in which i am probably doomed

[ontology]

I have come to the conclusion that writing is really only an excellent excuse to learn about things I am fascinated by, and my subconscious takes advantage of this by subtly sneaking in especially interesting things into my story. (That, and I have a tendency to think, "THAT IS AWESOME AND I NEED TO PUT IT IN MY STORY NOW.") So, things I have to pursue knowledge of: 19th century drugs and their affect on human psychology; underground cities and the catacombs of London; the worldwide political situation that led to the Great War (sociology ftw!); mental illness and the human mind; the Industrial Revolution; libraries in the modern and ancient world; any and all arcane bookmaking; linguistics; how cultures develop (the vampires, separated from their formerly human state); poker; early twentieth century insults in British; race and culture in 1912 England; why colonialism sucks and leads to Bad Things; literature in 1912; vintage clothing and hairstyles; turn-of-the-century music; cultural understanding of vampire lore (VAMPIRE PUMPKINS FTW!); the three sisters archetype in literature and folklore; Tam-Lin and related ballads; turn-of-the-century food; British Christmas traditions; street-fighting techniques; sword-canes; whether or not they had fish and chips back then and if they were wrapped in newspaper... And I keep digging up more as I write, dear me.

Also, this guy needs to make it into my story somehow. Somehow. Possibly as one of the bureaucratic Department of the Supernatural types. (One primary thing I aim to work on in Draft the Second: making the Department blokes less flat, stock Stupidly Evil Bureaucrats, because... that's senseless and boring. There is no reason for them all to be out of touch and too enamoured of their own power, and I hated it while I was writing it. Bah. That does not mean they can't have silly moustaches, however.) 

Comments

[callme-al01.livejournal.com]

Ewww! He's very ugly!

[othergoose.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness, I do love me some preposterous facial hair! You can just tell that that guy was hot stuff (or at least that's what he believed). But I have to say that I'm rather excited that this type of grooming is making a comeback, haha. (Hence my friends getting me this poster (http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=WON-BEARDS&Category_Code=WON) for Christmas....)

And I really really recommend Paul Fussell's The Great War and Modern Memory (http://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Modern-Memory/dp/0195133323/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249761109&sr=8-1) if you want to get a good idea of the literary and cultural climate of the time (OK, a little later than what you want, but still relevant). Fussell is rather brilliant and the book itself is very accessible

As the beginning of my 'Jolene And I Need To Go To Harvard' campaign...

[burningstarsxe.livejournal.com]

All you would need to do is pretty much show this post to the Harvard admissions office and they will summarily kidnap you.

Also you are now making me want to go and research all this sort of stuff instead of the relevant CLEPs. I think I need to go to a library.

[goddessreason.livejournal.com]

That fellow must have a government grant for Silly Mustaches :D

[take-a-sadsong.livejournal.com]

Hee! This is why I continue to shy away from period novels. I cheat and either do futuristic novels or create other worlds resembling the earth with their own folklore and timelines.

You should compile a big list of all the websites you find with information on the project, and then post it. I bet a ton of us would love to read about the time. I'd always loved the pre-WWI years. :D

Also: catacombs of London = KIND OF SERIOUSLY AWESOME.

[lady-moriel.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is that he's actually pretty attractive if you mentally remove all that absurd facial hair...

I suppose the trick to writing the Department people would be to make most of them vaguely sympathetic, especially since many of them might well have got into their jobs all young and idealistic hoping to Make A Difference and got ground down by bureaucracy. It does tend to have that effect--well, politics in general does, seems like. So what you've probably got are a small handful who originally joined the Department to further their own ends and gain power and whatever, another slightly larger handful who started out well, became jaded, and are now only there to get out of it what they personally can, and a large number who still mean well but are also jaded and cynical and just generally tired of the whole thing--who in their own way could be just as dangerous as the others, either because they're too ineffectual to protect against bad elements inside and outside the Department, or because while they mean well, their aims don't mesh with Evy & co.'s.

[aliseadae]

Oh! All those things are fascinating. Also, he has excellent whiskers.

You should find a college library where you can browse and look though the books and learn the things you would like to.