#london highwaymen

[readtilyoudie]

So far, he had avoided touching her unnecessarily, primarily because not everyone found touch comforting, but also he was afraid that all it would take would be a squeeze of her fingers and he’d tumble from admiring her to adoring her, or from adoring her to whatever was even worse. But by now he knew that if she didn’t want him to touch her, she’d move her hand away, and if he didn’t want to fall in love with her, he was already fucked.

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

[desdasiwrites]

– Cat Sebastian, The Queer Principles of Kit Webb

[libraryleopard]

Adult historical romance novel (sequel to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb)

Marian Hayes, a duchess with a terrible husband, shoots her husband as part of a blackmail scheme gone wrong and must flee to the countryside to escape suspicion

Unfortunately, the only person she can as for help is Rob, the charismatic criminal who was blackmailing her

As they flee across the countryside, the two of them must confront secrets about Rob's past resurfacing and the feelings growing between the two of them

M/F romance between two bi characters

[ting-tang]

The Guarded Heart Girl

"By their wings,I fly" ( Angela j Stanley)

The heart shattering into pieces, after picking each piece up, putting the heart back together, learning the lesson of love, it must be locked only opening forever to the one the soul tells the heart this one is loved by many but not you. It won't open to let you in. My heart is guarded by the wings of highwaymen.

Big trucks and motorcycles.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/7/2025

in which we embark upon a progamme of reading for our edification

listening

this was the first song of the year-- felt a little melancholy and a lot sleepy after watching the first movie of the year and this fit the vibe.

-

reading

as a user, i think the magic link system is very annoying, but i also get that they don't want to fuck around with holding and protecting user data. they have been very firm but polite about various bells and whistles people want added to their site that do not contribute to their main goal of reporting various news beats. i DO really appreciate how they put in the time to create a private RSS feed for subscribers with the full text of all the articles so you don't have to log in with the magic link every time, or rather i will really appreciate this once i have a job and can subscribe.

i need to set myself a project and i keep forgetting i moved all this vintage gay and lesbian erotica from massachusetts down to texas with me, so we're going to read one a week until i get bored or we (heaven forbid) run out of gay or lesbian erotica.

the second purpose, and look, i hate the word normalized, but texas politicians are constantly working themselves into a screaming froth about protecting children from gay sex and gay books. i think we can look at various gay sex books each week in a calm and reasonable manner and ask the normal questions i try to ask of every work discussed in the tuesdayposts. since moving, my instinct is to be more stealth and less visibly gay, which is not the way i would like to live. this is the absolute babiest of baby steps since the tuesdayposts (to date) have never put me in any physical danger.

the main questions i will be trying to answer each week are:

is there anything cool about the physical object?

what's the author's deal?

did i like it/did it deliver on its premise?

the sex?

i don't know. chime in if there's some fifth thing you want regularly answered?

this is a 1997 british-printed perfect-bound paperback by The Gay Men's Press (a short history by one of the founders here). i'm not sure if this copy had ever been read, because i managed to break the spine in a very ugly way while trying to gently break the book in. this is either from a goodwill just over the border in ct or from bookends in florence (which you should go visit if you're ever in western ma, one of the few brick and mortar lesbian bookstores in the country).

not for me but i appreciate what it is and what it's trying to do. i have very rarely read something so clearly written by an author for an audience of themselves.

Growing up at a coaching inn on the Great North Road in the early 1700s, young Davy Gadd is enthralled by tales of the greatest of highwaymen, Claude Duval. Seeking his fortune in London, he is entangled in the machinations of Under City Marshal Charles Hitchin and the infamous Jonathan Wild, in their battle to divide up the spoils of the criminal underworld. At last, equipped with horse, pistols and velvet mask, he sets out as a Gentleman of the Road. But not before he has been loved by a Jacobite lord, dressed up by Lucinda and Aunty Mary, and been married at Mother Clap's Molly House. And at the end of the road, will he Pass into Legend, or does his fate lead to Tyburn tree, where so many glamorous adventurers have been hanged?

i think i would have enjoyed this book more if i were a gay man, really into daniel defoe, stuart restoration/early georgian england or very specific bits of historic london nightlife history. there are three hundred and sixty eight of god's own pages and we certainly do meander. it is a little bit of a slog in the dissatisfied middle portion of our hero Davy's young adulthood, but you are rewarded for sticking with it by all the important threads getting neatly tied off. it wraps up nicely if bittersweetly. the ending deals with community and vulnerability in a way that makes sense for a book written by a gay man in 1997. i wish i could explain my thoughts on this better. i think it is a perfectly fine ending that suits the book but again, overall, the book is not for me.

there is period-typical homophobia and gay bashing, but very little of it actually affects Davy. he is generally in fear for his life bc of some crime he committed unrelated to being gay. i think this is a pretty sensible way to make sure your historically accurate novel remains fairly historically accurate without being a fucking downer to write and read. on a related dealbreaker for many people, there is a good deal of phonetic dialect in this book, although it is mostly relegated to dialogue and slangy or shortened forms of words in dialogue spoken by people more connected to the criminal underclass.

i wrote all that and then i had to employ some stringent search techniques to find out anything about the author, who was not a very public person, and his feelings about homophobia vs historical accuracy. about three quarters of the way through this 1997 article about gay fiction from The Independent (interview conducted by letter!) we discover he also considers this a fine line to walk, and perhaps the only paragraph on the internet about his background

"The greatest influences on my writing to begin with were the swashbuckling films which I saw as a child in the Fifties," he says. "Errol Flynn and Stewart Grainger were particular heroes. Also around that time, John Buchan, whose Richard Hannay says, 'I have always had a boy's weakness for a yarn.' Later I acquired an English degree, and was influenced by medieval and Elizabethan literature, Thomas Hardy, Dickens, various historical novelists, Mary Renault and Daphne du Maurier."

"but kay, what about the sex?" my dear readers are probably crying out right now. i don't think this is a great book to jerk off to, even if you are a gay man and not a bisexual woman with the briefest passing familiarity about various periods of english history. davy fucks, a lot, don't get me wrong-- the fucks are not generally instrumental in driving the plot forward or delivering cool facts about london so they're all quite short, usually less than a page.

i don't know if including an example of a sex scene is interesting or useful information to anyone else but it feels strange Not to include it in a reading project about gay and lesbian erotica? gentle reader, i would love to hear your thoughts

-

watching

at about 11:30 PM on new year's eve i like to start a new-to-me black and white classic film to take me into the new year. this year's was Filibus (1915, dir. Roncoroni, widely available in various niceties of restoration)

summary from wiki:

Filibus is a 1915 Italian silent adventure film directed by Mario Roncoroni and written by the future science fiction author Giovanni Bertinetti (it). It features Valeria Creti (fr) as the title character, a mysterious sky pirate who makes daring heists with her technologically advanced airship. When an esteemed detective sets out on her trail, she begins an elaborate game of cat and mouse with him, slipping between various male and female identities to romance the detective's sister and stage a midnight theft of a pair of valuable diamonds.

i found out about this film through the @hotvintagepoll scrungly poll, and i think Valeria Creti should have gone all the fuckin way. girl hobbyist detective/nobleman by day, gadget-loving gentleman thief by night. i support women's wrongs, and she causes so so many of them on purpose. there are some things that carbon date a film, like russian antagonists or gland problems, and this film is carbon dated by sleepwalking as a serious psychological event. she comes very close to taking a detective completely out of the policing game by drugging him and staging elaborate series of events to plant evidence that he did all her crimes while sleepwalking.

she LOVES being in boy mode and she's very good at it! it's never treated as a joke! she stages a rescue of the detective's sister in order to gain access to his house, but then the actual building of the relationship and courtship is completely on her own merits and charm!

this is a charming (if poorly paced for viewing all in one sitting) early gay serial film. if i saw this in the cinema in 1915 i would have been institutionalized for imitating filibus

-

playing

genshin is not feeling as jazzy or fun lately. i think i have two issues. one is that Fontaine, the last major nation's main questline was a truly delightfully crafted (and fair! we had all the pieces just not all the context) murder mystery with a lot of lore. this nation, Natlan, is functionally a sports anime. not that one genre is better or more complex than the other, it's just. different. and recalibrating my expectations has been a little wonky.

the second kind of weird calibration thing is the rate of additions to the world map. genshin runs on a six-week update cycle, where every six weeks you get something major and new to progress the game story. usually there are nine patches, starting at X.0 and going up to X.8. you iterate up a full number with major patches introducing a new land, so with the introduction of Natlan we started the 5.X patch cycle and left Fontaine's 4.X cycle behind.

this is important bc there's usually there's new and fun and exciting stuff and puzzles to solve and new challenges only when they add to the map. in the 5.X patch cycle, there have only been two map expansions: one in 5.0 introducing the land, and one addition about doubling the map in 5.2. 5.3 dropped last week, where the main storyline of the nation typically wraps itself up in the last map update and then we get to fuck around in bonus areas or seasonal events. for example, in the last three nations, so from updates 2.0-4.2, there are typically three big map updates in a row that unlock the entire base map of whatever country we're in, no new map content for a patch, a new bonus area related to whatever area we're in, another break, and then a seasonal map, and then three more updates with no new maps but new events or new battle modes. for natlan, we're essentially "behind" unlocking a chunk of the map.

let's go to the maps: the last nation Fontaine's first introduction in 4.0 (these are all from IGN, they are not to scale with each other):

the second update in 4.1:

the third and final main map update in 4.2:

introduction of natlan in 5.0 on the right (these two screenshots i took are to scale with each other), no underwater regions or major underground areas in this one:

no map update in 5.1. second major map update in 5.2 on the left here, still no major underwater or underground regions. we are currently in 5.3 with no map update, with maybe the third and final map update in 5.4?

again, the problem with No New Map is that typically in genshin you go to new places to unlock more of the story. we're "behind" a map update, if you will. they've kind of shoehorned new story into existing map, and shoehorned new bosses into the existing map, which is very strange and makes the nation feel so much smaller and more limited than other nations.

it feels a lot like part of the map update we got in 4.2, ochkanatlan, an abandoned island city somewhat removed from the rest of the map, was supposed to be the bonus area map, but they didn't have enough ready? the 4.2 update also felt very medium sized- at this point in Fontaine we'd unlocked the Fortress and Institute, which really blow the dragon city right off the island with regards to complexity of exploration and length of quests. it's not really anywhere near the complexity or length of the first desert map expansion in Sumeru, which was honestly a really crazy thing to drop all at once. i will not be putting more nation map screenshots up here bc of the image limit but the desert in sumeru is ENORMOUS and it has an equally enormous underground labyrinth!

not my favorite nation so far! a little bit of it is recency bias bc Fontaine was SO good and is overall my favorite, but it feels off lately. i don't know if the really punishing every six weeks updates are finally catching up to the parent company, or if they're really deep in preproduction for the next land (it Feels like they're going to split the next land into two different X.0 update cycles. there's a lot of chatter in game from NPCs about how different and weird the next port is compared to the rest of the country. i could easily see them building that out to two major updates like natlan and then saving the bulk of the country for the next X.0 update in another year).

-

making

bathrobe surgery under the armhole.

ive had this red/black/blue tattersall plaid in light cotton since high school, best guesstimate based on the tag style is early to mid sixties?

this thing is Solid. it is perhaps the most nicely constructed garment i own. every seam is a narrow, tidy french seam. the underside of the collar is lightly quilted to give it some body and make it stay down, and it has a facing over the top to make it look not quilted from the front. it has The best waist tie arrangement i've ever seen, with a tiny strap on the underside of the tie to permanently hold it to the belt loops but still give you a little bit of play.

it is so beloved that it's starting to completely wear through on the shoulders, and i have to think about how to patch it without losing any of the light breathable qualities i love it so much for.

[vonclosen]

notes to myself on drawing "historically accurate" fear&hunger (1590)

le'garde & d'arce: french knights

hard to find french late renaissance armor off the cuff-- also complicated by not quite knowing le'garde's financial status/social class. some armor from other areas in europe during the period:

english, italian, and italian respectively. also, paintings done in later periods depicting war from this year:

(peter paul reubens, 1630s)

i also found this illustration of garments from 1593/6.; from the same site, non-armor military fashion from 1574-1589.

enki: religious cultist/priest living in rondon london

the good thing about religious garments is that they're typically pretty simple. already reflected in enki's garments.

(16th century book print)

(16th century archbishop, ernest of bavaria -- reference for an "enlightened" enki post-fear&hunger?); also, various ecclesiastical clothing from 16th and 17th century

ragnvaldr: finnish outlander

clearly based on popular depictions of "vikings", but by 1590 people would typically not be dressed like this. finding images of northern european peasantry/villagers is a little more difficult.

here we have some 17th century costumes from rural denmark and norway.

friesian peasant costumes circa 1590, and german peasant costumes from the same year.

cahara: mercenary and outlaw from the eastern sanctuaries living in rondon

though it seems most likely to me that cahara is indigenous west asian (tbh, palestinian specifically would be really cool!) but has been living in rondon london for quite awhile-- long enough to have a short career as an outlaw. i'd say "highwayman", but this term didn't appear in the historical record until close to 1620

as a reference for highwaymen, here's an illustration of robin hood from about 1600.

honestly his clothing would probably not differ too much from typical poor person, but he might have some armor depending.

anyways its like 2 in the morning now, might add more to this later and do more research. was a fun exercise!

[ninja-muse]

I bought Evelina on Jane Austen's recommendation and barely a day into reading it I was torn between "yes, of course Austen liked this!" and "oh, this explains so much!" and by halfway through I was consumed with glee over what I'd picked up. This is essentially an Austen novel but with twice the ~*~drama~*~ and so at least in my mind, twice the fun. You get awkward interactions at balls, terrible and embarrassing relatives, multiple suitors, and a frantic carriage ride with fake highwaymen, it's a whole thing.

The forward in my edition said that Burney was trying to be realistic with her characters and situations, not to be dramatic for the sake of it, and I think she pretty much nailed it. Evelina is a very believable seventeen—shy, naive, socially awkward, impulsive, deeply embarrassed by the people around her and also her own actions. She's trying to navigate an adult, social world with no experience and little guidance and with the bonus of rock and a hard place options thanks to cultural misogyny. Most of the drama comes from situations that anyone might find themselves in even now—parties, family dinners, nights on the town, people inviting themselves over because they "were in the area", visiting people you dislike out of obligation. Are some of the supporting characters a little larger than life and some of the situations the same? Sure, but I've read modern romcoms that needed more suspended disbelief, and I've read eighteenth-century novels that needed more too. Burney's ability to hit the ups and downs of emotions per the tropes of the sentimental novel while sticking to everyday topics and characters is commendable. Marvelous, even.

So yeah, I see why this caught Austen's attention. It's got a relatable teen girl doing "modern" teen girl things, it spoofs Georgian society in the excitingly foreign location of London, it's got enough going on between the personal growth and the suitors and the awful relatives and the problems with Evelina's parentage and inheritance that there's always something happening and always something to keep reading for. It's a novel about a female life by a woman who was reacting to the over-the-top novels and characterizations she saw around her. And I think if you're familiar with Austen at all, you can see what she took from it too? There were definite resonances with Northanger Abbey but also with Fanny Price and Catherine de Bourgh and there is literally a cad named Willoughby.

In other words, I had a lot of fun reading this and I've yet to finish another book this month that I wanted to talk up more. (The Demon of Unrest is also very good, but do I want to be discussing the American Civil War? Not really.) This is definitely a classic I think more people should read, especially if those people like modern Regency romances and/or Austen herself. Can't recommend it enough!

[fulcrumstardust]

books wrap up 2024 📚

here's my bodycount, let me know if you've read some of these (and what you thought!!)

Ball Lightning - Cixin Liu

A Far Wilder Magic - Allison Saft

Light Bringer (Red Rising Saga, #6) - Pierce Brown

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes (London Highwaymen, #2) - Cat Sebastian

Certain Dark Things - Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1) - Tamsyn Muir

Harrow the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #2) - Tamsyn Muir

Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #3) - Tamsyn Muir

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1) - Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire (The Hunger Games, #2) - Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games, #3) - Suzanne Collins

On Basilisk Station (Honor Harrington #1) - David Weber

She Who Became the Sun (The Radiant Emperor, #1) - Shelley Parker-Chan

He Who Drowned the World (The Radiant Emperor, #2) - Shelley Parker-Chan

The Hollow Places - T. kingfisher

Analee, In Real Life - Janelle Milanes

Jade City (The Green Bone Saga, #1) - Fonda Lee

Jade War (The Green Bone Saga, #2) - Fonda Lee

Jade Legacy (The Green Bone Saga, #3) - Fonda Lee

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1) - Heather Fawcett

Snowglobe - Soyoung Park

Bride - Ali Hazelwood

Nettle & Bone - T. Kingfisher

These Burning Stars (The Kindom Trilogy, #1) - Bethany Jacobs

Some Desperate Glory - Emily Tesh

The Familiar Dark - Amy Engel

The Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson

Butcher & Blackbird (The Ruinous Love Trilogy, #1) - Brynne Weaver

The Hurricane Wars (The Hurricane Wars, #1) - Thea Guanzon

🌟 Starling House - Alix E. Harrow 🌟 (this was my favorite!!)

The Bound Worlds (The Devoured Worlds, #3) - Megan E. O'Keefe

Wildfire (Maple Hills, #2) - Hannah Grace

We'll Prescribe You a Cat - Syou Ishida

the did-not-finish (RIP):

Wild Love (Rose Hill, #1) - Elsie Silver

Beacon 23 - Hugh Howey

We Set the Dark on Fire (We Set the Dark on Fire, #1) - Tehlor Kay Mejia

Aetherbound - E.K. Johnston

Bonesmith (House of the Dead, #1) - Nicki Pau Preto

Bright Young Women - Jessica Knoll

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride - Roshani Chokshi

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy (Hart and Mercy, #1) - Megan Bannen

The Familiar - Leigh Bardugo

Payback's a Witch (The Witches of Thistle Grove, #1) - Lana Harper

Babel - R.F. Kuang

The Wings Upon Her Back - Samantha Mills

Not in Love - Ali Hazelwood

[etymology-of-the-emblem]

Duvall /ドバール and Pizare / ピサール

Duvall and Pizare are members of the Orgahil Pirates that stage a mutiny against their captain, Brigid, in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. Duvall likely gets his name from famed highwayman Claude Du Vall (more commonly Duval). Born to a family of French nobility stripped of their title, Du Vall was in service to English royalists in exile during the English Civil War. He joined his lords in crossing the English Channel after the ascension of Charles II. It would be in England that Du Vall's criminal record began; tales spread of a well-dressed man of politesse snatching riches off the stagecoaches of London. Yet all accounts claimed this rogue never resorted to violence, and was quick to give in to the will of women. These stories serve as the foundation of many fictitious highwaymen written around the time, and was possibly one inspiration of the gentleman thief trope. It's possible a reference to Du Vall here was intended to contrast the well-mannered thief with the Fire Emblem character's foul personality, his penchant for violence, and his ill treatment for his boss—the only woman he is seen interacting with.

Additionally, the county of Duval (JP: デュバル; rōmaji: dyubaru) in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes likely is named after Claude Du Vall as well. This likely is meant to relate the chivalrous bandit with the ideals of Faerghus.

Pizare's name is likely derived from Pizzare: a French adaptation of the Spanish surname Pizzaro. The name was seemingly created for the purpose of the opera of the same name based on the life of conquistador Francisco Pizarro. He began his career exploring the New World with the first European exploration of the Isthmus of Panama alongside Vasco Núñez de Balboa and became the alcalde of the newly-founded Panama City. Rumors of a city of gold hidden in South America motivated Pizzaro to venture further south. His third journey to make contact with the Inca Empire, Pizarro came on orders from the King of Spain to conquer Peru. In the peace following his conquest, Pizarro's fellow conquistador Diego de Almagro II would have him assassinated.

In Japanese, both of these Orgahil scoundrels have names derived from The Tragedy of the Sons of Tuireann, an Irish mythological tale following the brothers Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba. Pizare is called ピサール (rōmaji: pisāru), in reference to King Pisear of Persia. In the story, Pisear possesses a poison-tipped spear (debated as to being the Gáe Assail or the Areadbhair) that is kept in a vat of water to prevent its heat from setting the capital of Persia ablaze. Brian attempts to convince Pisear to hand over the weapon under the guise of a bard singing the king's praises. However, Brian is incapable of telling a good poem. When Pisear refuses to humor the brothers, Brian chucks a magic apple through his head. The trio then slaughters the entire city.

In Japanese, Duvall is called ドバール (rōmaji: dobāru), from the King of Siogair (Sicily), Dobar. He is the owner of two great steeds and a chariot that can ride over the water as land. After their trial in Persia, Brian decides that to get in good favor with Dobar, the sons of Tuireann would serve Siogair as mercenaries. The brothers pledge an oath to the king and act under him for a month and two weeks—not once in that time do they see the horses. The three then confront Dobar, swearing to end their service to him if they are not allowed to bear sight of them. Dobar, understandably, is disappointed to hear their loyalty was so fragile, especially when he would have brought the brothers to the vehicle if they just asked day one. Soon after the horses and carriage are brought out, Brian strikes down king and the sons of Tuireann bring ruin to the court before setting off for their next destination.

In both scenarios, the kings and their people are assailed by the Irish outsiders and their valuables stolen. It may be that the use of the names Pisear and Dobar are less meant to invoke the largely nonexistent personalities of the kings and more to reference the theft of items and lives by Brian, Iuchar, and Iucharba. Befitting of the trouble caused by the pirates. In fact, the noble goals of the Orgahil Pirates' two known captains being betrayed by Duvall and Pizare could reference how the Sons of Tuireann themselves are gods that commit such foul acts. That, or that the eight-step fetch quest the brothers are sent on in the story is punishment doled out by the god of light and one of the most important Irish deities, Lugh.

In a tangential advertisement: I had the privilege of cooperating with the lovely folks behind the recently released Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War Spanish fan-translation! They brought me onto the team to research and provide localizations for the names that currently lack anything official. If you've ever wondered why so much of this blog is biased towards the Jugdral duology, that's 50% of the reason. But I digress; in this translation project, Duvall, Pizare, and many others have their names changed to be more accurate to the mythology and history they pull from. To any Spanish-speakers who follow my work: I highly recommend giving it a go! And I don't just say that because I worked on it!

[connectparanormal]

Most Haunted Forests in the World

For a long time, stories about the paranormal have found their ideal setting in forests, with their thick canopy and eerie depths. Some of the world's most haunted woodlands are particularly notable because of their spooky reputations and the eerie folklore surrounding them. Japan's Aokigahara, sometimes referred to as the Suicide Forest, is located at the foot of Mount Fuji. This forest has a sordid past because so many suicides have taken place inside its boundaries. The thick layer of volcanic rock, which absorbs sound and creates an unnatural silence, makes the dense woodland strangely quiet. Both locals and visitors describe experiencing a heavy sense of impending doom and seeing restless ghosts known as yurei—the spirits of people who committed suicide—wandering among the woods. This forest's eerie reputation serves as a gloomy reminder of the difficulties encountered by many who venture into its depths.

Known as the "Bermuda Triangle of Transylvania," the Hoia-Baciu Forest in Romania is notorious for paranormal activity. In the 1960s, the woodland became well-known after a scientist took a picture of what appeared to be an unidentified flying object above it. Visitors have since claimed to have seen ghostly apparitions, odd lights, and mysterious disappearances. Hoia-Baciu's trees grow in strange, twisted shapes that add to the eerie aura of the woodland. Others believe that the forest is a doorway to another realm where the boundaries of reality are slender and the paranormal is readily apparent. There are many myths and legends surrounding Germany's Black Forest. This deep, dark forest has influenced numerous fairy tales, particularly those authored by the Brothers Grimm. There are many ghost stories, werewolf stories, and witches in this area. One of the most famous tales is the headless horseman who rides through the forest at night to find his head. The dense canopy and old trees of the Black Forest foster ghost stories and otherworldly experiences, blurring the boundaries between myth and reality. Wychwood Forest in Oxfordshire, England is another forest with a reputation for hauntings. The most well-known ghost rumored to haunt Wychwood is that of Amy Robsart, Queen Elizabeth I's favorite and Robert Dudley's wife. People who stroll the forest paths claim to occasionally see Amy's spirit, who passed away inexplicably. According to legend, coming across Amy's ghost portends your death within a year. Because of its history and spooky aura, the woodland is a popular spot for paranormal encounters and ghost sightings. The famed Bridgewater Triangle, an area noted for paranormal activity, includes the Massachusetts state forest of Freetown-Fall River. There is a history of unusual happenings in this woodland, including reports of Bigfoot, ghosts, and UFOs. Occult practices and dark rituals further cement the forest's reputation as a haunted place. People who visit the woodland report feeling uneasy, seeing shadowy figures among the trees, and hearing sounds that don't belong to them.

England's Epping Forest, which is outside of London, has a long history of hauntings. The forest used to be a well-known haven for highwaymen, including Dick Turpin. Many people think that these criminals' ghosts still prowl the forest, waiting to trap gullible tourists. Epping Forest is home to several old burial mounds, heightening the feeling of lingering ghosts and restless souls. The woodland is a well-liked but unsettling place for people looking for an encounter with the paranormal because of its closeness to London and its dense, expansive character. These eerie forests are located all over the world and have a lot in common, including lots of ghost stories, historical significance, and dense greenery. They serve as a poignant reminder of the hidden mysteries within the natural world, and the enduring impact of mythology and the paranormal on human society. Regardless of their belief in ghosts, the legends surrounding these woodlands arouse curiosity and fear in individuals, luring them into their enigmatic and sinister depths.

[dragons-bones]

I'm looking at my current to-do list for Fallen London and feeling a bit like Charlie Day in the Pepito conspiracy scene with just how absolutely unhinged it looks:

hunt three Seven-Throated Warblers to steal three Hillmovers from their nests

pop out of Parabola and into the University Laboratory, do the experiment to raise Kataleptic Toxicology Studies to 2

stay at the lab to do analyze the False-Snake I picked up back during the railway extension to Jericho Locks, then extend that study in order to acquire a copy of A Complete Account of Toads, Frogs, and Other Croaking Beasts

stumble out of the lab, take the train to Ealing Gardens, and throw self into Helicon House to get Shapeling Studies to 2, then grind up Shapeling Arts so it's at unmodified 7

take the train back to London, fall into the Bone Market, badger best buddy the Bohemian Sculptress to make me some ivory femurs in exchange for all these Parabolan Orange-Apples I have

add some more joints to my current skeleton frame, stick the femurs on it, declare the abomination An Amphibian, and go sell it to Mrs Plenty for a disgusting amount of Hinterland Scrip which will hopefully cover most of my railway building needs for the next few station builds

think for half a minute about switching Ali's profession to Licentiate for free headless skeletons and just stick Bright Brass Skulls on them to sell to the Constable instead, but the Midnighter's bribery ability is currently too useful for me during Railway Board meetings to keep the Bishop of Saint Fiacre in line

is any of this efficient? probably not. do I care? also no.

also in the meantime as I wait for my reactions to refresh, I'm writing about how when the Clay Highwayman asked Ali if she would like to take a ride around his hideout on The Best Girl (AKA The Beast), she looked him dead in the instead and said, "I'd rather ride you," and this is how the highwaymen all discovered their seven-foot tall boss could, in fact, blush.

[readtilyoudie]

It would be sadly unmotivating for the criminal classes to discover that their figurehead was one of the enemies. It would have the effect of a reverse Agincourt speech. The entire city would lay down their arms—or lockpicks, daggers, and coin clippers—and become honest citizens. It would end with decent young troublemakers becoming ardent monarchists and Rob simply couldn’t let that happen. He had to be responsible, for the children if nothing else.

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian

[luvfy0dor]

The Guild and Music!! ♬

╰─▸ Fitzgerald, Alcott, Lucy, Poe, Steinbeck, Hawthorne

CW: None besides probably slightly poor explanations.

Description: The Guild and music I think some of the characters would like.

F. Scott Key Fitzgerald $

╰─▸ Classical & Jazz ☑

I really want to say he likes country, but I don't really see him regularly listening to it. We know Fitzgerald is rich and stuck up, which is why I think he prefers "classier" music. Classical piano music was the first genre that came to mind. He likes how elegant it sounds, and he would probably get some sort of superiority complex for liking it.

"Hmm, I couldn't imagine listening to pop music, it's all the same. Classical music, however-"

For the exact same reason, he definetly likes Jazz. He would most likely avoid music he finds fake or electronic. The sounds of saxophones and pianos are literally and metaphorically music to his ears.

Ex; Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Bach, Mozart.

Louisa May Alcott $

╰─▸ Folk & Classical ☑

I don't want to sound repetitive but I really do think Alcott would like classical music, too. She would play some on vinyl as soft background music while she strategizes for the guild, preferring instrumental music as it's less distracting than music with lyrics.

She seems like she would enjoy the softness of folk music, matching her timid personality we often see in the show/manga. There's something, to me at least, that makes folk music seem more hollow than pop or rock. That's definitely something I can see her enjoying when it comes to music.

Ex; Mozart, The Highwaymen

Lucy Maud Montgomery $

╰─▸ Pop Punk & Indie ☑

Look at me and look at Montgomery and tell me she wouldn't like Avril Lavigne. She definitely likes pop punk love songs. She longs to feel that kind of connection with someone, especially after leaving the guild thinking she had absolutely nowhere to go.

On a different note, her softer side of that desire would probably be the reason she would enjoy indie music. She likes the softer vibe that contrast her strong emotions, but put those feelings into words as well.

Ex; Avril Lavigne, Blink-182, Bon Iver, The Neighbourhood

Edgar Allan Poe $

╰─▸ Goth & Horrorcore ☑

I think these two are pretty connected to Edgar Allan Poe's real world writing and the aesthetic of the bsd Poe. I think he would like romantic Goth music, songs that go into detail on emotion. He also really enjoys the unique style of instrumentals, lyricism is probably the most important thing in a gothic song to him, though.

However, I think he would enjoy horrorcore, too. This one is specifically because of his writings (real world), and also his seven-year obsession with killing Ranpo. On the contrary to softer goth music, I think he wouldn't mind horrorcore rap/hip-hop. (?) He would like the intensity and boldness of the lyrics.

Ex; London After Midnight, Bloody Dead and Sexy, Twiztid, Insane Clown Posse

John Steinbeck $

╰─▸ Old Country ☑

There's not much to say about him, but I think old country would remind him of his family back home. He would listen to it whenever feeling spiteful towards Fitzgerald because of his greed.

Ex; Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Dolly Parton

Nathaniel Hawthorne $

╰─▸ Gospel Music, Christian Rock ☑

Obviously because Hawthorne is quite religious, he definitely listens to gospel music. When he's not and he's angry or upset over something (probably Mitchell) he would listen to Christian rock. Even while upset or mourning, his religion is still important to him and his music taste highly reflects that.

·˚ ₊·› ͟͟͞͞꒰➳ A/N - Thank you so much for reading! I'm so sorry if I poorly described any of the genres i mentioned or used incorrectly labelled artists as examples. I'm gonna be completely honest, I didn't put much research into this and I don't really know all too much about some of the genres, so I hope I did them remote justice lol

Ex; Shirley Caesar, Skillet

[theologicalphysics]

Ok, actually, I have an idea! What if the ghosts are bound to the boundaries of the place where they died WHEN they died. So Robin's territory mostly overlaps with Button House, but is actually bigger than the rest of their territories? And Mary and the Plague ghosts who were from the Village can go all the way to the village? Plague ghosts stay where they are because thats where their pit is, and Mary hasn't gone back to the village since they killed her. The German pilots died in a plane and they stay where that plane was when they died.

I fully support this theory and in that case I'm going to explain the bit in 3x06 where the main cast ghosts are all blocked at the gates as being that all the different generations' boundaries end at the gates on that side of the property.

In Robin's day there was a river there, which formed the natural boundary to his hunting grounds. The river itself dried up as the climate changed, but the river bed cut a straight line through the landscape and got used as the basis of a Roman Road from leading from London to Verulamium. (Since we know from 02x01 that Button House is canonically in Hertfordshire.) The road fell into disrepair after the fall of Rome, but it was still the quickest way to London. In the early Middle Ages it received a royal pavage grant and funds were raised for the road to be restored using taxes gathered by the bailiffs and goodmen of the neighbouring village. The additional taxation wasn't popular, but the road was in decent condition again by the time Mick the plague ghost takes for his ill-fated trip to London in 02x02. Of course post-plague the road started to become worse for wear again. Road repair was typically funded by taxation within nearby parishes, which meant a lack of funds when the pit crew's village disappeared. When populations began to rise again in the centuries following the black death, there was a lot of resentment by those living on the Bone estates (echoing similar resentments throughout England) that local residents were entirely on the hook for the upkeep of roads which were being damaged mostly by intercity travellers who were just passing through.

Good guy Humphrey decides to try and fix this by getting a special permission to levy a toll on usage of the road. If he invites Henry VIII to Bone House, the king will have personal experience of the poorly maintained road outside the house. If everything else about the visit goes well, then the king will be in the mood to grant favours - like an act of parliament allowing the Bone family to administer a special toll relieving the financial burden on the local residents and therefore also on the Bones themselves.

Humphrey spends loads of money on making the visit as lavish as possible, only to be stymied by a particularly indigestible swan which meant there was never a good time to ask about the road, as the king spent most of the visit in the privy as mentioned in 01x04.

In Mary's time, the road had become a full-fledged turnpike and it was a great relief to her and her husband that what had previously been funded by local taxation was now being funded by the travellers themselves. (Although, in later years, the sharp-tongued Annie would point out to Mary how the grift and hypocrisy of the various toll farmers had contrived to make big profits for a few wealthy men, at the expense of locals attempting to take their good to market.) In Kitty and Thomas's day the more wooded areas of the road are used by highwaymen who will rob travellers in secluded areas then make off across open country to avoid being identified or apprehended at the toll gates. There's a certain amount of tension about this between Thomas, who believes the highwaymen to be unscrupulous ruffians and Kitty who has a more romanticised view. They spend quite a lot of time arguing about it, despite neither of them having any personal experience with highwaymen and being forced to rely on the same second-hand accounts to give weight to their arguments.

Meanwhile Robin learned early on that a far corner of the Higham House grounds adjoins the woodland area where the highwaymen operate. He, Mary and Annie spend time watching the highwaymen operate and get to know them quite well. They'll critique the delivery of the line "your money or your life" and sometimes place bets on the success of the various stick-ups. (These two plot threads are woven together when one of the highwaymen tries to avoid detection by taking a shortcut across the Button House grounds. Robin, Mary and Annie chasing after him on foot, while Kitty and Thomas come out of the house to see what all the fuss is about. Subsequently, Thomas begins looking more kindly upon highwaymen after learning that this one had successfully robbed his killer. Meanwhile Kitty sours on them after having one callously ride his horse directly through her.)

In Fanny's lifetime, the laws change so that English roads begin to be funded by a tax on individual vehicles rather than local residents or tolls. We know from 03x07 that she's got a good head for business and despite disapproving of these newfangled motorcars, she can see there's a profit to be made. She urges George to invest in the new motorcar manufacturer, Daimler, but he doesn't act on her advice in time to turn a profit. Fanny's annoyance about this is increased tenfold when she discovers, post-mortem, that the reason that dreadful Chetwynde family from next door had been doing so well financially was that they'd overheard her advice back then and had - unlike her useless lump of a husband - actually listened to her.

Daimler was subsequently sold to the Birmingham Small Arms company and the Captain's work on weapons development introduced him to a variety of their engineers as the company diversified into everything from bicycles to machine guns to aeroplanes. He used to ride a BSA motorcycle along the road outside Button House. (One of those old Roman roads, you know? Straight shot practically to Saint Albans, so you could really open up the throttle and see what the old girl was capable of. Terrific stuff!) Obviously, this simple pleasure is taken from him after his untimely death means that both his beloved BSA Gold Star and his ability to access the road in question are permanently beyond his reach.

Pat died during a time of historically high vehicle ownership, historically low fuel prices and worrying news reports about what the lead in petrol might be doing to the health of the nation. Japan had just passed a law banning its use and there are rumours that Britain might follow suit. Obviously Pat wants Daley to grow up healthy in a world where he can enjoy the outdoors, but bleeding Nora, he's not long bought a new car! Getting a catalytic converter added to the Datsun and then having to pay for fancy petrol... well it's not going to be cheap, is it? He's not sure about the price implications for multiseater vehicles and whether the scouts would be better off buying or renting for future outings if the new laws come in. He had a post-it on the dashboard of the minibus reminding him to look into the costs. It's in his line of vision as he dies. Just one more task he never got done.

The new laws are fully in place by Julian's time, albeit breathtakingly unpopular with his constituents. BSA sold Daimler to Jaguar in 1960 and are now responsible for Julian's most treasured possession. Like the Captain, Julian enjoyed pushing his vehicle to the limits on the old Roman road outside of Button House. It's a shared commonality they might have bonded over, except Julian decides to share that his drive had been enlivened by a line you could have marked the pitch at Wembley with and a mid-journey blowie from a blonde named Antonia.

[prvtocol]

Gardening is a mainstay of every verse for Bri:

In Cyberpunk 2077, when Bri is dismissed from Arasaka, changes her identity, and moves estates to go into hiding from corp retribution, the little built-in greenhouse in her new backyard becomes her haven to grow and heal from the loss of family and self. It remains a beloved hobby for the rest of her life in France.

In Far Cry, gardening is her hobby but her busy schedule and constant travel away from her London home means her garden is neglected. She ends up building a small garden on Rook Island, tucked away safe by Santiago’s abode, to tend and pass the time while there on extended layovers. 

In Far Cry New Dawn, her hobby pre-Collapse becomes her specialty in the new world. She is trained in horticulture to be a contributing member of the community and French convoy to North America. With her Highwaymen chapter, she manages their gardens, growing herbs for healing and produce for consumption and winter storage.

In Avatar, post-surrender, Brianne is at times given the task of tending the Resistance's gardens, helping with planting, tending, and harvesting the plants deemed fit for human consumption.

[notasapleasure]

The Beaux' Stratagem, National Theatre (2016)

A performance of George Farquhar's 1707 play - there's song and dance, mischief and mayhem, a few tenuous jokes about the Irish, sumptuous costumes, feisty women and so so many Schemes. It's one of three plays Joplin's in that are on NTathome, and as you'll see, it's well worth the £9.99 for a month's subscription.

Two posh-boys, Tom Aimwell and Frank Archer, who've lost all their fortunes in London rock up in Lichfield to try to find a rich county girl to marry and share her fortune between them. They're pretty much immediately clocked as sus because Archer, playing Aimwell's footman, is terrible at pretending to be in service.

The keeper of the inn they're at, Boniface, and his daughter Cherry, believe they're highwayman. They're going to get their own tame highwayman to check them out...

Enter...Mr Gibbet! David Gibbet.

The coat. The boots. The unhinged shouting. The audience tittering in nervous delight every time he bellows something otherwise innocuous. GLORIOUS.

The treasures get drawn out of every conceivable pocket. Sorry, I had to combine some images because. So many.

There's no way to convey in images that he uses chairs Riker-style. But just. uh. jot that down, I guess?

Other highwaymen?? Muscling in on his patch?? Not happy.

He and Boniface decide to go...pump 'Mr Martin' (Archer) for info. Gibbet doesn't like being sauced...

No info there: on to try to get Aimwell to confess his sins over a spot of dinner!

"SIR! I...am....yours."

"'Tis more than I deserve, sir, for I don't know you."

Gibbet's about as good at playing captain as Archer is at playing footman.

[BOTH LAUGH POLITELY]

No info so...."Deploy the priest!"

Unfortunately, the priest and his wildly inconsistent French/Irish accent just scare off Aimwell.

Meanwhile many ~~strategies~~ come into play that essentially mean every single character will end up in the same house - committing robbery, getting into beds they oughtn't etc etc...

Scrub (aka Russell from Detectorists): "First, it must be a plot, because there's a woman in it. Secondly, it must be a plot because there's a priest in it. Thirdly, it must be a plot because there's French gold in it. And fourthly, it must be a plot because I don't know what to make of it."

Allegedly that last line alludes to getting someone drunk. The more you know!

While Gibb and Boniface are planning the theft, Gibb's goons get uppity about payment...

I LOVE how he swings between huge and menacing and...mincingly camp and menacing.

Cherry IS the goddess he adores

"But, it is a maxim that a man and wife should never have it in their power to hang one another."

Now bear with me: Mrs Sullen's husband the squire is a drunk and so not in bed with her at 4am. The Irish priest and the chambermaid took a bribe to let the French count, a prisoner of war, into Mrs Sullen's chamber (she was leading him along in the hope of making her husband jealous). But her footman, Scrub, overheard the plot and told Archer because he hates the priest for fornicating with his love, the chambermaid. Archer and Aimwell exposed the priest as a spy and blackmailed him into helping them instead. So Archer is in the bedchamber trying to seduce Mrs Sullen when Scrub comes in yelling "Thieves!"

So this is about the precise moment where I was murdered

In any case, form beyond the grave I can inform you that when he turns his back, the door clicks -

...and Scrub gets under the covers instead of Mrs Sullen.

I wish I could share with you the spectacular grunts he makes as he shrugs off his coat. Then he takes a whiff of his pits, realises he smells of the road, and helps himself to the lady's perfume. And for good measure:

Mrs Sullen doesn't want him killed at least

Pure and delightful chaos soundtracked by manic fiddles ensues <3

You'll be pleased to know that Archer flinches and shakes his sore fist when he tries punching Gibb in the abs. But then here comes Mrs Sullen with the chair!!!

In the end, things work out - no one dies! (yet) I tried to get some pictures of Gibbet dancing in the final ensemble piece, but you can judge my success for yourself. There's also a nice touch with the villains trying to go off stage different ways after the curtain call.

The End!

---

Rating

Dead? No, I'm sure he'll bribe his way out. The fact he managed to get himself untied before leaving the stage gives me hope!

Evil? Who cares, have you SEEN him??

Affects the plot? While in cahoots with others, yes!

God this is just. A solid, perfect 5/5. No criticism. The physicality! The delivery! The effortless switch between mincing and looming. He's a fucking delight, and so is the play.