#the ropemaker

[e-b-reads]

Books of the Summer: May-Aug 2024

I'm back baby! These little blurbs at the top are usually where I put my disclaimer that these books are the ones I recommend, but not necessarily my favorites, and that particularly holds true for this summer when I consider a few that didn't make my list below: I read 20-something(!!) of the Hamish Macbeth mystery series, by M.C. Beaton, over June and July, and obviously I liked them because I just. kept going, but I also have several quibbles with them (e.g., twenty books and several years into the series, the main character is still "about 35"). I enjoyed them as something mostly brainless. Then in August, I read and very much enjoyed the Windrose Chronicles, by Barbara Hambly, a particular type of 80s portal fantasy, but in this case although my enjoyment was unalloyed, I feel like they're a rec for very specific circumstances or specific people. Anyway, thought both these series deserved some sort of honorable mention, but my official Books of the Summer are:

May

Giovanni's Room (James Baldwin): This is one of those tragedies where no one could have done anything different because of who they are as people, but even as you know what will happen from the beginning of the book, it's still worth reading to understand how. Also Baldwin is so good at writing. Not a happy book, but worth it.

June

Last Call at the Nightingale (Katharine Schellman): I'm recommending this one because it seems like I've seen (at least a few) people on the lookout for a good mystery set in the 1920s that is (queer) female-centric and not entirely trusting of cops, and this is definitely that. (Also the other book I saw being recced for that kind of thing was Dead Dead Girls, and I read it a little while ago and tbh was unimpressed with the writing.) I also read a few in another series by Schellman this summer, and I generally enjoy her mystery plots and attention to historical detail, while she also always makes sure she has a diverse cast of characters.

The Bellamy Trial (Frances Noyes Hart): A classic mystery (as in, published during the Golden Age), interesting in its trial formatting - the murder has happened, we're hearing everything in the courtroom sort of from the point of view of a pair of newspaper reporters. It's fun the way details are revealed.

July

The Ropemaker (Peter Dickinson): Did you know that Peter Dickinson was married to Robin McKinley? True power couple. I love The Ropemaker, I think I originally found my copy in a used book store with absolutely nothing to go on but the cover (it was years ago), and have read it several times. I particularly like that the main character doesn't have magic (and magic isn't entirely common in the fantasy world, though several other characters can do it), and she starts out feeling reasonably upset and left out, and then starts to realize that her own lack of magic is a particular, specific strength.

August

The Documents in the Case (Dorothy L. Sayers with Robert Eustace): I think I found this book by poking around the "Mysteries" section in a used book store, which is always a good way to find odd anthologies and Detection Club collections. This standalone mystery is, as it suggests, a collection of documents (mostly letters) meant to illuminate a mystery: handily, the son of the murdered man is collecting them and writes a little bit of analysis for us/the official to whom he is sending them, so we eventually get gaps in the story filled in. I particularly like the way that the nature of the medium means that every character is an unreliable narrator to some extent, and it takes a little reading before you can start to figure out who to trust more. I have read this a few times and always forget that it is kind of a chilling little story, in the end, but also really good!

#books of the summer #books of the month #book recs #giovanni's room #james baldwin #last call at the nightingale #katharine schellman #the bellamy trial #frances noyes hart #the ropemaker #peter dickinson #the documents in the case #dorothy sayers #robert eustace #also sort of: #hamish macbeth #m.c. beaton #the windrose chronicles #barbara hambly

[ltwilliammowett]

Pocketwatch with silver pair case, which belonged to Matthew Smith, a ropemaker from Woolwich, 1805

The centre of the dial is painted with a depiction of a British man of war with 'Hope' standing at the shoreline resting on an anchor.

#naval artifacts #pocketwatch #departing ship #hope with anchor #ropemaker #1805 #age of sail

[starfyhero2]

Okay hear me out:

If the releases of the seer fanfic and mml lined up more I think Milo would have also qualified to be a seer, and I felt the urge to doodle the idea so here ya go

#pnf #phineas and ferb #mml #milo murphy's law #phineas flynn #milo murphy #pnf the seer #personally I think alternatively milo would be given a second role of the ropemaker #while melissa gets the knight and zack the ranger but what do yall think #the guides of the brotherhood be like: damn sage mortimore chose *two* seers and only one of them is above the age of 18 unbelievable #meanwhile ferb sweating nervously in the background:

[aneverydaything]

Day 1638, 17 December 2022

#park #snow #winter #path #cold #Ropemakers Field #Limehouse #London #England #UK

[corvidaedream]

thinking about john gray once again

and how, knowing who he is--

that he was wealthy and on the older side, that i have so far been unable to find prior incidents or rumors of earlier sexual encounters with other men or of dressing as a woman, the fact that i have had to do so much digging to find out anything about this man despite the fact that he is pretty significantly involved in a violent incident that appears in every american history textbook ive ever seen in my life--

im so fascinated!

part of the problem with finding much about him as a person beyond his family tree & some snippets my coworker found in his own research into one of gray's apprentices is that so much of any attempts to search for him pull up a hundred plus resources on the massacre, which mention him by name & occupation and sometimes list him as being affiliated w the Tories (although other sources ive found contradict this last part), so im just wading through massacre info trying to find anything else.

but also the encounter itself is so different than any other sexual encounters between men in the 18th century that ive read about, especially the juxtaposition of the location of the encounter (mt. whoredom) with the ages and classes of those involved (both being wealthy merchant class gentlemen, neither of whom are likely to be involved in sex work, with the older one taking on a feminine role, though the court record only goes so far as saying that pitts was "gallanting" gray at the time of molineux witnessing the encounter, and I have no way of knowing to what extent, if any, they progressed beyond that)

idk man i just want to know this person who worked a few blocks near where i work now, who walked around places ive been. maybe he'll disappoint me, i don't know. but im compelled to keep looking.

#cant keep johnny down 1771 edition #messages from the ouija board #im also thinking about a specific upsetting satirical cartoon of the time + his occupation as ropemaker #and im thinking about the fact that the only two human stories i know about him #outside of this case anyway #are both pieces of information ive gotten relating to his very young apprentice (born in 1760) who is portrayed on site by a trans person

[softgrungeprophet]

was looking at white-barked trees like, hm idk if i should use paper bark birch or quaking aspen for the magic ivory comb to turn into—but of course, quaking aspen is the tree that reproduces via cloning. so. obviously i have to use that one.

#this is where this fic departs from the more modern rapunzel and takes elements of petrosinella and anthousa the fair with golden hair #or the egyptian variant louliyya and the ogre with green chickens #though it will be less like the latter two in that i don't have any reason for ben to forget kaine or to turn anyone into a bird #they will just go home lol #still using some aspects of the more modern rapunzel variant but in arguably oblique ways #there is blinding but it is not the prince (or in this case ropemaker's apprentice lol) who gets blinded #(it's kaine) #(something something commentary on the increased risk of victims fleeing abuse) #arghwrites

[metalshockfinland]

West Coast Irish ROPEMAKER Release New Single ‘Paean’

Drawing influences from the likes of early Mastodon, Gojira, Pelican, Keelhaul, Russian Circles, and Mono, multi-instrumentalist, Dave Slattery, enrolled the talents of former IIenkus (Galway-based Metallic Hardcore) drummer, Rory Guyett for an instrumental album, packed with monolithic riffs, unpredictable arrangements, and balls-out HEAVY! ROPEMAKER’s new single ‘Paean’ is another slab of…

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#ROPEMAKER

[hfwnjkiprxe]

Thick Asian Slut Pegging Cheating Santa Claus Rough With Strapon Jamaican Blowjob on the Beach Desperately Horny Kati Bell Gets some toy and Dick Treatment Hot japanese chick experiences uncouth gang bang Big ass trans beauty toys herself while jerking it off solo Sleeping Guy Bulge Giant Fat Ass White Female Cops Riding Big Black Dick On Floor LOIRINHA REBOLANDO EM FRENTE AO ESPELHO ASIAN VLOG - ASIAN ASS CREAMPIES (EPISODE1) PureMature - Milf Yasmin Scott wet and wild anal fuck

#posttemporal #nonvulgarities #hypercriticalness #autolyze #tonsillitises #unpregnant #Severo #Trichophyton #ropemaking #sudiform #cabbalahs #fragmentization #obdurately #tendrac #emarcid #conspue #enfonce #decagons #colloquy #waes

[ltwilliammowett]

Pocket watch in silver case, with Hope looking after a ship. The watch belonged to Matthew Smith, a ropemaker from Woolwich, 1805

#naval artifacts #ropemaker #Matthew smith #pocket watch #1805 #age of sail

[forgotten-fossilised]

Cat of the Canals/Arya in Braavos

Cat had made friends along the wharves; porters and mummers, ropemakers and sailmenders, taverners, brewers and bakers and beggars and whores.

A Basket of Ribbons - Guillaume Charles Brun (1869)

#arya stark #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls

[lyralit]

100 fantasy jobs

Academic/professor (history, science, economics)

Fisherman

Prostitute

Fletcher

Ropemaker

Saddler

Adventurer/explorer

Florist

Sailor

Adviser (e.g. royal, military)

Footman

Sculptor

Animal trainer (e.g. dogs, falcons, horses

Gardener

Servant (e.g. laundry, kitchen, cleaner)

Gladiator/arena fighter

Archer

Glazier (makes glass)

Shipwright (builds ships)

Armourer

Hatter

Shoemaker

Assassin

Healer

Shopowner

Baker

Inventor (e.g. spells, potions, weapons, science)

Silversmith

Barber

Goldsmith

Bard

Minstrel

Jester

Smuggler

Barkeeper

Jeweller

Soldier

Blacksmith

Lady's maid

Spy

Locksmith

Stable hand

Bladesmith

Logger (cuts trees)

Stonemason

Bodyguard

Mapmaker

Surgeon

Bookbinder

Master of ceremonies

Sweet maker

Bounty hunter

Merchant (e.g. cloth, jewels, food, materials)

Tailor

Brewer

Tanner (makes leather)

Butcher

Taxman

Carpenter

Midwife

Thatcher (makes thatched roofs)

Carriage driver

Miner

Chariot racer

Musician

Thief (e.g. pickpocket, mugger)

City guard

Necromancer

Toymaker

Cook

Nun/priest/chaplain

Trapper (traps animals)

Cooper (makes barrels, buckets etc.)

Nurse

Tutor

Nursemaid/wet nurse

Undertaker

Dentist

Painter

Weapons instructor

Detective

Papermaker

Weaver (e.g. fabric, rugs, baskets)

Diplomat

Pirate

Dressmaker

Potioneer

Wheelwright

Farrier (makes horse

Prisoner (hard labour)

Witch/Wizard hoes)

Prophet

Wisewoman

Knight

Majordomo

Papermaker

Typesetter

Archivist

Hermit

Doctor

(via; via)

#fantasy #lyralit #writerblr #creative writing #writers #writblr #writers block #writing #writing prompts #writing ideas #high fantasy #fantasy prompts

[arte072]

Back at Winterfell, they had eaten in the Great Hall almost half the time. Her father used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them. "Know the men who follow you," she heard him tell Robb once, "and let them know you. Don't ask your men to die for a stranger." (Arya II, AGoT)

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms. She used to throw snowballs at them and help them steal pies from the kitchen. Their wives gave her scones and she invented names for their babies and played monsters-and-maidens and hide-the-treasure and come-into-my-castle with their children. Fat Tom used to call her "Arya Underfoot," because he said that was where she always was. She'd liked that a lot better than "Arya Horseface." (Arya II, AGoT)

Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. (Sansa I, AGoT)

Cat had made friends along the wharves; porters and mummers, ropemakers and sailmenders, taverners, brewers and bakers and beggars and whores. They bought clams and cockles from her, told her true tales of Braavos and lies about their lives, and laughed at the way she talked when she tried to speak Braavosi. She never let that trouble her. Instead, she showed them all the fig, and told them they were camel cunts, which made them roar with laughter. (Cat of the Canals, AFFC)

Arya simply is thee Lady of Winterfell idc idc

#arya stark #i love her so so so much

[corvidaedream]

obsessed w the fact that im desperately trying to research (for funsies, not work) this one civil case from 1771 where John Adams was the defense for this guy, and the only primary source on it ive ever found is from Adams's notes from the trial

and ive been stuck thinking about this for over two years now bc i want to know more about the guy who was suing for damages but he continues to elude me, but I keep talking about the case w people bc everything about it is so chaotic

and i just realized the other day "oh, Adams's diaries are digitized and searchable, maybe he has more details in there, surely this was Notable"

and the only day of the trial he even mentions it, hes just like. the court sat today. and lists what he had for dinner and details a discussion of chickens he had w his in-laws.

#the legal scholar who annotated the trial notes: this element is unusual. this is also strange. the atmosphere must have been weirdly casual #me: this is so mucg that i cant stop talking about it to all my friends and coworkers despite being 2 pages of notes #how has only one modern historian written about this and its like. barely anything in some gay publication??? #john adams: i have no idea what youre talking about #its gray v. pitts (1771) if u even care #messages from the ouija board #i just NEED to know more about john gray bc it doesnt seem like hes the ropemaker john gray #it sounds like hes either working at a peruke-makers or the customs house next door? but its such a tangled mess of details #currently my angle is to figure out who everyone involved is bc its a lot of young apprentices & some potential brothel patrons? #but also then like. straight up founding fathers. #cant keep johnny down 1771 edition

[a-dauntless-daffodil]

so like, what's protocol,

(spoilers for netflix's damsel)

if you're a talking dragon lady who was tricked into murdering a bunch of innocent girls who weren't even the real daughters of the guy who murdered YOUR daughters, and then you murdered the dad of the latest girl sacrifice, after he had second thoughts about selling his daughter's life away (to the rich family who murdered your kids) (and protects themselves by murdering more of other peoples' kids) to save his starving kingdom and you kinda kill squished him for trying to save her- if, for example, he had a wife (now a widow) (due to you) (little awkward) whooooooooo HADN'T known about the sacrifice thing, but HAD gotten such a baaaaaad feeling that she tried convincing her stepdaughter NOT to go through with the arranged marriage, then went riding off with a stab wound to try saving her OTHER stepdaughter when THAT girl was ALSO taken to be sacrificed (to you)- but then blah blah blah, the truth comes out, her eldest stepdaughter defeats you and heals you with glow slugs, and you both burn the evil kingdom to the ground (the girl warned them) (only the castle servants took her seriously and ran) before all four of you sail off from the smoldering ruins while the widowed lady (proud daughter of the finest ropemaker in her homeland) heads home to rule their kingdom together (after FINALLY being called "mother" by her step daughter) with what's left of her family, leaving the place where her husband was killed, and you go with them, finally ending your centuries long watch over the bodies of your murdered children to make a new life with this fellow mother and her two kids....

hypothetically. how long, or how many heart to hearts would there need to be, for you (dragon milf) (lost her kids) (starting a new life) to maybe, possibly, be having a thing for lady bayford (lady queen milf) (lost her husband) (helped save her step-kids) maybe bond over caring for your kids more than literally ANYTHING else (whole starving or burning countries included) and like, bring her flowers or a shiny rock, or something.

or heck, you seem pretty set on the idea of fairness and repayment and such, what with the whole "three daughters sacrificed for the three daughters murdered" thing- and you DID kill her husband (while he was trying to protect their kid)

so theoretically, since YOU don't have a husband for HER to kill, i suppose you might decide that being her wife would be next closest thing, especially if you stood ready to lay down your dragon life for her stepdaughters. If that's not enough, promising to spend your very long life protecting her people might work too. Maybe also with giving her flowers?

..... im not saying this HAS to happen. But. If-

#damsel 2024 #spoilers #lady bayford x dragon lady #. #... #look there were 2 (TWO!!) protective badass milfs in this movie and i think it'd be Neat if they talked about it a little #or cuddled #let lady bayford get snuggled by a giant fire breathing dragon

[athingofvikings]

A Thing Of Vikings Chapter 42: The Pen...

Chapter 42: The Pen …

The economic and demographic growth of Berk's territory can be tracked due to the tribal census records.  Begun in AD 950 under the auspices of Chief Hiccup II, the yearly census tracked a slow, steady and inexorable contraction over the next ninety-one years, with the first census recording a population of 1,373 people from eight clans and nearly 400 clanless freemen, dropping to 712 across five clans and 208 freemen in early AD 1041.  After the end of the Dragon War, however, the pattern reverses itself explosively, with the Eirish annexations and the tribe's own natural growth.  Child mortality drops in all of the tribe's holdings, and immigration begins in earnest.  At the start of AD 1042, according to the census for that year, the total population of the Hooligan holdings was recorded as 4,902 humans, and approximately 12,000 dragons…

…Vedrarfjord, as an Eirish city with room to expand that was unavailable to Berk on its small and hilly isle, is extremely illustrative of the growth that occurred.  Beginning with approximately 2,000 people in AD 1042, plus another 2,000 in the immediate hinterlands within walking distance, the city's population boomed over the next ten years to 31,826 permanent residents—after contracting from a refugee-boosted height of 56,105 in AD 1044, nearly all of whom ended up settling elsewhere in Berk's territory (see Chapter 23: The Eastern Massacres). 

In that first census, the image revealed is of a small Viking trading port, primarily focused on agriculture, with the majority of the population involved in farming, herding or fishing and the other major industries being shipbuilding and other port-related activities.  Recorded in that first census, there were 8 shoemakers, 9 furriers, 10 tailors, 6 barbers, 3 jewelers, 4 tavernkeepers, 4 bakers, 9 carpenters, 12 weavers, 5 chandlers, 2 scabbard-makers, 3 brewers, 5 coopers, 2 butchers, 3 fishmongers, 6 smiths (specializations not noted), 8 healers, 3 millers, 8 ropemakers, 36 shipwrights and 2 tanners recorded. 

Ten years later, the portrait of Vedrarfjord is that of an industrial and educational center, featuring glassmakers (207), teachers (572), bookbinders (17), papermakers (98), ropemakers (453), weavers (429), tailors (168)…

—Origins Of The Grand Thing, Edinburgh Press, 1631

AO3 Chapter Link

~~~

My Original Fiction | Original Fiction Patreon

#a thing of vikings #httyd #how to train your dragon #alternate history #historical fiction

[neathbound-fiends]

Had a dream about the Citizen's Armada and a potential opportunity you could encounter at Zee while an event is taking place, so I wrote out the text I remember and filled out what I didn't

★

The Armada, Splintered

Wreckage litters the Zee around you...

→

Wreckage litters the Zee around you, a vast swath of water displaying the detritus of a battle lost. Whatever did this has moved on. The ship, it seems, did not receive that same opportunity.

You recognize the name as you approach, carefully navigating the more menacing of the debris: the Hyacinth, a tramp steamer that set out with the Citizen's Armada just before you did.

Your crew is solemn, tense. A fight breaks out in the back regarding what should be done about the wreck.

Pick through the wreckage.

It would be a shame to allow anything she was carrying to be lost with her, and who knows what may have been in the hold?

[Shadowy, 1 Strange Catch]

Attempt to retrieve the crew.

Even if no one survived, it's possible to return them to London for a burial.

[Watchful, Zeefaring]

★

Pick through the wreckage.

→

[Failure]

Whatever secrets this ship might have held belong to the Zee, now. And the drownies. And that set of lengthy reptilian jaws--you make a hasty retreat while you still have all the extremities you arrived with.

[You've gained 10 × Shard of Glim.

Wounds is increasing... (+1 CP.)]

[Success]

It takes some doing--and a generous portion of bait--but you're able to pick through the wreckage rather thoroughly. The ship was apparently rerouted from its course; the hold is filled with a miscellany from London, and--oh? what's this? The authorities would be quite interested in this...

[You've gained 10 × Fistful of Surface Currency.

You've gained 5 × London Street Sign.

You've gained 2 × Tale of Terror!!!]

★

Attempt to retrieve the crew.

→

[Failure]

There is too much carnage and not enough identification. Anything that may have been useful has been claimed by the inky water.

[Nightmares is increasing... (+3 CP.)]

[Success]

It's difficult to locate anything of use, but eventually your search yields results. Bodies are loaded, carefully, onto the ship, and any identification is catalogued. Tattoos, ruined calling cards, initials in engravings on pocketwatches or embroidered into handkerchiefs. It's a long, tiresome endeavor.

Someone in your crew cries out in agony; her wife is among the bodies you recover. Where are all the Admiralty casualties?

[This has unlocked an opportunity somewhere in London. Search the City to find it.]

★

[Opportunity in Wolfstack]

Returning the dead.

You have returned to London with the bodies of some of the Citizen's Armada in your hold. You have identified everyone you recovered, and now must begin the process of determining what to do with them.

Give them to the Admiralty.

This was their battle to fight, and it is their consequence to bear.

Deliver them yourself.

You don't trust this task to those who already failed it. You will handle it yourself.

★

Give them to the Admiralty.

The Stoic Ropemaker stops you at the door. "Heard about what you did out there--the Admiralty gives you its regards. Leave the bodies with us, we'll ensure they make it to their kin."

The next week, a letter arrives at your door on Admiralty letterhead. It thanks you, in brief and efficient detail, for your contributions to the return of those who fell to protect the City.

[You've gained 1 × An Aid to the Admiralty.]

[An Aid to the Admiralty -- You have lent them your aid to return those who've fallen.]

Deliver them yourself.

You spend the day locating and calling upon the families of everyone you recovered, delivering the bodies--or what is left of them--to their next of kin.

It is a thankless task, save for the occasional token of gratitude, but you have the knowledge that you have done the right thing.

[You've gained 1 × A Champion of the Lost.]

[A Champion of the Lost -- You found your fellow citizens, and brought them home to those who lost them.]

#fallen london