#which is why i read only real poetry by real poets

[suburbanlegnd]

the damage rupi kaur has done to modern poetry is making me feel sick

#Can't they just bring back REAL poetry? #Are these people stupid or money hungry? #there are so many rupi kaur wannabes and they all write the most generic ugly ass shit #people like kaur have done a tremendous damage not only to poetry but to every form of art (including music) #which is why i read only real poetry by real poets #sometimes i wonder if people like rupi just steal boring posts from tumblr or use ai to create their 'poems' #I'd be too embarassed to publish something so bland and generic lmao #they're like industry plants or worse #instagram poetry should should be banned #i can write better shit after CBD so shut the fuck up shut the fuck up #but if I ever publish MY poetry book then you will all see! #rambles

[inkskinned]

most writing advice is good as long as you know why it is good, at which point it is also bad. the hardest thing (and most precious thing) about being an artist is that you gotta learn how to take critique. i don't mean "just shut up and accept that people hate your work," i mean you need to learn what the critique is saying and then figure out if it actually helps.

i usually tell people reading my work: "i'm collecting data, so everything is useful." i ask them where they put the book down, even though it's too long for most people to read in 1 sitting. i ask them what they thought of certain characters. i let them tell me it was really good but i like it more when they look a little stunned and say i forgot i was reading your book, which means they forgot i exist, which is very good news.

sometimes people i didn't ask will read my work and tell me i don't like it. and that is okay, you don't have to like it. but i look at the thing that they don't like and try to figure out if i care. i don't like that you don't capitalize. this one is common, and i have already thought about it. i do not care, it's because of chronic pain and frankly i like the little shape of small letters. you use teeth and ribs in all your work. actually that is very true. i don't know what's up with that. next time i will work to figure out a different word, thank you. you're whiny, go outside. someone said that to me recently and it made me laugh. i am on the whine-about-it website as an internet poet. you are in my native habitat, watching me perform a natural enrichment behavior. but i like the dip of whiny, how the word itself does "whine" (up/down, the sound out your nose on the y), but i don't know if i want to feel whiny. maybe next time i will work on it being melancholy, like what you would call a male writer's poetry.

repeated "good" advice clangs in a bell and doesn't hold a real shape, dilutes in the water. like sometimes you will hear "don't use said." you turn that around in your head and it bounces off the edges of your brain like it is a dvd screensaver. it isn't bad advice, but it feels wrong somehow, like saying easy choices are illegal! sometimes i will only use "said." sometimes i will just kick dialogue tags out to the trash. sometimes i make little love poems where the fact that i do not say "said" is very bad, and makes you feel bad in your body, because someone didn't say something. i am a contrary little shitbird, i guess.

but it is also good advice, actually. it is trying to say that "said" sometimes is clutter. it makes new writers think about the very-small words and very-small choices, because actually your work matters and wordchoice matters. "i know," you said. "i know," you sighed. "i know." we both know but neither of us use a dialogue tag, because we are in a contemporary lit piece.

it is too-small to say don't use said. but it is a big command, so it gets your attention. what are you relying on? what easy choices do you make? when you edit, do you choose the same thing? can you make a different choice? sometimes we need the blankness of said, how it slides into the background. sometimes we don't.

i usually say best advice is to read, but i also mean read books you don't like, because that will make you angry enough to write your own book. i also mean read good books, which will break your heart and remind you that you are a very small person and your voice is a seashell. i also mean you need to eat books because reading a book is a writer's version of studying.

my creative writing teacher in the 7th grade had a big red list of no! words and on it was SUNSET. RAZORS. LOVE. GALAXY. DEATH. BLOOD. PAIN. I liked that razor and love were tucked next to each other like birds, and found it funny that he believed we were too young to know the weight of razor in the context of pain. i hated him and his Grateful Dead belt, where the colored teddy bears held up his appraisal of us. i hated his no list. it is very good/bad advice. i wasn't old enough yet to know that when you are writing about death you are also writing about sunsets and when you write about love you are tucking yourself into a napkin that never stops folding.

back then my poetry was all bloody, dripped with agony when you picked it up. i didn't know there is nothing beautiful about a razor, nothing exciting about pain. i just understood sharpness, which he took to mean i understood nothing. i wrote the razor down and it wasn't easy, but it was necessary. that's what i'm saying - sometimes it's good advice, because it's not always necessary. and sometimes it is very bad advice, because writing about it is lifesaving.

hang on my dog was just having a nightmare. i heard that it is a rule not to write about dogs - in my creative writing mfa, my teacher rolled her eyes and said everyone writes a dead dog. the literature streets are littered in canine bodies. i watched the rise and fall of his ribs (there is that word again) and had to reach out and stop the bad dream. when he woke up he didn't recognize me, and he was afraid.

it is good/bad advice to say that poems and writing have to mean something. it is bad/good advice to say they're big feelings in small packages. it is better advice to say that when my dog saw where he was, he relaxed immediately, rubbed his face against me. someone on instagram would make fun of that moment by writing their "internet poetry" as a sentence that tumbles across a white page: outside it is sunset and my dog is still in a gutter, bleeding a galaxy out of his left paw. or maybe it would be: i woke the dog up/the dog forgot i loved him/and i saw the shape of a senseless/and impossible pain.

the dog is alive in this one, and he is happy. when i tell you i love you, i know what i said. write what you need to write, be gentle to yourself about it. the advice is only as good as far as it helps. the rest is just fencing. take stock of the boundaries, and then break them. there's always somewhere else you could be growing.

i love you, keep going.

#warm up #writeblr

[poetrysmackdown]

what makes a poem a poem? does it have to be written in a certain way? is this question a poem if i want it to be?

Fun question! This is just my personal sense as an avid reader and less-avid writer of poetry, but for me it’s useful to distinguish (roughly) between poetry as a genre and poetry as an attitude or philosophy through which language and the world can be understood. And of course these two go hand in hand. I see poetry the genre as essentially a type of literature where we as readers are signaled, somehow, to pay closer attention to language, to rhythm, to sound, to syntax, to images, and to meaning. That attentive posture is the “attitude” of broader poetic thinking, and while it’s most commonly applied to appreciate work that’s been written for that purpose, there’s nothing stopping us from applying that attentiveness elsewhere. Everywhere, even! That’s how you eventually end up writing poetry for yourself, after all. There’s a quote from Mary Ruefle floating around on here that a lot of folks have probably already seen, but it immediately comes to mind with this ask:

“And when you think about it, poets always want us to be moved by something, until in the end, you begin to suspect that a poet is someone who is moved by everything, who just stands in front of the world and weeps and laughs and laughs and weeps.”

Similarly, after adopting the attentive posture of poetics, there’s plenty of things that can feel or sound like a poem, even when they perhaps were not written with that purpose in mind. I’ve seen a couple of these “found poems” on here that are quite fun—this one, for example. The meaning and enjoyment you may derive from the language of a found poem isn’t any less real than that derived from a poem written for explicitly poetic purposes, so I don’t see why it shouldn’t be called poetry.

That said, I do think that if you’re going to go out and start looking for poetry everywhere, it’s still important to have a foundation in the actual language work of it all. Now, this doesn’t mean it has to be “written in a certain way” at all! But it does mean that in order to cultivate the attentiveness that’s vital to poetry, one needs to understand what makes language tick, down at its most basic levels. It will make you better at reading poetry, better at writing it, and better at spotting it out in the wild.

Mary Oliver’s A Poetry Handbook is an extraordinary resource to new writers and readers, and a great read for more experienced folks as well. Mary Oliver’s most popular poems are all to my knowledge in free verse, and yet you might be surprised to find her deep appreciation for metrical verse (patterns of stressed/unstressed syllables), as well as for the most minute devices of sound. In discussing the so-called poetry of the past, she writes,

“Acquaintance with the main body of English poetry is absolutely essential—it is the whole cake, while what has been written in the last hundred years or so, without meter, is no more than an icing. And, indeed, I do not really mean an acquaintanceship—I mean an engrossed and able affinity with metrical verse. To be without this felt sensitivity to a poem as a structure of lines and rhythmic energy and repetitive sound is to be forever less equipped, less deft than the poet who dreams of making a new thing can afford to be.”

In another section, after devoting lots of attention to the sounds at work in Robert Frost’s “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”, she writes,

“Everything transcends from the confines of its initial meaning; it is not only the transcendence in meaning but the sound of the transcendence that enables it to work. With the wrong sounds, it could not have happened.”

I hope all this helps to get across my opinion that what makes a poem a poem is not just about the author's intention, and not just about meaning (intended or attributed), but also about sound and rhythm and language and history, all coalescing into something that rises above the din of a language we would otherwise grow tired of while out in our day-to-day lives.

I'll always have more to say but I'm cutting myself off here! Thanks for the ask

#ask #discussion #does this even answer the question? lol #anyways even if you're not huge on mary oliver i still highly recommend a poetry handbook #i admit her poetry is only to my taste about 60-70% of the time. but her handbook is a great resource and can stand alone #i actually think oliver wrote a whole other book just about metrical verse too. for people who are into that #also if you're someone who's less interested in the question 'what is poetry?' and more into questions like #why is poetry? can poetry survive? what the fuck happened to poetics in the twentieth century? #i recommend the witness of poetry by czeslaw milosz #an older book—actually a collection of lectures—but an absolute game-changer for me #not a poll

[bobparkhurst]

a totally unbiased (no) and mostly serious (i guess) spoiler-free primer

I've seen a bunch of posts floating around encouraging people into the fandom, or HBO War people looking for a new fandom/show to sink their teeth into. Here's my effot to add to the propaganda, because I've been in this fandom since Nov '22, it's delightful here and I always love a new SASRH friend to chat to.

tl;dr: it's a lot of fun

premise & setting

SAS: Rogue Heroes is the story of the founding of the original* Special Air Service (SAS) of the British Army during WW2. It centres three of the initial founders, David Stirling, Blair 'Paddy' Mayne and Jock Lewes. Two of other men credited as founding the SAS, Bill Fraser and Georges Bergé also feature. Bill Stirling, David's older brother and integral to the founding of the SAS, will feature in series 2.

Series 1 is 6 episodes long, covering events from the North African campaign from May '41 through Jan '43. Series 2 has been filmed and will move the action to Europe.

Based largely on the book, SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre.

*it was disbanded in Oct '45, and reformed in '47, ultimately leading, through various machinations, to the modern day SAS.

historical accuracy

Somewhat more fast and loose with history than Band of Brothers, The Pacific or Masters of the Air, but not bad enough to send historians spiralling into deep despair, with one very important caveat: the depiction of Paddy Mayne. More on him and this in a moment. However, it has generally been well received. Damien Lewis (the author and historian, not the actor) said "...it's reasonably realistic. It tells a great yarn. I think they've used some artistic license, I can understand why they've done so to a certain extent... Generally they've got the equipment and the kit bang on, I think they had some very good advisers." (here)

There are some weird timeline issues, which I think is caused largely by odd pacing and editing. I'd not worry about this too much, otherwise you'll break your brain. Likewise, liberties have been taken with the geography, which I think is a bit more heinous, but ymmv.

characters: lads lads lads lads lads

after the first four, these are in no order of importance, before anyone gets on at me about their favourite. i also appreciate there are other characters but this bit was already getting really long.

david stirling (connor swindells) - the dreamer

Arrogant, manipulative, clever, charismatic bastard. David Stirling is fueled chiefly by daddy issues and an inferiority complex a mile wide. Connor Swindells walks a beautiful line between swagger and vulnerability. He does not let things like "common sense", "safety precautions" or "understanding the implications" get in the way of doing important things like flinging himself out of a plane in the middle of the desert or talking his way into army bases armed with nothing but crutches and chutzpah.

blair 'paddy' mayne (jack o'connell) - the madman

Paddy Mayne my BELOVED. Character of all time. He's a drinker, a fighter and abhors a bully. For most of the show, we see him at his most desperate and most angry and arguably most violent. HOWEVER, he's also a highly intelligent, sensitive, compassionate poet and voracious reader; if there's a bunch of poetry being quoted, it's probably Paddy doing it. He loves so very deeply. His depiction in the show is a bit of a bone of contention with family and historians - some people read him as being depicted as a violent thug only, and that's not what the real Blair Mayne was like. Which is simultaneously true and not true. Blair Mayne was an incredibly complicated man.

The other contentious-to-some point is that the show does deliberately suggest his queerness, something Jack O'Connell has talked about in interviews. Some people have taken issue with this. Either way, for those who saw the sand wrestling gifs and wanted to know if SASRH was just queerbaiting, the answer is no, actually. But don't expect anything explicit on this front.

Jack O'Connell looks like he's having a fucking fantastic time.

jock lewes (alfie allen) - the creator

In real life, Jock Lewes was nicknamed "The Wizard", how great is that? David, Paddy and David met in training and are referred to in show as "the Three Musketeers". He is basically the mediator between Paddy and David, which sounds dull, except Jock is also batshit and clever and scary. He makes all the lads do intense marches in the desert without water, but is never willing to ask someone to do what he wouldn't do. Trouble is, as mentions, he is batshit so his standards are VERY VERY HIGH. He also has a fiancee, Mirren, whomst he loves very much and their relationship is so tender and brings me to tears on the regular.

eve mansour (sofia boutella)

Eve works for French Military Intelligence and quietly drives a lot of action behind the scenes. She's a totally fictional invention for the show and I'd be madder about it if Sofia Boutella wasn't being gorgeous and smart all over the place. She is focused on the goal and is generally just. Queen.

dudley clarke (dominic west)

Not so much a member of the SAS as the guy who helps Stirling bring this plan to fruition. He's great fun, charming and affable, and just as dangerous as anyone else. Dudley Clarke doesn't get enough credit, I think.

mike sadler (tom glynn-carney)

Mike Sadler my OTHER beloved. I joke about Mike coming to fix all the stuff around my flat that doesn't work and it's because he's singlehandedly the most competent member of the entire SAS, I think. His introduction scene is the sexiest thing on the entire show. He only gets introduced in episode 3, but in my heart we have six seasons and a movie with him. He's a member of the Long Range Desert Group and knows more about navigating the landscape than anyone. The LRDG are barely part of the show (save for Mike) and are well worth looking up.

IRL Mike Sadler actually only passed away this year, at the age of 103.

eoin mcgonigal (dónal finn)

Most of what Eoin's around for in SAS: RH is to hang out being impossibly beautiful and being ride or die for Paddy Mayne. Dónal Finn and Jack O'Connell created the most beautiful relationship told in touches. Drives me mad. He's also the first one who really understands who Paddy is beyond the brash and violent front. Eoin McGonigal is certainly a creature.

bill fraser, johnny cooper, reg seekings, jim almonds, dave kershaw, pat riley

(stuart campbell, jacob mccarthy, theo barklem-biggs, corin silva, bobby schofield, jacob ifan)

Look, there are a lot of lads and I can't do them all justice. Some of these folks get a lot more to do than the others, and they're all distinct characters in their own right. There are two matched set duos, Reg & Johnny (enemies to lovers, 150k) and Jim & Pat (do not seperate). Jim & Pat were Jock's crew prior to the SAS and the way he gets them to join is basically by saying "hey, there's a really stupid and dangerous thing i want to do, you in?" and they do this:

each and every one of them is as bad as the others.

augustin jordan, georges bergé, andré zirnheld

Free French paratroopers, who Stirling is reluctantly forced into accepting into the SAS by Eve and Clarke. TBF, this is where SAS: RH really starts playing with history, though it serves the narrative well enough. Show!Augustin Jordan was a former professor of Philosophy at La Sorbonne, and is also a tall dark haired man, so you can see how Paddy Mayne is gonna struggle.

I had to use the sand wrestling gif here (that's augustin), you've probably seen it. It's a surprisingly interesting character scene, would you believe.

There are several other named characters, but I'm running out of energy.

other stuff

OK, so I've lost my thread here a bit. SAS: Rogue Heroes is fun, first and foremost. It really does fall down on the side of "Cool Boys Doing War", so if that's not your thing, maybe you'll not enjoy it. I personally do. And I think it does have some further depth to it than that, even if that's where it comes back to. I've never seen Peaky Blinders, but apparently it's a bit like that? IDK.

While it's very violent, I don't think it's as brutal as the HBO War shows. It's a much more heightened kind of drama, so there's a step removal I think, from the really visceral. That said, it's still a war drama, and it does feature some very nasty business.

soundtrack

it's mostly hard rock and if you don't like this, idk what to tell you. i fucking love it. once again though, mike sadler gets the best of this. you'll know it when you see it.

the fandom

The SAS Rogue Heroes fandom is small but it is mighty and it genuinely is very friendly. There is a Discord if you like, but you don't have to do it if Discord is not your thing.

While the overriding popular ship is Paddy/Eoin, Paddy/Augustin and Reg/Johnny are also wildly popular. That said, we are fond of a rarepair in this fandom, and I personally have embarked on a mission of shipping Mike Sadler with every other character. Everyone's very encouraging of wild ideas and aus, anything's welcome.

A few people are writing OCs, and that too is great. I encourage more of that! I don't think I've seen any x Reader yet, but never say never.

Come join us!

a brief suggested further reading

you really don't have to do any of this, but like, some of you are nerds, i get it. i also got a lot of other recs, but these are some good starters. you can hit me up for more, it's all good.

SAS: Rogue Heroes by Ben Macintyre

SAS Brothers in Arms: Churchill's Desperadoes - Damien Lewis

SAS: An Illustrated History of the SAS - Joshua Levine

Speed, Aggression, Surprise: The Untold Secret Origins of the SAS - Tom Petch

One of the Originals: Story of a Founder Member of the S.A.S. - Anthony Kemp & Johnny Cooper (Johnny Cooper's memoir and imo, if you read nothing else, read this)

The Phantom Major: The Story of David Stirling & the SAS Regiment - Virginia Cowles (this was written in 1958. There is a "rebuttal" biog, The Phoney Major by Gavin Mortimer, which also contains a lot of info, but I find Mortimer's bias against Stirling incredibly difficult to stomach. Difficult.)

Paddy Mayne - Hamish Ross (honestly, I'd not bother with other biogs of Blair Mayne unless you want to do a lot of reading around and getting cross)

Special Forces Brothers in Arms: Eoin & Ambrose McGonigal - Patric McGonigal (this is so personal and so beautiful, I cried several times reading it. written by Eoin's great-nephew. Ambrose, Eoin's older brother was part of the SBS, Special Boat Service, who are ALSO very interesting)

Gentleman Jim: The Wartime Story of a Founder of the SAS and Special Forces - Lorna Almonds-Windmill (another biog by a family member, this one is gentle and told with love)

Joy Street: A Wartime Romance in Letters - the published correspondence between Jock Lewes and Mirren Barford. A slightly different kind of book, but gosh. It really hits.

...and that's all I got for you right now. I could talk about this show for days though.

(forgot to add: my SAS RH blog is @regseekings, I posted this on here for the HBO war fandom)

#sas rogue heroes #i'm very tired now #i'm gonna go get a sandwich #sasrh reading list #sas: rogue heroes #Youtube

[sunnysam-my]

Dark Academia is a subculture and it isn't problematic, just misunderstood.

I am so tired of people that aren't a part of this community shitting on dark academia literally any time it gains popularity again, claiming that it's pretentious, elitist and racist. It's not problematic, at least not in a way most people criticise it for.

What all of those people don't seems to understand is that there's the dark academia aesthetic and there is the dark academia the subculture. Even when they do understand they still put people who are only interested in the fashion and overall vibe together with people who are dark academia.

Why is dark academia a subculture?

First let's start with what even subculture is?

It's a cultural group within a larger culture, often sharing a collection of values, beliefs, rituals and traditions. Despite what many believes, it doesn't have to have any connection to music, like Star Trek and Star Wars fans, but there's no need for having a shared fandom at all, like the gays, bikers and youth.

Participation in the dark academia subculture is not limited to following a specific set of fashion. It suggest preferred activities, hobbies, philosophies and lifestyles. The focus is on reading and expanding one’s horizons, on becaming the best version of oneself no matter the cost, especially by engaging in classical literature, history, foreign languages, mythology, art and philosophy. On top of that DA is actually connected to certain music (classical and neoclassical) and fandoms.

The (incorrect) criticisms:

1. One of the more common criticisms of dark academia is that of its superficiality and pretentiousness – that it is more a fetishisation of intellectual life than real intellectual life. "Instead of being a reading society, it's a Dead Poets Society cosplay." This is just simply untrue. Yes, there are people who are purely here for the aesthetic and vibes, but they aren't part of the subculture. People who are genuinely part of this community do read all those books, write poetry, journal e.t.c regularly and try to be well educated.

2. The money issue. Now this is where it gets funny. Dark academia is often called classist and racist because of it's "idealised vision of the academic lifestyle in which the money is simply there". Obviously in places where higher education is strictly financially driven studying is a bitch. Nowadays there are even a lot of doctors who are homeless, especially in US. But DA is mainly a European thing, and in a lot of EU countries studying isn't that expensive, it's not cheap either (books costs a lot and not working doesn't help), but you don't need to pay for a good education, you need to study hard and compete with others to get good education.

This however is not a dark academia problem. It's a harsh reality. One that we need to fight with. Getting higher education shouldn't make you get into a debt. It shouldn't make you sacrifice social life for studying all your life only to end on the streets.

3. "Eurocentric obsession". This is so dumb I don't even know to say. How can you possibly call people, mostly from Europe, problematic for being fascinated by Europe's history, it's past culture, Greek mythology, mostly European philosophers (but American too), Latin that is still fucking taught at many schools here, etc. All of things are taught in schools here. There is nothing wrong with you being obsessed with Asian royalty and making it part of your personality, but God forbid, you, a white person, are obsessed with the best parts of your history and culture 🙄.

4. Another criticism of dark academia is that it encourages unhealthy behaviour, both physically (caffeine overconsumption, smoking, drugs) and mentally (perfectionist, constant competition). The pursuit of perfection comes at a price. The entire idea of DA is to study as hard as possible so you can reach enlighten. It's workaholism, except it's school, not work. Now this is why I think dark academia isn't problematic in a way people think, but is misunderstood.

A melancholic comforting dream

It's easy to understand why people think DA is unhealthy or fake. Nights spent studying, writing essays for hours on end, drowning in books and writing excessive notes. For many this sounds like a nightmare, but dark academia romanticise it. It see it as the true joy of university life. At the same time there's taking joy in reflecting on what is irretrievably lost, pessimistic and melancholic.

In reality most people in this community are overworked neurodivergent, usually twice exceptional, youth who struggles mentally. So many people are twice exceptional and it's very obvious. The hyperfixetions, the love for linguistics and humanities, the hate of math.

For many Dark Academia is a coping method.

Staples of dark academia fiction explore intellectualism, classic literature and self-discovery, but also the struggle of fighting for your identity, the way humans are shaped by their trauma, the way they destroy themselves to be better. The word "dark" in Dark Academia is primarily about those dark sides of the human nature, not just the dark colours of the DA aesthetic.

If you think that Dead Poets Society romanticised suicide or Kill Your Darlings academicly motivated drug use then you're the crazy one here. People loved those movies, because of how relatable they were, even the suffering.

Studying is a bitch. If you make it fun then you are less depressed about the fact that you don't have the choice to not study all night. It's not just nostalgia for what you haven't experienced, but what you have to endure all your youth. Some people are forced to study to be the very best and sacrifice their (social) lives, because the system is so broken, but if you can make it into your own, comforting, time - it's better. Sure, the movies and books have lots of harmful copying mechanism, but irl (or in this case online) this community encourages healthy methods like reading, making art, journaling, acting etc.

I do think there's a lot of to talk about when it comes to, for example, sexism, and I do agree DA needs more diversity than just white cis man, but like I said, it's not problematic in a way most people criticise it for.

#dark aesthetic #dark academia #dark acadamia aesthetic #dark academism #subculture #dark academia subculture #mental health #relatable #autism #adhd problems #problematic #coping mechanism #light academia #chaotic academia #dead poets society #kill your darlings #neurodivergent #intellectualism

[artemisandhersilverbow]

Just thinking about the line from My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys:

I'm queen of sandcastles he destroys

A lot of people have touched on Taylor using castles and palaces as a symbolic representation of her career, body of work, specifically those stolen works and versions of herself. They're locked away in a high tower and separated from Lover - TTPD Taylor.

The tension at the end of Bejeweled, when she walks smiling onto her balcony only to quickly show her castle on fire was, in my opinion, easily overlooked. Was she burning it down or had it already been burning down without her noticing? A stone castle on fire would require some orchestration.

Fast forward to TTPD, the line above from MBOBHFT stuck with me because the "boy" here is destroying her sandcastle. Sandcastles are a study in impermanence. We build them as an incredibly basic recreation of the real, impenetrable, almost indestructable thing. But we do so knowing they can't last, they won't. Eventually the tide will wash them clean away or the wind will erode at the structure until it turns back into sand.

That means "the boy" in question is preemptively destroying something that wasn't supposed to be forever anyway.

The first thing about this song that lit up my brain like a firework was the lyrical parallel to Cruel Summer. I mean, if Taylor uses the word "toy" in a song you know it's gonna be sassy af, ok? A girl takes notice.

Fever dream high in the quiet of the night You know that I caught it Bad, bad boy Shiny toy with a price You know that I bought it -------------------- The sickest army doll Purchased at the mall Rivulets descend my plastic smile But you should've seen him When he first got me My boy only breaks his favorite toys

Now, I have had my speculations (as have many others) about Cruel Summer not being a love song, but a PR-ing song. I almost immediately thought the same of MYBOBHFT.

Fortunately, the Barbie movie covers a lot of ground for the "why is using a kind of Barbie-Ken like dynamic excluding a romantic narrative?" Because she's Barbie, he's just Ken, Ken is basically an accessory. Anyway I think this song is absolutely talking about several people or experiences/problematic Hollywood structures etc. in a very smart twisting narrative.

"Fever dream" is playful here in the same way she uses "sickest. " The doll isn't sick and the narrator of Cruel Summer isn't running a temperature. "Shiny toy" and "sickest army doll" feel like even clearer parallels — one "with a price / You know that I bought it" and the other "purchased at the mall." I like the reversal of "You know that I caught it" and "When he first got me" because catching isn't as active as buying. Something happens to you if you catch a fever or something is thrown at you - and that feels like an entirely different he that "got" her. Another play on words because that sounds like ownership and tricking.

I was so confused by sickest army doll at first because she sings it in such a (Lana coded) morose way. I was trying to imagine a sickly Army Barbie? But I think the smart way she's written these lyrics (please read her lyric booklets they are incredibly sneaky, brilliant works of poetry) she's not referring to the "me" as an army doll. In fact what's an "army doll" little kids think are rad? Hm... a G.I. Joe?

The bait and switch of it all, the sandcastle-like metaphors, continue with the above. It sounds like "there were so many reasons why we should have been together forever." But word choice is where this poet shines.

"Litany" is one of those words that always registers to me a "a list" but it's actually got religious roots (of course - this album has so much of that): a form of prayer used in services and processions, and consisting of a number of petitions.

It can also mean "a prolonged or tedious account," which is why you hear an expression like "litany of complaints"... Got it so you had a tedious amount of prayers and petitions *checks notes* for why you could have "played for keeps" THIS. TIME. Have there been other times? Oh right, yes, she's "just repeating herself."

Play for keeps is another one of those terms we use, but don't always know it's full definition. One such definition is "to do something seriously and without showing any mercy."

This sounds less like holding onto a lover who wanted to leave or mistreated you, though I think that should also another lens to view this story... perhaps change lover to authority figure... and more like two people who struck an agreement (one that upheld some good christian values?? too far?) to battle something together... and one of them couldn't stick it out. Perhaps because "he saw forever so he smashed it up"? He was a Bolter too.

So she just wants to be put back on her shelf so she can go through the cycle all over again. In fact, pull a string and she'll repeat the lines she knows so well. Copy+paste.

"I used to switch out these Kens, I'd just ghost" to "I felt more when we played pretend / Than with all the Kens" with her GI Joe? I mean lumping a "lover" into a category with Kens and any kind of doll purchased isn't the most loving way to refer to them lol. And I can't help but notice she's only ever played pretend with all the Kens. But what do you do with your shiny toy when they don't want to play anymore?

The lyric video is simple, but each line comes up one at a time and "breaks," floating pieces falling out of frame. At the end we pan down to see the collected debris.

A pit of broken words.

Also worth noting you can see among the blurred graveyard of words a couple of them are crisp/hidden. They're "Boy breaks his only favorite" or "favorite only"... or his Favourite?

Anyway, we come back 'round to the sandcastle metaphor that got me started. I don't think Taylor's princess castle and her sandcastle are a perfect one to one match symbolically. A stone castle was built with the intention of lasting forever, if it catches on fire that would be surprising... more akin, to me, to her career or Taylor TM?

A sandcastle, however, can't last forever, it's not meant to, but you still build it knowing that. Like an arrangement, contract, role, etc. business or otherwise. For someone to snuff out a sandcastle before time or tides or the inevitable does that for you seems needlessly harsh. Even a short-lived imitation can mean something if you enjoyed building it. In fact, that's the only part that gets to live on once a sandcastle is washed away. And it seems like even that part was ruined.

#friends of dorothea #TTPD #lgbetty #my boy only breaks his favourite toys #he's just ken #lyric analysis #lyric video

[eighthdoctor]

this is kinda a wordbuild-y question: do u think that elves would go for the long homeric epic-style poems? i think there is a compelling case for a long-lived race like elves to go for oral histories etc. and while maybe they transitioned away from that over time, I just think it'd be neat if jaina is reading the, like, elven Iliad reads aloud a bit like 'Muse, sing to me of the cataclysmic rage of Amisara' and about ten pages of gore in, sylvanas is like 'oh yeah that's my great-grandmother lol'. I just think that the elves would fucking love homeric similes. this is also a transparent ploy to smear my current hyperfixation on other interests sorry.

after some pondering i do not but that's ok bc i do have epic style poems for u in spades, just not from elfs.

the thing is, like, i think it's more likely that they'd rapidly move to externalize their memories, assuming that they don't have a radically different mental structure, there comes a point where you just do not want to remember any more things. you can use poetic structure all you want, but there are just too many things to remember.

the other point here is that oral history is 'uncivilized', which yes is a racist colonialist concept but this is the 'race war' planet. (PLEASE PLEASE note that oral history is just as reliable as any other form of record keeping, these are not MY opinions but. azeroth.) i firmly think elves (esp quel'dorei and shaldorei) would invent/adopt writing and run with it, disavowing oral history as Not Reliable Enough--both in terms of how their societies are structured and the real world references being made, we're not looking at cultures with a huge respect for spoken history.

however.

trolls.

especially outside zandalar, trolls have been displaced and overthrown and generally fucked around with so much that why write things down, you can lose a written text, you can't lose that long-form poem that contains the last thousand years of king names.

(also jungles Do Not like paper. and carving everything in stone is haarrrrdddd so only SOME things go in stone and everything else? oral.)

there are poems which are histories. there are poems which are family records. there are poems that are dramatizing that one time resk stole a bunch of goats from the shatterspear and spent 3 weeks hiding in the forests about it. there are poems that are tragedies to get everyone all weepy.

there are poetry improv contests that have very real social consequences, and a good poet can leverage her reputation into changing tribes or moving across continents if she so chooses.

quel'thalas has a poetry scene and for sure there are homeric epithets although i would need to shift my brain a bit to find sylvanas's, but i don't think epic poems/oral history weaves through their social fabric in the same way it did for archaic greece or pre-christian/early christian norse.

#asks for ts #timballisto #doin my best with Racism Is The Plot here #the power to manipulate belief #tangentially

[caltropspress]

RAPS + CRAFTS #21: Andrew Mbaruk

1. Introduce yourself. Past projects? Current projects?

I’m Andrew Mbaruk, a Black poet living in Vancouver, Canada. I make "literary lo-fi rock rap," drawing from my diverse reading of poetry and classic literature for the "literary" aspect; – it’s "lo-fi" due to the imperfect sound quality, "rock" as the music predominantly features electric guitars, and "rap" because, if I had to use just one genre to categorize it, it’d be rap–I’m obviously rapping in the songs.

On one of my songs I describe my style as “assistant-professorial and janitorial”--it’s a blend of literary, academic, and philosophical elements with a touch of real-life experiences, viewed through my postmodern/modernist collage aesthetic.

Some of my recent albums are Why I Am Not a Painter (a 2023 song anthology), Black Squirrel: A Memoir (an autobiographical album through Extraordinary Rap), and Oiseau=textual: the flying rap album (centered around birds). Collaborations include Affect Theory and the Text-to-Speech Grandiloquence with Rhys Langston, Papier-Mache Chalet with Th’ Mole, Ultraviolet Flamingo with Vellum Bristol or Jouquin Fox, and Hip-Hop, With a Twist of Lemon with Mantis the Miasma.

Currently, I’m working on a series of lo-fi rock rap albums, each titled Abolish Canada. Abolish Canada [1] and Abolish Canada [2] are already available on my Bandcamp page.

2. Where do you write? Do you have a routine time you write? Do you discipline yourself, or just let the words come when they will? Do you typically write on a daily basis?

I write whenever I’m awake and in the mood, which is often at home. This could be in the middle of the night or just as frequently in the afternoon. Currently, I find myself in the writing room...surrounded by books... On my desk are three old dictionaries and a book of selected poems by Wallace Stevens, alongside an energy drink can and crumpled papers... Scattered throughout the room are various poetry books, and books on theory and philosophy, from Marx and Hegel to Frank B. Wilderson III and David Marriott... These books are mostly on a couch doubling as a larger desk, and atop an old synthesizer from the 1980s... On the floor stand an electric guitar and amp, alongside pedals and tangled cords at my feet... Two walls are giant windows, one of which is usually open even in winter (I’m often smoking). I’m undisciplined, though I still write almost daily – though there’s the occasional lapse, like these past few days...

3. What’s your medium—pen and paper, laptop, on your phone? Or do you compose a verse in your head and keep it there until it’s time to record?

During 2017-2018, I primarily used pen and paper for my writing. But, since then, I’ve transitioned to typing most of my raps on a computer. Occasionally I’ll compose a verse while walking, relying on my Android. The inconvenience of keeping verses in my head until I can write them down...that’s a problem I face during work shifts – cleaning Vancouver’s streets, e.g....and one song I crafted mentally while washing dishes at a burger bar. Using a recording medium like paper or a word processor is best though – it allows me to carefully consider connections between different parts of a verse, because I have the entire composition visible on a page or on a screen.

4. Do you write in bars, or is it more disorganized than that?

I used to have a more disorganized writing style, especially in the first few years of this rapping project... Initially, I didn't even see my work as a part of rap. It was only when I started collaborating with other rappers and producers that I began to structure my writing in bars.

While there are still moments when I write in a more formless manner, I stick to a more regular form these days, lines that last four beats. Typically, I'll create four lines that rhyme (using slant rhymes) entirely parallel to each other:

(e.g., “abnegating dactylic hexameter his vacation, a trip with dead passengers the Latin pages of literate Sapphic verse as the painting's acrylic red flags ablur”),

followed by another set of four, or maybe a couplet or two

(in this case, “as heroin mixed with the China White terror, his literary dynamite exposing the Pindaric champion; explosions, the thin shards of glass in him”),

and then another quatrain or couplet, or sometimes a set of six or eight rhyming lines, or sometimes more...and so on.

I never thought I'd become so formal or strict in my approach. I've always been inclined towards poetry that adheres to (for example) Charles Olson’s "projective verse", but surprisingly, weirdly, this structured approach is working for me now.

5. How long into writing a verse or a song do you know it’s not working out the way you had in mind? Do you trash the material forever, or do you keep the discarded material to be reworked later?

It’s different with every verse and song. Sometimes I’ll finish the entire thing and throw it out/delete it. Usually some part of the aborted material returns in a new form. I work in a "collage" style and see my rhymes as Deleuzian rhizomes, so I can easily connect my rhymes like Lego... It’s totally acceptable within my project to incorporate disparate fragments – unless the lyrics are focused by a constraint, as on my album about birds (Oiseau=textual: the flying rap album) or the one about the Iran-Contra scandal (The Iran-Contra Project).

6. Have you engaged with any other type of writing, whether presently or in the past? Fiction? Poetry? Playwriting? If so, how has that mode influenced your songwriting?

I’ve written poetry, fiction, a screenplay... The rapping basically grew out of my experiments with print poetry – I started making poems called "phonotexts," recorded poems, in 2014... I made a spoken word album called Phono=textual: a novel in mono... It took about three years for these "phonotexts" to become rap songs.

7. How much editing do you do after initially writing a verse/song? Do you labor over verses, working on them over a long period of time, or do you start and finish a piece in a quick burst?

I try to edit as I write, then I'll record the thing, sometimes using some instrumental that I'm not actually going to use – just to hear it, so I can edit it some more. Then I record the song immediately. It usually takes a few hours or an evening.

Sometimes I work on a song for a few days.

8. Do you write to a beat, or do you adjust and tweak lyrics to fit a beat?

I begin with the words and a rhythm usually... I write lyrics, then I make the drums, then I record the verse or verses, then finally I'll add guitars and synthesizer and whatnot.

9. What dictates the direction of your lyrics? Are you led by an idea or topic you have in mind beforehand? Is it stream-of-consciousness? Is what you come up with determined by the constraint of the rhymes?

I usually begin with one small idea, just a line or a few words, and I grow a verse or verses from the one idea through free association, playing with meaning and rhyme. I’m often propelled by chance, but just as often propelled by a thematic goal, and this can change midway through writing.

10. Do you like to experiment with different forms and rhyme schemes, or do you keep your bars free and flexible?

I’ve sneaked sonnets into my raps, and I’ve invented something called “rhyme chiasmus” (a rhyme scheme where two rhyming sounds are repeated in a chiastic pattern for many bars) but I’m usually freer.

11. What’s a verse you’re particularly proud of, one where you met the vision for what you desire to do with your lyrics?

The song "Electrons," track 01 of Abolish Canada [1]...though it goes on a bit too long I think, the bit right at the beginning is very good maybe. That song, and in fact the entirety of Abolish Canada [1]... That’s where I’ve most closely achieved much of what I intend with my words.

12. Can you pick a favorite bar of yours and describe the genesis of it?

My lines make their meaning through the relation to other lines. So, my favourite passage in my writing – "the human soul stuck in your body / fluent in post-structural ornithology” – is shaped by what surrounds it.

The song is called "Under the Oiseau=text." It’s about reading and about birds. And about reading birds as signs, an ancient practice.

I thought of these words because a bird, a pigeon, rose flapping before me as I walked along Commercial Drive in Vancouver. I decided to make an album about birds in that moment, and began writing "Under the Oiseau=text" as soon as I got home. Here’s the lyric in its context:

sans serif, these words upon my gravestone bearing the withered flower tossed - the Baudelairean inner albatross, the human soul stuck in your body fluent in post-structural ornithology . . .  . . .his words draw you a map of the geographer perched upon a branch in the binoculars, this scholar of math as it pertains to flight, the neurographer mapping the brain with light

13. Do you feel strongly one way or another about punch-ins? Will you whittle a bar down in order to account for breath control, or are you comfortable punching-in so you don’t have to sacrifice any words?

I shorten lines and always try to do verses in a single take.

14. What non-hiphop material do you turn to for inspiration? What non-music has influenced your work recently?

Afropessimism, John Ashbery’s poetry, nature, the congressional report on the Iran-Contra scandal, and the letter N. Also, I collect and read dictionaries.

15. Writers are often saddled with self-doubt. Do you struggle to like your own shit, or does it all sound dope to you?

Some of my stuff I dig especially, other stuff I’m okay with, most of the stuff I don’t like no one can hear anywhere. Grand Lunatic I’m not crazy about, Andra Mbalimbali I’m not crazy about, Neuro=textual: a novel of ideas is not my favourite of my albums. From late in 2022 and throughout 2023, that stuff I like – though I’m on the fence about some projects like Black Squirrel and The Iran-Contra Project. The earlier stuff evinces potential realized by Oiseau=textual: the flying rap album and Abolish Canada [1]... That’s how I see things.

16. Who’s a rapper you listen to with such a distinguishable style that you need to resist the urge to imitate them?

Rappers who depend less on rhyme and just say really interesting shit, like AKAI SOLO or my friend Jouquin Fox, I can’t do that. I tried using a little less rhyme on The Iran-Contra Project, my concept album about Iran-Contra, and I’m sure I can’t do that. The constraint of rhyme is essential to my style.

17. Do you have an agenda as an artist? Are there overarching concerns you want to communicate to the listener?

Yes, I am trying to communicate many things to the listener. I am saying nothing specifically, and consequently saying many different things. (Any one of these different things I could write about at length, but it has been recommended to me that I just leave it at “I am saying nothing specifically, and consequently saying many different things” – nice and succinct.)

RAPS + CRAFTS is a series of questions posed to rappers about their craft and process. It is designed to give respect and credit to their engagement with the art of songwriting. The format is inspired, in part, by Rob McLennan’s 12 or 20 interview series.

Photo credit: unknown (hit me up)

[slavic-roots-western-mind]

Intro: Favorite Mongolian Authors & more

#slavic roots western mind

I've always had an interest in Mongolia, primarily because there's literally so little international news coverage, at least in my neck of the woods so to speak.

Despite my Mongolian language learning attempts being paused for the time being, I nonetheless continue to fall in love with Mongolian literature with every read, especially with poetry, which is why I've wanted to share my favourite authors.

Here's my quick list of Mongolian authors who's works I've read so far (and a few that are on my to-read radar).

1. Galsan Tschinag

My absolutely favorite poet, born in Mongolia in 1944, famous for his poetry, which interestingly enough was originally written in German, and then translated to English.

His works primarily feature the themes of a nomadic lifestyle, nature, heritage and cultural identity, so if any of these topics interest you, definitely check out his works!

2. Chadraabalyn Lodoidamba

I've only managed to read one of his novels "Тунгалаг тамир" (The Crystal Clear Tamir River), but it's definitely a worthwhile read. Set in the 20th Century, it provides an interesting insight into Mongolian history leading up to the uprising of Mongolia in 1932, with a strong focus on the struggle of the poor against the rich

There's no official English translation (there are German and Russion versions somewhere, but I didn't find them yet), but google translate helped me create a readable version from the original Mongolian.

There's also a movie split into several episodes avaliable on yt but with iffy subtitles, so if you liked the book, you can sort of follow along with the movie.

It's rare for me to hear spoken Mongolian, so watching the movie episodes has been a fascinating experience.

3. Choinom Ryenchi

Once again, I've only read one of this authors works "Buriad", written in 1973 and published in Sümtei Budaryn Chuluu [A Stone from the Steppe with a Monastery] in 1990, but it was enough to interest me.

Buriad refers to an ethnic group in Mongolia, with the poem describing their lifestyle and history. I don't know if what I've read is the entire work, as I found it in a research paper, feauturing said poem with the translation, but it was still quite beautiful.

The style is very lyrical, almost like a song or even a chant at times, and very captivating. A must-read.

4. Mend-Ooyo Gombojav

He has written quite a lot of novels, with many of them luckily translated into English.

His "The Holy One" is a great work of historical fiction, about a 19th century poet and teacher of Buddhism, whose memory and works were later persecuted by the governments fight against intellectuals and free-thinkers, all whilst his works protector attempted to save his works.

Unfortunately I've only read excerpts and bits and pieces, which is pretty frustrating because it seems so good? The style is unusual for me, but it's pretty great either way.

I've read the peom "The Way of the World", which has a rather nostalgic vibe, remembering the past warriors and their heroic deeds but also suggesting that only the stories of their victories will remain. Short but "sweet".

5. Oyungerel Tsedevdamba

I only know her "The Green-eyed Lama", co-written by her and her husband Jeffrey Lester Falt, but the plot description is enough to have me hooked. A love triangle, love and faith amidst war and rebellion... Here's me hoping that it won't be a tear-jerker, because sad endings are not my favorite genre.

Here's a link to a video about Oyungerel's and Jeffrey's writing and research process and how they wrote the novel. It's actually based on a true real-life story, so I guess I'll see how reading this novels turn out. History isn't exactly known for it's happy endings, so we shall see.

6. Combo: Mongolian Short Stories

This one is a compilation of short stories by various Mongolian authors rather than just one author, but it'll have to do because Number 6 exhausts all my knowledge of Mongolian literature.

Edited and compiled by Henry G. Schwarz, each story is about 4-15 pages long with different themes, ranging from daily life in rural Mongolia to critiques of the political situation at the time, the style is a tad over the place, as each author has their own distinct style. Nonetheless, this book gives interesting insights into what life was like in Mongolia at the time, and whether our notions and initial ideas about Mongolia reflect the literary depictions.

Here's my list so far, but chances are I'll update it soon, so watch out for any new updates!

I'll happily share any links and digital copies of these works that I have, just message me please!

#college life #literature #book blr #study blr #light academia #mongolia #slavic roots western mind #Mongolian literature #student life #student

[mylittlemermaid221]

in celebration of the release week, rank songs from ttpd in terms of your excitement/curiosity about each one hehe 🤍

omg this is a good one!! Thank youuuuu 🥰🥰

So Long, London - its a tiny bit cliche maybe but London boy was one of my favs from lover so this one is going to tear me apart. I fear it might be like All too well but I also think she could just go full rock and anger and reputation

But daddy I love him - I mean in my head its a little mermaid reference, no doubt. Obviously no one knows how this song really goes so maybe its not a reference but in my head it is and alway will be. Like the film also came out in 1989, thats not a coincidence (sorry just went full clowning swiftie there 😅)

Fresh out of the slammer - Oh my god I need to know what kind of song this is going to be! Like is it anger or is it just so depressing I won't come outside for at least a week after the release? 😭

My boy only breaks his favorite toys - I have a feeling that the lyrics on this one are going to be devastating...😭 Like the whole album will but I have a feeling this will be peak Taylor story telling.✨

Who's afraid of little old me? - Oh again I have this dilemma like whats it gonna be?! how will it sound?! I think it will be slander and reputation and rock and stuff but again its Taylor, it might just be the most depressing thing you've ever heard. 😃

I can fix him (No really I can) - I don't know why but for some reason I'm going for the long titles. 😆😅 Anyway I just think the title is really funny and I need to know if and how she will sing those words.

loml - Another tricky one. I read theories that loml could not only stand for love of my life but maybe she'll end up changing it in loss of my life or something depressing. Maybe it will be about Travis and its just a happy love song! ❤️

Florida!!! - This is definitely going to be like the ultimate summer festival vibe banger, trust me, it will be that. If not, don't blame me. 😜

The tortured poets department - Another one where I don't know what to expect but the title makes me very excited! ✨ I mean its the title track so it must be something good.

I can do it with a broken heart - Again, I need to see the lyrics, I need to know the story she's going to tell.

The smallest man who ever lived - Omg actually I should've put this one higher but its just so many songs I'm excited for! This is another one that I'm like whats the story going to be? Will it be a country genre? Will it be like evermore/folklore? The title give us a little peak thats big enough for us to be like 'oh I know what this is about' but when you go think about it... you know nothing at all.

Guilty as sin? - Another tricky one... to be honest no idea what its going to be about, no predictions about the genre or style or something but the title sounds very promising. That's with all these songs really, the titles are its own poetry and we haven't even heard any of the lyrics. 😍🥰

Clara Bow - Another girl in the taylor universe! If its going to be anything like the last american dynasty, sign me up! I did research about Clara Bow (okay I lied, I saw an instagram real 😆) about it and her whole persona just makes me curious about this song.

Fortnight - From now on we have the song of which I have literally no idea what its going to sound like, whats it about. No thoughts in my head. 😅

Down Bad - The title sounds so cool but thats it. Furthermore I have no idea about this song.

The Alchemy - Maybe is the one lowest on the list the one I'm most curious of because I see this title and I just have zero thoughts how it will be. And I know it will definitely surprise me and end up being one of my faves, that always happens. 😂🥰

Bonus: Bonus Tracks

The black dog 🖤

The manuscript 🤍

The albatross 🩶

The bolter 🩶

I chose the black dog first cause that's the edition I preordered so it already has a special place in my heart 🖤 For the others I just went with the titles that sounded cool to me and like the aesthetics I picture in my head because I have no predictions furthermore, again. 😆😅

This was soooooo fun to do!!! It became quite the essay but I kind of made it my testament which I can refer back to once we hear the actual song. I mean if I got any of my predictions right, you'll know cause I won't shut up about it🙃 Thank you so much for your ask, Bel! 😍🥰 Always love seeing your name in my inbox 💖💖💖

#lovely people #asks #Bel #taylor swift #tortured poets #the tortured poets department #ttpd

[rooftopvibes]

Books I read in March

Virginia Woolf / Mrs Dalloway

„Kill yourself, kill yourself for our sakes. But why should he kill himself for their sakes? Food was pleasant; the sun hot; and this killing oneself, how does one set about it.“

Septimus is traumatized by his years in the army and losing his friend. We get a look into his life and how he sees the world: very threatening but also beautiful. Septimus wants to kill himself, he says over and over again. His wife seems ashamed and doesn’t quite know how to handle the situation. Then there is the other protagonist Mrs Dalloway, she invite many people to a party, old friends and her past lover. We get to see how fast people grow old, they talk about memories like it was yesterday. We also realize that Mrs Dalloway is much like Septimus.

It was my 2nd time reading this novel but it’s the first time I read it in english. It’s not so easy to read since there are many characters and the situation/atmosphere changes very quickly. I have to admit the first time I read it I didn’t like it because I didn’t understand it well but after getting used to Woolf‘s writing style it‘s easier to read. I love her writing style so much because you get such a great insight into the characters mind and it feels so lively, so real. Even though bad things happen I still find the atmosphere very comforting and I wish to live in one of Woolf’s novels. Still I got lost especially at the end of the novel when the party is happening because there were so many characters. My favorite chapters are the ones with Septimus I find him such an interesting character and also relatable so I would love if there would be more chapters about him. All I can say is that it’s a great book but even after reading it the 2nd time I still got confused and lost sometimes so I feel like I need to read it a 3rd and many more times to fully understand.

Mary Shelley / Frankenstein

„How mutable are our feelings, and how strange is that clinging love we have of life even in the excess of misery!“

Victor Frankenstein creates his monster who he abandons as he sees his satanic look. The monster haunts him and begs that Victor creates a female companion so he must not be alone. The monster seems like evil as he kills some of Victor‘s family yet he is also human like with a heart that loves nature and other human being. So we ask ourselves who is really the monster Victor or his creation?

I read it the 2nd time but in english unlike the first time I read it. I enjoy this novel a lot. It’s the father of horror so I think everyone who likes horror should read this novel. Unfortunately in movies we see the creation as something evil when in reality it has a lot in common with its creator. I love the scenes where the monster just wanders around in nature, it is a nice atmosphere in which happens so much horror.

Stefan Zweig / Angst (fear)

„She could not read anymore, she couldn’t do anything, demonic chased by her inner fear“

Irene is married to a young man whom she betrays with a pianist. Her secret affair will soon be the subject of her fear which almost leads her into death.

I enjoyed to read this novella a lot, I think it has the potential to be longer so the only bad thing about it is that it is so short. I felt the fear of the protagonist. Like in many novels of Zweig we get a clear insight into the protagonist‘s soul. It is very beautifully written and the storyline is also good and very exciting.

N. H. Kleinbaum / Dead Poets Society

„We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion.“

Five boys find out about this mysterious Dead Poets Society which was invented way back when their inspiring english teacher was still a student. They go into a cave and have their meetings. Besides that we also experience love, trouble with their parents and fulfilling their dreams beside all the struggle.

I like this novel a lot, it’s easy to read and the atmosphere is beautiful. My favorite character is Todd because I could relate a lot to him and it’s very nice seeing everyone making a process even though the end is very sad. Yet the process the characters made isn’t gone and their experience will always be in their hearts.

Dostoevsky / The Gambler

„Do you know that one day I'll kill you? I won't do it because I'm no longer in love with you, or because I'm jealous, but—I'll just kill you for no better reason that I sometimes long to devour you.“

The gambler is about a man who we watch slowly get addicted to gambling. We get to see his downfall. We get to read about the very complicated relationships with Polina, a grandma whom everyone wishes to be dead to get her money suddenly she appears into the picture, perfectly healthy. It’s about obsession and a reflection of Dostoevsky‘s addiction to gambling.

At the time I read this novel it was difficult to me to concentrate but I was still able to read it so I would say it is one of the lighter novels (even though it was my 2nd time reading it). It is exciting, at times it feels like you yourself is sitting in the casino. The relationship with Polina is also full of obsession just like the gambling. It is interesting to see how the narrator slowly falls into gambling addiction. I like the end a lot since it’s open but we can assume that the narrator didn’t stop gambling.

#dostoevsky #The gambler #virginia woolf #mrs dalloway #dead poets society #mary shelley #Frankenstein #stefan zweig #classic lit #literature #books

[fwoopersongs]

离思·其四 - Thoughts on Parting (Part 4)

by 元稹 (Yuan Zhen, 779 - 831)

曾经沧海难为水 céng jīng cānghǎi nàn wéi shuǐ Having felt the vastness of the East Sea, 'water' becomes praise difficult to give.

除却巫山不是云 chú què wūshān bù shì yún Besides those of Mount. Wu, there is no other that may be called ‘cloud’.

取次花丛懒回顾 qǔcì huācóng lǎn huígù To go for second best in some flower field? Can’t be bothered to even look back — 

半缘修道半缘君 bàn yuán xiū dào bàn yuán jūn half because of Daoist self-cultivation, half because of you.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Notes

The grandeur in the metaphor and exaggeration of this work is verrrrrry eye catching. As the fourth poem in a series of five, it is so much more well known than the rest that people unfamiliar with Chinese poetry (like me xD) might not even know the others exist! Might not even know that they were (allegedly) written in remembrance of the poet's late wife.

Her name was Wei Cong, and she was the daughter of Wei Xiaqing (a cool dude in his own right… maybe I shall write of him someday) who was of a very much higher rank and class than Yuan Zhen. She had been married to him for 6 years before her untimely death in 409. He wrote this set of poems in the same year.

A quick skim of the others below… though these are my opinions only, so you can take it as a reference with a pinch of salt!

The first in the series compared her cheek glowing in the morning sunlight to a red flower. She is observed in the mirror with makeup half off, one earring on, and he gazes at her silky hair, making an observation of the hairpins in it as he looks.

The second describes a lazy day in the mountain with water flowing downwards, meandering around steps, peach blossom trees enveloping and embellishing a little house. The poet is ‘reading’ his book on Daoism, but actually watching his wife comb her hair through the crystal curtain. The use of the babbling stream and peach blossom trees (though they may be real) lends this image an idyllic tint, what with the associations of peach blossoms with utopias. xD My poet dude says he is lazily reading the book on Daoism - not the political theory, but the one towards transcendence I suppose! Why is he reading it lazily? Because he’s gazing dreamily at his wife.

The third is a lecture from someone (his wife, probably!) about the good qualities of different types of fabric: The special weave of red gauze (luo) always heads the waves of popularity, muslin with embroidered birbs is a soft yellow colour; don’t complain straightaway that the material is fragile, a little loose-weave silk is very becoming!

The fifth is a reminiscence of some spring day when there were many ordinary flowers blooming, and among them all, he just had to pluck the (white) pear blossoms, for a fair person (like her). But today, it is spring again and those same trees at the head of the river have no flowers, they are left with only leaves - and he with the trees, like the trees, no longer has his white flower. They have to live with that for the remainder of this season (this life).

So then you see why I say the fourth one stands out. While the others are more subtle with their metaphors, this one goes big!

In the first line, 沧海 (vast/deep blue sea) is often associated with the East Sea, so I took the liberty of assuming this is a specific location reference to match the next line. ‘After experiencing the vastness of the sea, how can I possibly describe the rivers, lakes and streams with the same word - water?’ This is about the depth of emotion and feelings they shared.

In the second line, he likens her to the clouds of 巫山 (Mount Wu), which look like this.

Other clouds, beautiful as they may be, aren’t clouds to me because I have already set my eyes upon you.

In the third line, there is a number of meanings that could make sense with 取次 -  casually, hurriedly, in a given order/in series and second-rate. I think it makes sense to say, ‘even if I casually (randomly) wander into a field of flowers, I would not bother looking back’. But given the snootiness in the previous two sentences, I also thought it cute to call other flowers second-rate (especially considering how he says 寻常百种 // ordinary flowers of many kinds in the fifth poem). The flower field I suppose would be ‘all other women’. Ironic, given that he later did take a concubine.

In the last line, he attributes his previous reaction half to Daoism, that he has taken up to cultivate himself, which advocates detachment from worldly desires and maintaining a clear heart. The other half is because she is still on his mind, ever present and natural as he breathes.

I do wonder if he wrote those poems in this particular order or did someone who was compiling his works do that ‘helpfully’ for future readers. I’d like to think it was in order. If you notice, they start off with memories of ordinary home life and get increasingly intense, which is understandable given his loss and how long reflection and writing tends to draw out emotions.

An interesting thing: it may be possible to pick out little pieces of the lady in his eyes and piece them together. But I leave that to you, dear reader… there’s a reason I was never able to escape the curse of the 14/25 grade for sec school literature essays xD

Some commentary on other things

Many things happened in 809, it seems. Yuan Zhen also met the insanely talented lady Xue Tao who was one of the most famous Tang Dynasty women poets. They hung out together for some time, and she was so taken with him, and had such a good time that she wrote him this poem. 

离思·其四 in cmedia

How famous really, is this poem? 

Well, I’m not sure. But I have encountered a reference to it in the form of the line 曾经沧海难为水 除却巫山不是云, at least once in just about any drama or novel that I’ve enjoyed. Most notably:

《 甄嬛传》 Legend of Zhenhuan Modified: 除却巫山非云也, in Episode 45 @ 28:45 The Emperor was writing a letter to his long dead wife about how much he misses her, and that though he has found a person who bears some resemblance to her... ‘Clouds are not the same once you’ve passed Mount Wushan’. And in a fit of anger during an argument with this favoured concubine of his - she is trying to persuade him reconsider and investigate accusations against her father - swept it off his table and practically into her hands.

《琅琊榜》Langya List, pre-revision online novel 曾经沧海难为水, in Chapter 1 This is the answer from Langya Hall, the organization which deals in information and makes a great deal of money putting a price on the answers to questions and selling them to willing questioners, for why 29 year old Yun Piaoliao (Undisputed No. 1 on the Langya List of Beauties) has refused all offers of marriage from nobility, old scholarly families, jianghu leaders etc. etc.

《天官赐福》Tianguan Ci Fu, novel @liberty-or-death​ explains in her post Hua Cheng’s Poem (Part 1) - “The Song of Mourning: Fourth Segment”

《那年花开月正圆》 Nothing Gold Can Stay 曾经沧海难为水, a suggestion for renaming a dish. Very well explained by AvenueX on youtube.  Timestamp @ 6:27

#离思·其四 #元稹 #poetry #poems #what was my tag for this #oof #this took longer than i thought it would #sole november post i guess! #commentary

[thefingerfuckingfemalefury]

Let’s Read Comics! With Samantha and her Girlfriend :D

And in this winter holiday season, what better than a tale of Batman facing off with a certain frozen fiend and his cold blooded plans?

I speak of course...of Killer Moth

No, not really, it’s a Mr Freeze story :D

Me: HOLY MANSLAUGHTER DUE TO CHILD ENDANGERMENT BATMAN

My Girlfriend: Robin’s gift this year shall be the ICY HAND OF DEATH

Me: I don’t now poetry, but I know what I like

AND I DON’T LIKE THAT

My Girlfriend: Our unseen poet is no Sylvia Plath, that much is already clear

The poet continues their verse about a Gotham destroyed in a wintry apocalypse, the prose getting more purple by the minute….

My Girlfriend: This makes Little Nell’s death in the Old Curiosity Shop look downright understated

Me: I just can’t tell what emotions the writer is trying to conjure up here

My Girlfriend: Chris Claremont just off to the side going “You need to tone it down”

It turns out our mystery poet is a member of the gang of a certain Frosty Felon…

Me: I really hope this issue actually turns into a heartwarming seasonal comedy where Mr Freeze gets his henchman to go back to college, finish that creative writing course and become a published author

My Girlfriend: “Just because I’m a villain doesn’t mean I don’t support the arts”

Me: But the crusty and bitter old dean doesn’t approve of supervillain henchmen at his college

AND HIINX WILL ENSUE

My Girlfriend: During which the dean will learn that it’s not him teaching these kids…the kids have been teaching HIM this whole time

Me: Rated PG-13 for rude humor and mild comedy peril

My Girlfriend: Let’s make this film

Me: The real villain here is capitalism

My Girlfriend: Wait

He “Doesn’t deal in fantasy”?

YOU ARE WORKING FOR AN ICE MAN WITH A SNOW GUN

Freeze’s response to Lou asking him why he wants to murder a whole city of people is a succinct “Why not?”

Me: Well so long as there’s a good reason

My Girlfriend: It’s not often you see “Because I can” as a motivation for mass murder but here we are

Freeze rants that “Everything bad that has happened to him” all happened in Gotham

Me: “And instead of blaming the people responsible I’ll just blame the whole city”

My Girlfriend: SOUND REASONING

Freeze talks about his silver age origin…how back when he was “Mr Zero” he experimented with his ice gun and it backfired, turning him into a man unable to live in temperatures above zero

My Girlfriend: Wait where the hell is Nora in all this

Me: She does not exist in his past yet

My Girlfriend: Only in comics does that answer make sense

Me: Comics or Doctor Who

Me: You’re going to be amazed to hear this

But the writer who gave this brilliantly conceived dialogue to the one black man in the story is in fact white

My Girlfriend: I am SHOOK

Lou questions how Mr Freeze’s plan could possibly work, declaring it “Too wild”

Me: Lou is a real negative “Glass half empty” kind of person

My Girlfriend: I am impressed he has the guts to tell the supervillain to his face that his scheme is batshit though

Me: Freeze encourages an open dialogue and free exchange of ideas among his minions

My Girlfriend: “Huh

I WAS wondering why you had us build that giant ice gun”

Me: Just so we’re clear here

Freeze’s plan is to rob a bank with a giant ice cannon

So he can afford to build an even bigger giant ice cannon

I have some notes on this plan

My Girlfriend: “And with this even larger ice cannon we shall rob a larger bank and buy what we need to build a yet larger ice cannon!”

Me: “Boss, what if we used the money for something other than ice cannons”

My Girlfriend: WHAT MADNESS ARE YOU SPEAKING

My Girlfriend: “Don’t worry Lou

I’m still perfectly sane and rational

I only plan to freeze and entire city so that I can fight a man in a bat costume to the death”

Me: “Thank god you put my mind at ease like that boss”

Freeze declares that for a time Gotham will be his “Personal domain of ice”

Me: “Because I am a theme villain in case you hadn’t noticed”

My Girlfriend: He’s committed to his aesthetic

Lou tells Freeze’s Poet Minion “You’ve got magic in that hand…and you’re abusing it!”

My Girlfriend: “And my mother always told me if you do that too much you’ll go blind!”

Me: REBECCA

My Girlfriend: You are a bad influence on me

Lou adds that the poet gives “Vision to the wild ideas” of Mr Freeze and “Becomes the architect of his madness”

Me: When he’s done with this lecture Lou is off to tell congress how Grand Theft Auto and rap music are to blame for mass shootings and then claim “Porn Addiction” is a real thing

My Girlfriend: “Sure I may work for Mr Freeze and rob and kill for him but the real culprit in all of this is POETRY”

Me: With his burning hatred of literature, Lou could have a bright future as a Republican congressman

My Girlfriend: Samantha he’s a felon connected to a serial killer

He could be PRESIDENT

And soon at a Gotham bank

Me: Oh no!

THOSE GUARDS WERE JUST TWO DAYS AWAY FROM RETIREMENT!

My Girlfriend: RETIRONY

Me: Can I just say I miss when villains did stuff like this?

Robbed banks?

Not every plot has to be a cosmic crisis DC, sometimes we just want a man in a snowglobe helmet to rob places with a big ice gun

My Girlfriend: Simpler times

One of the guards draws his pistol as the bank collapses causing his fellow guard to remark “Put that gun away! You gonna shoot an earthquake?”

Me: “IT HAS TO BE WORTH A TRY”

My Girlfriend: “Prove to me that it wouldn’t work”

Me: WEL THAT’S GRIM

My Girlfriend: Did the Poet Minion actually compose verse about the two dead guards WHILE they were murdering them with their ice quake?

Me: Too soon, Poet Minion

TOO SOON

Freeze and his minions loot the Bank Vault with Freeze declaring “It’ll be a cold day in hell before they figure out this one”

Me: Yes

A crime involving ice being committed in Gotham?

It will be a puzzler to test the mind of the worlds greatest detective who could be responsible

My Girlfriend: “WHO COULD HAVE DONE THIS?”

Me: “My money is on Firefly”

Speaking of Gotham’s resident detective, at Stately Wayne Manor, home of Billionaire Orphan Bruce Wayne

Me: I love the idea that Gordon carries some kind of Bat Torch and sometimes he just waves it at the sky

My Girlfriend: “Look if you can think of a more efficient way to get in contact with someone far away I’d like to hear it”

Arriving at the Bank, Gordon explains what happened, putting down the ice everywhere to a “Strange geological phenomenom”

My Girlfriend: I can REALLY see why the GCPD can’t solve a single case without Batman around

Me: “A bank robbery where everything is covered in ice?

This must be a freak natural occurrence and not the work of the man who robs banks using ice weapons”

My Girlfriend: Wait, if he didn’t think this was a robbery why the hell did he call Batman?

Me: It’s a little known fact that Batman is the best geologist in all of Gotham

My Girlfriend: The best BAT-geologist

My Girlfriend: “Talk to witnesses of a crime?

What kind of detective work is that”

Me: “You’d be amazed how much law enforcement work involves just deciding who the bad guy is and then beating them up”

Meanwhile, with supporting characters Julia Pennyworth and Vicki Vale

My Girlfriend: Wait, why is she white?

Me: OH MY GOD REBECCA

You can’t ask someone why they’re white!

My Girlfriend: S A M A N T H A

Me: In all seriousness this was the silver age Julia

I think she got erased in the Crisis? Or Zero Hour? Or possibly Infinite Crisis?

My Girlfriend: DC does a LOT of retcons

Me: I wonder if there’s some kind of counselling service for people whose loved ones get erased by time fuckery

My Girlfriend: Don’t make the pun your thinking of making

Me: CRISIS COUNSELLING

My Girlfriend: PUN JAIL

Vicki is confused by Julia’s remark about her parents, saying that she thought her father was “Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s butler”

My Girlfriend: Has she not seen Pennyworth?

Alfred is a man of action!

Me: HE WILL BUTTLE THE FUCK OUT OF YOU

My Girlfriend: HE WILL TUCK YOU UP LIKE A KIPPER

Julia explains she was raised by a freedom fighter and that also her bio-dad was a spy

Me: I love how casually she brings this up

My Girlfriend: Oh yeah before he was a butler my dad was James Bond, also my adopted dad fought tyranny in far off nations

Vicki says that bringing Julia along on this assignment will keep her in her sight “And away from Bruce Wayne”

Me: “As your employer I am going to use my power over you to interfere in your personal life for my own benefit!”

My Girlfriend: “What the hell are ethics”

Julia assures Vicki that she’s not into Bruce Wayne…she’s into the Batman!

Me: OH THE IRONY

My Girlfriend: Sounds like we’re on a collision course with some romantic misunderstandings

Me: I CAN’T WAIT

Back with Batman, Robin and Gordon…

My Girlfriend: Is….

Is he being sarcastic here?

Me: THE ENTIRE CRIME SCENE IS COVERED IN ICE

My Girlfriend: I think Gordon needs an eye test for those “Fumbling eyes” of his

Me: “WHAT SUBTLE CLUE HELPED YOU SOLVE THIS FIENDISH MYSTERY”

Gordon asks Batman what he plans to do and Bruce replies that he’s going to catch Mr Freeze

Me: “You’re going to catch the criminal who committed this crime?

I never would have thought of that!”

My Girlfriend: It’s those maverick ways and unconventional thinking of his that make Batman such an invaluable ally to the GCPD in their war on crime

Vicki and Julia have also arrived at the scene

Me: Oh that horny Bullock!

My Girlfriend: Hard to believe this city has such a soaring crime rate when it has such competent and dedicated law officers on the case

Me: Apparently all it takes is two women sort of flirting at him for this guy to let them wander into an active crime scene

My Girlfriend: The kind of professionalism we’ve come to expect from Gothams Finest here

My Girlfriend: “Just hold me tight Julia”?

>.>

Me: I’m starting to suspect there’s another reason why Vicki doesn’t want Julia dating Bruce Wayne

My Girlfriend: Vicki is out to prove she can do everything as a professional journalist that a man can

Including having sex with her assistant

Me: I SUPPORT HER GOALS

But our potentially sapphic double act plummet into the icy chasm left by Freeze’s diabolical ICE CANNON!

Batman and Robin rush into action while an irate Gordon declares “Just wait till I get my hands on the idiot who let them approach that hole!”

Me: “Are we just done with phrasing?”

My Girlfriend: SAMANTHA NO

Me: SAMANTHA YES

Me: Calling her Toots

Talking about her “First time”

I’m starting to legitimately ship this as a Crack Ship now

My Girlfriend: There has to be at least one Julia/Vicki femslash fanfic out there

Me: If there isn’t I am gonna write one

My Girlfriend: You have like two dozen unfinished books you do not have time to be writing femslash crack fic about an obscure silver age pairing

Me: OR DO I

Bruce and Robin head in after the ladies as Bullock apologises to Gordon…

Me: “SO I CAN HANG YOU”

My Girlfriend: Well THAT was dark

Me: You know Gordon was thinking it

Meanwhile, back at Stately Wayne Manor, home of Billionaire Orphan Bruce Wayne

Me: “Damn!

The one thing I didn’t predict when I came up with this brilliant deception…that a child welfare official would want to check on the welfare of a child!”

My Girlfriend: She masterfully outwitted his clever ruse!

Me: It was no match for the unpredictable development of her doing the one thing her job actually requires her to do that she said she’d come here for

The outraged child welfare woman asks Alfred “Do you realise it’s eleven o clock?”

Me: DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE?

My Girlfriend: “I keep telling you, NO”

 She says that this will all look pretty bad for Bruce in her report adding that it’s especially bad that Jason lives there “Without benefit of legal adoption papers”

My Girlfriend: I’m sorry wait what?

Could she say that again I think I had something stupid in my eye and must have misread that line

Me: ITS GENUINELY CANON THAT BRUCE WAYNE JUST INVITES ORPHANS TO LIVE WITH HIM

My Girlfriend: “You do realise that’s not how adoption works, right?”

Me: “I’m sorry, my head is a little hazy, what with all the herbal inhalants

They curb anxiety”

While back with Mr Freeze…

My Girlfriend: Okay is this issue actually a comedy?

Me: Mr Freeze demonstrating his brilliant management skills here

My Girlfriend: “Boss, I’m just saying maybe there’s a better way to make our getaway than lugging a giant ice cannon around with us”

Me: “AND I SAY SHUT UP OR CATCH THESE ICE HANDS”

And who is behind them?

Well

Me: He’s afraid his condition has left him COLD to their pleas of mercy!

My Girlfriend: SAMANTHA

Me: “OKAY EVERYONE

CHILL”

My Girlfriend: SAMANTHA NO

Back with Robin and Batman, Bruce has deduced his hunch about Mr Freeze was right while Robin remarks he wishes he was wearing long pants

Me: “Seriously Batman I am going to get hypothermia”

My Girlfriend: “Not to worry old chum, your replacement is already waiting at the Orphanarium”

Back with Freeze, there is discontent among his villainous band…

Me: I’m starting to think this might be a hostile work environment

My Girlfriend: Still better than working at Twitter under Elon Musk

Me: Well that goes without saying

My Girlfriend: Hard to believe that announcing his intention to turn against Freeze and swipe some of his loot ended badly for this unarmed regular man with his back turned

Me: “THAT LOOT IS FOR A GOOD CAUSE

THE CAUSE OF GIANT ICE CANNONS”

Me: “GET TO DA CHOPPAH!”

My Girlfriend: That’s not even from the right movie!

Batman makes short work of most of Freeze’s henchmen….

My Girlfriend: “Yes that…that was implied by what I said”

Me: “My ice gun will make you dead Batman!”

My Girlfriend: “ONLY IF IT KILLS ME”

Me: Freeze is determined to KICK SOME ICE here

My Girlfriend: I will make you sleep outside in the yard I swear to god

Freeze’s poetry minion makes the unwise decision of grabbing hold of the barrel of the ice cannon…which promptly freezes his hands solid before Robin knocks him out

Me: “It seems he’s lost his hands, after a lifetime of having hands”

My Girlfriend: HOW IRONIC

Me: Nice to know that Robin doesn’t let a little thing like a man being in agonising pain prevent him from upper cut-ing him in the head though

My Girlfriend: Truly he is a heroic role model

Me: “YOUR NOT TAKING ME TO THE COOLAH”

My Girlfriend: WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS

My Girlfriend: It’s terrifying to think just how many times Quentin Tarantino and Joss Whedon may have masturbated to this scene >.>

Me: WHY

Would you put that mental image in my head

Why would you hurt me like this

My Girlfriend: This is my revenge for your ice puns

Me: NOOOOOOOO

Mr Freeze begins to monologue that he’s finally going to ICE the Batman (My Girlfriend: BOOOOOOOOOO) after so many defeats at his hands…

Me: “I’m surely about to win and definitely won’t be foiled at the last minute!

My Girlfriend: “What would the odds of THAT be

However the ladies do indeed manage to dislodge part of the ice, the collision throwing Freeze off balance

Me: It’s like they always say

You win using ice death traps…you lose using ice death traps

My Girlfriend: Literally no one has ever said that

Me: See?

Bruce loves ice puns as well :D

My Girlfriend: Damn you Batman, don’t encourage her

Me: He thinks that they’re very…COOL :D

My Girlfriend: (Pterodactyl screech)

And as Freeze is arrested for Ice Crimes….

My Girlfriend: Vicki

WHY ARE YOU TAKING PICTURES OF YOUR FRIEND MAKING OUT WITH BATMAN

Me: They are for her “Personal use” later

My Girlfriend: I shall not kinkshame her weirdly specific fetish

Me: “AW YEAH

THAT’S IT

GET IT JUIA

GET THAT BAT-DICK”

But our story is not over, for soon, back at the Bat-cave

Me: “Stop recapping my weird and overly complicated love life at once”

My Girlfriend: “NEVER”

However the light hearted tone comes to an end as they get some bad news…

Me: “I can’t believe that Gotham Child Welfare thinks I’m endangering Jason!

Anyway

On an unrelated note Jason and I just got back from fighting a mad scientist with an ice gun who wanted to freeze the entire city to death”

My Girlfriend: Bruce would NEVER allow anything bad to happen to Jason!

Why when I think of the name “Jason Todd” the first thing I think of is how totally safe that kid was

Me: TOO SOON

My Girlfriend: You started it!

And so our issue comes to an end….

Final Thoughts

My Girlfriend: Finally I am safe from your ice puns

Me: I am sorry that they left you COLD

My Girlfriend: >:(

Me: That’s the last one, honest

My Girlfriend: I’d love to believe that….

Me: Mr Freeze certainly gets points for ambition in this story

My Girlfriend: And no points to the GCPD who apparently need the worlds greatest detective that a crime committed using ice was committed by the ice criminal

Me: Freeze was just TOO SUBTLE for them

My Girlfriend: HIS IS A FIENDISH MIND

Me: I love how Bruce is just absolutely shook that Gotham’s Child Welfare might have some problems with him illegally adopting random orphans and yeeting them at supervillains

My Girlfriend: “Wait child endangerment laws are a thing?

SINCE WHEN”

Me: But at least that one henchman will never again threaten the world with the evil of poetry

My Girlfriend: TRULY A NOBLE VICTORY FOR JUSTICE

Me: Happy holidays babe

My Girlfriend: Awwwwwwwwww :D

#DC #Comics #Let's Read Comics

[clairesbooks1]

#10 Every Last Word

Although I find the ending of this novel to be a major flaw, Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone is still my #10 favorite book and here's why. 

For context, the novel “Every last word” is a contemporary fiction story that follows Sam, a 16 year old girl through the regular struggles of highschool. But, while dealing with the usual fake friends, sports and stress Sam also suffers from purely obsessive OCD. In an attempt to feel “normal” Sam hides her OCD from everyone including the group of girls she calls her friends. She is part of the most popular group of girls in school (the 8s) and thinks that being their friend gives her a sort of social protection which is ironic because I found that they may have been the thing hurting her most. I also find her OCD and fear of judgment extremely well portrayed because of how realistic and relatable it can be for teens dealing with the same thing and eye opening for those who aren't.   

Sam was in my opinion living a secretive and harmful life by hiding important parts of her identity (it’s probably psychologically damaging) and who she was until she met Caroline Madsen who is a complete contrast to her current friend group. She doesn't care about social status or popularity which I think made her a perfect example and guide for Sam. Right from the start Caroline is the friend Sam needed, allowing her to be herself openly and supporting her (OCD and all). Caroline later introduces Sam to a secret poetry club called “poets corner” made up of outcasts and misfits that gather in the school basement. At the club's meetings Sam learns to open up and be herself around others through the poetry she writes and makes new deeper and meaningful friendships than the ones she already had. Because of the club, Sam finds her confidence and stops caring or thinking about her social status and her OCD becomes less overwhelming. But, like any other novel, as soon as things are starting to turn around for Sam her world crashes down. (Spoiler alert!!!)

Sam makes the shocking discovery that Caroline is in fact dead and has been for years. Caroline Madsen was bullied in school and had no friends so she ate lunch with the janitor whom she told about an idea for a secret poetry club. He gave her the room and she found members to write with. But, in 2007 she committed suicide after dealing with depression. This makes Sam reconsider and question her sanity because she literally had an imaginary friend. 

The thing I like about this plot twist is that Caroline's character can be perceived as a variety of things. Some may think she is the teens ghost guiding Sam to poets corner and better people. But, my theory is that her brain subconsciously remembered details from the article sam read about the suicide and made a caroline dupe as a defense mechanism or something to get her out of her current social situation.   

The only thing in this book that I'm not a fan of is the fact that in the end of the novel all the other members of the club are completely fine with the fact that she made up a dead girl in her head and was her friend. It is SOOO unrealistic. Let’s be real for a sec, who in the world would stay friends with someone who sees and talks to dead people because I know I wouldn't. It’s just creepy and doesn't make sense to me. 

#books #OCD

[gellavonhamster]

monthly media recap: january 2024

read:

Mayakovsky. How to Make Poems (Маяковский. Как делать стихи) by Aleksandr Kondratyev and Askold Akishin - a biography of Rusaian poet Vladimir Mayakovsky in the form of a short graphic novel. A lot of information was new to me but probably wouldn't be new to those who normally take more interest in the biographies of the authors they're reading. Liked the art style; I'd say it fits his poetry well.

Same-Sex Desire and Intimacy in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables and Its Adaptations: A Creative and Critical Study by Amelia Roberts - so someone on Tumblr wrote a PhD on Les Mis, and it's really interesting, especially the parts on historical context and comparison with the works of other writers of that era, particularly Balzac, references to historical and mythological figures in the descriptions of Enjolras and Grantaire, Valjean's past in the context of Hugo's other works about convicts, etc. There's also a lot about the fandom, which simultaneously made me smile fondly more than once and reminded me why I'm happy to barely interact with it. Also, made me really glad I never got past ep1 of that BBC show, because yikes. Here's the link if anyone's interested.

King of Morning, Queen of Day by Ian McDonald - three generations of women able to connect with the dimension of myth and bring the gods and monsters invented throughout history into the real world. Mixed feelings about the ending of part 3, but overall I really liked it - the genre fluctuates between parts, going from weird fiction à la Arthur Machen to historical fantasy where Ireland is as much of a character as people, to urban fantasy - feels like three books for the price of one, hehe. Gorgeous writing, and the translation I read was great and had footnotes - a pleasure to read. The more I stare at the cover of the edition I bought, however, the more I'm convinced it is AI-generated, and that annoys me.

+ currently reading A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, which my friend gave me for my birthday/Christmas/New Year (yeah, we haven't seen each other for a looong time). Still reading One Piece as well, currently on Chapter 994.

watched:

The Three Musketeers: Milady (Les Trois Mousquetaires: Milady) (2023) - not a fan of this duology's attempt to turn a court intrigue satire into a gritty war movie. Or of most of the casting (btw, they changed Buckingham's actor? I thought I was going crazy). That said, it was interesting to watch, if only because they changed so much compared to the books that I had only the vague idea about what's going to happen next. I also liked how this movie subverted Milady killing Constance (and made it even more tragic). And the ending!

#talk talk talk #monthly media recap

[borderepisteme]

“With the artist, we had spoken about why it was that Paradise, in Dante, is so boring. I said it was because Dante had never really known Beatrice, only laid eyes on her and run back to his room for the hot flush of fantasy. She was an absence, not a person, as contentless as every other abstracted desire – "and betaking me to the loneliness of mine own room, I fell to thinking." The artist disagreed, then told us about Marta, his Beatrice, with whom he fell in love and for whom he wrote eight poems, after which she moved to Patagonia and he forgot her. He couldn't remember her last name.

This is why heaven is boring: there is nothing substantial in it, only a ghost of a hope. Marta, aging in Patagonia. I wish I knew her. "I fell to thinking" — a morbid diversion of lust. It is so perverse: poetry, poets, and edging. Everyone else just wants what they wants and sets out to possess it, but the poet bends, veers, falls to thinking, and in the La Vita Nuova, at least, the height of romance, when the spotty glamor of surface desire has dissipated into the brighter light, is to explain the shape of stanzas, poetic technique. My Danteum would always be in the shape of La Vita Nuova, not the Divine Comedy. It would be all basements, tents, canopy beds, and closets, in which there was always a deranged poetics lecture being broadcast from a loudspeaker and the shards of the real were pulsating, sanctified, in heart shape valentine boxes. “Is being left ‘forever panting’ forever held at bay from bliss, actually ideal?” writes Anahid Nersessian in Keat’s Odes: A Lover’s Discourse, about Ode on a Grecian Urn. And then I blushed, because I am a poet, and I had mistaken the universal answer for “yes.” (And if you haven’t read it — the correct answer, as far as I could tell -- was supposed to be ‘no.’)”

Anne Boyer