#literary gardener

[namedvesta]

Rainer Maria Rilke, from Love Poems to God (𝟣𝟫𝟢𝟧)

[jkl-fff]

GUYS, I FIGURED OUT THE BLACK TURTLES!

It's a detail of OTGW that's lowkey perplexed me since the series first aired. What's with the black turtles that appear in every episode? What role do they serve in the story, and what do they represent?

A small, seemingly inconsequential detail, but just the sort to occupy my mind every time I watch the show.

My first train of thought: Are they manifestations of The Beast's power and influence? If not, why does eating one turn Beatrice's dog into a slavering monster? But if so, why is Auntie Whispers purely benevolent despite eating one (and presumably much more)? Why aren't they themselves monstrous and malevolent? But also why aren't they, on the contrary, beautiful and benevolent? They're just ... sorta there, which suggests there's no supernatural nor moral element to them. Yet they're clearly not natural turtles, either ...

My second train of thpught: Are they representations of the Unknown's liminal nature, moving between land and water just as the Unknown is between life and death? Thus a foreshadow and a reminder of the brother's state? It would sorta make sense, given their omnipresence. Mirrored by the brother's Frog, whose amphibious nature is likewise liminal. And the weirdness of turtles specifically for this symbolic role fits the the weird aesthetic of The Unknown. Still, it didn't seem to quite fit.

BUT TONIGHT, I FIGURED OUT WHERE THEY COME FROM! THE OLD GRIST MILL!

WHERE THE WOODSMAN HAS BEEN GRINDING EDELWOOD TREES INTO A DISTINCTIVELY BLACK OIL FOR THE LANTERN!

SOME OF WHICH MUST BE WASHED OFF, LEAKING, OR EVEN SPILLED OUTRIGHT INTO THE STREAM THAT POWERS THE MILL, AND THUS CONTAMINATING THE ENVIRONMENT!

It's pollution. Industrial Revolution era pollution is the reason for the black turtles distinctive color and weird effects on some people, but not others.

[artemlegere]

Marguerite and Faust in the Garden

Artist: Ary Scheffer (Dutch, 1795-1858)

Movement: Romanticism

Date: 1846

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Description

Scheffer’s work has been criticised as being overly sentimental, but his emotionally charged images struck a chord with the public, and he was one of the most popular artists of his day. Scheffer was inspired by the clarity of composition, and the direct approach to narrative, of Italian painting from before 1500. He frequently drew inspiration from great works of literature, such as, in this painting, Goethe’s Faust. Here Faust is seen courting Marguerite, watched by her neighbour Martha and Mephistopheles. The mocking expression on the face of Mephistopheles points to the tragic consequences that will result from this courtship.

[booklover]

My copy of Frankenstein. I reread it about a month ago. Mesmerized by the prose and vision of Mary Shelley again after all those years.

[errolzunic]

Bad people do not win by just hurting you. They win by turning you into the same piece of s*** as they are.

author: errolgarden

[in-tenebris-et-in-solitudine]

Eat Clean

[galleryofart]

Marguerite and Faust in the Garden

Artist: Ary Scheffer (Dutch, 1795-1858)

Movement: Romanticism

Date: 1846

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

Description

Scheffer’s work has been criticised as being overly sentimental, but his emotionally charged images struck a chord with the public, and he was one of the most popular artists of his day. Scheffer was inspired by the clarity of composition, and the direct approach to narrative, of Italian painting from before 1500. He frequently drew inspiration from great works of literature, such as, in this painting, Goethe’s Faust. Here Faust is seen courting Marguerite, watched by her neighbour Martha and Mephistopheles. The mocking expression on the face of Mephistopheles points to the tragic consequences that will result from this courtship.

[scorpionsandhoney]

omg i never showed you guys my new pan’s labyrinth/secret garden(1993) tattoo

[gennsoup]

"To rid your gate of demons, first plant peach trees in your garden."

Tang Xianzu, The Peony Pavilion

[verdiesque]

Need to look at creatures as often as possible to stay sane

[unfortunatetheorist]

Hello! Love your blog :) Hoping you can help me with a quick q. On page 269 of The Slippery Slope, Violet, Klaus and Quigley discover the VFD motto ‘the world is quiet here’ but the narrator (Lemony) describes ‘four tiny words etched over their heads’, not five. Do you think this is a mistake, or is he leaving one out (e.g: ‘the’), or is he deliberately misquoting? The motto is derived from the first line of the Algernon Charles Swinburne poem The Garden of Proserpine: ‘Here, where the world is quiet;’ — so should the real interpretation of the motto be ‘the world is quiet’? Interested to hear your thoughts, thanks!

Hi, @sianitha, thanks for the ask (my Very First Discussion)!

It's definitely an interesting question, for which there can be a few theories:

Lemony is lying, for some bizarre reason.

Lemony is referring to The Garden of Proserpine when he means the actual emblazoned motto.

Either the word 'Here' or the word 'The' got burned from the fire, and Lemony is right.

It's an unnoticed editorial mistake.

Let's see. We know none of it is burned, as Quigley read all five words out.

Lemony is lying, for some bizarre reason.

Lemony is referring to The Garden of Proserpine when he means the actual emblazoned motto.

Either the word 'Here' or the word 'The' got burned from the fire, and Lemony is right.

It's an unnoticed editorial mistake.

Lemony is known for being a bit of a liar, but I think he tells mostly half-truths - when necessary - simply because he can't trust anyone, after having gone on the lam. But in this context, it's unnecessary; he's writing these books to clear his name and the Baudelaires' names, what good would it do him to lie?

Lemony is lying, for some bizarre reason.

Lemony is referring to The Garden of Proserpine when he means the actual emblazoned motto.

Either the word 'Here' or the word 'The' got burned from the fire, and Lemony is right.

It's an unnoticed editorial mistake.

Also, as a volunteer, he'd know his poetry pretty well; well enough to distinguish it from the organisation's motto, even if it is similar.

Lemony is lying, for some bizarre reason.

Lemony is referring to The Garden of Proserpine when he means the actual emblazoned motto.

Either the word 'Here' or the word 'The' got burned from the fire, and Lemony is right.

It's an unnoticed editorial mistake.

And this makes sense when you look at other typos, such as...

...well, as far as I remember, there was one in TPP about Klaus and "her sisters", or something to that effect.

As for the interpretation of the motto, I think it means

"THE WORLD IS QUIET HERE"

i.e. Wherever there is a branch of the V.F.D., the world THERE is quiet. Elsewhere, it's noisy and uncouth.

Hope that helps,

¬ Th3r3534rch1ngr4ph, Unfortunate Theorist/Snicketologist

***EDIT: There's also a fifth option which I hadn't thought of when writing this - the motto reads "THE WORLD'S QUIET HERE". But this also doesn't follow, as Quigley read out 5 words, not 4.***

[namedvesta]

— Carl Phillips, from Cortège (𝟤𝟢𝟢𝟤).

[firedawnd]

seraphim slum is a reverse hanahaki story.

what i love about Seraphim Slum is how it's a reverse hanahaki story. throughout the game you're seeing Ezekiel hack up flowers, you think it's cause of one of her girls. Macy, Salxire, Oriel, Ezekiel's love is unrequited and desperate and obsessive.

But Then. you realise. no, the plants aren't killing Ezekiel. they're growing out of her. her skin's dirt and sow to a garden. the plants aren't eating Ezekiel alive, they ARE her. tumbling out of her body and crawling out. they're inside of her, not to taunt her cause of a lack of love. but because, wrapped around her ribcage and heart-bones, that's how the plants show their love.

Seraphim Slum isn't an unrequited love story, it's a requited romance between Ezekiel, also known as Lucifer, and Her Eden

[artemlegere]

The Proposal (The Marquis and Griselda)

Artist: Frederic George Stephens (British, 1827-1907)

Date: c. 1850

Medium: OIl on canvas

Collection: TATE Britain

Description

Like many Pre-Raphaelite works, The Proposal critiques the hierarchy of rich and poor, and explores love across social classes. In this scene from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, a nobleman has put Griselda through trials, but she has taught him kinder ways. She thinks about her future. The open window suggests she will leave her father’s cottage. The Proposal is the only surviving complete painting by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Frederic Stephens. Griselda was modelled by the artist Elizabeth Siddal.

[ladyofargos]

I suppose there must be one or two people in the world who choose not to like tulips, but such an aberration is scarcely credible. - Anna Pavord

[postmodernismruinedme]

"I'm going to tend the little garden. It may not be the garden I wanted and exactly the flowers I planted, but it's my little garden and I'm going to do my best." - Leonard Cohen