M.C. Frank's Blog, page 59
April 25, 2022
kieumy-vu:HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 1Nick & Charlie + songs
HEARTSTOPPER SEASON 1
Nick & Charlie + songs
skirtmag:Sleepover in a Paris Bookshop
Sleepover in a Paris Bookshop
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I unironically love the character names in the Hunger G...
:
I unironically love the character names in the Hunger Games series.
Haymitch, Peeta, Hazelle, Leevy, Maysilee, Finnick and Greasy Sae look bizarre when you first see them written down, but then if you think about how they look and/or sound it’s pretty clear that they’re meant to be modern names, only modern names that have changed spelling and pronounciation over time— as you would have expected them to have done so over how ever many hundreds of years it’s been since our modern day.
(Remember, though The Hunger Games themselves have only been going on for 75 years, the universe they’re in is canonically post-apocalyptic— the reason nobody ever mentions what’s happening in the rest of the world is that everywhere except America was destroyed in a nuclear war. We’re not given much of an indication how long it’s been since then.)
Peeta is Peter, Haymitch is Hamish, and Hazelle is Hazel, Maysilee is Maisie— the changes in pronunciation are slight (Peeta and Peter are already virtually identical in my accent), and the spelling has changed to match.
Leevy is either a corruption of Lily, or more likely I suspect ‘Livvy’, a common nickname for Olivia; Finnick is probably from Finnegan (shorten in to 'Finneg’ and then say it over and over very fast); Sae could be short for Sarah, or Sally or even Susan— it’s not uncommon for nicknames to become real names in their own right (look at Harry or Molly as examples).
I also love the trend of having District 1 parents give their kids names relating to the luxury items their district produces— Glimmer, Marvel, Gloss, Cashmere, Velvereen (presumably a corruption of 'velveteen’), Facet— because those things are all a) objectively pretty/nice (like naming a kid 'Diamond’ or 'Star’ today) and presumably status symbols in their district.
Meanwhile District 3 does the same thing, but all the pronunciations are corrupted. You’ve got technical names to do with the manufacture of electronics— Wiress (wireless), Circ (circuit)— but you’ve also got what I’m pretty sure are meant to be corruptions of modern brand names— Beetee (BT), Teslee (Tesla).
To me this kind of suggests that District 3 is less conscious of this influence than District 1. Like, parents in 1 are more likely to deliberately think “I’ll name my kid Glimmer, because things that glimmer are pretty” whereas 3 as a culture might have genuinely forgotten that those names used to mean something, in the same way that most of us don’t think much about how the name 'Arthur’ comes from the old word for 'Bear’.
And of course, then you’ve got the Capitol leaning hard into those ancient Roman vibes with names like Fulvia, Plutarch, Seneca, Tigris… but still using the European/American personal name+family name format, which the Romans didn’t really do. Like it’s very clear that this is a future society fetishising the classical era, rather than an actual resurgence of Roman culture.
It’s just such a cool world-building detail. So many dystopian novels just go for modern names (and there’s nothing wrong with that, especially if you’re only looking a couple of hundred years into the future) but thinking about how names might have evolved over the centuries and the different naming traditions that might have developed in different areas really adds a whole new dimension to the culture of Panem.
wander1ustt:
15poundstosummer:
mcgooglykins:
merspers:
...
I have been waiting all year to post this.
omg
This has been in my queue for months.
I missed it last year and I vowed that would NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.
YES
omg i didnt reblog this last year!
April 24, 2022
From time to time I read a Greek book. This is The Wish...
From time to time I read a Greek book. This is The Wish Collector by @miasheridanauthor 💕 Have you read it? (at New York City, N.Y.)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcwGKtEoGOL/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
April 23, 2022
sixmonthsandgone:Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (2018), dir....
Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin (2018), dir. Arwen Curry
kaytara-art:
owlmylove:
thesanityclause:
221cbakerstree...
Secret cinema found beneath Paris.
In September 2004, French police discovered a hidden chamber in the catacombs under Paris. It contained a full-sized movie screen, projection equipment, a bar, a pressure cooker for making couscous, a professionally installed electricity system, and at least three phone lines. Movies ranged from 1950s noir classics to recent thrillers.
When the police returned three days later, the phone and power lines had been cut and there was a note on the floor: “Do not try to find us.” (via)
SECRET, MILDLY THREATENING UNDERGROUND COUSCOUS CINEMA
I WANNA GO
LET ME JOIN YOUR KIND, UNDERGROUND MOVIE PEOPLE
nO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND THIS ENTIRE CINEMA WAS HIDDEN BEHIND AN UNDER CONSTRUCTION SIGN THAT LEAD TO A CHECK-IN DISK WITH A FULL CCTV HOOKUP THAT WOULD TURN ON AND RECORD ANY UNREGISTERED VISITORS. AND IF SOMEONE SNUCK IN? A TAPE OF BARKING SECURITY DOGS WOULD BEGIN TO PLAY.
BEYOND THE CRAZY FRONT DESK AND THE MOVIE THEATER, THERE WAS A STOCKED BAR AND TABLES AND CHAIRS, MEANING THAT AFTER CATCHING A FLICK IN AN ILLEGAL PARISIAN CATACOMB THEATER, YOU COULD THEN EAT COUSCOUS AND SIP A COCKTAIL NEXT DOOR. THERE WAS A PROFESSIONAL ELECTRICITY SYSTEM SET UP, AND AT LEAST 3 WORKING PHONE LINES. THIS SHIT WAS LIKE A BOND VILLAIN.
BETTER YET? IT WAS RUMORED THAT THE PLACE WAS SET UP BY THE UNDERGROUND FRENCH ART GANG UX “Urban eXperiment”, WHO NAVIGATES THROUGH THE PARISIAN UNDERGROUNDS AND ILLEGALLY RESTORES ABANDONED WORKS OF ART, ALONG WITH HOLDING FILM FESTIVALS IN THE BASEMENTS OF GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS. THEY EVEN RELEASED A SHORT FILM ABOUT THEIR WORK RESTORING THE ICONIC PANTHEON CLOCK OVER THE COURSE OF ONE YEAR. NO ONE SUSPECTED THEIR INVOLVEMENT, UNTIL THE CLOCK BEGAN TO WORK AGAIN AFTER 60 YEARS OF RUSTING.
IF YOU DON’T THINK CATACOMBS AND THE PEOPLE WHO HANG OUT IN THEM ARE SOME OF THE COOLEST FUCKING THINGS IN THE WORLD THEN I IMPLORE YOU TO EAT SOME COUSCOUS AND RECONSIDER.
UNDERGROUND FRENCH ART GANG
April 22, 2022
So grateful for all the feedback since the release of Retold....
So grateful for all the feedback since the release of Retold. It’s one of the darkest books I’ve ever put out these, although I have written much darker novels.
But I think we need to deal with the darkness if we want to see the light shine bright in contrast.
In a few days, it’s Easter Sunday! Are you celebrating?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CcpsoafIfkF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
