be heard over the clashes of battle and the deafening din of an army ten thousand strong, right down to the bottom of the ocean.

He laments his bereavement in words very much similar to the ones Hector's wife Andromache later uses at the death of her husband. Achilles collects Patroclus' ashes (traditionally considered a woman's job) after the latter appears to him in a dream begging for his funerary rights to be conducted so he can traverse down to Erebos for a peaceful afterlife.

He also cuts off locks of his golden hair to place over Patroclus' body as a sign of respect and love along with many other of his fellow soldiers. In a most touching act of love, he requests the army to mingle his ashes upon his own death with those of Patroclus' in the same funerary urn so that they can be one spiritually and physically for eternity.

Secondly, Achilles vows to avenge Patroclus' death before following his beloved down to the afterlife. This is the renowned "Rage of Achilles" which is referred to in the very opening lines of the Illiad ("Sing, goddess, sing of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus"). He overpowers and kills Hector, who was the finest Trojan warrior, as revenge for snuffing out the life of the one Achilles loved the most.

He does not consider death as retribution enough and drags Hector's corpse tied behind his chariot around the walls of Troy thrice, and proceeds to deny him funerary rights. The gods had to restrain Achilles from destroying Troy before the appointed timing which is proof that his rage could defy even the Fates.

Achilles' brutal actions arise from a place of overwhelming grief and understandably righteous rage. They originate not from hubris and cruelty but from heartbreak which shreds his humanity to pieces. Achilles was the offspring of a mortal king and a sea goddess; he was a god because his mother was one, he was human because Patroclus made him so. Once he lost his philatos, he lost hold of his humanity.

To anybody with a basic reading comprehension, this is an extremely touching story about a lifelong love, a story so central to the plot of the Illiad that the climax would not have existed had Achilles and Patroclus not loved each other as legendarily and devastatingly as they did. However, many vacuous scholars and historians refused to see it that way and decided to relegate it to simple platonic love.

This tragic young couple, dubbed Patrochilles as a portmanteau of their names by adoring fans, is emblematic of how LGBTQ history is strategically ignored and even rewritten. Patrochilles has regrettably been cast as sharing filial or storgic affection in order to deviously deceive the audience that their all-consuming love never crossed the bounds of 'decency' and strict dichotomous gender norms.

So... that's it. I got told off for making it too long but I simply told the lecturer that what I wrote is no compensation for how Patrochilles were rewritten as everything but the lovers they so clearly are.

Edit: Yes, I know that Thetis was more sea nymph than goddess (one of Poseidon's Nereids, I think) but calling her a goddess is far more dramatic which is precisely the effect I was going for.