I'm a nerd. And good books excite me.
Yo, people...
Anyway, I know I haven't updating in forever. I just have been trying to avoid the computer, for the most part, because then I end up staying on it all night and I'm cranky in the morning XD. And I don't like being cranky (or more cranky than usual) in the morning. Hey, if your bus came at 6:30, you'd be cranky too.
All right, I just want to talk about some books I've read recently.
First on my list is an excellent work of literature called The Golden Key. It's a collab by three authors whose names have run away all willy-nilly. It takes place in a fictional world, in a city called Tire Virte (I think, I'm not sure) which is kind of a pseudo-Rennasiance-Italian city. There are three families that the story centers on; the Grijalvas, the Serranos, and the ducal family whose name has also slipped away like sentient bunny slippers. Hmm... bunny slippers...
Anyway, it begins with a kind of painting gallery, with the names and descriptions of a couple portraits that serve as backup information. These provide you with two important points- far in the past, an enemy desert tribe called the Tza'ab captured several women of Tira Virte and raped them, two Grijalvas and an unimportant number of Serranos and other people who don't matter. Only the two Grijalvas did not suicide, thus leaving in the Tza'ab blood and disgracing their family to the Ecclestasia(the church), the dukalie people, the Serranos, and people in general. Another painting depicts a battle where a Grijalva man takes a fatal wound for the duke of many ages past, thus securing the Grijalvas' roles as servants, a role that is battled over throughout the tale.
There are three sections to the story; ones that I title as being Saavedra and Sario, Mechella, and Eleyna. Saavedra's and Sario's little section sets the scene for the story. The rest of this is mostly spoilers. You should still read it, though, and read the book.
Saavedra and Sario are two Grijalvas (almost everyone important in the story is). They have grown up together, and they are both greatly talented at art. However, Sario is Gifted and Saavedra, nicknamed 'Vedra, is only gifted, or so she thinks. The Gift is a magical gift expressed through painting where, if the paint used is mixed with the Gifted painter's blood, sweat, tears, urine, and semen, it pretty much makes the painting a reality. The Grijalva boys who are Gifted are discovered by a ceremony called Confirmattio, where they basically go and have sex with four Grijalva girls, for four nights, because the Gifted are sterile. Meanwhile, Sario's fallen in love (if you can call it love) with Saavedra, though she declines his offer. She goes off instead to become the mistress of the ducal heir, the dashing Alejandro. Sario is angry even as he plots to become Lord Limber, an important post which is basically "Chief Painter" for talented people that a Grijalva has never occupied, even though the least skilled among them are a heck of a lot better than the Serranos. Anyway, so Saavedra is Alejandro's official mistress even after he inherits, and Sario is still seething. He is commisioned by Alejandro to paint her, and while he paints her tells her she is Gifted. She's like, "heck no I'm pregnant so I can't be Gifted cause if I was I'd be barren" and Sario is all like, "HECK YES YOU ARE SMOOCHES AND RUNS AWAY" then goes and paints her into this portrait. Alejandro's all "ANGSTANGST I MISS SAAVEDRA".
Then Sario strikes this deal with Alejandro, that the ducal mistress will always be a Grijalva. After which, he paints himself into the body of this really nice young boy, Ignaddio, who was sort of championed by Saavedra, and lives his life. About 200 years pass, with Sario continually repainting himself into people's bodies.
So then comes Mechella, this feather-brained though very sweet and kind girl who's betrothed to the current ducal heir. The current ducal heir, whose name I cannot remember and thus will call dukette, is all like "rah she's blonde and from another country and I don't want to give up Tazia my bitchy mistress" and Tazia's all like whatever. Then dukette goes and meets Mechella and he's all like "WEE I THINIK I'LL LOVE HER AFTER ALL". So they've gotten married, and she has a very difficult pregnancy, but has her kid. However, Dukette is angry because Mechella refuses to acknowledge the existence of Tazia. It's not completely his fault though; his mother and his father's former mistress are actually good friends, and he doesn't understand why Mechella can't do the same as Gizella and Lissina. So then there's a big issue up north (earthquake) and Mechella goes to help them all. Everybody in Tire Virte absolutely loves her, which makes Dukette slightly awkward. He starts going to meet with Tazia and more often, even as he still loves Mechella and she travels around. She has another kid, and then buys this big palace called Corasson, which she wants Dukette to come live with her in. He tries to go there with Tazia, and she gets absolutely furious with him, and refuses to let him come onto the property after that. So then he has re-mistressed Tazia and everyone- his sister, his mother, Mechella, the people of Tira Virte- is angry at him. So Mechella is really sad, and then she has an affair with this guy named Cabral, who is a Grijalva and is in love with her. So then she dresses herself up really beautifully and goes to this ball and gets Dukette to get in this room with her. And this scene is absolutely wonderful, because it's like:
Mechella: *taking pins out of her hair* Guess what, Dukie?
Dukie: What?
Mechella: I'm pregnant with another guy's baby.
Dukie:!!
Mechella: And you know what's cool?
Dukie: ...o.o
Mechella: You have to treat him as your son, because there is no way you can claim that it wasn't concieved right here.
Dukie: HOLY CRAP!! NO!! WHO WAS IT!! WHO WAS IT!! *starts shaking her*
Mechella: *laughter* And that's the best thing. You will never know. You can never see my household, wondering which one was it, which one is really this child's father..
Dukie: NUUU
Both: *go back into ballroom*
Everyone: Ho ho ho, Dukie!!
Tazia: *comes in and sees Mechella looking like she had sex* !!!!!
So then everyone abandons Dukie, and it's great because he's really a bastard at this point.
Meanwhile Sario has apprentinced Tazia's son, Rohario, who is from when Tazia aided in a Confirmattio. Rohario is handsome and Gifted, and he's the perfect body for Sario. Sario is currently named Dionisio. So Rohario loves his mother, and is really angry about what Mechella has done to her. So he plants to burn down Corasson, after drawing it with sweat and blood in the pencils. The problem is, you burn down a painting with all those ingredients and it burns you too. So Dionisio/Sario goes to stop him, and take his body. There's a fight thingy, and they switch bodies. Then Rohario/Sario kills Dionisio/Rohario. However Tazia sees him, and tries to help him by dragging the body away. But they get caught,so Sario has to flee and find himself a new body uberfast.
In the third part, you meet Sario, who's in the body of another dude named Sario, walking down the gallery to talk to Saavedra (in the 2nd and 3rd parts, he starts out and finds his vessels in the gallery) because she can talk to him, really, from the portrait. Now I should describe the painting. It has Saavedra in a room, with a mirror by a locked door. A table is in the foreground, with a large book on it. Saavedra is alive in the portrait. She moves around, though time passes differently. Over about 300 years, it has been two days for her. Looking at the mirror, she can see the outside world, and kind of talk to people, though they often don't realize it.
So then Sario finds this perfect vessel. Talented, with an original and beautiful style. The problem? It's a girl. Eleyna Grijalva, young widow and painter. She was engaged unwilling to this old guy, and was painted into submission. She gets out of being the ducal mistress when her sister Beatriz just kind of jumps in, and she decides to just paint.
She and the other ducal son, Rohario run off together and start working in an inn.
This pisses Sario off, because he thinks it's a waste of talent. He alerts the Grijalvas, and they run back and grab her. At this time, Rohario's getting involved with a bunch of people who basically want a parliament of sort, called the Corteis. But Sario takes Eleyna as an apprentice. She, meanwhile, finds a way to keep in contact with her weak but Gifted brother Augustine, by painting letters to each other (painting a picture where she is, then painting a letter to there). She sees Sario talking to Saavedra's portrait. She just thinks he's a crazy dude, but then she sees an old description of Saavedra's portrait and realizes, "oh my god" moment, that Saavedra is moving in her picture. So she talks to Augustine through a painting, and Sario bursts out of a closet and burns it. He's all like, "YOU BETRAYED ME, THEY TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO THIS BUT NOT ME," and she's all like, 'YOU BASTARD THAT WAS MY BROTHER, WE FIGURED IT OUT TOGETHER!! YOU'VE PROBABLY KILLED HIM!' and he's all like, "yeah, probably" and locks her in a room. But Beatriz, her sister, gets some of the Ecclestasia nuns to help her get Eleyna out. So then they go and talk to the limners, and tell them about Saavedra's portrait. Now, Eleyna was copying the portrait, so they replace the real portrait with her copy, and then paint Saavedra out. She's all like, heck yes that's good, let's get Sario.
So she sends Eleyna with a note to Sario, and he's all like, "HOLY CRAP, SAAVEDRA!!" and goes, and they trap him, paint him into the portrait instead, and they're all happy ever after and the son of Saavedra and Alejandro becomes duke. Then you have the painting gallery descriptions, and they mention the portrait of Sario. They talk about it (this is after they've forgotten the story) and discuss what it means- because Sario is looking into the mirror. While his face is that of the Sario in Eleyna's time, his face is his original in the mirror.
So that's my summary of The Golden Key, known in the language of Tira Virte as Chieva do' Orro!!
Anyway, I know I haven't updating in forever. I just have been trying to avoid the computer, for the most part, because then I end up staying on it all night and I'm cranky in the morning XD. And I don't like being cranky (or more cranky than usual) in the morning. Hey, if your bus came at 6:30, you'd be cranky too.
All right, I just want to talk about some books I've read recently.
First on my list is an excellent work of literature called The Golden Key. It's a collab by three authors whose names have run away all willy-nilly. It takes place in a fictional world, in a city called Tire Virte (I think, I'm not sure) which is kind of a pseudo-Rennasiance-Italian city. There are three families that the story centers on; the Grijalvas, the Serranos, and the ducal family whose name has also slipped away like sentient bunny slippers. Hmm... bunny slippers...
Anyway, it begins with a kind of painting gallery, with the names and descriptions of a couple portraits that serve as backup information. These provide you with two important points- far in the past, an enemy desert tribe called the Tza'ab captured several women of Tira Virte and raped them, two Grijalvas and an unimportant number of Serranos and other people who don't matter. Only the two Grijalvas did not suicide, thus leaving in the Tza'ab blood and disgracing their family to the Ecclestasia(the church), the dukalie people, the Serranos, and people in general. Another painting depicts a battle where a Grijalva man takes a fatal wound for the duke of many ages past, thus securing the Grijalvas' roles as servants, a role that is battled over throughout the tale.
There are three sections to the story; ones that I title as being Saavedra and Sario, Mechella, and Eleyna. Saavedra's and Sario's little section sets the scene for the story. The rest of this is mostly spoilers. You should still read it, though, and read the book.
Saavedra and Sario are two Grijalvas (almost everyone important in the story is). They have grown up together, and they are both greatly talented at art. However, Sario is Gifted and Saavedra, nicknamed 'Vedra, is only gifted, or so she thinks. The Gift is a magical gift expressed through painting where, if the paint used is mixed with the Gifted painter's blood, sweat, tears, urine, and semen, it pretty much makes the painting a reality. The Grijalva boys who are Gifted are discovered by a ceremony called Confirmattio, where they basically go and have sex with four Grijalva girls, for four nights, because the Gifted are sterile. Meanwhile, Sario's fallen in love (if you can call it love) with Saavedra, though she declines his offer. She goes off instead to become the mistress of the ducal heir, the dashing Alejandro. Sario is angry even as he plots to become Lord Limber, an important post which is basically "Chief Painter" for talented people that a Grijalva has never occupied, even though the least skilled among them are a heck of a lot better than the Serranos. Anyway, so Saavedra is Alejandro's official mistress even after he inherits, and Sario is still seething. He is commisioned by Alejandro to paint her, and while he paints her tells her she is Gifted. She's like, "heck no I'm pregnant so I can't be Gifted cause if I was I'd be barren" and Sario is all like, "HECK YES YOU ARE SMOOCHES AND RUNS AWAY" then goes and paints her into this portrait. Alejandro's all "ANGSTANGST I MISS SAAVEDRA".
Then Sario strikes this deal with Alejandro, that the ducal mistress will always be a Grijalva. After which, he paints himself into the body of this really nice young boy, Ignaddio, who was sort of championed by Saavedra, and lives his life. About 200 years pass, with Sario continually repainting himself into people's bodies.
So then comes Mechella, this feather-brained though very sweet and kind girl who's betrothed to the current ducal heir. The current ducal heir, whose name I cannot remember and thus will call dukette, is all like "rah she's blonde and from another country and I don't want to give up Tazia my bitchy mistress" and Tazia's all like whatever. Then dukette goes and meets Mechella and he's all like "WEE I THINIK I'LL LOVE HER AFTER ALL". So they've gotten married, and she has a very difficult pregnancy, but has her kid. However, Dukette is angry because Mechella refuses to acknowledge the existence of Tazia. It's not completely his fault though; his mother and his father's former mistress are actually good friends, and he doesn't understand why Mechella can't do the same as Gizella and Lissina. So then there's a big issue up north (earthquake) and Mechella goes to help them all. Everybody in Tire Virte absolutely loves her, which makes Dukette slightly awkward. He starts going to meet with Tazia and more often, even as he still loves Mechella and she travels around. She has another kid, and then buys this big palace called Corasson, which she wants Dukette to come live with her in. He tries to go there with Tazia, and she gets absolutely furious with him, and refuses to let him come onto the property after that. So then he has re-mistressed Tazia and everyone- his sister, his mother, Mechella, the people of Tira Virte- is angry at him. So Mechella is really sad, and then she has an affair with this guy named Cabral, who is a Grijalva and is in love with her. So then she dresses herself up really beautifully and goes to this ball and gets Dukette to get in this room with her. And this scene is absolutely wonderful, because it's like:
Mechella: *taking pins out of her hair* Guess what, Dukie?
Dukie: What?
Mechella: I'm pregnant with another guy's baby.
Dukie:!!
Mechella: And you know what's cool?
Dukie: ...o.o
Mechella: You have to treat him as your son, because there is no way you can claim that it wasn't concieved right here.
Dukie: HOLY CRAP!! NO!! WHO WAS IT!! WHO WAS IT!! *starts shaking her*
Mechella: *laughter* And that's the best thing. You will never know. You can never see my household, wondering which one was it, which one is really this child's father..
Dukie: NUUU
Both: *go back into ballroom*
Everyone: Ho ho ho, Dukie!!
Tazia: *comes in and sees Mechella looking like she had sex* !!!!!
So then everyone abandons Dukie, and it's great because he's really a bastard at this point.
Meanwhile Sario has apprentinced Tazia's son, Rohario, who is from when Tazia aided in a Confirmattio. Rohario is handsome and Gifted, and he's the perfect body for Sario. Sario is currently named Dionisio. So Rohario loves his mother, and is really angry about what Mechella has done to her. So he plants to burn down Corasson, after drawing it with sweat and blood in the pencils. The problem is, you burn down a painting with all those ingredients and it burns you too. So Dionisio/Sario goes to stop him, and take his body. There's a fight thingy, and they switch bodies. Then Rohario/Sario kills Dionisio/Rohario. However Tazia sees him, and tries to help him by dragging the body away. But they get caught,so Sario has to flee and find himself a new body uberfast.
In the third part, you meet Sario, who's in the body of another dude named Sario, walking down the gallery to talk to Saavedra (in the 2nd and 3rd parts, he starts out and finds his vessels in the gallery) because she can talk to him, really, from the portrait. Now I should describe the painting. It has Saavedra in a room, with a mirror by a locked door. A table is in the foreground, with a large book on it. Saavedra is alive in the portrait. She moves around, though time passes differently. Over about 300 years, it has been two days for her. Looking at the mirror, she can see the outside world, and kind of talk to people, though they often don't realize it.
So then Sario finds this perfect vessel. Talented, with an original and beautiful style. The problem? It's a girl. Eleyna Grijalva, young widow and painter. She was engaged unwilling to this old guy, and was painted into submission. She gets out of being the ducal mistress when her sister Beatriz just kind of jumps in, and she decides to just paint.
She and the other ducal son, Rohario run off together and start working in an inn.
This pisses Sario off, because he thinks it's a waste of talent. He alerts the Grijalvas, and they run back and grab her. At this time, Rohario's getting involved with a bunch of people who basically want a parliament of sort, called the Corteis. But Sario takes Eleyna as an apprentice. She, meanwhile, finds a way to keep in contact with her weak but Gifted brother Augustine, by painting letters to each other (painting a picture where she is, then painting a letter to there). She sees Sario talking to Saavedra's portrait. She just thinks he's a crazy dude, but then she sees an old description of Saavedra's portrait and realizes, "oh my god" moment, that Saavedra is moving in her picture. So she talks to Augustine through a painting, and Sario bursts out of a closet and burns it. He's all like, "YOU BETRAYED ME, THEY TOLD YOU YOU COULD DO THIS BUT NOT ME," and she's all like, 'YOU BASTARD THAT WAS MY BROTHER, WE FIGURED IT OUT TOGETHER!! YOU'VE PROBABLY KILLED HIM!' and he's all like, "yeah, probably" and locks her in a room. But Beatriz, her sister, gets some of the Ecclestasia nuns to help her get Eleyna out. So then they go and talk to the limners, and tell them about Saavedra's portrait. Now, Eleyna was copying the portrait, so they replace the real portrait with her copy, and then paint Saavedra out. She's all like, heck yes that's good, let's get Sario.
So she sends Eleyna with a note to Sario, and he's all like, "HOLY CRAP, SAAVEDRA!!" and goes, and they trap him, paint him into the portrait instead, and they're all happy ever after and the son of Saavedra and Alejandro becomes duke. Then you have the painting gallery descriptions, and they mention the portrait of Sario. They talk about it (this is after they've forgotten the story) and discuss what it means- because Sario is looking into the mirror. While his face is that of the Sario in Eleyna's time, his face is his original in the mirror.
So that's my summary of The Golden Key, known in the language of Tira Virte as Chieva do' Orro!!