#pythionice

[verecunda]

pythionice replied to your quote “He had a sudden longing, which wasn’t a bit like him now, though it...”

THOUGH IT WAS LIKE THE PERSON HE HAD BEEN BEFORE THE SAXONS BURNED HIS HOME ��

That bit hits so hard, doesn’t it? </3 There’s a bit at the start of chapter 2, as well, that describes him as “a cheerful and easy-going lad who made friends easily”, and I just

[catilinas]

look forward to hearing your thoughts on the death module! I find Roman funerals so fascinating, especially how family members would dress up as the dead person’s ancestors and then there’d be a recitation of the family achievements

ROMAN FUNERALS ARE SO!!!!!! the parade of heroes in aeneid 6 is a procession of aeneas’ DESCENDANTS because his funeral is backwards because his death happens in reverse because he is a zombie!!!

[elucubrare]

1f for the poetry ask meme, please!

Your favorite pre-16th century poet

My medieval boyfriend, Charles d'Orléans, who is probably the poet I've translated most. Here's one from a while ago! I really like his work with forms.  

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

I’m here because my love of Rosemary Sutcliff led me to the Tain (though it wasn’t even The Hound of Ulster! in Frontier Wolf Alexios calls Cunorix his “heart’s companion”, plus one of them is small, slight and grey-eyed, and they fight a duel to the death. you see where I’m going with this)

oh NO

i haven’t read that one of hers but now i need to bc i don’t suffer enough already

[antiquery]

4 and 10 for the book asks, please

4: What was the last book you added to your tbr?

the short stories of philip k. dick, recommended by the very kind dining hall worker with whom i sometimes talk about weird fiction!

10: Sci-Fi or fantasy? Why?

ooh, this is a tough one— ultimately, i’d have to say fantasy, both because it’s what i grew up with and because of the fact that it’s escapist, rather than aspirational. ultimately, my fictional tastes tend more towards other worlds entirely than future versions of this one.

[windsweptlassie]

🌻

when i was little i decided i’d rather sew a tiny bag than watch the little mermaid

(send me a sunflower and I’ll just Go Off)

[garland-on-thy-brow]

hi! I saw your posts about the Bridge Theatre Julius Caesar, and I'd be really interested to hear your thoughts on it: what do you like and not like? :D

Hi and thanks for the ask! Here are some highlights and personal onions.

Brutus appears a reflection of Caesar in some respects: he makes sexist comments (that one about “melting spirits of women” to the face of Cassius and other conspirators), he treats his wife badly (she: *shows him wrist cuts* he: sorry, dear, I don’t have time to talk to you. Like, FIND TIME, BITCH), he proves unreasonable, and letting him make decisions is ultimately catastrophic. Brutus is, of course, nowhere near to being AS bad as Caesar (who is undoubtedly a tyrant, and shows signs of getting worse, Cassius is absolutely right about that), certainly much more polished, likes to think he’s woke, but then again - not my hero.

I loved Cassius and Casca, as well as their interaction. I find this difficult to detail, I just like everything about them.

I liked the scene with Decimus Brutus, where Caesar is getting killed by his own sexism (specifically, by evaluating what a woman says based on how sexually available she looks). And the iconic moment when Calpurnia dramatically wraps herself in a blanket.

Antony’s speech is interesting. It’s less bacchic than I would expect, it’s… quite subtle and, I think, very well done.

JC production with no Brutecass? It’s less impossible than you think. All their interactions read for me as platonic, for once.

that moment when “Pompey’s dead, love, get over it!“ in I.1

attention to details, like the books Brutus reads (here is the list of them).

Octavian’s balloons in the end. Res Gestae all over the place.

[inclineto]

@pythionice replied to your post “Books, April-June 2018”

what did you think of the dream-quest of vellitt boe?

I really wanted to like it more than I did. Vellitt Boe herself is excellent - in the best tradition of Gaudy Night‘s dons - and there are a bunch of absolutely delightful passages, but even for a travel narrative a lot of it felt like it was skimming along the surface rather than digging in.

HOWEVER, this comes with an important caveat: I haven’t read Lovecraft.

Although a number of reviewers said that knowing his work wasn’t required, I’m not convinced that they’re right. I could tell I was reading a response to somebody else, and now I think I could make some pretty good guesses about the original - and that made it harder for me to commit. (But I also knew from the beginning that it was a response, and so I can’t say what I’d have thought of it if I’d gone in cold.)