#they are also not in chronological order nor the order they will be in le final product. which are two different things

[springcatalyst]

i reached 150 pages eveybody clap for meeeeee

[anotherhumaninthisworld]

Do you think the rumors of a romance/marriage between Robespierre and Eleonore are true? Or is there any hard evidence at all?

”Hard evidence” I suppose would be statements from Robespierre and/or Éléonore themselves that the two were a thing. Such things would however appear to not exist. For Robespierre, the only time he is even recorded to have mentioned Éléonore that I’m aware of is when writing to her father while on a trip to Arras in the fall of 1791 and asking him to say hello from him to the rest of his family:

Please present the testimonies of my tender friendship to Madame Duplay, to your demoiselles, and to my little friend. Robespierre to Maurice Duplay, October 16 1791

Present the testimonies of my tender and masterful attachment to your ladies, whom I earnestly desire to embrace, as well as our little patriot.  Robespierre to Maurice Duplay, November 17 1791

As can be seen from the letters, there’s nothing here suggesting he thought anything in particular about Éléonore. But it’s also unknown if the two were even a thing at this point, considering they hadn’t known each other for even half a year.

As for Éléonore, she hasn’t left behind any written material at all that I’m aware of, nor do we possess anything written to her. This just leaves us with contemporary claims regarding the two. Below are those I’ve been able to find, cited in chronological order:

[Robespierre’s] host's daughter passed for his wife and had a sort of empire over him.  Causes secrètes de la révolution du 9 au 10 thermidor (1794) by Joachim Vilate, page 16

It has been rumored that [Éléonore] had been Robespierre's mistress. I think I can affirm she was his wife; according to the testimony of one of my colleagues, Saint-Just had been informed of this secret marriage, which he had attended.  Mémoires d’un prêtre regicide (1829) by Simon-Edme Monnel, page 337-338

Madame Lebreton, a sweet and sensitive young woman, said, blushing: “Everyone assures that Eugénie [sic] Duplay was Robespierre’s mistress.” “Ah! My God! Is it possible that that good and generous creature should have so degraded herself?” I was aghast. “Listen,” cried Henriette, “don’t judge on appearances. The unhappy Eugénie was not the mistress, but the wife of the monster, whom her pure soul decorated with every virtue; they were united by a secret marriage of which Saint-Just was the witness.”  Souvernirs de 1793 et 1794 par madame Clément, Née Hémery (1832) by Albertine Clément-Hémery

Madame Duplay had three [sic] daughters: one married the conventionnel Le Bas; another married, I believe, an ex-constituent; the third, Éléonore, who preferred to be called Cornélie, and who was the eldest, was, according to what people pleased themselves to say, on the point of marrying my brother Maximilien when 9 Thermidor came. There are in regard to Éléonore Duplay two opinions: one, that that she was the mistress of Robespierre the elder; the other that she was his fiancée. I believe that these opinions are equally false; but what is certain is that Madame Duplay would have strongly desired to have my brother Maximilien for a son-in-law, and that she forget neither caresses nor seductions to make him marry her daughter. Éléonore too was very ambitious to call herself the Citizeness Robespierre, and she put into effect all that could touch Maximilien’s heart. But, overwhelmed with work and affairs as he was, entirely absorbed by his functions as a member of the Committee of Public Safety, could my older brother occupy himself with love and marriage? Was there a place in his heart for such futilities, when his heart was entirely filled with love for the patrie, when all his sentiments, all his thoughts were concentrated in a sole sentiment, in a sole thought, the happiness of the people; when, without cease fighting against the revolution’s enemies, without cease assailed by his personal enemies, his life was a perpetual combat? No, my older brother should not have, could not have amused himself to be a Celadon with Éléonore Duplay, and, I should add, such a role would not enter into his character. Besides, I can attest it, he told me twenty times that he felt nothing for Éléonore; her family’s obsessions, their importunities were more suited to make feel disgust for her than to make him love her. The Duplays could say what they wanted, but there is the exact truth. One can judge if he was disposed to unite himself to Madame Duplay’s eldest daughter by something I heard him say to Augustin: “You should marry Éléonore.”  “My faith, no,” replied my younger brother.  Mémoires de Charlotte Robespierre sur ses deux frères (1834) page 90-91

My eldest sister had been promised to Robespierre. Memoirs of Élisabeth Lebas (written around 1844)

The eldest of the Duplay daughters, who Robespierre wanted to marry, was called Éléonore. Robespierre allowed himself to be cared for, but he was not in love.  Notes historiques sur la Convention nationale, le Directoire, l’Empire et l’exil des votants (1895) by Marc Antoine Baudot, page 41

All the historians assert that [Robespierre] carried out an intrigue with the daughter of Duplay, but as the family physician and constant guest of that house I am in a position to deny this on oath. They were devoted to each other, and their marriage was arranged; but nothing of the kind alleged ever sullied their love.   Recollections of a Parisian (docteur Poumiès de La Siboutie) under six sovereigns, two revolutions, and a republic (1789-1863) (1911)

I personally believe in the version reported by Élisabeth Duplay and Joseph Souberbielle here (that is, that Robespierre and Éléonore were unofficially engaged and nothing more) since they were the ones to be in a position to actually know. The account of Charlotte Robespierre, who I suppose also was in this position, I’m dismissing due to her obvious jealousy of the Duplays. Plus, she’s done so many other shady things that lying about an engagement is honestly the least I expect from her at this point (and she lied about her own so…)

[worldsover]

worldsover - masterlist

Hey, I’m 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙𝙨𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧. You can also call me Levi. I write (and edit) K-pop girl group smut. If you'd like to leave a tip, here's my ko-fi. Thanks!

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Improved Masterlist

This is a link to my browser-only masterlist that lets you filter by series, groups, and other tags!

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The Warren

The Warren is my Discord server. Come talk about smut, writing, and K-pop with me! (Please read the rules.)

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Who?

Dreamcatcher is number one, followed closely behind by LOONA, fromis_9, Oh My Girl, Red Velvet, CLC, (G)I-DLE, Twice, ITZY and every single recent girl group debut you can think of. Here’s my rules and bias list if you’re interested. Also here’s my AFF, and AO3.

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Idol x Reader One-shots

Started: 2020/11/18, Sway ft. Hayoung

Most Popular: 2022/01/06, The Highest Education ft. Karina, Yeji [1413 notes as of 2024/01/15]

Last updated: 2024/04/13, Professor Knows ft. Arin

Sorted by group, in chronological order. Quickies are short Tumblr exclusive stories. My longer one-shots can also be found in Title Tracks, the name of my collection on AFF and AO3. Stories in Title Tracks end in "ft. [idol name]" while quickies end with (idol name).

fromis_9

Sway ft. Hayoung

BarelyLegalGirls2021Scene9.mov.exe ft. Jiheon

The Yarn We Spin ft. Gyuri

She Said Now (Jisun)

Ropes as Art ft. Chaeyoung

Hourglass ft. Saerom

link in bio top 0.1% creator ft. Jiheon

LOONA

No More Drowning ft. Olivia Hye

Dal Segno ft. Chuu

Fermata ft. Chuu

Well Deserved (Yeojin)

Kinktober Day 8, Praise Kink (Hyunjin)

Kinktober Day 12, Knife Play (Chuu)

Kinktober Day 19, Daddy Kink (Heejin)

Fibonacci ft. Heejin

The Wrong Person ft. Heejin [collab with @kaedewrites]

Get In Line—Oh, Your Turn (Heejin)

Triangle ft. Choerry, Olivia Hye

Transcendence/Pareidolia ft. Heejin

Shots Fired (Yeojin)

aespa

Judgement to the Desiccated ft. Karina

Neither Here Nor There ft. Karina, Winter

Kinktober Day 14, Food Play (Ningning)

Bark and Bite (Ningning) [Collab with @drifternsfw]

Better Things ft. Karina, Ningning

Dreamcatcher

Wintertide Inside ft. Gahyeon

The Curse of the Spider ft. Jiu

Precipitous ft. Handong

Maybe More Like Five (Yoohyeon)

A Lot Of It (Gahyeon)

Stress Relief - Threesomes

Kinktober Day 13, Double Penetration (Yoohyeon)

Style (Gahyeon)

Like a Trifling Little Thing ft. Jiu

ITZY

Upper Floor Lower ft. Lia

Kinktober Day 5, Pegging (Ryujin)

Renewed (Yuna) [Collab with @dreamcatchers-husband​]

SNSD

Ante ft. Taeyeon

TWICE

“VAA201 Assignment 3: Compare and Contrast — Sex Portrayed in Three Forms of Media” ft. Chaeyoung, Mina

Nothing Wrong With Breaking the Rules (Momo)

Kinktober Day 6, Face-sitting/Face-fucking (Mina)

One, Two, Concatenate (Sana, Nayeon)

WJSN

The Body Floats Away (Bona)

Kinktober Day 2, Breeding (Luda)

IZ*ONE

Sanctified Rituals (Minju, Nako, Hitomi, Yuri)

New Home ft. Yena

Kinktober Day 18, Hunter/Prey (Nako)

Kaninchen und Ente (Yena)

Red Velvet

Too Far (Yeri)

Kinktober Day 1, Sleep Sex (Joy)

Kinktober Day 4, Humiliation (Wendy)

But, But, But ft. Joy

The Strongest Man Alive (Irene)

(G)I-DLE

Good Morning (Yuqi)

Oh My Girl

Reciprocal Function (Arin)

Professor Knows ft. Arin

Soloists

Conjecture (Somi)

Kinktober Day 10, Toys (Bibi) [Collab with @existslikepristin]

Kinktober Day 15, Tit Fucking (Jamie, Lee Hi)

Kinktober Day 16, Gangbang (IU)

Blackpink

The Best Flavor (Jennie)

Kinktober Day 11, Phone Sex (Rose)

In Motion (Jisoo)

Everglow

Kinktober Day 3, Public Sex (Sihyeon)

CLC

Kinktober Day 7, Lingerie (Seungyeon)

Kinktober Day 17, Shower Sex (Yujin)

Lovelyz

Kinktober Day 9, Edging/Orgasm Control (Mijoo)

GFriend

Kinktober Day 20, Hate Sex (Yuju)

STAYC

Kinktober Day 21, Sex Tape (Sieun)

LE SSERAFIM

Take Me Out (Kazuha)

IVE

Flawless ft. Wonyoung [Collab with @kaedespicelatte]

Iff ft. Yujin

Kep1er

Completeness ft. Yeseo, Mashiro

Multiple Groups

GFriend, Oh My Girl, IZ*ONE, ITZY

Head of the Company ft. SinB, YooA, Eunbi, Ryujin

Red Velvet, TWICE

Too Far for Two (Yeri, Nayeon)

Dreamcatcher, LOONA, Oh My Girl

The World Is Over (Heejin, Jiu, Arin)

aespa, ITZY

The Highest Education ft. Karina, Yeji

Well, Now What (Karina, Ryujin)

Series

Kinktober 2021

A series of kinky prompts for each day in October 2021!

Till The Sun Come Up

A Dreamcatcher sci-fi series written in collaboration with @themanthemyththeverite

Synamphoteron (Jiu, Sua)

Conquered Odds

A Twice (and Fromis and other groups!) series written in collaboration with @co-reborn

Conquer (Chaeyoung) [edited by me]

Triumph (Chaeyoung) [collab]

Subdue (Jiheon) [collab]

Control (Saerom ft. Jiheon) [collab]

Bird's Eye View

A Loona series about a family Choerry and Haseul written in collaboration with @jettsdraft

Wise/Night (Choerry)

Caught in 4K

A Loona series about camgirl Yeojin written in collaboration with @sinswithpleasure

Chapter 1 (Yeojin)

Other

[…]

[..?]

[henrikanderssonart]

Havmanden, The Merman 2021

Online work for GIBCA

57°46'18.0"N, 11°40'29.0"E are the longitude- and latitude coordinates of the wreck of the Danish frigate Havmanden. In Kjällöfjord, slightly north of Björkö, in the northern Gothenburg archipelago, is the uninhabited island Risö, on which I am standing facing north-northwest. On the horizon, I can see Carlstens fortress in Marstrand, with its characteristic shape of a cylinder on a block. Boats pass through the waterway in a north-south direction. I cannot remember how many times I have sailed this route along the coast heading north. Not once have I reflected upon what lies hidden here, at the bottom of the sea. I lower my gaze from the horizon and face the islet situated half a cable length from the peninsula where I am standing. Between me and the islet, somewhere on the ocean floor, is where it lies: The Danish West India Company’s ship Havmanden that ran aground in 1683.

 I prepare myself to dive. From the navigational chart, I conclude that it is about 5-10 meters to the bottom. A depth I should manage to free dive, i.e. to dive without air from tubes. From the smooth Bohuslän rock, I slip into the water and put on my fins, I spit into the swim mask, gently rubbing and rinsing it with salt water to avoid misting on the glass. I wind the film forward in my Nikonos underwater camera, lift my feet from the bottom, and allow myself to float into the strait between the islands. The wetsuit provides me with buoyancy, despite my lead weight belt. I follow the cliff’s extension towards deeper waters. Tufts of seaweed and algae sway in the waves. Sunlight is refracted into rays upon meeting the water and here, close by the surface, the colours of the plants are clearly reflected. I stay close to the surface and swim farther away from land. The bottom disappears into a cloudy haze in tune with sloping downwards, and soon enough I see nothing more than a cyano-coloured soup of organic material and sediment dissolved in the water. The sea of Kattegatt now completely encloses me. I breathe through the snorkel and decide to dive. I take a few deep breaths and finally hold it. I turn in a forward somersault until I am upside down vertically in the water. In a swim stroke, I grab hold of the water and pull myself down. I can feel my feet in the air above the water surface, but soon enough they are also submerged. My journey down is reduced by the buoyancy of my body and wetsuit and I kick with my legs to continue. Soon enough, I have become neutrally buoyant, my density is equal to that of the water, I am neither sinking nor rising. One last kick with my legs and I can feel that I am now sinking by myself. The pressure of the water has compressed the oxygen in my body so that I am negatively buoyant. I continue down but I can still not see the bottom.

 The story of Havmanden is multifaceted and complex, with resonance in this day and age. It needs to be told in the entirety of events that resulted in the Danish frigate ending up at the bottom of the sea outside of Gothenburg. My dive is an attempt to evoke an image and a position from an underwater environment, from which a historical horizon can emerge.

During the 17th century, Denmark, as well as Sweden, attempted to advance their positions in the evolving colonial era. At the core was the so-called triangular trade, where plantations in America produced raw materials for Europe. The production was based on slave labour carried out by people kidnapped from the African continent. Slave trade and slave labour was exchanged for profit and technological development in Europe.

 Denmark and the Danish West India Company had taken control over the Swedish slave fort Carolusborg (Cape Coast Castle) in Ghana and established other forts along the west coast of Africa in order to bring people across the Atlantic to be sold. Sweden was initially unsuccessful with its colonial expansion and Denmark had a hard time establishing and keeping its colony St. Thomas in the West Indies in order. A life with hardship or death awaited the ones that were forced there.

 In 1682, a new Governor, Jörgen Iversen, was appointed to oversee St. Thomas and take control over the activities on the island. In the autumn of the same year, the Danish West India Company, with the support of King Christian V of Denmark, equips the ship Havmanden. The aim of the journey was to transport Danish convicts to St. Thomas and then continue sailing to the west coast of Africa to acquire slaves. Thereafter they were to return to the West Indies with the slaves and then redirect back towards Denmark. Onboard the outward journey was material to build institutions on the island, as well as the 120 convicts that were to be forced to work in the Caribbean. Twenty of them were women convicted of prostitution. It is this captive workforce who, for some months, will come to rattle the hierarchies in the Danish trans-Atlantic trade. On January 20 when the ship is in the English Channel, the prisoners, together with the sailors, make a mutiny. The Governor, the Captain, and five other officials are arrested and killed by being thrown into the sea. When the mutineers seize the ship, they sail to the Azores and release the prisoners. The remaining mutineers plan to sail to Ireland to sell the ship, but conflicts amongst them result in some of the mutineers taking the chance to save their own skin and sail back home to Copenhagen. At the end of March, when the ship enters the Kattegatt, they are struck by a westerly storm and the ship is pushed towards the Swedish coast. The ship manages to pass through the tight passage between the islands Hälso-Källö-Hyppeln to then drop ship anchor in an emergency before running aground at Risö.

 The alderman at Marstrand has the five mutineers arrested and taken back to Copenhagen. There they are executed by being tortured and beheaded.

 During this time, mutiny was not unusual. However, the mutiny on Havmanden is well-documented and can be read according to the organization of means of production as well as the brutality that Europe’s elite based their prosperity upon. In his thesis, Mutiny in the Danish Atlantic World, Johan Heinsen makes note that there existed a dissonance within the European colonial project, and this was manifested in a conflict such as the mutiny on Havmanden. There are three established ways to understand and analyze mutiny. Firstly, mutiny can be understood from a sort of neurosensory perspective, where the lack of food, water, and heat results in a reaction, a kind of auto impulse, to accommodate basic needs. Secondly,

seafaring per se is an extremely ritualistic place that follows the narrative of a theatrical act of sorts. If the narrative changes, the crew can there and then, consider themselves entitled to seize control of the ship. Thirdly, as a more materialistic reading, mutiny can be based upon a conflict between those who own and rule and those whose labour is being exploited. In this case, the mutiny is justified as the ship should belong to those whose labour the voyage is based upon. All three ways to gain an understanding of mutiny can be applied to Havmanden.

 Heinsen also introduces dissonance as a fourth reading of the mutiny, where a conflict arises between the speaker and the hearer. Shipping environments are places governed by sound, as visibility in open seas is filled with emptiness. When Governor Iversen attempts to calm the crew with speech, the subordinates hear something else. They know that within one year on St. Thomas they will most likely die from hard labour, starvation, and illnesses. Whatever the Governor says, this is what they hear.

 The sea and underwater environment is in itself a place where cognitive dissonance becomes visible. Places that have nothing to do with each other are tied together through the expansiveness of sea, and within this translocation, profits arise, although they are values created at the expense of another. The sea is also a dangerous place where people cannot live. It is a site for the imagination and dreams, but also death.

 The so-called discovery of the New World appears to also have led to some unconscious psychological convulsions in the explorers, whose symptoms are represented in works such as Atlantica (1677) by Olof Rudebeck the Elder. In his text, which is a work of propaganda on the Swedish Empire, Rudebeck explains the origin of Sweden through the myth of Atlantis. Rudebeck sets out to prove that all the world’s knowledge originates in the utopia Plato refers to as Atlantis which would be identical with Sweden. His historical works were dismissed by his contemporaries from the outset as being far too imaginative, but Rudebeck’s preoccupation with historical chronology can be read through the discovery of a New World. After Columbus disembarks in the New World, in one instance Europe becomes the Old World.

A work such as Atlantica can be understood as a symptom of a dynamic that arises between new and old territories, giving rise to speculation about who is entitled to the New World.

 The camera in my hand is based on the underwater camera that photographer and adventurer Jacques -Yves Costeau developed when he popularised and medialised the underwater environment in the 50s and 60s. With his research vessel Calypso, he undertook several journeys and created films that became commercial successes, such as Le Monde du Silence (The Silent World) from 1956. In the film, we follow the work aboard Calypso, which is not only a moving diving platform on an undefined sea but also a floating photo lab for still and moving photography. In one passage, Costeau describes the overall intention with the mission, whilst also studying the graph from an echo sounder which, through electroacoustics, maps the depth of the ocean below the vessel. Costeau explains that an echo often appears, as though there is something very large thousands of metres down that has yet to be explained.

Costeau arranges for cameras to be lowered down into the dark to photograph whatever may be down there, and despite the film being developed on-board, he finds no answers. The void appears to be the driving force.

 In another scene, the crew is engaged in following a group of whales. Unfortunately enough, Calypso accidentally collides with a whale calf, which is seriously injured. The crew, who feel obliged to kill the injured animal, bring out with ill-concealed delight, the harpoon cannon and kill the calf. What follows is a particularly strange scene, which swiftly tells us something about the unconsciousness of the crew. A group of sharks is attracted to the dead whale and begins to eat at the dead body. Initially, the crew becomes interested in studying the sharks, but suddenly their curiosity turns into fury. In a rage, they go after the sharks that are quite close to the surface, and with hooks, axes, and sledgehammers kill shark after shark. I wonder what it is in this specific homosocial environment that brings forth such affective actions? The sea, the emptiness, the violence - is it the scientists' critical distance and judgment that enables a verdict over the non-human sharks?

 Now I sense the bottom. The pressure on my eardrums increases and I have to equalise by pressing air through my nose into my ears. The ocean floor is smooth with some vegetation. Since my time here is restricted to my ability to conserve the oxygen I have in my body, I have decided to photograph straight ahead and indiscriminately. I simply wind up the film and continuously press down the shutter. The camera has been preset, and I now photograph as much as I can.

 Then, suddenly, a structure manifests itself. It is two dark lines that criss-cross over the ocean floor. A straight angle is rarely natural. When I come closer I see what it is: two rectangular piles of square stones are sunk into the sand. It can be nothing other than bricks. This is what remains from Havmanden. For 338 years they have rested at the bottom of the sea whilst the shipwreck rotted away.

The bricks filled two functions on Havmanden. Firstly, as a ballast to stabilise the ship whilst sailing. Secondly, once the frigate had arrived on St. Thomas, they were intended to become buildings from which the colony was to be ruled and administered. For a few seconds, I hover over the objects and view them through the glass of the mask. The mask and camera provide me with a sort of optical privilege that is based on the distance between myself and the stones, and between me and history. At the same time, I cannot stop but feel a sense of closeness, we share the same enclosing substance, the sea.

 The stones hardly have any vegetation on them, which surprises me. I have a hard time determining their colour as the light of longer wavelengths, such as red and yellow, cannot probe this depth which blue-green can. Everything turns a cyan-colour yet I am convinced that these are not red bricks but yellow-brown. It is said they have the same origin as the bricks in the house Charlottenburg in Copenhagen, where The Royal Art Academy can be found.

 The oxygen in my body is running out and the carbon dioxide induces an intense longing to breathe. I stop myself from the impulse to touch one of the stones, as they are subject to the Antiquities Act. Instead, I turn towards the surface and the sun that breaches through the waves. I kick with my feet, find some momentum, and in an instance I am back in the summer coastal landscape. Yet before I can breathe I have to blow the water of Kattegatt out of my snorkel and mouth.

 A few weeks later, when I have immersed the film into developing chemicals and then allowed it to dry, I have the opportunity to, at a distance, view the event through the negatives on my light table. It turns out that I have not managed to capture a single sharp image of the wreck of Havmanden. It appears that I have either not held the camera still enough or managed to set the sharpness. Somewhat downcast in spirit I put the negatives aside before recalling Captain Cousteau’s expedition to photograph ghost echoes in the depths of the sea and I decide to look through the images one more time, as if perhaps, there might be something there. I seem to have taken some pictures straight out which, when I scan the images, appears to be nothing more than a tone of blue-green. However, I bring up the contrast and I can then see a refraction running vertically across the image. It is sunlight refracted in the water surface and hits what is called backscatter in the water, and therefore it becomes prominent. The last image from the dive is taken at the same time as I turn away from the bottom and swim upwards, it is photographed straight towards the sun from the wreck. The film on the light table is in itself a surface that lets through light and through it another membrane appears. It is the boundary between air and water that, through the forms of the waves, creates a series of lenses that generate light beams. Just as the film mediates between that at which a given moment has taken place, with certain specific requirements, the sea surface appears to create a boundary between different states. This dividing line can be likened to photography’s making of disparities, which appears to elicit both distress and possibilities, ultimately introducing a crisis. I recall one final scene from The Silent World where Cousteau says the imperative sentence “Sometimes a marine biologist must use dynamite on a coral reef”, meaning that in order to scientifically count how many fish there are in a coral reef he must explode dynamite to kill them all – taking photographs is not accurate enough. The explosion in this scene resembles a miniature version of the French nuclear test from the Mururora atoll in the Pacific during the 1960s. Cousteau acknowledges what he is doing as an act of vandalism, but also states that this needs to be done in the name of science. This type of reasoning can be understood through theorist Ariella Azoulay´s text Unlearning decisive moments of Photography, where she links the colonial ideology of the imperial right to take photographs to the imperial right to destroy existing worlds and the right to manufacture a new world.

As it turns out the realm of the underwater is not silent at all, but rather a world of dissonance.

[argentdandelion]

How To Get Your Number Down to Zero (Part 2 of 3)

Unsuccessful/Still Trapped Passengers (Sorted in chronological order)

Amelia’s Problem

(Warning: Covers some depressing subtext in indirect language.)

It seems the turning point in Amelia’s arc was when she gave up after One-One was put back into the control panel and reinstated as the Conductor. Early in her conversation with Tulip afterward, she says: “I don’t want a life without Alrick!” and starts crying. This is probably significant: during the memory scene when people tell her the funeral is starting, she isn’t crying, whimpering, or making obvious signs of distress. In fact, none of her memories shown depict her crying or with obviously sad facial expressions. She might disapprove of crying: when Atticus is hit with the transformation ray and the Steward has Tulip, Tulip cries floods of tears, and the Conductor mockingly says “Aww...no more tears” and wipes away her tears with a handkerchief. In contrast, at the following episode’s start, One-One tells Tulip it's okay to cry, and cry she does. The idea she is habitually against crying, or other displays of sadness, may be furthermore supported by the subtlety of her expressions of sadness in Season 3, Episode 8, even after she’s spent some time improving.

Certainly, the passengers that have reached zero have gotten through great, openly expressed emotional discomfort, which, for most, included substantial crying. It may be that Amelia, in hurrying past her trauma or glossing over her turmoil, refused chances for emotional processing or growth. Removing her from power forced her to change her framework, mourn Alrick, adapt to a life without him, and make amends for all her mistakes.

Grace’s Problem

Desire: A desire for others’ validation, due to a fear of being wrong, disappointing others, and not being enough; needing to avoid being alone. Approach: Repeatedly lying, deceiving, and making stuff up with no basis to gain the approval of others or control them to her ends; creating a cult of children with her as the much-admired leader, hiding things from others to maintain relationships/admiration Character Arc: (Abridged for concision) “I’m the admired leader of the Apex, in which denizens are said to not be real people, and are mere toys created by the train to amuse passengers to do with as they wish, including harming and killing them →my inability to confront my fears and the way of life created from them has made everyone suffer and led me to being alone, despite all my attempts to avoid it. I’m going to undo as much of the harm I caused as I can.”

In Book 2 and early in Book 3, Grace appeared somewhat vain in how she occasionally checked herself out in a compact mirror or in the reflective surface of a denizen’s light. It might be a holdover from wanting to look good for the sake of being validated by others or nor disappointing them, although she is much admired by Apex members, to the point one member even made an outfit much like hers.

Grace was reluctant to tell Simon about her number dropping because she feared Simon would think less of her for it. Though she initially distrusted Tuba and wanted to separate her from Hazel, if not kill her entirely, she gradually revised her opinion of Tuba, and tearfully mourned her death.

It’s possible her number dropped prior to “Le Chat Chalet” because of all the time she had spent being friendly to Hazel, a denizen, although she didn’t even know Hazel was a denizen at the time. It’s unclear whether unintentional or inadvertent character growth also counts in getting a number down.

Her number drops rapidly when she admits her fears while trapped in her memory tape, confronts being wrong, and apologizes to an image of Hazel. She leaves the tape after she raises a hand in goodbye to a memory of Hazel, thus giving her a resolution, unhappy as it is, to that section of her life. When she confronts Simon back at the Apex, she tries to undo the ideology she created and repeatedly tries to save Simon from himself. The endpoints of their arcs are well-summarized by the following exchange:

Grace: "We've been doing it wrong! We can still change!" (down at least three digits) Simon: "Why would I ever want to change if I'm always right?" (up at least five digits)

Simon’s Problem (Speculative):

How Simon got onto the Train is not shown; even supplemental statements by Owen Dennis (of dubious canon; in the same tweet he said the Train is a reality show for aliens) are vague. The following is based on educated guesses.

Problem (Speculative): Insecurity born of unstable attachments, leading to excessive or “clingy” focus on very few people (i.e., Grace); fear of abandonment, fear of being wrong/admitting such. Approach: Gaining secure attachment/fulfilling relationships through Grace; gaining purpose, power, and control by being the second-in-command of the Apex. Character Arc: (Abridged for concision) “I am happy and secure with my relationship with Grace and about my beliefs about denizens and the train’s purpose → Grace betrayed the Apex and me, so I’m not going to listen any more and shall kill her.” (and then he is killed by a Ghom)

It’s much less clear what issues or turmoil got Simon on the Train, because his story before the train isn’t shown, and he doesn’t outright talk about it. Most likely, it has something to do with emotional insecurity, created by or related to unstable attachments, leading to a fear of abandonment (which possibly developed into a desire to enforce “loyalty” in ‘dictator mode’) and, as a product of that, a fear of being wrong or admitting such.

The idea Simon’s problem is related to a fear of being wrong, or admitting it, comes how he not once ever admits to being wrong or doing the wrong thing or apologizes. He very rarely even uses the word “sorry”, much less in a sincere way.3 (When he backs down when Grace tells him to not do something, he typically says “okay” in a subdued voice, not “sorry.”) He doesn’t even make the most paper-thin and perfunctory apology to Hazel for killing Tuba, even seeing how distressed she is, even when told letting Hazel have a funeral has practical benefits. The closest he comes to admitting he was wrong is telling Grace: “You were right not to trust her [Amelia]!” He only acknowledges the possibility Amelia (not a man, as he had assumed) is indeed the “True Conductor” in a hypothetical: “And even if she was [the True Conductor], she’s lost her way!”. Even for a confident and arrogant kind of person, Simon’s habits are extreme.

Judging by how strongly Simon responds to being called "a child", it’s possible that characterization relates to the trauma that put him on the train. Although it’s possible people calling him “a child” in a condescending or mocking way is part of it, the most probable interpretation is that it relates to him being wrong or not knowing what he’s doing. When he leaves The Cat’s chalet in season 3, episode 7, he says: “I’m not a child anymore. I know what I’m doing.”) In the next episode, Amelia aggressively says: “Have you ever considered that you've been wrong? Hah! Of course not! You're a child."

Most likely, he cries upon seeing the “We won’t tell Simon” memory due to a fear of abandonment or betrayal. When Grace saves him, the second sentence he says is “Samantha left me!” as he starts sobbing. (He doesn’t ever wonder where Samantha is or whether she’s safe.) In Season 3, Episode 7, he briefly cries again when recalling how Samantha abandoned him.

Perhaps the most obvious potential turning point in Simon’s arc when when he saw the secret Grace had been keeping from him. He could have concluded many things from this, whether concerning his moral culpability, being wrong about denizens, or using tougher tactics to talk things out with Grace or even friend-dump her, which all had some probability of lowering his number. Instead, he concludes something along the lines of: “In keeping that secret from me, in choosing Hazel over me, Grace betrayed me.”

Another obvious potential turning point is when he exits Grace’s memories and seems numb or regretful of what he’s done. Though he could have undone or minimized the damage then, he only makes a dismissive “hmmph” and walks away. The last point he had to turn back was when he asked why Grace had saved him on the bridge next to the Mall Car (Season 3, Episode 10), and he thought over Grace’s answer of “I don’t know”, only to kick her off the bridge.

Simon, unlike any other passenger shown, doesn’t change his beliefs, values, perspectives, behavior, or even interpersonal skills over the course of his character arc. For all his boldness, for all the emphasis on the people of the Apex being “brave”...his arc ended lethally from his inability to confront his fears and fight through his emotional pain.

It is possible her desire changed between Alrick’s death and some time after getting on the train; she may have initially desired her own death until she believed she could recreate her old life using the train. ↩︎

It’s only an educated guess she was trying to die; what else could she have been planning to do that evening when heading to the university building? However, she does pause in front of the building and seems surprised then it loses its roof. She may have gotten to the roof to investigate why that happened: since the train can modify its appearance to lure in passengers, this makes sense. Tulip tried to walk to Oshkosh at night in a Wisconsin winter with only a light jacket: she was so emotionally distraught as to unwittingly put her in danger of death by hypothermia. Similarly, “in physical danger due to emotional distress” may have matched Amelia’s motive when the train appeared. ↩︎

His line: “Sorry to be the voice of reason again, but there’s no body!” in “The Campfire Car” doesn’t count; it’s exasperation phrased in a way that’s mildly polite or passive-aggressive. In Book 2, he says: "I'm so sorry you two had to see this. I tried to take care of it before you came back." It's not actually apologetic.  ↩︎

[sternbilder]

Camille Has Many KDrama Thoughts

As some of you have possibly noticed, I have recently fallen into a KDrama hole and I can’t get up, and I have just finished my 10th drama, which seems like less of an accomplishment than I thought now that I say it out loud, but anyway,

As a checkpoint/thinly veiled plug of some shows I love very much, here is a very long post with some of my thoughts on all the KDramas I’ve seen so far, as well as what’s next on my list, in case you too were interested in joining me in nonexistent fandom hell!

So firstly, all of the dramas I have watched to completion, in the order of how much I like them. First, my top five:

1. Sungkyunkwan Scandal (2010). My #1 favorite drama to date. I’ve probably watched it in full 4-5 times, and it’s still an absolute treat every time. Is it the best drama I’ve ever seen? Probably not. But it’s so fun and charming that it’s just gotta be at the top of my list. 

The best way I can describe this drama is Ouran High School Host Club, except in Joseon era Korea, and instead of flirting with girls the main characters learn about Confucianism and solve mysteries and play sports (twice) and end up accidentally involved in a complicated political scandal. Also, that one text post about how Shang from Mulan is bi because he falls for Mulan while he thinks she’s a man...This drama has that, except actually canon. And while I won’t pretend this is show is a shining beacon of representation, there are multiple main characters who are explicitly not heterosexual and several others with very plausible queer readings, which earns it a very special place in my heart.

As for the actual premise of the show, it’s basically about a wonderfully determined and kind and clever but lower-class girl whose writing skills catch the eye of the most stubbornly strait-laced but idealistic aspiring politician-type on the planet. She ends up getting a one-way ticket to the most prestigious school in the country, except she has to pretend to be a man the entire time because women aren’t allowed to be educated at this time. 

It’s a bit of a silly, cheesy show, and here are many wacky shenanigans, but the main cast is full of incredibly highly endearing and multifaceted characters, there is a lot of sexual confusion, the slowburn roommate romance has an incredible payoff, and it’s also full of deeply moving social commentary about class, privilege, and gender roles. This drama is a blast and I could go on and on about what I love about it, I absolutely adore it to pieces.

2. Six Flying Dragons (2015-2016). I debated between this and Tree With Deep Roots (next on my list, to which SFD is a prequel) as my #2 but I do think I want to place SFD higher just because it's the drama that I keep thinking about even after finishing it. of course, it has the dual advantages of 1) being released chronologically later (and having better production value, etc., because of this) and 2) being twice as long, but there’s just so much stuff to unpack with SFD that it makes me want to keep coming back to it. 

The show is about the founding of the Joseon dynasty, and six individuals (half of whom are based on real historical figures and half fictional) whose lives are closely tied to the fall of the old regime and the revolution that brought in the new. It has an intricate, intensely political plotline based on the actual events that happened during this time, and though this may sound kind of boring if you’re like me and not super into history (admittedly, the pacing in the beginning is a tiny bit slow), it quickly picks up and becomes this dense web of character relations and political maneuvering. Though none of the major events should come as a surprise if you’ve seen TWDR or if you happen to already know the history it was based on, the show adds such a depth of humanity and emotion to every event and character that nothing ever feels boring or predictable. As a matter of fact, there are several events that were alluded to in TWDR that, when they actually happened in SFD, left me breathless--because although I 100% knew these were foregone conclusions that were coming up at some point, I still had a visceral moment of, “oh no, so that’s how that came to happen.” 

But though I really enjoyed following the story of SFD and learning about the history behind it, the highlight of the show for me is definitely the great character arcs. I loved TWDR’s characters, too (especially Yi Do, So Yi, and obviously Moo Hyul), but with double the episode count SFD just has so much time for rich, dynamic character development, and I absolutely loved seeing how these characters grew and changed over time when their ideologies and fates collided in this turbulent and violent age: How young and ambitious Yi Bang Won eventually spiraled into a ruthless tyrant, how the naive and kind-hearted Moo Hyul struggled to retain his humanity in a bloody revolution that challenged his values and loyalties to the core, how the fiercely determined and idealistic Boon Yi grew into a pragmatic and capable leader who comes to realize what politics and power mean for her and her loved ones. 

SFD was also everything I wanted as a prequel to TWDR--I loved seeing the contrasts between some of the TWDR characters and their younger selves in the SFD timeline: The hardened and ruthless Bang Won as a passionate and righteous adolescent, the cynical and resigned Bang Ji as a cowardly boy who grows into a traumatized and bitter young man, and my personal favorite character, the comically serious bodyguard Moo Hyul as the very model of the dopey, lovable himbo archetype. And though the ending was controversial among fans (particularly those who watched SFD first), I loved how it closed all the loops and tied it back to the events of TWDR, both providing that transition I wanted but also recontextualizing and adding new meaning to the original work. I think it's still a very good drama on its own, but this hand-off is what really sealed the deal for me personally, because it was not only super emotionally satisfying to watch how the stories connected, but it elevated TWDR to something even greater (suggesting that Yi Do and the events of TWDR was the culmination of everything the six dragons fought so long and hard for), which is exactly what I expect from a good prequel. 

I’ve already talked so much about this drama but I also do need to mention that the soundtrack to SFD is A+, and the sword fights are sick as hell. There is also some romance, though it’s not really a focus--and all the pairings that do exist are extremely tragic, which is exactly up my alley. Overall, this is a hell of a historical drama, coming of age, villain origin story, and martial arts film in one, and I highly recommend it.

3. Tree With Deep Roots (2011). The sequel to SFD, though it aired first chronologically. Although this show isn’t one of those shows that I could rewatch once a year like SKKS or keep ruminating on like SFD, TWDR (much like Les Mis, or Fata Morgana) is thematically the kind of story that just makes my heart sing.

The story centers around the creation of Hangul, the Korean alphabet, by Yi Do (a.k.a., King Sejong the Great, who is the son and successor of Yi Bang Won, the main character of SFD) as well as two fictional childhood friends whose backstories and ambitions become central to the story of how and why this alphabet came to exist. Not only is the actual process of creating this alphabet absolutely fascinating from a linguistic and scientific POV, but the show dramatizes Yi Do’s motivations in a way that’s so incredibly touching and human--portraying the king as a soft-hearted and extremely charismatic yet fundamentally flawed and conflicted figure who tries so desperately to do right by his people. 

The show explores both a number of personal themes like redemption, atonement, and vengeance, as well as broader societal themes such as the ethics of authority, the democratization of knowledge, and the power of language and literacy. Though the show never forgets to remind the audience of the bitter reality of actual history, it’s still a deeply idealistic show whose musings on social change and how to use privilege and power to make the world better are both elegant and poignant. 

Romance definitely takes a backseat in TWDR, even more so than SFD, though this isn’t something I personally mind. There are, however, a lot of interesting politics surrounding the promulgation of the alphabet, including a string of high-profile assassinations--if SFD is historical/political-thriller-meets-action-film, then TWDR is historical/political-thriller-meets-murder-mystery, and it’s an incredibly tightly written and satisfying story whose pieces fall into place perfectly. Though not the sprawling epic that SFD is, TWDR is an emotional journey and an extremely well-written story with a TON of goodies if you’re as excited about linguistics as I am. 

4. White Christmas (2011). My first non-sageuk on this list! White Christmas is, in a lot of ways, an odd drama. It’s an 8-episode special, and featured largely (at the time) new talent. it’s also neither a historical work nor romance-focused, but instead a short but intense psychological thriller/murder mystery. 

The premise is this: Seven students at a super elite boarding school tucked away in the mountains receive mysterious black letters that compel them to remain on campus during the one vacation of the year. The letters describe various “sins” that the author accuses the students of committing, as well as the threat of a “curse” as well as an impending death. The students quickly find that they’re stranded alone at the school with a murderer in their midst, as they are forced to confront their shared histories and individual traumas to figure out 1) why they’ve been sent the letters, and 2) how to make it out alive. At the center of the survival game the characters find themselves in is a recurring question: “Are monsters born, or can they be made?”

If you’ve been following me for a while, it’s easy to see why I was drawn to this drama. In terms of setup and tone, it’s Zero Escape. In theme, it’s Naoki Urasawa’s Monster. It’s Lord of the Flies meets Dead Poets Society. or as one of my mutuals swyrs@ put it, Breakfast Club meets Agatha Christie. The story is flawlessly paced with not a scene wasted. There’s so much good foreshadowing and use of symbolic imagery, and though I’ve watched it at least 3-4 times, I always find interesting new details to analyze. The plot twists (though not so meta-breaking as ZE) are absolutely nuts, and aside from the somewhat questionable ending, the story is just really masterfully written.

Above all, though, WC is excellent for its character studies. Though I typically tend to stay away from shows that center around teenagers because I don’t find their struggles and experiences particularly relatable, WC does such an excellent job of picking apart every character psychologically, showing their traumas, their desires, their fears, and their insecurities. We see these kids at their most violent and cruel, but also their most vulnerable and honest. Their stories and motivations are so profoundly human that I found even the worst and most despicable characters painfully sympathetic at times, as cowardly and hypocritical and unhinged as they became. 

Like I said, it’s only 8 episodes long with probably the best rewatch value on this list. My only complaints about it are its ending, as well as its relative lack of female characters, but otherwise I would absolutely recommend.

5. Signal (2016). Okay, this might be the recency bias talking because I just finished this series but I'm sure but I'm still reeling at the mind-screw of an ending and I feel like it deserves a place on this spot just for that.

Signal is a crime thriller based on a number of real-life incidents that happened in Korea in the last 30 or so years. In short, a young profiler from the year 2015, who has a grudge against the police after witnessing their incompetence and corruption twice as a child, happens to find a mysterious walkie-talkie that seems to be able to send and receive messages from the past. on the other end is an older detective from 2000 who tells him that he’s about to start receiving messages from his younger self, back in 1989. Through the seemingly sporadic radio communications, the two men work together to solve a series of cold cases, which begin to change the past and alter the timeline.

As they solve these cases, expose corruption within the police department, and correct past injustices, the two men (along with a third, female detective who has connections to both of them) also begin to unravel the mysteries of their pasts, as well as why and how they came to share this connection.

Like WC, the story and pacing of this drama were flawless, reminding me of an extended movie rather than a TV series. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and the 16-episode run went by in no time at all. I always love timeline shenanigans and explorations of causality and fate and the consequences of changing the past, and this show has oodles of that peppered with the heartbreakingly tragic human connections and stories that the main characters share. The main pairing has great chemistry and gave me exactly the pain I crave from a doomed timeline romance, and the cinematography and soundtrack were also beautiful, which also contributed to the polished, cinema-like feel.

My only complaint is that I wish that the ending felt more like an ending, such that the drama could stand on its own. I do realize this is because there’s a second season coming, but right now the show feels somewhat incomplete, ending on a huge, ambiguous cliffhanger/sequel hook and with several loose ends. I obviously can’t give a final verdict until the entire thing airs (and I typically don’t like multi-season shows, so I will wait for the next season to come out both reluctantly and begrudgingly), but even where the show leaves off I still did enjoy it immensely.

...And now, some brief thoughts on the other 5 shows I’ve watched, because I ran out of steam and have less to say about these:

6. Healer (2014-2015). It’s been a few years since I’ve seen this show, but I remember being really impressed by this drama at the time, especially the storyline. Unfortunately though I don’t remember too much about the drama itself, which is a shame. It’s a mystery/thriller, I think, and there is hacking and crimes involved? The main character is a very cute and sweet tabloid writer and she falls in love with a mysterious and cool action boy who helps her uncover the truth behind a tragic incident that relates to her past, or something. Judging from my liveblog it seems like this was an extremely emotional journey, and I enjoyed the main couple (who are both very attractive) a lot, and it was just overall a cathartic and feel-good experience. I feel like I should rewatch this drama at some point?

7. Rooftop Prince (2012). It’s also been forever since I watched this show but I remember thinking it was hilarious and delightful and I definitely cried a lot though I do not remember why (probably something something time travel, something something reincarnation/fated lovers??). I do remember that the premise is that a Joseon-era prince and several of his servants accidentally time travel into modern-day Seoul and end up meeting the main character who is the future reincarnation of his love (?) and he is hilariously anachronistic and also insufferably pretentious, which the MC absolutely does not cut him any slack for, and they have an extremely good dynamic.

8. Coffee Prince (2007). I watched this around the same time as Rooftop Prince and I remember really enjoying it! it’s basically just SKKS, but the modern cafe AU, and I mean that in the best way possible? It definitely shares a lot of the same tropes--crossdressing/tomboy female lead, sexually questioning male lead who falls in love with her despite being “straight,” very good chemistry and also extremely charming secondary characters.

9. Shut Up Flower Boy Band (2012). This show...Was just OK. I enjoyed it at the time, but I can’t say I found it particularly memorable. As I said, I don’t typically find stories about high school students particularly relatable, and the battle of the bands-type plot was interesting enough at the time but didn’t really leave a lasting impression. As expected, the music was pretty good. I kind of watched this mostly to hear Sung Joon sing tbh?

10. Rebel: Thief Who Stole the People (2017). I wanted to like this show. I really did. I wouldn’t say it was bad, but the beginning was painfully slow, and I only really enjoyed the last 10 episodes or so, when the vive la révolution arc finally started kicking off. The pacing was challenging--the pre-timeskip dragged on about twice as long as it needed to, and I just wasn’t really interested in the Amogae/Yiquari storyline very much. I also really, really disliked all the romances in the show, especially the main pairing, since I didn’t particularly love either the male or the female leads until pretty late in the show. Overall I think I would have enjoyed the show more if the first 2/3 of it was about half as long, and it either developed the romance better or cut it out altogether.

What I’m thinking of watching next:

1. Chuno (2010). Mostly because the soundtrack to this show is so goddamn good, but also because I’m craving more historical dramas with good sword fights after SFD. I was kind of hoping Rebel would fill that need but I was a little disappointed tbh?

2. Warrior Baek Dong Soo (2011). Same reasons as above, honestly. also has a very good soundtrack, and Ji Chang Wook, who is a known nice face-haver, doing many very cool sword fights.

3. Mr. Sunshine (2018). Late Joseon era is something I’ve never really seen before in media so I’m pretty intrigued? Also Byun Yo Han was one of my favorites from SFD and I definitely want to see him in more things.

4. Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung (2019). A coworker recommended this to me and the trailer looks delightful. first of all it’s a sageuk with the gorgeous and talented Shin Se Kyoung in it playing a smart and plucky female lead, which have historically been extremely good to me, but also it gives me massive SKKS vibes, so how could I not.

5. My Country: The New Age (2019). This caught my attention because it’s based on the same historical events as SFD, so it features some of the same characters. I am very very interested in Jang Hyuk’s take on Yi Bang Won, even if he is less of a main character here compared to SFD, and he’s already an adult so he’ll already be well on his way to bastardhood. I also hear it’s very heartbreaking, which is instant eyes emoji for me?

6. Chicago Typewriter (2017). It’s about freedom fighters from the colonization era, which I’m very intrigued by after The Handmaiden and Pachinko, plus a reincarnation romance. I am very predictable in my choice of tropes. Also, Yoo Ah In is in it.

7. Arthdal Chronicles (2019-). Ok, it’s a gorgeous-looking historical fantasy set in Korea written by the same writers as TWDR and SFD, plus it has not just one but TWO Song Joong Ki characters, one of which is a pure, doe-eyed soft boy and the other an evil long-haired fae prince looking asshole who I hear is a complete and utter Unhinged Bastard Supreme. Nothing has ever been more Camille Bait than this, but unfortunately this show hasn’t finished airing, which does pain me deeply. speaking of,

8. Kingdom (2019-). It’s a fantasy sageuk with zombies, is about the extent I know about this show. The fact that it also hasn’t finished airing turns me off a bit but it looks absolutely gorgeous and I also just found out it was written by the same writer as Signal, so,,,,,,,,,

9. Gunman in Joseon (2014). I honestly don’t expect too much from this drama but I just enjoy its premise a lot? From what I understand it’s just Percy from Critical Role, but make it Joseon era.......Like, they just straight up took a Shadow the Hedgehog, “let’s make a sageuk, but guns,” approach, and I kind of unironically love that. Also the soundtrack kicks ass, which like...you can really see where my priorities lie here, huh,

10. Misaeng (2014). I don’t remember at this point why this is on my list but I found it in the Keep note I have of all the media I want to watch?? I have no idea what this show is about, except that it takes place in an office. Apparently Byun Yo Han is also in this one? I’m sorry this is the only non-sageuk or sageuk-adjacent show in this list, I know what I’m about, and it’s fancy old-timey costumes and cool braids.

[a-safe-and-quiet-place]

Myrmecoleon

General Attributes

There are two interpretations of what an ant-lion is. In one version, the ant-lion is so called because it is the "lion of ants," a large ant or small animal that hides in the dust and kills ants. In the other version, it is a beast that is the result of a mating between a lion and an ant. It has the face of a lion and and the body of an ant, with each part having its appropriate nature. Because the lion part will only eat meat and the ant part can only digest grain, the ant-lion starves.

The ant-lion story may come from a mistranslation of a word in the Septuagint version of the biblical Old Testament, from the book of Job (4:11). The word in Hebrew is lajisch, an uncommon word for lion, which in other translations of Job is rendered as either lion or tiger; in the Spetuagint it is translated as mermecolion, ant-lion.

Sources (chronological order)

Gregory the Great 

[6th-7th century CE] (Moralia in Iob, Book V, chapter 20, section 40): But in the translation of the seventy interpreters it does not say "the tiger" but "the ant-lion perished because it had no prey." The ant-lion is a very small animal, enemy of the ant, which hides itself under the sand and kills ants carrying bits of grain, and then eats the ants. Ant-lion is said in Latin to be either "lion of ants" or at least, more precisely, "both ant and lion." It is rightly said to be both ant and lion, because by comparison to flying things, or to other small animals, it is an ant, but to the ants it is a lion. It devours them like a lion, but it is devoured by the other animals like an ant. When therefore Eliphaz says, "The ant-lion perished," what is he attacking in blessed Job under this name if not both fear and boldness? As if to say openly: 'You have not been struck unjustly, because you are timid against the strong, but bold against the weak.' As if to say openly: 'Against the clever, fear restrained you, but against the simple, cockiness puffed you up. But the ant-lion does not have its prey because your timid pride is beset by blows and kept from wounding others.' But because we said the friends of blessed Job stood for heretics, it is important for us to say how these words of Eliphaz can be interpreted allegorically. ... (Section 43): This beast spotted with such diversity is rightly called a tiger, though called by the seventy interpreters as we said before, an ant-lion. That animal hides in the dust, as we said, to kill ants carrying bits of grain. So also the apostate angel, cast down on earth from heaven, ambushes the minds of the just as they prepare for themselves nourishment on the path leading to good works. And when he defeats them from ambush, he is like an ant-lion unexpectedly killing ants bearing grain. But he is rightly called an ant-lion, that is lion-and-ant: for he is a lion to the ants, but to the birds a mere ant, because to those who yield to him the ancient enemy is strong, but to those who resist him he is feeble. If his suggestions find assent, he is as unstoppable as the lion; but if they are resisted, he is stepped on like an ant. To some therefore he is a lion, to others an ant. Minds devoted to the flesh can scarcely endure his cruelty, while spiritual minds step on his weakness with the foot of virtue. So heretics, because they take pride in their presumed holiness, say as if rejoicing, "The ant-lion," or at least, "The tiger perished, because he had no prey." As if to say openly: 'The old adversary does not have prey in us because for our purposes he already lies beaten.' So he is mentioned again with the name of ant-lion or tiger because he had already been said to be trampled on in the roar of the lion: for whatever is said out of joy is often repeated. (translation by James J. O'Donnell)

Isidore of Seville 

[7th century CE] (Etymologies, Book 12, 3:10): The ant-lion is so called either because it is equally lion and ant, or because it is the lion of ants. It is a small animal that is hostile to ants; it hides in the sand and kills other ants that are carrying grain. In this way it is like a lion to ants though it is like an ant to other animals.

Philip de Thaun

[c. 1121 CE] (Bestiaire) Under the heading "Est formicaleon invisum animal formicis" ( Druce translation): There is another beast - which of ants is chief / It is the ant-lion - that is its name. / Among ants it is the lion - and so it gets its name. / It is a little beast - it hides in the dust. / In the path the ant goes - it does it deadly harm.

Vincent of Beauvais 

[c. 1190 - 1264] (Speculum Naturale) (from Druce): The ant-lion, so-called because it is the lion of the ants, is a worm of the family of the ants, but much larger. So long as it is small and weak, it assumes a weak and peaceful air. But when it has grown strong it disdains its former associates and joins up with a crowd of bigger ants. And so increasing in daring, it conceals itself and lies in wait for the ants which are working for their own common good; so it is that this creature which in summer time has laid up no store of provisions for itself, snatches in winter from the others the fruit of their labors and destroys them.

Guillaume le Clerc

[13th century] (Bestiaire) ( Druce translation): There is still another ant, / Not of those which I have told you, / Which has the name ant-lion. / Of the ants this is the lion, / It is the smallest of all, / The boldest and wisest. / Other ants it hates bitterly; / In the dust quite deftly / It hides; so clever it is. / When the others come laden, / It jumps out of the dust upon them, / It attacks and kills them.

Cambridge University Library MS Gg. 6.5

[15th century] ( Druce translation): The Ant-lion has got its name from "ant" and "lion", as Isidore says in his 12th Book (of the Etymology) it is both ant and lion. It is a little animal very dangerous to ants, for entering into their granaries by stealth, it consumes the corn of the ants; and so, by abstracting their victuals, is the cause whereby the simple-minded ants come to their death through hunger. But by other animals it is devoured as an ant, nor is it able to protect itself by its own strength. And it is a kind of spider -see under "Spider". The same is called mirmicaleon, a kind of animal, a foe to ants, because it kills and eats them, etc.' ... [under the entry for "spider”]: 'There is another kind of spider by name "mirmicaleon" or "mirmiceon", which is also called by the name "formicaleon". It is like an ant with a white head, and it has a black body, marked with white spots. And the bite of this creature is as painful as that of wasps. And it is called ant-lion because it hunts ants like a lion and sucks out the juices from their bodies, but it is devoured by sparrows and other birds just as an ant.

[ardenrosegarden]

..This means that [Constance's] production of charters has been recognized: it has been preserved and validated by later dukes who reactivated the content of her texts.  The ducal authority of Constance is therefore not contested during her lifetime nor even thereafter.  The confirmation of an act issued by a predecessor highlights the ducal relationship between the different dukes and duchesses.  The duke is justified in confirming and reactivating the act of a previous duke because he considers himself as their successor, direct or indirect.  Therefore, the confirmation of the charters of Constance does not only mean the recognition of its ducal power but also integrates it into a chronology of ducal authority and the succession that builds it.  The specific political climate of her government with the duchy under Plantagenet domination and her sex do not erase the government activity of Constance.  Without question, her authority doesn’t differ from that of a duke.  Similarly, by these charters, Constance appoints officers by which she gives orders.  She is therefore situated at the head of the hierarchy of officers who allow ducal power to have a delegated presence in the duchy.

Élodie Chaudet, La Duchesse Constance de Bretagne et le Gouvernment en Héritage à la fin de XIIe Siècle

[cromulentbookreview]

Ambergris!

Amberlough, Armistice, Amnesty...Ambergris? That could be a potential title for a 4th book, right? I mean, Ambergris is basically whale poo that makes perfume, but hey, it’d be a cool title. It’s also the basis of an awesome Bob’s Burgers episode.

I couldn’t find a gif from the actual episode, so...I picked this one.

And by all of that, I mean: Amnesty, book three of the Amberlough Dossier by Lara Elena Donnelly!

Hoo boy. 

So there are two things I really, really love in a story: old timey spycraft (there’s a reason why one of my favorite ever TV series is TURN: Washington’s Spies. You don’t get more crafty than 18th century spycrafting!) and Art Deco. I love Art Deco. I love the style that emerged in the 1920s and 30s - when fashion, especially for women, took a massive heel-face-turn, when electricity was only just becoming mainstream, cars were phasing out horse-drawn transport, radio was becoming a thing and everybody smoked like chimneys and drank like fish, and figured it probably wasn’t bad for you. Seriously, you go from the 1910s, where women’s skirts were floor-length and heaven forbid someone see your ankles, to dresses with hemlines above the knee. We’re talking knee-exposure, people! That is a DEFCON-1 sartorial situation, people! Edwardian matrons are having heart attacks at the sight of their granddaughters’ knees. The 20s and 30s it seems combine the sort of fun, old-timey lawlessness of Ye Olden Days with just a enough modernity so things are fun. I mean, come on, it’s like Boardwalk Empire or The Untouchables, or Jeeves and Wooster or Caberet. Or the planet Sigma Iotia II from the Star Trek episode A Piece of the Action. 

OK, so my love of the 20s and 30s and old timey spycraft has been well-established, right? Yeah, those are both things I very much enjoy. I love John Le Carre’s George Smiley books because that’s back when spying involved handwritten notes taped to the backs of benches and dead-drops in train station lockers. I’m sure modern spycraft still uses some of these old-school methods - you can’t hack a piece of paper, after all - but old timey spycraft just sounds, I dunno, more fun than modern spycraft. At least, it’s more fun for me to read about.

Anyway! This brings me around to Lara Elena Donnelly’s Amberlough Dossier series.

The Amberlough Dossier is technically a fantasy series because it takes place in a world that doesn’t exist. Though that world seems extremely familiar - it’s basically Sigma Iotia II from A Piece of the Action, or Berlin of Christopher Isherwood’s 1930s - a world of decadence, caberet, free-flowing booze and cigarettes...that is slowly rotting from the inside out. 1930s Germany is a fascinating place - and by “fascinating” I mean “pants-pissing-levels of terrifying.” As someone who spent many, many, many, some would say “too many” years spent learning German, a language I almost never, ever use in my daily life (like, ever), I also spent a lot of time learning about German history. The way the rise of the Nazis also saw the rise of the Kabarett. Anyway, Amberlough City is very much like a mix of New York, London, and Berlin of the 30s. You’ve got all the fun of the 30s, mixed with the rise of a Fascist party called the One State Party, or OSP, frequently referred to as “Ospies.”

Now, if you haven’t read Amberlough and Armistice, you should. You really should. In fact, why don’t you do that. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Did you read them? Aren’t they fantastic? OK. So, on to the grand finale: Amnesty!

Just as Armistice begins with a three-year time jump after the events of Amberlough, Amnesty does the same, only this time, it’s five years after the events of Armistice, eight years after everything that went down during Amberlough. I’m not always a fan of time jumps - more often than not they make me angry, because I want to know absolutely everything that happens all the time always. Only, in the case of Amnesty, as with Armistice, I got over it pretty quick. Donnelly knows how to smooth over a time jump, filling us in with the events that happened in-between, and it does make sense that, for the most part, most major events of interest don’t always take place in perfect, chronological order. Anyway, we’re at five years after Armistice - Aristide and Daoud failed in their efforts to find Cyril in the Lisoan jungle, and they ended up setting up their own half-legit import/export business instead. Things are going pretty well - then Aristide gets a phone call from Prince Asiyah. They’ve found Cyril. Gasp!!

Meanwhile, in Amberlough, the Ospies have fallen. The revolution is over. If you were hoping for a whole book dedicated to guerilla warfare between Spotlight and the Ospies, well...sorry, you’ll be disappointed. Instead, we skip immediately to the interim government, trying to rebuild Amberlough from scratch. Lillian DePaul, with her husband Jinadh Addas and their son Stephen, now 13, have relocated back to the DePaul family home in Amberlough. The houses (a country estate and a town house) didn’t fare too well during Ospie rule, nor did the DePaul family’s assets. Plus, there’s also Cyril’s reputation is traitor to the nation to deal with. So Lillian, practically broke, has to contend with two crumbling houses that she can’t afford to staff properly, a husband who is not 100% happy with life in Amberlough, and a 13-year-old boy who acts like, well, a 13-year-old boy. Namely: moody, pissy and generally insufferable.

Then she gets a call out of nowhere from her old kind-of-sort-of-friend, Aristide Makricosta, with the news that her brother Cyril is still alive, and heading back to come stay with her. Yay?

Poor Cyril. Things were not great for him during the 8 years between the end of Amberlough and the start of Amnesty. He’d spent most of that time running dangerous ops for the Lisoan government in the jungle, with little regard for his own life. So when he finally emerges back to civilization he’s...well, different. There’s definitely a strong combination of PTSD and extreme guilt there. Plus a bit of survivalist kleptomania (hey, if you don’t know when you’re going to eat next, you’d squirrel away bits of food, too). Cyril is basically a man with a death wish, not giving a fuck about much of anything, preferring instead to retreat behind the mask of his work identities. Now he’s back - reunited with his old lover, Aristide, and his sister, Lillian. Plus, he gets to finally meet his nephew, Stephen.

But Cyril’s return to Amberlough isn’t exactly the best idea: once word gets out that he’s back, one of the politicians running for president of the new Amberlough decides to use Cyril as a political platform, namely that he should be arrested and put to death for treason. Cyril is like “sure, OK,” to that, but Lillian and Aristide? Yeah, they definitely don’t like that idea, and now they have to scramble to save not just Cyril, but themselves as well.

OK, so I fricking love this series. I tore through Amberlough and Armistice in just a couple of days, and I’m a slow reader, so that’s saying something. Amnesty is a completely satisfying end to the series, though I will still want more details about Cyril’s SuperHappyFun Jungle Adventures, or Aristide’s adventures in Porachis Bollywood or Coredlia’s rise as the leader of the resistance. Having those time gaps between books means we get to imagine all the adventures that happened in between. Which means: fanfiction! Woo! Or possible future short stories of novellas. (Cough cough hint hint Ms. Donnelly). If you’re not fond of big time gaps, then you might find this series frustrating, but still, Amnesty is an absolutely satisfying conclusion to the series.

My biggest complaint is, however, most definitely a spoiler, so I will be as vague as possible: one of the characters is killed off between Armistice and Amnesty. At first, I was pissed - it’s like when a character is killed off between seasons of a TV show because the actor got fired or left for a different job. You’re like, “noooo!” but, going directly from Armistice to Amnesty, the death of this particular character does make sense, and it’s not like their death is dismissed with a hand wave. It’s a huge part of the story. I’d already forgiven the off-screen death by the time I’d gotten halfway through the book. So if you’re tempted to throw the book across the room when you learn that [character] died between books, don’t. Keep going. You’d be cheating yourself otherwise.

My second biggest complaint is that we never get a map that includes the exact locations of Liso and Porachis. I want to know where everything is, damn it!

In all, you need to read this series. If you want a fantastic LGBTQ romance, a story that spans nearly a decade, old-timey Le Carre-level spycraft, political infighting, scheming, and a 1930s-esque world, then you need to read the entire Amberlough Dossier. Go on. You know you want to.

RECOMMENDED FOR: Fans of worlds inspired by the 20s and 30s, John Le Carre fans, anyone in need for a LGBTQ romance with spycraft elements.

NOT RECOMMENDED FOR: Anybody not interested in reading about the minutiae of politics of a world that doesn’t exist. I love that sort of thing but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

OVERALL SERIES RATING: 5/5

AMNESTY RATING: 4.5/5

AMNESTY RELEASE DATE: April 16, 2019

ANTICIPATION LEVEL FOR ANOTHER BOOK / NOVELLA / SHORT STORY / ANYTHING: Olympus Mons

[ianference]

It’s time to venture back out to Chamonix and the surrounding mountains, with our case notebook in hand, to deduce what we can about Box 2 of the Puthon Collection. If you’ve not already done so, I strongly suggest taking a look at the overview page for the collection, as it provides a general guideline to viewing sets from this series. And if you haven’t seen the first box from the collection, you’re probably going to miss some of the context here, as familiarity with previous sets will always be assumed. But in any case, do what you like – if you’d rather just jump in and catch up later, it’s not like I can stop you! Let’s see what we’ve got in Box #2…

Box02 – standard Puthon Collection “Vitra” box, with “1929” handwritten on the front cover.

Nothing particularly special about the box itself, besides the year marking. What is exciting is that the box does, in fact, contain 11 slides all marked as 1929 images – so here’s hoping that there’s some chronology to the set in general (although I doubt that the boxes are in any kind of order). There seem to be at least a couple of trips pictured, and several new locations added to the map; a previously-seen location appears as well. The slides are, unfortunately, in slightly worse condition when compared to those from the first box – though the photography seems to have improved in general. Again, the action seems to be centered around Chamonix, which jives with the fact that several of the boxes have “Chamonix” written in masking tape on the side. Let’s take a look!

Slides

Box02-S01 – “Le Lavancher – Mme Puthon – Marguerite – Léontine – Juliette – 1929”

 Description: A view of four women in Le Lavancher – one of them Mme Puthon! – standing against a hilly backdrop, with a number of mountains in the distance. Box01-S06 also notes the presence of Léontine with Mme Puthon – so two of these women appear in two of the shots! We’ll get to this later, when we hit the “Discussion” section. But meanwhile, we have what basically appears to be a hastily-taken snapshot, based on what first looked like a printing error (but I later noticed was clearly something in the foreground) at top.

Technical: A pretty-much-straight-up-B&W image, this displays much better use of stereoscopy than most of the 1928 images from the first box, if somewhat dodgy composition. The bar / pipe / whatever it is at the top of the frame is distracting, and while the women are placed in a nice rule-of-thirdsy sort of position, they’re somewhat obscured by the background and the rather poor lighting. Nevertheless, it’s not a bad amateur shot.

Box02-S02 – “Sommet de la Flégère 1929” (“La Flégère summit 1929”)

Description: A group of 15 people – 9 women, 5 men, and one I can’t tell –  are gathered for a portrait at the La Flégère summit, with grand mountains in the background. The man with a grizzly beard and a bandaged finger is holding a copy of the “Le Progres” newspaper. He looks an awful lot like the bearded gent from Box01-S06! Most of the subjects are grinning victoriously at the camera (presumably after having just reached the summit), while a few choose to strike more “dignified” or “casual” poses. I’m not going to give each of them fun names this time around, unless I can link them to subjects in other shots – but I have a feeling we’ll see some of them again – so let’s number them for ease of reference:

Females get an “F” designation, males an “M”, and the unknown gets the wildcard “?”.

Technical: This is a very well taken stereo portrait, and probably the best work we’ve seen from our photographer (assuming the single photographer theory) so far. Central composition works here, because it’s a group portrait. The haze in between the subjects and the majestic mountains creates wonderful contrast, as the figures really pop here. It’s doubtful that the crimson toning was purposeful – likely, this is just how it came back from the lab – but it really works with the image and gives it extra punch. There’s a reason that this was the header image from my very first post on this site…

Box02-03 – “Sommet de la Flégère 1929” (“La Flégère summit 1929”)

Description: Some people stand near the edge of the La Flégère summit around the time of the above image; this was either taken candidly or the subjects were posing in such a way as to appear casual. In the foreground, a weathered post sticks up from the ground; in the background, the grand mountains once again. The nearest woman is F2 from our chart above – the only woman wearing a white coat and a hat. Two of the three ladies with white hats (F3/F5/F8) are sitting with M1 on the ground. I can’t discern who the woman in the striped shawl is – can you? The final woman is either F9 or ?.

Technical: A pretty good stereo photo; the rusticated post in the foreground lends a wonderful 3D effect, while the figures certainly pops. The deep blue is pleasing, though again, one wonders whether there is any creator intention here. The composition is rather muddled – the photographer did not spend the time in framing with this one, but perhaps they were trying to just capture the moment. Sadly, the slide itself has a large tear in the emulsion of the right-hand panel.

Box02-S04 – “Vue du Mont Blanc du Brévent 1929″ (View of Mont Blanc from Brévent 1929”)

Description: Next to the side of a building, eight figures crowd around a makeshift picnic table and a circular table up on Brévent with chairs; upon the long table sits a telescope. The view of Mont Blanc is quite stunning and painterly in the background. Sitting at the table are all three of the White Hat Women (F3/F5/F8), and it appears like F4 is sitting there as well. The standing man might well be M1 with his hat and tie missing. It’s possible that these were taken on a single ambitious day of hiking, but absolutely not certain.

Technical: This is another quite excellent stereo slide. While a bit contrasty, this probably couldn’t be helped – with the sky appearing clear, it might have been a while before a cloud could come and diffuse the light. The image is extremely well composed, and really shows off the scale of the mountains in the distance. Very pleasing to look at, and nicely sepia toned.

Box02-S05 – “Retour de Salvan Suisse 1929” – (“Return from Salvan Switzerland 1929”)

Description: A group of 9 figures walks along a path, presumably on the way back from Salvan. This doesn’t look entirely like the group from S02; while there are three women with white mushroom hats (seemingly a common 1929 fashion trend in the Alpine region), they don’t appear to be dressed exactly as the women in S02, and there are numerous other figures that might be new as well – particularly the bloke with the well-manicured salt-and-pepper beard in the background: it’s Posturing Gentleman from Box 1 again! The tall gent looks a lot like M2, and it’s likely that some of the group is the same. But Salvan is quite a hike from the Brévent / La Flégère region, so I’ll assume this was a different excursion.

Technical: Neither a great stereographic image nor a poor one, these seems like a pretty standard “group walking along a path through the mountains” view. The image is far more contrasty than others, leading me to wonder whether it was developed separately. It’s got decent stereo, and pretty standard composition – overall, it’s competent, not impressive.

Box02s06 – “Le Lavanché pres Chamonix 1929” (“Le Levancher near Chamonix 1929”)

Description: Another view from Le Lavancher, this time with a horse! Posturing Gentleman is here again, as is the woman on the far right in S01 – here, in front atop the horse. The woman second from the right in S01 is here too, standing in profile to the camera and reaching toward the horse. The woman pictured here with her back to the camera could well be the second from the left in S01 – meaning that the leftmost woman in S01 is the only person not appearing here. The other woman atop the horse, with the elaborate hat and the shadowed face? No idea. Finally, the metal frame behind the horse could well be the thing hanging into frame in S01 – though this is just conjecture.

Technical: This is well done image. The stereography is compelling, and the composition is going, showing motion and action – unlike most of the images by this photographer. The mountains, and the buildings in the valley between the mountains, frame the scene wonderfully, and the lighting is impeccable.

Box02-S07 – “Excursion avec nous les Américains Salvan Suisse 1929” (“The Americans excursion with us Salvan Switzerland 1929”)

Description: This must have been taken on the same trip as Box01-S10 – it’s similarly toned, and showing buildings in Salvan along with some common figures, including Posturing Gentleman for the third time in a row! So he’s now showing up all over the place in 1928 as well as in 1929 – I’m getting the feeling that he’s a regular with this photographer’s crew. Not sure who “the Americans” referenced on this slide and Box01-S10 might be. Nobody else is readily identifiable, at least at a first glance.

Technical: This is okay, but not great; the lighting is harsh, and a huge swath of the image is taken up with… white space. This can work to focus attention, but in this case, my attention is drawn more to the buildings, and to trying to figure out whether the nearby passerby in silhouette is carrying a camera. The stereo effect is underwhelming due to the subjects being far away and the foreground being boring – not among this box’s more impressive shots.

Box02-S08 – “Chemineé du Brévent 1929” (“Chemineé du Brévent 1929”)

Description: A group of people climbing a natural chimney somewhere in the Brévent area, aided by some metal railing that have been affixed to the stone. Three of the White Mushroom Hat Ladies are here, as well as some other figures, none immediately recognizable. Two of the men are wearing circular sunglasses. The angle of the shot makes the climb look somewhat intense, but the relaxed postures of the subjects betrays this notion; there’s no way that this is a tough climb.

Technical: Given the angle at which the photographer was basically forced to work, this is about the only photo that could be taken given the lighting. It’s good enough; the stereo effect is decent, and the image is appealing. Waiting for more diffused light might have benefitted the image some, but then, if the sky was clear, that could have been quite a wait…

Box02-S09 – “Près du Sommet du Brévent 1929” (“Near the Brévent Summit 1929”)

Description: Nine people have made their way – or are making their way – to a rocky outcropping near the Brévent summit. They’re quite small in frame, so it’s hard to tell exactly, but it looks like a group from which the subset in the above stereoview was culled. These were likely taken on the same trip. The man touching the brim of his hat certainly resembles M2.

Technical: This is a stunning image, second only to S02 in this set in terms of image quality. The haze once again allows a wonderful separation between the midground and background; there really is no foreground to speak of, due to the distance between the lenses and the subjects. The mountaineers are well placed, both in places where they stand out and in places where one has to search for them, adding an element of mystery to the scene. I just wish there weren’t an emulsion lift on the right panel!

Box02-S10 – “Excursion avec les americains a Salvan 1929” (“Excursion with the Americans to Salvan 1929”)

Description: A group of people, including the Posturing Gentleman, are clearly posing for a photograph in the streets of Salvan. There appears to be a camera club of some sort in the photo: new arrivals (for us) include an elegantly dressed woman with a folding camera, kneeling, bellows extended; a gentleman with a large brick of a camera at his side; an older woman with a box camera standing. M2 is there in the background as well.

Technical: Ack! There is severe right tilting to the camera here, resulting in a distractingly angled final image. Unlike a regular photograph, to which a mat can be applied to make a crooked image look straight, this format does not allow for such. This was either an outtake or a mistake on the photographer’s part; the extreme angle is so distracting that it significantly detracts from the image.

Box02-S11 – “Chalet du Brévent 1929”

Description: A group of travelers – many of them the same as in the other Brévant and La Flégère images in this box, as well as some that are definitely from Box 1. In the far distance, the mountains; in the foreground, coarse rocks. M1 is here, as is Posturing Gentleman. The three White Mushroom Hat Ladies are here again, and I’m becoming convinced that the older-looking Mushroom Hat is Diagonal Top Lady from Box 1. But we’ll see in the end discussion what we’re able to sort out.

Technical: Very good indeed. Once again, contrast is used to good effect to highlight the Chalet, the mountains, and of course, the subjects. The boulders in the near foreground really help give layering to the stereographic merge. The entire scene is beautifully framed by the mountains, and even the bright lighting does not detract in this case. Sadly, artifacts on the slide are distracting, and little can be done about that.

Discussion

Two boxes in, and we’ve already learned a bunch about the photographer and their subjects. But before we get into all that, let’s look back at the four women pictured in S01:

Detail from Box02-S01. For now, from left to right, we’ll call them “A”, “B”, C”, and “D”.

Presumably, one of these women is Mme Puthon – and identifying her is one of our main goals at this stage – since the name “Puthon” appears on a couple of the boxes, it’s important to figure out why. I presented one possible reason early on – that she’s the wife of the photographer, since we don’t seem to see an “M Puthon” in here. In the Box 1 post, we narrowed down Mme Puthon to being one of three ladies:

The three ladies from the previous post. From left to right: “Familiar Lady”, “Flower Dress Lady”, and “Diagonal Top Lady”.

It is important to note that there could be two crossovers here, as Mme Puthon and Léontine are both named on both slides. As noted before, we have at least one other definite appearance of “D”, on slide 06:

“D” from Box02s06.

This view bears quite a resemblance to “Diagonal Top Lady” from Box 1. There’s the superficial similarity of the White Mushroom Hat, of course – but then, those seemed to be “the thing” in those days, and they’re hardly unique. However, her facial structure – roundish face, large nose – are similar, and she has a similar general build. Of course, if the two images are indeed of the same person, that means little – it could be Léontine, Mme Puthon, or someone else entirely.

Then there’s the left-frame ladies of each side – “A” and Familiar Lady. Similar hats, similar builds, even similar expressions. But as of now, it’s hard to say – and we’ll leave such questions until we have yet more evidence. At the very least, we now know that we have at least several images of Mme Puthon in any case, based on the Box 1 comparisons, and very likely at least 2 in this box as well.

Moving on, then, unless a reader spots something I’ve missed in correlating these figures, let’s add two more underlying assumptions to those collected in the “Discussion” section of the Box 1 post:

The photographer themselves – M Puthon or otherwise – was at least a semi-skilled climber. In order to balance from whatever his position was when taking S09, as well as to schlep his camera, plates, potentially extra backs, etc along on the more rugged routes, the photographer would have to be a physically sound specimen.

The photographer regularly took at least one, and likely more than one, of the same people with them on their excursions. At the very least, Posturing Gentleman has now appeared in two different years at most every location photographed in this collection so far.

Let us now re-examine the three initial possibilities I suggested for the identities of the Puthons:

The Puthons were a wealthy family from the Chamonix region, and simply galavanted around with other wealthy people. This is further supported by the “hanging out with Americans” images from Salvan, where the newcomers indeed looked wealthy; by the fact that some people are consistent between 1928 and 1929; by the fact that the stereoviews are all still from one particular geographic region. On the other hand, it’s somewhat put in doubt by the fact that these all appear to be summer images – if they resided in the area, why no winter photos? Of course, we’re only 22 slides into the set, so we’ve a long road ahead!

The Puthons were indeed a married couple, possibly wealthy, and M Puthon practiced photography as they traveled all over the world. This is explained equally well by the same evidence we’ve added to possibility 1, without the problematic lack of winter imagery in the collection as it stands so far. However, unless they traveled the world with the same group of people, why would figures like Posturing Man appear in a majority of images?

The Puthons were a family that ran an inn, or a travel agency, or another sort of tourism business. M Puthon found a side business in selling stereoviews to tourists – he could take the diapositives while he led various expeditions, and the Puthon Collection represents his collected rejects or un-purchased views. This is seeming less likely, as (1) if he was a local tourguide, why would be bring the same friends on every trip? and (2) some of the “rejects” – particularly slides like S02 and S09 – are so good that they could easily be sold even to uninvolved parties – they’re just good photography overall. I’m not getting this feeling as of yet from the images.

So, we have more information from this box, but not substantially more information. The two slides which name Mme Puthon also name Léontine; until we get a slide with one or the other, and positively make a correlation otherwise, we’re still narrowed down to 3 figures from a series of images from Box 1, and to four figures from a pair of images from Box 2. We know that the photographer was in the region for two years in a row, and again in 1931 (and, from notations on the boxes, presumably in 1933). Otherwise, we still have precious little here…

And again, this is where you come in! If you recognize a location, or notice something I didn’t in terms of matching people up – LET ME KNOW! Use the Contact page, or leave a public comment below. It’ll be added to the discussion here, and you’ll be credited!

Even if you have some little alternative theory that you’re mulling, you now have 22 stereoviews at your disposal. Do some digging, and let us know – I’m not going to solve everything I want to about these slides on my own; I don’t know the region, the culture, what it looks like now – hell, I don’t even speak the language. So please lend a hand where you can!

And until the next time, please pop on your red/cyan glasses and check out the…

Anaglyphs

Puthon Collection Box 2: Climbing Higher in 1929 It's time to venture back out to Chamonix and the surrounding mountains, with our case notebook in hand, to deduce what we can about Box 2 of the Puthon Collection.

[newcityistanbul]

Historic way of seeing Paris

That is the historic way of seeing Paris. But how many thousands of our tourists believe they know Paris as well as London, and have exhausted all its sights, and hurry through Paris, and yet they could not tell where the Convention had its hall, or how it came there, or where the bones of king and queen and the other victims of the guillotine were laid, and why they were thrown in that spot, or where the guillotine stood: nor have they seen the cells where Marie Antoinette and Danton, Vergniaud and the Girondins passed their last hours — or could distinguish the parts of the Louvre, or tell for whom the many L’s and H’s and M’s are inscribed — or where our Henry v. Lived when he was ruler of France after Azincourt, and where was the Palace of St. Louis, or of Philip Augustus, or Clovis, or the original Lutetia of the Parisii.

Let us try to group the record of Paris in historic epochs and in their right chronological order.

It is easy to realise the Latetia of the Romans, the first Gaulish settlement. Loukhteith, its Celtic name, is said to mean ‘the stronghold in the morass,’—not ‘mud-city,’ as Carlyle calls it, — nearly the same as Llyn-dyn, or London, which means the Lake-town. The island (or eyot as we say in the Thames), in the Seine a little below the junction of the Marne, where the Bievre flows into the Seine, formed an excellent fastness. Caesar has given a vivid account of the siege of Paris in 52 B.C., and from the top of the Pantheon we can stand and trace the campaign of Labienus, as told by the mighty general of Rome. The historic record of Paris thus begins 1946 years ago. It was a city of some, but not of great importance in the Roman Empire private tour istanbul, its most famous incident being that it was the favourite residence of the Emperor Julian in the middle of the fourth century. In a well-known passage in his Misopogon, he speaks of his dear Lutetia, of its soft and delightful climate, and the richness of its vines.

There is something strangely suggestive in the association of Paris with the brilliant, philosophical, wrongheaded young Caesar, with his paradoxical ideals, romantic adventures, and tragic end.

Roman remains called Les Thermes

It is well known that the grand Roman remains called Les Thermes, adjoining the Cluny Museum, belonged to the palace of the Caesars, the great hall forming the frigidarinm of the Baths, and the rest of the foundations have been fairly made out. Other Roman remains are the altar found under Notre Dame, many altars and tombs, both Pagan and Christian, a large collection of objects in the Carnavalet Museum, some remains of city walls of the fourth century, the famous inscription of the naiitae or watermen’s gild of Paris, two aqueducts, that of Arcueil on the south near Bicetre, and that of Chaillot near the Palais Royal, an amphitheatre, east of the Pantheon near the R. Monge, a second palace beneath the Conciergerie, several cemeteries and tombs, in the R. Vivienne on the north, and also in the south, a Roman camp, a factory of pottery, a mass of antiquities at Montmartre, the Mons Martis, I think, not the Mons Marty mm.

This forms a mass of Roman antiquities which together raise Paris to the rank of importance amongst the scanty remnants of ancient civilisation in Northern Europe. In the Thermes we have the Roman Louvre, in the altar of Jupiter the antitype of Notre Dame, in the cemetery of the R. Vivienne the Roman Phe-la-Chaise, in the foundations below the Palais de Justice, the Roman Hotel de Villc, in the Parvis de Notre Dame perhaps the Roman Forum, the predecessor of the Place de Grlve.

There is seldom to be met so striking a bit of city topography as the long history of evolution in the Cite, or island, of Paris. First, it was a group of palisaded eyots in a broad river spreading out on both sides into swamps — the river stronghold of a tribe called by the Romans Parisii, a word possibly connected with Bar, which is thought to signify a frontier (Bar-sur-Aube, etc.). Then this river stronghold is joined to the mainland by two bridges not in a straight line but at opposite ends of the island and both doubtless defended; it is next a Roman city, ultimately walled, with its central temple, its municipality, its quays, and some outlying buildings, the Imperial Palace, the amphitheatre, cemeteries, camp, and the like, on the mainland, both north and south: one bridge, now the Pont au change, opening into the Place du Chdtelet; the smaller bridge, now Petit Pont, higher up the river over the narrow arm, at the end of the R. St. Jacques.

[istanbuldaybg]

Historic way of seeing Paris

That is the historic way of seeing Paris. But how many thousands of our tourists believe they know Paris as well as London, and have exhausted all its sights, and hurry through Paris, and yet they could not tell where the Convention had its hall, or how it came there, or where the bones of king and queen and the other victims of the guillotine were laid, and why they were thrown in that spot, or where the guillotine stood: nor have they seen the cells where Marie Antoinette and Danton, Vergniaud and the Girondins passed their last hours — or could distinguish the parts of the Louvre, or tell for whom the many L’s and H’s and M’s are inscribed — or where our Henry v. Lived when he was ruler of France after Azincourt, and where was the Palace of St. Louis, or of Philip Augustus, or Clovis, or the original Lutetia of the Parisii.

Let us try to group the record of Paris in historic epochs and in their right chronological order.

It is easy to realise the Latetia of the Romans, the first Gaulish settlement. Loukhteith, its Celtic name, is said to mean ‘the stronghold in the morass,’—not ‘mud-city,’ as Carlyle calls it, — nearly the same as Llyn-dyn, or London, which means the Lake-town. The island (or eyot as we say in the Thames), in the Seine a little below the junction of the Marne, where the Bievre flows into the Seine, formed an excellent fastness. Caesar has given a vivid account of the siege of Paris in 52 B.C., and from the top of the Pantheon we can stand and trace the campaign of Labienus, as told by the mighty general of Rome. The historic record of Paris thus begins 1946 years ago. It was a city of some, but not of great importance in the Roman Empire private tour istanbul, its most famous incident being that it was the favourite residence of the Emperor Julian in the middle of the fourth century. In a well-known passage in his Misopogon, he speaks of his dear Lutetia, of its soft and delightful climate, and the richness of its vines.

There is something strangely suggestive in the association of Paris with the brilliant, philosophical, wrongheaded young Caesar, with his paradoxical ideals, romantic adventures, and tragic end.

Roman remains called Les Thermes

It is well known that the grand Roman remains called Les Thermes, adjoining the Cluny Museum, belonged to the palace of the Caesars, the great hall forming the frigidarinm of the Baths, and the rest of the foundations have been fairly made out. Other Roman remains are the altar found under Notre Dame, many altars and tombs, both Pagan and Christian, a large collection of objects in the Carnavalet Museum, some remains of city walls of the fourth century, the famous inscription of the naiitae or watermen’s gild of Paris, two aqueducts, that of Arcueil on the south near Bicetre, and that of Chaillot near the Palais Royal, an amphitheatre, east of the Pantheon near the R. Monge, a second palace beneath the Conciergerie, several cemeteries and tombs, in the R. Vivienne on the north, and also in the south, a Roman camp, a factory of pottery, a mass of antiquities at Montmartre, the Mons Martis, I think, not the Mons Marty mm.

This forms a mass of Roman antiquities which together raise Paris to the rank of importance amongst the scanty remnants of ancient civilisation in Northern Europe. In the Thermes we have the Roman Louvre, in the altar of Jupiter the antitype of Notre Dame, in the cemetery of the R. Vivienne the Roman Phe-la-Chaise, in the foundations below the Palais de Justice, the Roman Hotel de Villc, in the Parvis de Notre Dame perhaps the Roman Forum, the predecessor of the Place de Grlve.

There is seldom to be met so striking a bit of city topography as the long history of evolution in the Cite, or island, of Paris. First, it was a group of palisaded eyots in a broad river spreading out on both sides into swamps — the river stronghold of a tribe called by the Romans Parisii, a word possibly connected with Bar, which is thought to signify a frontier (Bar-sur-Aube, etc.). Then this river stronghold is joined to the mainland by two bridges not in a straight line but at opposite ends of the island and both doubtless defended; it is next a Roman city, ultimately walled, with its central temple, its municipality, its quays, and some outlying buildings, the Imperial Palace, the amphitheatre, cemeteries, camp, and the like, on the mainland, both north and south: one bridge, now the Pont au change, opening into the Place du Chdtelet; the smaller bridge, now Petit Pont, higher up the river over the narrow arm, at the end of the R. St. Jacques.

[istanbultulip]

Historic way of seeing Paris

That is the historic way of seeing Paris. But how many thousands of our tourists believe they know Paris as well as London, and have exhausted all its sights, and hurry through Paris, and yet they could not tell where the Convention had its hall, or how it came there, or where the bones of king and queen and the other victims of the guillotine were laid, and why they were thrown in that spot, or where the guillotine stood: nor have they seen the cells where Marie Antoinette and Danton, Vergniaud and the Girondins passed their last hours — or could distinguish the parts of the Louvre, or tell for whom the many L’s and H’s and M’s are inscribed — or where our Henry v. Lived when he was ruler of France after Azincourt, and where was the Palace of St. Louis, or of Philip Augustus, or Clovis, or the original Lutetia of the Parisii.

Let us try to group the record of Paris in historic epochs and in their right chronological order.

It is easy to realise the Latetia of the Romans, the first Gaulish settlement. Loukhteith, its Celtic name, is said to mean ‘the stronghold in the morass,’—not ‘mud-city,’ as Carlyle calls it, — nearly the same as Llyn-dyn, or London, which means the Lake-town. The island (or eyot as we say in the Thames), in the Seine a little below the junction of the Marne, where the Bievre flows into the Seine, formed an excellent fastness. Caesar has given a vivid account of the siege of Paris in 52 B.C., and from the top of the Pantheon we can stand and trace the campaign of Labienus, as told by the mighty general of Rome. The historic record of Paris thus begins 1946 years ago. It was a city of some, but not of great importance in the Roman Empire private tour istanbul, its most famous incident being that it was the favourite residence of the Emperor Julian in the middle of the fourth century. In a well-known passage in his Misopogon, he speaks of his dear Lutetia, of its soft and delightful climate, and the richness of its vines.

There is something strangely suggestive in the association of Paris with the brilliant, philosophical, wrongheaded young Caesar, with his paradoxical ideals, romantic adventures, and tragic end.

Roman remains called Les Thermes

It is well known that the grand Roman remains called Les Thermes, adjoining the Cluny Museum, belonged to the palace of the Caesars, the great hall forming the frigidarinm of the Baths, and the rest of the foundations have been fairly made out. Other Roman remains are the altar found under Notre Dame, many altars and tombs, both Pagan and Christian, a large collection of objects in the Carnavalet Museum, some remains of city walls of the fourth century, the famous inscription of the naiitae or watermen’s gild of Paris, two aqueducts, that of Arcueil on the south near Bicetre, and that of Chaillot near the Palais Royal, an amphitheatre, east of the Pantheon near the R. Monge, a second palace beneath the Conciergerie, several cemeteries and tombs, in the R. Vivienne on the north, and also in the south, a Roman camp, a factory of pottery, a mass of antiquities at Montmartre, the Mons Martis, I think, not the Mons Marty mm.

This forms a mass of Roman antiquities which together raise Paris to the rank of importance amongst the scanty remnants of ancient civilisation in Northern Europe. In the Thermes we have the Roman Louvre, in the altar of Jupiter the antitype of Notre Dame, in the cemetery of the R. Vivienne the Roman Phe-la-Chaise, in the foundations below the Palais de Justice, the Roman Hotel de Villc, in the Parvis de Notre Dame perhaps the Roman Forum, the predecessor of the Place de Grlve.

There is seldom to be met so striking a bit of city topography as the long history of evolution in the Cite, or island, of Paris. First, it was a group of palisaded eyots in a broad river spreading out on both sides into swamps — the river stronghold of a tribe called by the Romans Parisii, a word possibly connected with Bar, which is thought to signify a frontier (Bar-sur-Aube, etc.). Then this river stronghold is joined to the mainland by two bridges not in a straight line but at opposite ends of the island and both doubtless defended; it is next a Roman city, ultimately walled, with its central temple, its municipality, its quays, and some outlying buildings, the Imperial Palace, the amphitheatre, cemeteries, camp, and the like, on the mainland, both north and south: one bridge, now the Pont au change, opening into the Place du Chdtelet; the smaller bridge, now Petit Pont, higher up the river over the narrow arm, at the end of the R. St. Jacques.

[staristan]

Historic way of seeing Paris

That is the historic way of seeing Paris. But how many thousands of our tourists believe they know Paris as well as London, and have exhausted all its sights, and hurry through Paris, and yet they could not tell where the Convention had its hall, or how it came there, or where the bones of king and queen and the other victims of the guillotine were laid, and why they were thrown in that spot, or where the guillotine stood: nor have they seen the cells where Marie Antoinette and Danton, Vergniaud and the Girondins passed their last hours — or could distinguish the parts of the Louvre, or tell for whom the many L’s and H’s and M’s are inscribed — or where our Henry v. Lived when he was ruler of France after Azincourt, and where was the Palace of St. Louis, or of Philip Augustus, or Clovis, or the original Lutetia of the Parisii.

Let us try to group the record of Paris in historic epochs and in their right chronological order.

It is easy to realise the Latetia of the Romans, the first Gaulish settlement. Loukhteith, its Celtic name, is said to mean ‘the stronghold in the morass,’—not ‘mud-city,’ as Carlyle calls it, — nearly the same as Llyn-dyn, or London, which means the Lake-town. The island (or eyot as we say in the Thames), in the Seine a little below the junction of the Marne, where the Bievre flows into the Seine, formed an excellent fastness. Caesar has given a vivid account of the siege of Paris in 52 B.C., and from the top of the Pantheon we can stand and trace the campaign of Labienus, as told by the mighty general of Rome. The historic record of Paris thus begins 1946 years ago. It was a city of some, but not of great importance in the Roman Empire private tour istanbul, its most famous incident being that it was the favourite residence of the Emperor Julian in the middle of the fourth century. In a well-known passage in his Misopogon, he speaks of his dear Lutetia, of its soft and delightful climate, and the richness of its vines.

There is something strangely suggestive in the association of Paris with the brilliant, philosophical, wrongheaded young Caesar, with his paradoxical ideals, romantic adventures, and tragic end.

Roman remains called Les Thermes

It is well known that the grand Roman remains called Les Thermes, adjoining the Cluny Museum, belonged to the palace of the Caesars, the great hall forming the frigidarinm of the Baths, and the rest of the foundations have been fairly made out. Other Roman remains are the altar found under Notre Dame, many altars and tombs, both Pagan and Christian, a large collection of objects in the Carnavalet Museum, some remains of city walls of the fourth century, the famous inscription of the naiitae or watermen’s gild of Paris, two aqueducts, that of Arcueil on the south near Bicetre, and that of Chaillot near the Palais Royal, an amphitheatre, east of the Pantheon near the R. Monge, a second palace beneath the Conciergerie, several cemeteries and tombs, in the R. Vivienne on the north, and also in the south, a Roman camp, a factory of pottery, a mass of antiquities at Montmartre, the Mons Martis, I think, not the Mons Marty mm.

This forms a mass of Roman antiquities which together raise Paris to the rank of importance amongst the scanty remnants of ancient civilisation in Northern Europe. In the Thermes we have the Roman Louvre, in the altar of Jupiter the antitype of Notre Dame, in the cemetery of the R. Vivienne the Roman Phe-la-Chaise, in the foundations below the Palais de Justice, the Roman Hotel de Villc, in the Parvis de Notre Dame perhaps the Roman Forum, the predecessor of the Place de Grlve.

There is seldom to be met so striking a bit of city topography as the long history of evolution in the Cite, or island, of Paris. First, it was a group of palisaded eyots in a broad river spreading out on both sides into swamps — the river stronghold of a tribe called by the Romans Parisii, a word possibly connected with Bar, which is thought to signify a frontier (Bar-sur-Aube, etc.). Then this river stronghold is joined to the mainland by two bridges not in a straight line but at opposite ends of the island and both doubtless defended; it is next a Roman city, ultimately walled, with its central temple, its municipality, its quays, and some outlying buildings, the Imperial Palace, the amphitheatre, cemeteries, camp, and the like, on the mainland, both north and south: one bridge, now the Pont au change, opening into the Place du Chdtelet; the smaller bridge, now Petit Pont, higher up the river over the narrow arm, at the end of the R. St. Jacques.

[hitistanbul]

Historic way of seeing Paris

That is the historic way of seeing Paris. But how many thousands of our tourists believe they know Paris as well as London, and have exhausted all its sights, and hurry through Paris, and yet they could not tell where the Convention had its hall, or how it came there, or where the bones of king and queen and the other victims of the guillotine were laid, and why they were thrown in that spot, or where the guillotine stood: nor have they seen the cells where Marie Antoinette and Danton, Vergniaud and the Girondins passed their last hours — or could distinguish the parts of the Louvre, or tell for whom the many L’s and H’s and M’s are inscribed — or where our Henry v. Lived when he was ruler of France after Azincourt, and where was the Palace of St. Louis, or of Philip Augustus, or Clovis, or the original Lutetia of the Parisii.

Let us try to group the record of Paris in historic epochs and in their right chronological order.

It is easy to realise the Latetia of the Romans, the first Gaulish settlement. Loukhteith, its Celtic name, is said to mean ‘the stronghold in the morass,’—not ‘mud-city,’ as Carlyle calls it, — nearly the same as Llyn-dyn, or London, which means the Lake-town. The island (or eyot as we say in the Thames), in the Seine a little below the junction of the Marne, where the Bievre flows into the Seine, formed an excellent fastness. Caesar has given a vivid account of the siege of Paris in 52 B.C., and from the top of the Pantheon we can stand and trace the campaign of Labienus, as told by the mighty general of Rome. The historic record of Paris thus begins 1946 years ago. It was a city of some, but not of great importance in the Roman Empire private tour istanbul, its most famous incident being that it was the favourite residence of the Emperor Julian in the middle of the fourth century. In a well-known passage in his Misopogon, he speaks of his dear Lutetia, of its soft and delightful climate, and the richness of its vines.

There is something strangely suggestive in the association of Paris with the brilliant, philosophical, wrongheaded young Caesar, with his paradoxical ideals, romantic adventures, and tragic end.

Roman remains called Les Thermes

It is well known that the grand Roman remains called Les Thermes, adjoining the Cluny Museum, belonged to the palace of the Caesars, the great hall forming the frigidarinm of the Baths, and the rest of the foundations have been fairly made out. Other Roman remains are the altar found under Notre Dame, many altars and tombs, both Pagan and Christian, a large collection of objects in the Carnavalet Museum, some remains of city walls of the fourth century, the famous inscription of the naiitae or watermen’s gild of Paris, two aqueducts, that of Arcueil on the south near Bicetre, and that of Chaillot near the Palais Royal, an amphitheatre, east of the Pantheon near the R. Monge, a second palace beneath the Conciergerie, several cemeteries and tombs, in the R. Vivienne on the north, and also in the south, a Roman camp, a factory of pottery, a mass of antiquities at Montmartre, the Mons Martis, I think, not the Mons Marty mm.

This forms a mass of Roman antiquities which together raise Paris to the rank of importance amongst the scanty remnants of ancient civilisation in Northern Europe. In the Thermes we have the Roman Louvre, in the altar of Jupiter the antitype of Notre Dame, in the cemetery of the R. Vivienne the Roman Phe-la-Chaise, in the foundations below the Palais de Justice, the Roman Hotel de Villc, in the Parvis de Notre Dame perhaps the Roman Forum, the predecessor of the Place de Grlve.

There is seldom to be met so striking a bit of city topography as the long history of evolution in the Cite, or island, of Paris. First, it was a group of palisaded eyots in a broad river spreading out on both sides into swamps — the river stronghold of a tribe called by the Romans Parisii, a word possibly connected with Bar, which is thought to signify a frontier (Bar-sur-Aube, etc.). Then this river stronghold is joined to the mainland by two bridges not in a straight line but at opposite ends of the island and both doubtless defended; it is next a Roman city, ultimately walled, with its central temple, its municipality, its quays, and some outlying buildings, the Imperial Palace, the amphitheatre, cemeteries, camp, and the like, on the mainland, both north and south: one bridge, now the Pont au change, opening into the Place du Chdtelet; the smaller bridge, now Petit Pont, higher up the river over the narrow arm, at the end of the R. St. Jacques.

[istanbulfoodtour]

Historic way of seeing Paris

That is the historic way of seeing Paris. But how many thousands of our tourists believe they know Paris as well as London, and have exhausted all its sights, and hurry through Paris, and yet they could not tell where the Convention had its hall, or how it came there, or where the bones of king and queen and the other victims of the guillotine were laid, and why they were thrown in that spot, or where the guillotine stood: nor have they seen the cells where Marie Antoinette and Danton, Vergniaud and the Girondins passed their last hours — or could distinguish the parts of the Louvre, or tell for whom the many L’s and H’s and M’s are inscribed — or where our Henry v. Lived when he was ruler of France after Azincourt, and where was the Palace of St. Louis, or of Philip Augustus, or Clovis, or the original Lutetia of the Parisii.

Let us try to group the record of Paris in historic epochs and in their right chronological order.

It is easy to realise the Latetia of the Romans, the first Gaulish settlement. Loukhteith, its Celtic name, is said to mean ‘the stronghold in the morass,’—not ‘mud-city,’ as Carlyle calls it, — nearly the same as Llyn-dyn, or London, which means the Lake-town. The island (or eyot as we say in the Thames), in the Seine a little below the junction of the Marne, where the Bievre flows into the Seine, formed an excellent fastness. Caesar has given a vivid account of the siege of Paris in 52 B.C., and from the top of the Pantheon we can stand and trace the campaign of Labienus, as told by the mighty general of Rome. The historic record of Paris thus begins 1946 years ago. It was a city of some, but not of great importance in the Roman Empire private tour istanbul, its most famous incident being that it was the favourite residence of the Emperor Julian in the middle of the fourth century. In a well-known passage in his Misopogon, he speaks of his dear Lutetia, of its soft and delightful climate, and the richness of its vines.

There is something strangely suggestive in the association of Paris with the brilliant, philosophical, wrongheaded young Caesar, with his paradoxical ideals, romantic adventures, and tragic end.

Roman remains called Les Thermes

It is well known that the grand Roman remains called Les Thermes, adjoining the Cluny Museum, belonged to the palace of the Caesars, the great hall forming the frigidarinm of the Baths, and the rest of the foundations have been fairly made out. Other Roman remains are the altar found under Notre Dame, many altars and tombs, both Pagan and Christian, a large collection of objects in the Carnavalet Museum, some remains of city walls of the fourth century, the famous inscription of the naiitae or watermen’s gild of Paris, two aqueducts, that of Arcueil on the south near Bicetre, and that of Chaillot near the Palais Royal, an amphitheatre, east of the Pantheon near the R. Monge, a second palace beneath the Conciergerie, several cemeteries and tombs, in the R. Vivienne on the north, and also in the south, a Roman camp, a factory of pottery, a mass of antiquities at Montmartre, the Mons Martis, I think, not the Mons Marty mm.

This forms a mass of Roman antiquities which together raise Paris to the rank of importance amongst the scanty remnants of ancient civilisation in Northern Europe. In the Thermes we have the Roman Louvre, in the altar of Jupiter the antitype of Notre Dame, in the cemetery of the R. Vivienne the Roman Phe-la-Chaise, in the foundations below the Palais de Justice, the Roman Hotel de Villc, in the Parvis de Notre Dame perhaps the Roman Forum, the predecessor of the Place de Grlve.

There is seldom to be met so striking a bit of city topography as the long history of evolution in the Cite, or island, of Paris. First, it was a group of palisaded eyots in a broad river spreading out on both sides into swamps — the river stronghold of a tribe called by the Romans Parisii, a word possibly connected with Bar, which is thought to signify a frontier (Bar-sur-Aube, etc.). Then this river stronghold is joined to the mainland by two bridges not in a straight line but at opposite ends of the island and both doubtless defended; it is next a Roman city, ultimately walled, with its central temple, its municipality, its quays, and some outlying buildings, the Imperial Palace, the amphitheatre, cemeteries, camp, and the like, on the mainland, both north and south: one bridge, now the Pont au change, opening into the Place du Chdtelet; the smaller bridge, now Petit Pont, higher up the river over the narrow arm, at the end of the R. St. Jacques.