ellievsbear
izzy's playlists!
official daine visual archive
noise dept.
gracie abrams
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
#extradirty
The Stonewall Inn
NASA
Claire Keane
untitled
Monterey Bay Aquarium
if i look back, i am lost
Mike Driver
@theartofmadeline
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almost home
I'd rather be in outer space 🛸
trying on a metaphor
pixel skylines
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@readingbooksinisrael
The problem with booklr is that very often the blogs are side-blogs, so here's your unfriendly reminder that I'm Israeli and if you are making excuses for Hamas/saying that what they did didn’t happen you're fine with me being murdered and I don't want you around so please go block yourself.
Henri Eugène Augustin Le Sidaner (source)
Have you read Where's Spot? by Eric Hill (1980)?
yes
no
I've never heard of it
I have four arms, six legs, spit acid and yet everyone wants me. What am I?
In this website? An alien minster or something, I'm sure Visser three would love to acquire you as well.
Hebrew Word of the Day: יעל
יעל (ya'el): ibex, mountain goat
ראיתי יעל אחד ואז פתאום באו המון יעלים: I saw one mountain goat and then, suddenly, a bunch of mountain goats came. (ra'i'ti ya'el e'khad v'az pit'om ba'u ha'mon ye'e'lim)
על אילו ספרי ילדים גדלתם?
.
האם אתם מכירים את דתיה בן-דור?
מכירים?
ברור שכן
מוכר לי השם אבל לא זכור לי מאיפה
לא
בכל זאת אנחנו בטאמבלר....
תמליצו פאנדומים - איזה סרטים / סדרות / ספרים / משחקים וכו' אתם אוהבים?
.
נראה לי שרואים כבר מהשם של הבלוג שזה הכל יהיה ספרים. אני אנסה לא לדבר יותר מידי...
סדרת ספטימוס היפ--סדרת פנטזיה נפלאה עם דמויות מהממות ואיורים מטורפים שלא מקבלת מספיק אהבה
Grim & Blackthorn/Juliet Marillier--סדרת פנטזיה היסטורית שמשתמשת שאגדה אחרת כבסיס לכל ספר בטרילוגיה אבל באמת על איך שהדמויות העיקריות מטפלות בטראומה שלהם, וכל ספר זה שלב אחר, אבל גם העולם ממש טוב--ובקיצור תקראו
עוד סדרת פנטזיה היסטורית היא The Memoirs of Lady Trent/Marie Brennan. זה קורה במאה ה-19 בעולם עם דרקונים וכל ספר קורה בחלק אחר של העולם כשהדמות הראשית חוקרת את הדרקונים שם.
The Blue Castle Book Club – Chapter 40
I feel like this chapter really illuminates why we have the millionaire-Barney twist: it’s to give the stark constrast between Valancy’s priorities and her family’s. Valancy’s family start to value her at the precise moment her self-worth is lowest, and do so not because of anything about herself, but because her husband – despised a minute ago – is found to be the son-in-law of a millionaire. It highlights how worthless the Stirlings’ regard and approval always was.
The revelation makes no impact whatever on either Valancy’s love of Barney or her desire to set him free. It creates a 180 in the Stirlings’ attitude – from Barney Snaith as a disreputable tramp whom Valancy should be shunned for marrying, to Bernard Redfern as a phenomenal ‘catch’ for whose sake Valancy much be treated with at least a modicum of respect.
Even Uncle Benjamin’s joke plays into this contrast:
He held the door open. As she went through he whispered, “What is the best way to keep a man’s love?”
Valancy smiled wanly. But she had come back to the old life—the old shackles. “What?” she asked as meekly as of yore.
“Not to return it,” said Uncle Benjamin with a chuckle.
The Stirlings live in a world where love and marriage are a battle-of-the-sexes game of advantage. Valancy has lived in the opposite way, in defiance of this dictum – she asked Barney to marry her, openly told him she loved him and that she did not expect to be loved and return. And we the readers know that he does love her! Uncle Benjamin is, may, I think, be hinting that he is not too worried about Valancy running away from Bernard Redfern, because it will only strengthen his interest. Valancy doesn’t even process this because she and Barney aren’t playing a game.
As a second observation, I love how the description of the house emphasizes return to it as a return to stagnation, after a year of stimulus and joy and love and change. The earlier chapter with their summary of seasons are even strengthened a little by this contrast. Everything in the Stirling home is unchanging. I think the best touches are the kitten that never grows up into a cat, and the clock that never goes. The house is timeless in the worst of ways, and it is a place of eternal immaturity, where Valancy can never be an adult with agency, volition, and respect.
Why doee Valancy go back to this place? She left it for Roaring Abel’s first; she proved that she can happily and skillfully do work that is considered degrading by her class (cooking and cleaning, “maid’s work”). She could get a job; she could even take the remainder of her savings and leave town, make a new life. If she’d learned of Dr. Trent’s error when she was still at Roaring Abel’s, maybe she would have do so after Cissy died? But I think her devastation as how badly (in her opinion) her breakout has gone has left her automatically reverting to her past life. Like a rubber band, the end of her expectation of death leads her to return to where and who she was before she recieved that news.
Commentary on Chapter 39 of The Blue Castle
“In every story she had ever read when a runaway wife decamped from home she left a note, generally on the pin-cushion. It was not a very original idea.”
As others said on their commentary on this chapter, Valancy must have read these stories while living with Barney.
“Valancy absently crossed to the door of Bluebeard’s Chamber and tried it. She vaguely expected to find it locked, but it opened unresistingly. She had never tried it before, and did not know whether Barney habitually kept it locked or not. If he did, he must have been badly upset to leave it unlocked.”
I think he was not locking it. He trusts Valancy that much.
“There were no beautiful women hanging by their hair on the walls.”
I love the dark Bluebeard humor. I think the book needed this.
“A bundle of galley-proofs.”
So that’s the smell.
“The page on top bore the title Wild Honey, and under the title were the words “by John Foster.”
I love Wild Honey (as you might guess). It sounds both like something that John Foster would write and something that is vaguely erotic.
“So Barney was John Foster!
Valancy was not excited.”
I agree with @kingedmundsroyalmurder . It is so disappointing that Valancy is not even excited when John Foster quite literally saved her life.
“Valancy had opened her lips to say, “Oh, yes, it is out,” but closed them again. After all, it was none of her business.”
Valancy is not a very curious person. I like this. Not many protagonists are incurious, it makes her unique.
I also like that this trait is related to her sense of propriety, which she does have despite her rebellion.
“I thank you for all your kindness to me. I shall never forget it. Think as kindly of me as you can, because I did not mean to trap you. Good-bye.
Yours gratefully,
VALANCY.”
I find this so poignant despite knowing that the book will end happily.
“The rain had not yet come, but the sky was dark, and Mistawis grey and sullen. The little house under the pines looked very pathetic—a casket rifled of its jewels—a lamp with its flame blown out.
“I shall never again hear the wind crying over Mistawis at night,” thought Valancy. This hurt her, too. She could have laughed to think that such a trifle could hurt her at such a time.”
And this is very sad as well.
The Blue Castle Book Club: Chapter 39
"At one end was a table or counter crowded with odd-looking utensils. Used no doubt by Barney in his smelly operations."
The issue has been raised already, but seriously, what has Barney been doing in there other than writing??
I saw someone mention that the previous book club decided he's been smoking weed, which I think is a pretty solid theory... but I'd like to suggest that he's been turning animal carcasses into skeletal remains, and using the bones for a variety of weird and macabre craft projects. He hasn't dared to tell Valancy about this passion of his either, he just has an unpleasant feeling that she would think less of him for it.
Behold, a wind chime:
(In all honesty, I have no idea.)
~
"The fact that she was leaving Barney did not hurt her—yet. It lay at her heart like a cold, insensible thing. If it came to life—Valancy shuddered and went out——"
This is such a good description.
~
Translation note:
In the Finnish translation, Valancy's note to Barney is written using the informal you (as it should be – I think, if she had gone as far as to switch back to the formal you in her breakup letter, Barney might've died of a broken heart while reading it)... but to add an intriguing touch of the formal, the translator has decided to capitalize one of the instances Valancy uses the word You in it.
blue castle book club - chapter 38
Back in chapter 25 I was wondering if Valancy had a backup plan in case Barney said no to her proposal, and this chapter is making me think she didn't - she's so certain now that her only option is to go back to her mother's house. (To be fair, she is in a state of overwhelm and shock and not thinking clearly. But she has other options!)
I enjoy the descriptions of Dr. Redfern. Yes he's a bit ridiculous, but he's kind and he's very unashamedly himself (none of that Stirling hypocrisy!) And despite his wealth, he doesn't seem snobby.
"Sit down, dear. Never stand when you can sit."
My motto these days
Everything was the same. Nothing was the same. It was a hundred years since yesterday. Yesterday, at this time, she and Barney had been eating a belated dinner here with laughter. Laughter? Valancy felt that she had done with laughter forever. And with tears, for that matter. She had no further use for either of them.
She was thankful she no longer felt very bad. When you are bludgeoned on the head repeatedly, you naturally and mercifully become more or less insensible and stupid.
Poor Valancy.
I mention Maud's nature descriptions often, but I also really enjoy her descriptions of people and emotional states!
"She took up Barney’s pen—and a vile one it was"
We need to talk about fountain pens.
The ballpoint pens that we buy for cheap at the dollar store were not mass-marketed until the 1930s. If you prefer gel pens, rollerballs, or felt pens, those are also much later innovations! In the Blue Castle period -- some indefinite time between about 1913 and 1926 -- Barney would have used a fountain pen.
This is a stock image of an inexpensive modern fountain pen made by Pilot and sold via Office Max. Two thing are important here. In the middle of the pen is the reservoir where the ink lives. In 1920-whatever, you filled the reservoir by sucking ink into it from the ink bottle. Nowadays, you can get little plastic ink cartridges for your fountain pen, which makes refilling it much easier, at the cost of plastic waste.
The other important part is the nib, which is the pointy bit that the ink flows along to write. So many things can go wrong with nibs!
First, let's take a close look at a nib. This is a stock image from FountainPens.com. (This is not an endorsement to order from them; I've never done so.) See that narrow line down the center? It's actually a gap. This is about to be important, because it directs the flow of ink. (If you want full technical details, here's Goulet Pens' breakdown.)
A cheap or badly made nib will have slightly rough edges, or its gap isn't positioned right, or it otherwise isn't capable of reliably writing a clean line. Fountain pens were more expensive in relation to income in the 1910s-20s than ballpoint pens are for us. It would be tempting to buy a cheap one, and it would be tempting to keep using one after it wore badly.
I went to Goulet Pens (which is a good site to order from) for a list of things that can go wrong with your fountain pen. This includes:
Writing with too much pressure, which will spread the nib permanently
Not cleaning the fountain pen, which will lead to bad ink flow or a rough nib
Dropping it so that the nib bends
It's worth clicking through to the full listicle to see the photos of damaged nibs!
When the nib is bad in some way, the pen will skip or blot when you try to write. It's annoying and very messy! I can't demonstrate because (a) I managed to lose my last fountain pen when I moved in 2022 and (b) it was from Goulet Pens, so the nib was perfect.
Barney has been buying cheap pens, mistreating his pens, or both. Thus the pen is now "vile." It sputters across the page, making it impossible to do nice handwriting.
Note that I care about this from a Doylist viewpoint because for all we joke about this it haunts me:
What do you think LMM intended when referencing Barney's chemical experiments?
it was meant to be a clue to John Foster somehow
she meant to set up something else (god knows what) and forgot
insert wild card option
batrachised button to see results (if u pick this ur guilty of identity theft)
I really think it's #2, but as a kid I thought he had a printing press set up there.
I’ve found a jackalope in my backyard and I need help. What do these things need?
Hello!
Thank you for contacting the Magically Informed Social Work! Finding a lone jackalope is certainly an odd occurance, they live in herds out in the wild and generally do not strike out on their own for too long.
Jackalopes are wild creatures, but they are sometimes bred in captivity and if you have a tame jackalope in your yard it might be a lost runaway. If it actively tries to approach you, that's probably the case. In that case you can offer it water, hay, and leafy greens and call your local animal welfare organisation to check in if someone reported a missing pet jackalope.
If it is a wild jackalope and it does not seem sick or injured you had better leave it alone, it will probably go back to its herd at some point.
One thing we do need to mention, if the antlered, rabbit-like creature you found has wings and a long tail, it is not a jackalope. It is most likely a wolpertinger and we advise you to stay away from it and contact Occult Animal Welfare at once.
Best of luck!
~ the MagiSoWo Team
The Blue Castle Chapter 38
So much happens in this chapter. No wonder Valancy was feeling overwhelmed by the end of it because I was as well.
It can basically be divided into two parts:
Valancy till reeling from Dr. Trent's diagnosis
The Redfern reveal
Valancy walked quickly through...Lover's Lane. She did not want to meet anyone she knew. She didn't even want to meet people she didn't know. She hated to be seen...The cars that fled by her with raucous shrieks were filled with strangers.
So we're back to the beginning in Valancy's mindset in many ways: not wanting to be seen or meet anyone, Lover's Lane again, cars being "raucous".
I especially want to point out that last sentence because Valancy has been driving through Deerwood raucously. It's with the Stirlings that she has to be demure and fear raucousness.
With life, fear had come back into her heart. Sickening fear. Fear of what Barney would think. Would say. Fear of the future that must be lived without him. Fear of her insulted, repudiated clan.
This is the paragraph that makes it most clear to us that we've returned to the beginning of the book in Valancy's mind. All throughout this book Valancy sees life as a set of chains and she's able to shake them off when she gets Dr. Trent's letter.
There parked by the side of the old, battered ragged Lady Jane, was another car. A wonderful car. A purple car. Not a dark, royal purple but a blatant screaming purple.
Love this description.
I'm also enjoying Valancy's "little imp". It's the same imp that spoke at the inner party. Again, we're back to the Doss-mindset. In the Valancy-mindset, with Barney, but also with Roaring Abel and to Uncle James and her mother, Valancy could say what she liked. I don't think she would've said any of these mean humorous thoughts out loud, but she could've said them later to Barney, who shares her sense of humor; now she's alone again.
Also, looking at this imp and at dinner party-Valancy, Valancy is more spiteful when she's in a Doss-mindset.
"Millions!" said Valancy faintly.
Looking back on the conversation Barney and Valancy had about the millionaire's house, I think Barney was reassuring himself about Valancy's feelings.
I like Dr. Redfern. He has absolutely no tact, but I do like him.
Valancy sat down. To be obliged to sit when mental agnoy urges us to stride up and down is the refinement of torture. Every nerve in her was crying out to be alone--to be hidden. But she had to sit and listen to Dr. Redfern, who didn't mind talking at all.
And she thinks that this is her last time in her Blue Castle. She thought she would have one last time to be alone in it and then Dr. Redfern comes.
It also made me realize (only now) that one of the appeals that Valancy and Barney have with each other is not just their sense of humor, their appreciation for nature or their ability to sit together quietly--it's also the ability to be alone, perfectly alone, and not have anyone bother you. This was stated quite explicitly earlier so I don't know why I only realized it now.
Valancy felt that she had done with laughter forever. And with tears, for that matter. She had no further use for either of them.
The Stirlings would approve.
Great last sentence for the chapter.
The Blue Castle Chapter 37
Okay, so this is the chapter where I hate Dr. Trent. I saw people debate him back when Valancy sees him first, but I didn't think that was a situation where he could be judged.
I think his reaction here is a combination of sexism and self-defense. He can admit to himself that he messed up by putting the letters in the wrong envelopes, but there's still a degree of putting the blame on another with his obsession with why didn't Valancy consult with someone else (why would she?).
The sexism--and specifically ignoring the signs that Valancy is in an abusive relationship--is what makes me hate him, though. While he doesn't mention anything about abuse directly in his thoughts the signs are all there and he does acknowledge that he sees them. And then he thinks of her as "a little fool".
