#william cullen

[gisellelx]

Huh. I just realized that my headcanons have given Carlisle's parents the same names as Jacob's parents. And that's a pretty tightly held headcanon for me, so it's not changing.

Bet that's an interesting conversation the two of them have at some point post canon timeline...

[gisellelx]

Twilight Advent, Day 15

Masterpost/prompts

Dec. 15 - Tell us about a Twilight OC you love (your own or someone else's)

Favorite that I've read: Fatima, in A Federation of Cassandras. First of all, to have set a fic in the housing projects of Paris, and put in, of all things, a Muslim immigrant as a central character in a Twilight fanfic, and then to hang half the novel off that character alone before any other vampires even really show up is just masterful. The canon does not deal skillfully at all with issues of race and marginalization, so to see a fanfic do it, especially in ways that augment the problems the canon puts forth for the vampire world at the end of BD, is just kind of jaw-dropping. Fatima and her father are just delightfully well-drawn real characters with their own motivations and problems and concerns that intersect with Renesmee's in ways that push the story forward.

Favorite I've written (and I've written a lot of them!): For pure OCs, Deirdre in "For A Season." She really had to do a lot of work in very short space but I wanted a character who sees straight through Carlisle's grief, meets him where he is in really subtle ways, and pushes him forward even as he thinks he's the one encouraging her.

For "SMeyer told us nothing and they might as well be OCs": Carlisle's father, whom I've named William Cullen. I have a strong headcanon that he adored his wife (Sarah), and that losing her was next to impossible. So when he was presented with this joyous, whip-smart, towheaded boy who reminded him so much of her, he couldn't bear it. But at the same time, he's trying desperately to make sure that Sarah's son has everything he ever needs or wants, including eternal salvation. They fight and they fight and they fight but at its roots, it's really because William doesn't know how to just take Carlisle into his arms and say, "I love you so much." And they both die never getting to do that. Which is so great from "story problem" perspective even if not so great for them.

[gisellelx]

Headcanons for little Carlisle seeing Charles I getting executed?

Charles I was executed when Carlisle was a child; I HC just about to turn 5. As I see it, he would still have been with his nurse. His father wasn’t crazy about having a little boy without a mother to raise him; he wanted a child who would be ready to work and pray and tend to the sanctuary. So Carlisle would’ve been breeched on the later side, closer to 6-7 than 4-5. (Breeching is when boys started wearing pants instead of dresses and generally was a marker of when their fathers would begin to take a larger role in their upbringing.) 

His nurse was very protective of him and would not have wanted him to think or know about it. He was always a very sensitive child, quick to pick up on the emotions of those around him. This also made him prone to very large tantrums when his own emotion overwhelmed him--good with the bad. She would not have let him anywhere near something like an execution.

The real lesson would’ve been Cromwell. Carlisle’s father would’ve gained power during the Protectorate and Cromwell’s death and the restoration of the crown was a major blow to him. He would’ve taken Carlisle to Tyburn to pray over Cromwell’s hanging body; it would’ve been just before Carlisle’s 17th birthday. I imagine that was the beginning of Carlisle’s being taken to Tyburn more regularly as his father tried to prepare him for the clergy. He loathed it. 

Part of the reason Carlisle was so reluctant at 17 was that at 13, when he was headstrong and stubborn, he snuck along and followed his father to Tyburn, saw a man hang without a hood on, and absolutely lost it. His father, upon finding out that he had disobeyed orders to stay home and take care of the church, whipped him until he bled. This actually wasn’t because William was angry; he was scared. He wanted to protect the child he saw as less his than his late wife’s. He felt guilty that he had let his wife down by creating an opportunity for Carlisle to see death so early in his life and he was terrified Carlisle would go again. 

He needn’t have worried; his son would never make peace with seeing people die. He suffered night terrors for nearly a year after seeing the first hanging and always slept badly before and after a hanging day even up to the day he was turned. He and his father fought about it constantly.

[planarianunbound]

William Cullen, Jr. "Standing by Your Grave on Your Birthday"

William Cullen, Jr. “Standing by Your Grave on Your Birthday”

William Cullen, Jr. Standing by Your Grave on Your Birthday How noisy birth is with the new born bawling as if it already had a foreboding of a quiet place where the grass is always cut and the leaves are always raked away so one could read its name and its birth date as clearly as one could through tears of rage. The author’s poetry has appeared in *82Review, Allegro Poetry, Concis, Right Hand…

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[planarianunbound]

William Cullen, Jr.: "I Could Have Used Queequeg"

William Cullen, Jr.: “I Could Have Used Queequeg”

William Cullen, Jr. I Could Have Used Queequeg I put one foot forward in front of the other heel to toe and count the paces off to indicate the size of the plot I’d like to buy. The author’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in *82Review, Canary, Farming Magazine, New Verse News, The Drought Anthology, and Written River: A Journal of Eco-Poetics.

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[planarianunbound]

William Cullen, Jr.: "The Day a Nature Journal Lost Its Grant"

William Cullen, Jr.: “The Day a Nature Journal Lost Its Grant”

William Cullen, Jr. The Day a Nature Journal Lost Its Grant A truck backfires and flurries suddenly appear as if some hunter had blasted a snowy egret out of the sky— a no-fly zone for beauty. The author’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in *82 Review, Canary, Farming Magazine, New Verse News, The Drought Anthology, and Written River: A Journal of Eco-Poetics.

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[somethignpoetsomethingsomething]

Good feeling's gone

So now I'm reading Cullen's descriptions of what "cures" should be attempted for maniacs/madmen. It's one of the most horrifying things I've ever read. Considering what he (thought he) knew about mania as a disease, the recommendations all make perfect logical sense.

It's just so depressing. And so infuriating. To think of these things being recommended and done to actual people.

Edit: I think I see why it seems so horrifying: he is actually giving directions on how to establish an abusive relationship with a mad patient.

[panlight]

Carlisle and Esme's son is teaching himself to play violin, and Emmett and Rosalie's little Henry is quite the artist.