#the canticle of canticles

[sizeofyoursoul]

How many times is she going to use the word "preternatural"?!

Interview with the Vampire: 13

The Vampire Lestat: 15

The Queen of the Damned: 13

Tale of the Body Thief: 39

Memnoch the Devil: 15

The Vampire Armand: 16

Merrick: 11

Blood and Gold: 12

Blackwood Farm: 1

Blood Canticle: 4

Prince Lestat: 28

Prince Lestat and the Realms of Atlantis: 9

Blood Communion: 14

[susiephone]

wtf is dracula daily?

i’ve seen a couple people ask this question on my posts about it, so i thought i’d go ahead and clear it up here!

ok so, the classic horror novel “dracula” is an epistolary novel - that means it’s told via letters, diary entries, ship logs, and news articles. (technically the term “epistolary novel” refers to works told solely through letters or emails, but many have expanded it to mean any work that is told via in-universe documents, hence why diaries and logs often get included as well. “frankenstein” is another classic example; the whole framing device is robert walton is recounting the story he heard from victor to his sister via letter. a modern example would be “several people are typing,” which is told via slack messages, or “the perks of being a wallflower,” which is told via letters from charlie to his anonymous pen pal, which is functionally more like you’re reading his diary.)

because of the nature of the narrative, we actually know the exact day nearly everything in dracula happens - the letters, news articles, diary entries, etc. are all dated.

“dracula daily” is a substack project where the novel is broken up into parts, with people who are subscribed to the project getting emails every day something in dracula happens - for example, the novel opens with jonathan harker’s journal entry on may 3, so on may 3, subscribers are emailed that entry. the action of dracula takes place from may 3 - november 6, plus an epilogue set some years later. the project started in 2021 (i think), but fucking BLEW UP in 2022, and they’re doing it again this year! lots of us are very excited - especially people like me who fell behind last time.

why not just read the book?

valid! due to some parts of dracula being told out of chronological order, dracula daily does reorder some things. for example, the first section of dracula is told entirely from jonathan harker’s pov, then the second section switches the pov to mina murray. their sections have some overlap in the timeline, so dracula daily jumps back and forth between their perspectives.

if you want to read the book as bram stoker intended, dracula daily may not be for you. but for a lot of people (myself included!), it breaks up a very long text into easily digestible chunks (....mostly. there is one entry that is 10k words), and the fact that it’s a big project means there are a lot of people reading along with you.

i think there’s also something valuable about experience the slow revelation of wtf is going on along with the characters. the book which you might otherwise get through in a few days is stretched out into months of suspense and agony as you wait for the other shoe to drop, and it’s great.

plus, the whiplash between “jonathan harker’s neverending horror” vs “lucy is basically on the bachelorette” that you get in dracula daily is very very funny.

how do i sign up?

right here! and if you sign up and fall behind in the emails, no worries - the dracula daily website posts past entries so you can catch up.

what if i prefer audiobooks?

have i got great news for you!

like i mentioned before, i couldn’t keep up with the emails last year. part of it is that it is much easier for me to focus on an audiobook or keep up with a podcast than it is for me to sit down and read, especially with longer entries.

this year, there is going to be a podcast titled “re: dracula” that was inspired by dracula daily. every episode will be a dracula daily entry, with a full voice cast! (seriously, if you listen to british podcasts, you will recognize some of these names. the magnus archives and wooden overcoats girlies are WINNING.) you can find that here.

there is also a podcast called “cryptic canticles” that has an already-completed audiodrama of dracula that i’m told is also extremely good, and was also broken up by date. you can find that here.

why do i keep hearing about paprika/the boyfriend squad/lizard fashion/cowboys?

you’ll see.

oh god am i gonna hear about this nerd shit for the rest of the year

yes. sorry.

[shewolfofvilnius]

i know I keep hyperfixating on the Solas/Ghilan'nain flashback but there is SO MUCH to unpack there and I want to talk about the VERY FIRST THING we see when we start the FIRST GAME. (DAV spoilers ahead)

The VERY FIRST

This is the very first thing we learn about the entire setting of the game. It's the foundational piece for the Chantry's concept of sin. And as we learned in one of the random Veilguard videos, The Chantry's interpretation is completely fucking wrong.

The Blight not only predates the first Archdemon, it predates the creation of the Veil and the sundering of magic into The Fade. It dates back to late period Elvhenan.

So where did the Canticle of Threnodies originate? Hint: NOT THE CHANTRY.

Slave uprisings? Oral tradition? Hmm, which people relied near-exclusively on oral tradition for centuries? Who did Tevinter primarily enslave? Who has a history of slave uprisings that predates Tevinter itself? Elves. What happened to the Elves of Arlathan after it fell? Enslaved in the founding of modern day Tevinter.

Ancient Tevinter Slaves (hint: Elves) have an ancient oral dirge about a "golden city" being "blackened", and about a singular pissed off narrator telling someone that their every step blackens the city and brings doom upon the world.

A dirge primarily sung during slave uprisings. Whose big thing was a massive slave uprising or uprisiings in Elvhenan and Arlathan?

I posit that Canticle of Threnodies 8:13 is the Chantry's translation/appropriation of Solas telling off the Evanuris once and for all, and was part of his final rebuke to them before trapping them in the Golden/Black City (Arlathan) and sealing the city off and creating the Fade.

The warning survived into Elven oral tradition as they were then enslaved by the humans in the founding of Tevinter. When the Magisters then breached the Black City and found the blight waiting for them (as Corypheus confirms, although I wonder where the Evanuris were hiding), it was retconned to apply to the Magisters when the original sin...was the Evanuris.

(PS: There are literally dozens of these examples of history retcon all throughout Thedas in past games.)

[tomicscomics]

07/19/2024

Happy (almost) Feast of St. Mary Magdalene!

JOKE-OGRAPHY: 1. The Feast Day: This comic is based on the Catholic Church's scheduled readings for the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene (July 22, 2024). The Old Testament reading will be a portion of a love poem from Song of Songs 3:1-4. The Gospel reading will be the story of Mary Magdalene's encounter with Jesus after His resurrection, from John 20:1-17. 2. Song of Songs: The poem is about a woman searching everywhere for her missing lover. The poem's story is very cute on a literal level, but it also symbolizes the human heart's desperate yearning for the divine. For this cartoon, I rewrote the poem just slightly, keeping the story and pacing intact, but making it flow and rhyme in English. I hope I did alright! 3. Gospel of John: Days after Jesus is crucified and buried, Mary Magdalene visits His tomb but finds it open and empty. She runs to the apostles and tells them that someone stole Jesus's body. They come to investigate the tomb, but leave befuddled. While Mary stays and weeps by the open tomb, two angels appear inside and ask why she's crying. When she explains her sorrow, she's suddenly asked the same thing by Jesus, Who's appeared beside her, though she doesn't recognize Him until He says her name. 4. The Readings Combined: These two stories complement each other perfectly. All human relationships can be seen as reflections, shadows, or branches of the one relationship which every soul was created for: communion with God. By using the context of a human relationship, the poem gives a relatable, human voice to the soul's lofty instinctual longing. Read alongside Mary Magdalene's despair when she thinks she's lost her God, and her joy when she finds Him again, the poem's literal and symbolic meanings become one. It's an excellent pairing of readings by the Church, I must say. They may be on to something. I shall be watching their career with great interest.

[cosmerelists]

Nomad Rates Cosmere Planets

As requested by @endervexer :)

Nomad is always on the move--but if he had time to stop and rate Cosmere planets as if they were hotels (you know, rating how clean they are, what the accommodations are like, etc), what would those ratings look like?

1. Canticle (The Sunlit Man)

Place was pretty clean, as the ever-present burning of the sun constantly purified the land.

Food was mediocre. Needed spice.

Accommodations were pretty old and worn down, but clean.

People were polite but not overly friendly, which I count as a positive. Some of them tried to kill me, which I count as a negative.

Entertainment consisted of gladiatorial fights and/or public executions. You can also hear stories. The stories are about ghosts.

BTW, place is haunted.

Overall, 2/5.

2. First of the Sun (Sixth of the Dusk)

Note: I only had time to visit part of this planet. Specifically, the island jungle part.

I would not call it "clean." It is a jungle. It is full of death.

If you like your food fresh-caught and cooked over a fire, you will like the food here. I did not try much of the food, because I was mostly fleeing death.

Accommodations were sparse, unpleasant, and--you guessed it!--not very safe from death.

The people tended to be distrustful and prickly. I did not hold this against them. I was only there briefly, and I was prickly too.

Entertainment was mostly hunting and camping. Although I would not class it as "entertainment" as much as "necessary survival."

NOT an island vacation. 1/5 stars (one star because the chickens there were pretty)

3. Lumar (Tress of the Emerald Sea)

For a place in which water brings death, it was actually pretty clean. Not sparking, but clean enough.

I did not like the food much. Bland. Their sea chickens do not taste as good as land chickens, IMO.

Since most of planet seems to be oceans (NOT water-based), you will find yourself staying on ships if you stay on this planet. What do you want me to say? It's a ship. Even if you have a private cabin, it will be small. It was fine.

People were on the whole friendly but seemed unused to visitors. I don't think this spot is very popular.

Interesting place to sightsee. The oceans are all different colors. The lunagrees (moon aether waterfalls) are worth seeing.

Overall, 3/5

4. Nalthis (Warbreaker)

Planet was generally well kept up--dirty in the way that populated cities or vast snowy landscapes full of woods can be dirty, but nothing major.

Great if you like seafood. Worth seeking out ethnic neighborhoods within the big cities for better food.

Some parts of the planet have better accommodations than others. If you want to stay in a cabin and feel cold and depressed all the time, try Idris. If you want to be a warmer place and like seafood and way too much color, try Hallandren.

If you want culture & stuff to do, try Hallandren. We're talking sports, art, music, creepy statues, pretty much anything you can think of. I cannot emphasize enough that it too colorful though.

This place will take your breath away (just a little Nalthian humor).

4/5 I had to soak my eyes after.

5. Scadrial (Mistborn)

Saw lots of reviewers saying that planet is the dirtiest place they've ever been, what with the constant rain of deadly ash.

Not my experience. Place was admittedly dusty in a "we love our cowboy aesthetic" kind of way, but they've clearly cleaned up since some of those earlier reviews.

Food was okay, but this seems to be more a place you go to drink. If you like whiskey, you will like Scadrial. Yeah I saw the review saying people drink perfume. Can't verify. Didn't see that.

Lots of places to stay, many of which are pleasant enough. If you happen to be speeding through the planet in fear of your life and the life of everyone you've ever cared about, then you'll be happy to hear that your options are many: horses, cars, trains, magic.

(I will ding them for their idiotic train system. Sometimes people don't WANT to go through the center on every trip.)

Entertainment options I saw: ride trains, see giraffes, drink, visit fast-food places, drink, visit the Field of Rebirth, shoot guns, drink.

4/5 I'm just not that into cowboys

6. Sel (Elantris)

Cleanliness varied from "sparkling silver city of the gods" to "battlefield awash in the blood of innocents." Definitely not the dirtiest place I've ever stayed.

Food was a highlight. You can get good spice here. Sweet things are also available for women/ardents.

On the whole, accommodations are solid. Good infrastructure, no weather actively trying to kill you, some places on planet not currently at war.

People can be aggressively religious, but if you avoid people in red armor, it's fine.

For entertainment, I can recommend sightseeing--go see the city of Elantris. It's worth it. Note: reviews complaining about zombies and sludge are old. Always check the date on reviews.

Overall 4/5

7. Taldain (White Sand)

The place has too much sand to be clean. I'm sorry but it has to be said.

The place has too much sand to have good food. I feel like it was always slightly...crunchy.

The accommodations are fine if you like sand.

The people always seem to be subtly wanting to prove that they're better than you. Sometimes it is not subtle. I guess this is what happens when Autonomy is in charge.

If you want entertainment, try the Darkside.

Overall, 2/5 just not my favorite place.

8. Threnody (Shadows for Silence)

Place is quite clean.

Food is bland again. You cannot trust Threnodites to have good food.

Oh, also the place is full of ghosts who will murder you.

0/5

9. Komashi (Yumi and the Nightmare Painter)

Can verify that place is no longer infested by deadly nightmares seeking your death. Travelers no longer need to seek out the few pockets of warmth and light in the sea of encroaching darkness. It's a pretty normal planet now.

Food is pretty good. Ramen place in Kilahito (Noodle Princess) is a highlight.

Good accommodations, tech-wise. Heating, lighting, hion-viewers. If you need that stuff to feel comfortable, not a bad place to visit.

If you're not actively on the run, there is plenty to do, from watching your shows to attending local festivals or art installations, to star gazing.

Pleasant place, these days. 5/5

10. Roshar

Note: I'm from here so my review may be biased.

Can't say planet is very clean. It's always at war, and the rain is full of crem.

Food varies. Soulcast food is not very good. Non-soulcast homemade food is great! (Most food is soulcast.)

Accommodations matter--try to stay in a building that is sturdy on both the east & the west side because the storms here do want to kill you. That is not entirely a metaphor. Are the accommodations nice? I mean, they're fine.

There is a lot to do here if you like war. There is a lot of war.

5/5 This place sucks and I miss it a lot.

[mixtpecas]

destiel - he's a rebel

he's a rebel 'cause he never ever does what he should but just because he doesn't do what everybody else does oh, that's no reason why i can't give him all my love

the "he's a dorky little guy" of it all <3

[l3st1b0urn3s-707]

All of these Bridge Four references are actually going to make me cry. Nomad (whose real identity I already know because I got spoiled before even starting to read the book) was thinking about Rock's stew, and made an internal joke about being airsick. Not to mention he's constantly thinking about Kaladin. And that's so cute but at the same time so sad.

[morsesnotes]

When your friend brought you home the other night, I didn’t see a coward. Just a man beat up too often and for too long, maybe. You’re not yellow. You’re just blue.

Endeavour Morse: brave + terrified

[herbofgraceandpeace]

why do I never remember remember to put Marguerite St. Just on the female blorbos post??

She’s the cleverest woman in Europe, she doesn’t know who her own husband is, she’s a great actress, she gave it all up for love, she’s a triumph at court, she’s miserable at home, she’s friends with the Royal Family, she hated aristocrats once, she’s pining for her own husband, she’s blackmailed into being a spy, she’ll risk her life for the ones she loves, she’s bitter and beautiful and misunderstood and I LOVE HER

[bonesesq]

why does every single vampire chronicles book narrated by lestat start out like "[something irrelevant]- WAIT a second. are you new here? *RECORD SCRATCH* i'm the vampire lestat, and i'm the most beautiful 6 foot tall blonde man with gorgeous blue eyes. this is the story of how i seduced a grown woman-"

[spooky-hey]

1 - Bright. Just Jack Jack Bright; 2 - A Canticle For Bright (hub - Doctors of the Church); 3 - The Executions of Doctor Bright (end of it). :3

[bubblegum-blackwood]

The Vampire Chronicles as Onion headlines - part four

(Links to part one, two, three)

Everyone to Lestat in TotBT:

Lestat and Mona in Blood Canticle:

Marius with Roman coins at the de Romanus clan family outing he got dragged to:

Magnus:

The mortal staff of any vampire:

Marius/Armand:

Lestat's concert:

Thorne roasting Santino:

Louis showing up in a dusty sweater again:

Marius/Daniel:

Devil's Minion:

lbr probably half these guys if not more:

Santino:

Marius:

[linguistwho]

Gallifreyan of the Month - August 2024:

Scarborough Fair/Canticle by Simon & Garfunkel

The Scarborough Fair parts are in green, and the Canticle parts are in red. Try putting the image over a red or green background to read them separately!

(Also the last verse is cut off because it's just a repetition of the first verse and didn't look good)

[bakathief]

Title: Shades of Tourmaline

Fandom: Detective Conan | Magic Kaito

Author: @cleflink

Artist: @bakathief

Pairing: Kaishin preslash

Word count: 13580

Rating: G

A/N: We have been working on this collab for THREE YEARS folks. And now it's finally here! We have loved creating this world together and we very much hope that you will all enjoy as well! :)

Summary:

There was a human in Kaito's forest.

[cosmerelists]

Children's TV Programming on Each Cosmere Planet

As requested by anon. :)

If every Cosmere planet not only had TV, but also children's TV programming, what kind of shows would be popular?

1. Roshar [Stormlight Archive]

Herald Babies: It's like the Muppet Babies, only it's about the heralds. All of whom are babies. And Muppets. Just imagine tiny Shalash using her comically oversized mallet to smash any drawings she finds of herself. Adorable!

Pitford the Big Red Axehound: A show all about a young girl and her pet axehound, which is loved so much that it grows into a GIANT axehound!

Reading Rainbow: This show is ONLY for girls (and yes, I checked! Highstorms do produce rainbows!)

My Little Ryshadium: Yes, in this show the Ryshadium are little. And brightly colored! And friends. This show is way more popular with boys.

Mister Wit's Neighborhood: A beloved show where Mr. Wit tells stories and plays his flute for the children. He's weirdly rude to any adults on the show, though.

2. Scadrial [Mistborn]

The Adventures of Young Jak: All the fun of Allomancer Jak, only he's just a little kid in this show.

Bonewish: Each week, a kandra eats the bones of a small animal and then acts out classic works of literature. It's...much cuter than it sounds.

Mister Hoid's Neighborhood: A beloved show where Hoid, the friendly neighborhood cab driver, tells stories, sings songs, and shows off various fascinating places around the city of Elendel.

3. Canticle [Sunlit Man]

Naughty Children Are Eaten By Ghosts: It's pretty much as the title says. Every episode there is a naughty child. And then that child is eaten. By a ghost.

4. Threnody [Shadows for Silence]

Wayward Youth Are Consumed by Shades: This show...well, to be honest, it's weirdly similar to that show from Canticle. Or is it the other way around?

5. Sel [Elantris]

Readin' with Seon: A glowing ball of light reads books aloud to children. Their diction and pronunciation is always perfect!

Mister Hoid's Neighborhood: The show never makes it clear why this random beggar is telling stories and playing music and showing children around Elantris, but it is a beloved TV staple.

6. Taldain [White Sand]

Captain Sand: By combining their sand powers, these children can summon Captain Sand, who fights evildoers and polluters with sand! It's very...sand-centric.

7. First of the Sun [Sixth of the Dusk]

Fourth Who Exploreth: The adventures of Fourth of the Dawn, who explores jungles with the help of her avian companion, Sandals. With the help of the kids at home, Fourth must solve puzzles like, "How can we escape from this deadly swamp" or "If we don't catch food soon, we'll starve to death." It's, uh, super upbeat!

8. Nalthis [Warbreaker]

Minnie the Panther: The story of a young boy who Awakened all of his stuffed animals, including his stuffed panther, Minnie, and now they all go on adventures together!

Sweet Potato Street: Like Sesame Street, only I don't know if Nalthis has sesame specifically. This show features many beloved puppets, like the big colorful bird and the talking flower, and even has real famous people on it--even gods!

Mister Hoid's Neighborhood: A beloved childhood staple where Mister Hoid tells stories from history and myth for the children, always using his fun, brightly colored sand!

9. Komashi [Yumi and the Nightmare Painter]

Glint's Hints: Children must help the hapless Nightmare Painter solve mysteries--which usually ends up requiring the child to help him draw a picture to get rid of a nightmare!

10. Lumar [Tress of the Emerald Sea]

Aether Bears: Like the Care Bears, only instead of shooting rainbows out of their bellies, they shoot out aether colors! And if children cry around these bears, the bears explode. So it's very important that kids stay happy in Aether Bear world.

Xisis & Friends! At some point, the dragon Xisis was reimagined as a much smaller dragon who liked to play with children and sing songs about friendship. Nobody is sure what the real Xisis thinks of it...

The Magic Pirate Ship: The captain of this ship, which is inexplicably crewed only by children, uses her magic to take the kids on adventures! Like the time they shrunk the ship down to microscopic size and went inside a guy's body, or the time they went up to one of the moons!

Mister Hoid the Cabin Boy: A beloved childhood staple where the ship's funny old cabin boy entertains children with his stories, his jokes, and his zany antics! Everyone LOVES his bright red shorts! ...Hoid may never go back to Lumar.

[kaiasky]

hiii its me pope Eschelstadt II technology is literally Reason Itself given flesh its sososo sacred that us humans cannot deserve to touch it. pleaseplease throw your crayons in my Bottomless Hole i prommmy its not like just getting collected by my dudes in a cave somewhere. and thats how we all have carbide everything. anyways yea if ur a tinker and u just made that gun to throw in my hole? we're chilin. u don't deserve to create the Literal body of the divine by being a tinker BUT ill forgive u because the gun went in the hole.