#resuming normal service

[ladamedusoif]

Bonne anniversaire! Happy Birthday! Hope it's filled with joy.

MAGGIE. I am so sorry I didn't see this and get round to answering until now but honestly, had I seen this at the time, I might not have had a birthday celebration due to passing the fuck out. That dancing clip and gif does things to meeeeee. (I don't know what it is. The patented jacket shimmy? The hip movements? The shirt? The fit of that suit? The hint of solid, inviting, tummy underneath? The urge to absolutely dance the night away with that man? I could write a thesis on it.)

MERCI BEAUCOUP, Marguerite. And thank you for an excellent gif choice.

[tathrin]

Hey, so do you ever stop to think about how the premise of Lord of the Rings being an in-universe book written by some of the characters who lived through that story means that they decided what parts and perspectives to use to tell that story...?

And when our authors weren't there to experience the events themselves, they have to rely on what they're told about them by the characters who were there, right...?

Okay so stop and think about the Glittering Caves.

We never actually go to the caves in the narrative. Tolkien LOVES describing nature and natural beauty, but we don't actually see the caves described "by him" the way we do other places. Obviously Gimli's words are Tolkien's, yes; but we only see the caves filtered through his words about them, after the fact.

When Gimli and Éomer and the other Rohirrim take refuge there, the narrative doesn't follow them. Obviously from a narrative standpoint this is to keep the focus narrow, and not to interrupt the battle-sequence with a long ode to the beauty of the caves, and to create tension in the reader who doesn't know if these characters are okay or not. Which all makes sense!

But think about it in terms of the book that was written in Middle-earth by the folk living there. Why DON'T we get to have a direct experience of those caves? Gimli obviously related several other parts of the story that none of the Hobbits were there to witness to them, and which were written into the books as Direct Events Happening In The Narrative (think of the Paths of the Dead scene, for one of the more visceral moments!). So why not the Glittering Caves?

Was it because they wanted to keep that narrative focus and tension, and so they didn't include his perspective on that part of the battle? Perhaps, that's certainly a possibility to consider.

But also consider: when we do hear about the Glittering Caves, what we hear is Gimli telling Legolas about the Glittering Caves. THAT is the part of that event that is considered of importance to include in the book: not Gimli's actual experience when he was in them, but rather the part where he relates that experience TO Legolas.

And I kind of just THOUGHT about that today.

And went HUH.

[lurking-latinist]

Noticed today that HMS Surprise’s ship’s cat has a “particular friend,” a parrot with Irish nationalist sentiments:

O’Brian really said “I have found one (1) odd couple dynamic and I will put it in everything.” How much do you want to bet the parrot is never properly preened and the cat is a big yellow tom with a scar down the side of its face?

Can I have 21 books of the cat and the parrot’s adventures please

[kirric-the-fan]

Cure...Pumpkin?!?!?!

(Happy Halloween!)

[abirdie]

Gael García Bernal in The Kindergarten Teacher (2018, dir. Sara Colangelo)

(these gifs also feature Maggie Gyllenhaal)

Gifs are all 540px wide so you can click to see larger.

[other gael filmography gifsets]

[incorrectgarashir]

Julian: Look, do I consider myself attractive? Yes. But would I have sex with my clone? Also yes.

Garak: Don't worry - I'd have sex with your clone too.

[vashtijoy]

Did somebody say something about an English dub? Is that for the original series because I have bluray money burning a hole in my pocket

[luminiferocity]

A personal update...

I've been quiet on here and with my WIPs for a while; it's a brief hiatus and nothing's abandoned -- I've just been settling in as a new mum with my baby girl ❤️💜❤️

[ladamedusoif]

You're here writing your stories because they NEED to be written and you're the only one who can do it. And because they're far too fantastic to just live in your head! Give them more room to run! They deserve to live in the heads and hearts of others, too! People who might not even know they need your stories absolutely need your stories. If anyone even tries to tell you that's not true don't listen to that troll! That troll is just miserable because it crawled out from under its bridge and now its lost. And if that troll hops into your brain you kick it out of there immediately. Your brain is not a bridge for miserable trolls to hang out under. It's the pasture where your stories grow and they grow best when there are no trolls mucking about.* **

* I say all of this having been plagued by that miserable bridge troll myself, and I completely understand how it feels to have your stories seem invisible amongst the plethora of other stories out there but please keep your brilliant head up and keep writing.

** I HAVE HAD YOUR MR. BEN STORY IN MY DRAFTS TO READ WHEN I HAVE TIME TO BINGE IT ALL FOR WEEKS AND I AM SO MAD THAT I HAVEN'T GOTTEN TO IT YET AND I AM SO LOOKING FORWARD TO IT AND THE REST OF YOUR MASTERLIST, TOO. HOPE THIS HELPS.

Alyssa:

I am so sorry I am only seeing this ask now

Because it is so beautiful and gorgeous and encouraging

And because whew did I need to see this right now

"People who might not even know they need your stories absolutely need your stories" is such a beautiful thing to say to a writer. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I will keep going if you do.

[whositmcwhatsit]

[steveinscarlet]

Right, I'm going to drink whiskey and read the most traumatising Steve fics I can find and cry. Because this is a totally mature and responsible way to deal with my life rn

[ssruis]

Going through a straight up comical amount of irritating situations to get the stupid 4* guaranteed ticket from the welcome to sekai campaign. It Will Be Mine.

[caspiankingofnarnia]

oh okay im at that stage of concussion where emotions go haywire i feel so sad and awful and i hate myself right now like why am i so ugly and awkward and just an embarrassment???? ahhh this is fine im fine hope this passes quickly please

[luxe-pauvre]

OCTOBER 2023

Read:

Not a single thing worth mentioning (i.e. just over 100 papers, in some form, while writing a 10,000 report and an hour long presentation for my PhD upgrade, which I passed today).

Watched:

Nothing.

Listened to:

I had 30GB of music on shuffle through this whole ordeal and I cannot remember a single song or album.

Went to:

Crown to Couture @ Kensington Palace

[cute-little-crow]

I haven’t reblogged anything for a long time and I’m sorry about that.

I had a bit of a crash emotionally which I am recovering from. I tend to withdraw into myself when those times come. 😞

[jacobglaser]

Non spn people following me, a) I apologise for the next 24 hours and b) I'll be tagging everything #november 5th so it can easily be muted if need be.