TKAM Photo Analysis

Florence, Alabama (Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)). Gordon Williams, electrician at Wilson Dam, lives in this demountable prefabricated defense house at Florence, Alabama

• Digital ID: (digital file from intermediary roll film) fsa 8d05922 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/fsa.8d05922
• Reproduction Number: LC-USW3-004496-D (b&w film neg.)
• Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.print

Describe what you see: Three white teenage/youngadult people, two male, one female, sit outside in lawnchairs under a large tree that seems to be a type of oak, most likely red oak due to the pointed shape of the leaves that I can see in the picture.  The male on the left is holding open what I think may be a book. He has short dark hair, a white shirt (possibly a polo), and dress pants and white dress shoes. The lady has dark hair done in (pin?)curls, a black dress that shows no pattern or design, and some sort of heeled, dark colored dress shoe. Her legs are crossed like the young man next to her on the right. The young man on the right has his hair parted to the left, and is wearing a dress shirt and a tie. Though the gentleman of the left seems to be wearing a simple teeshirt, the formal wear of the other two made me believe that it was a polo of sorts and it's detail wasn't noticable because of the lack of contrast in that section of the picture. The pathway in the yard they are in seems to be made out of stone blocks, and has grass growing between them. the house behind them has paneled windows as well as a white picket fence.

Things I wondered about: Who are these people? What are their relationships with one another? Are they alive now? If they are, how do thier relationships now differ from when this picture was taken? Speaking of when this picture was taken, what was the ocasion that lead to this pictures existance? What do they in the present (given that they are alive) remember about the day this picture was taken, if they remember about it at all? What are some things they regret they did when they were the age they were in this picture? Would the people in this picture be happy about how they are now and the choices they made? ( a revision of this question would be, would your younger self be proud of your present day self?)

A Discovery of Witches 11-19-14 Pages 166-364

Plot and Relationships and Science Oh My!
*and also sex but it wasn't that importent*

     Remember in the last post I wrote when Mathew, Marcus (who turns out to be his son, by vampire lineage) and Miriam are explaining thier research to Diana? Well shortly after that she let them take her blood for testing as well because she was interested. Later when the test(s) run through, it turns out that she has aptitude for every power witches are known to have, and some that weren't able to be identified, which is absolutely fascinating. So far she's shown to have witchwind/water, some sort of sight she gets from objects that shows her snippets of thier history, and floating, as well as the electric sparks that cause fires and wreak havok when she gets upset or angry (but that's been going on since her parents died when she was seven so that really isn't anything new.)


     So an update on what's happened with Ashmole 782! Diana called it back a while ago in the book, but it wouldn't show up. The human at the desk who she's friends with explained that it's been lost for hundreds of years even though she had just ordered it up one, one-and-a-half, or two weeks ago. There is also another thing called the Congregation that is an order of three witches, three vampires, and three daemons, who keep the rules of *none shall associate romantically or too often outside of thier own species* which is causing a problem for Mathew and Diana for obvious reasons. Not only now do they have to worry about the nine old fashioned jerks, but they also have to worry about witches trying to figure out how to get Diana to open the book again.

     So a while after she gets a threat from one of the witches in Oxford names Gillian about how Witches aren't supposed to keep secrets from other witches,  she gets an anonymus letter (most likely from another witch) only with the word "remember" on it, and the picture of her parents that was taken at the crime scene when they were murdered in Nigeria, most likely for doing the same thing. Mathew, being the one who's protecting her (he's not even being over-protective because of instincts she is in actual varying levels of danger pretty much 24-7) was the one who walked her to her apartment in Oxford. When she lets out some sort of noise of distress he hears her and rushes to her aid. (A literal knight in shining armor too since he's been one before.) She continues to have a panic attack (understandable) and he helps calm her down eventually and sort of stands guard until Marcus brings him his passport so he can take her to his home in France where his mother is. It was all a very cuddly comfort filled scene and it was extremely adorable.

     Now here's the thing about Mathew's mother Ysabeau, she's got a killer reputation among witches. Quite literally. It's understandable too, since it was really just rage-fueled revenge for witches killing her husband during WW2. She still really isn't fond of them, and was definitely not fond of her favorite son bringing one home. Sarah (Diana's Aunt) and Em/Emily(Sarah's Wife, though I'm not sure if they're actually married or not,) weren't fond of the situation but agree'd with Mathew on the basis of witches not going to dare to mess with her there.

     In the time span of about a week where she is there she and Mathew learn a lot about each other, and grow more romantically involved. They are then threatened/warned aggressively by the Congregation about their forbidden relationship. Soon after someone breaks into the lab, looking for Diana's test results. They don't get far, and they wouldn't have found them if they had because Mathew took them with him to France to show to her when the right time came, but he then has to leave to check up on Marcus and Miriam to make sure of the details and check with things.

Diana then gets extremely upset and discovers the powers of witchwater. By crying. Through everywhere and nearly making an ocean and drowning herself. Fun. Ysabeau sings and calms her down eventually (Like mother like son, eh?), but do not tell Mathew of what happened when he calls so he doesn't worry. Marthe, the 60 something looking Vampire who knew Ysabeau before either of them were turned and is the only other part of the family and household  distracts Diana by teacheing her how to do things like identify herbs and make her special blend of tea with said herbs.
Then Diana sort of snoops around and finds out things about Mathew but it's a lot so I won't really go into any of it until it's evidently effecting the plot later.

When Mathew comes back he fully accepts her affection of love for him and returns it in a rather long passionet kissing scene barely after he gets out of the car. Then, due to the pack-type nature of vampires, it is explained that they are technically seen as married.
'"I'm not a child Diana, and my mother needn't protect me rom my own wife."He kept turning his glass this way and that. The word "wife" echoed in the room for a few moments."
"..."When were we married?"
Mthew's eyes lifted. "The moment I came home and said I loved you. It woulnd't stand up in court perhaps, but as far as vampires are concerned, we're wed."
"..."Vampires mate the way lions do, or wolves," he explained, sounding like a scientist in a television documentery."The femal selects her mate, and once the male has agreed, that it. They're mated for life, and the rest of the comunity acknowlages thier bond."

Like I was going to miss the oportunity to use this.

Then eventually they sort of have sex while discussing the mideval history of bundling, where a couple gets to know eachother physically but not intimately and just sort of talk, and then fall asleep. Just as an FYI, when vampires sleep, they sleep like the dead, referring to a scene on the beginning of the book where they're talking about how every human myth about their race has some sort of truth in it, like the sleeping like the dead thing translating to vampires actually being a form of dead, and thier strong sense of smells being the reason they hate garlic translating to vampires being repelled by it. Since Mathew and probably Ysabeau are sleeping (IDK about Marthe) , no one smells magic when she foolishly goes outside alone into the garden and ends up getting kidnapped. 

Chapter 28 was one hell of a rollercoaster.

*Passion Project Update*

     This probably means that it's being read and reviewed by the long line of people it needs to be seen by in order for it to get published! It's taken a while but I am very pleased!

11-19-14 Edit
     Today so far I have submitted one short story to Canvas Litterary Magazine, and I have heard absolutley nothing from them, which is dissapointing because I sumbitted what I thing is my best one so far, and I don't want to submit it to Cicada as well only to have CLJ repy and accept it.
     You can see on my pictures, I've submitted three sort stories and one of my slam poems to Cicada, but since it's a bit of a longer process to get everything read and reviewed, I have gotten no further informaton as of today. I will update you guys when I do. 

A Dicsovery of Witches 11-13-14 pages 96-166

1- Analyze the impact word choice has on the meaning or tone of a text.

2- Analyze how dialogue or specific incidents reveal information about characters. Make sure to include textual evidence.









Things are getting interesting. Things are getting extremely interesting. Mathew is also a bit less creepy than how I felt in the last blog but if anything I think it's just because of how his relationship with Diana is evolving. It's kind of cute.


Also so much world development. SO MUCH. As someone who writes stories where world building is needed because of how different it is from life now, I love to see how other writers do it.






Okay so Mathew is a scientist working with other creatures in a lab trying to find out Daemons,Vampires, and Witches are evolving by looking at Mitochondria and DNA. They can see entire family lines, and how they've adapted. The quote and explanation is a little bit lengthy, so to save space and time here's a link to a pdf file. Scroll down to page 77 and read The sixth line down where it says "These are DNA sequences...." to page 78. Stop at the end of paragraph 15 where it ends in "....Marcus insisted."



This entire occurrence in the book explains the genetics of the creatures and what makes them all different. It also reveals earlier that vampires are having trouble reproducing, which may be caused by some deformations made by immunizations to things like diseases. This sets a whole problem other than what could be in the Ashmole 782. The amount of research Deborah Harkness had to put into this series is ridiculous and amazing. It doesn't reveal things about specific characters as much as it does species' that the character's belong to, but this would be for 2.


The way the character's Diana and Mathew talk to one another really doesn't set the tone as much as their body language does. When a conversation goes from casual to more serious or downright worrying or frightening, it is normally conveyed through Mathew's sudden (slightly preditorial, being a vampire) actions.

"Mathew shot to his feet, his face white and furious. His napkin fell, unnoticed, to the floor. A vein in his forehead pulsed once before subsiding.

I had said something wrong."

They do talk like the adult scholars that they are, and though it isn't difficult to understand, it's a lot more sophisticated than say, diolague of two teenagers from a different book talking to one another.

"Mathew," I said slowly, watching him for any early warning signs of anger. "How old are you?"

His mouth hardened, but he kept his voice light. "I'm older than I look."

"I know that," I said, unable to curb my impatience.

"Why is my age importent?"

"I'm a historian. If somebody tells me he remembers when chocolate was introduced into France or a comet passing overhead in 1811, it's difficult not to be curious about the other events he might have lived through. You were alive in 1536—I've been to the house you had built. Did you know Machiavelli? Live through the Black Death? Attend the University of Paris when Abelard was teaching there?"

He remained silent. The hair on the back of my neck started to prickle.

"Your pilgrim's badge tells me you were once in Holy Land. Did you go on crusade? See Haley's comet pass over Normandy in 1066?"

Still nothing.

"Watch Charlemagne's coronation? Survive the fall of Carthage? Help Attila from reaching Rome?"

Mathew held up his right index finger. "Which fall of Carthage?"

"You tell me!"

They have a very entertaining relationship. I still don't exactly like Mathew, but I don't hate him either. He's... interesting. I would miss him as a character if something happened tough because then Diana would lack someone to bounce witty banter off of. He's definitely a main character.

*Late Blog* First Quarter Reflection Blog 11-12-14

     So I haven't gotten through many books this quarter blog wise. The only one I blogged all the way through was The Maze Runner, since TIOM:..etc. was dry as California, and Unfamiliar Fishes was rather difficult to do since it lacked both plot and characters.
     However, plotful books you guys should be seeing soon go as follows! Shadow Of Night (All Souls Trillogy 2) -Discovery of Witches is the first-, The Book of Life (All Souls Trillogy 3), and The Shadow Throne (Acendance Trilogy 3)
     I'm not sure if I'm going to continue the Maze Runner series, but I'm not sure. 8th grade is like the year of the trilogies for me.

     I didn't really write in a different way than I normally do, so there really isn't anything notable for me to write about there. Looking back to now at the end of the year will probably show more of a change the way looking back to the beginning of the year 7th grade did. I wonder what seventh grade me would think about the blogs we've done. She'd probably think I'm weird. (Not like I don't agree.<3)

A Discovery of Witches 11-7-14 pages 13-96

     
Okay so the first thing I'd like to clear up is that Diana is a historian, not a scientist. I got that mixed up in the first chapter. She's studying the history of science and starting with Alchemy and how it's science with magic and sort of it's origin. 
      Also Vampires are fricken creepy. 7/10 would not recommend.

      So remember when at the end of the last post I quoted the inside flappy thing and said that the Ashmole782 was going to cause ? "...a fantastical underworld stirring."? Well it started. When Diana first examined the book she found layers of hidden script under the seen ink, seemingly hidden with magic. According to a daemon who approached her while she was having lunch, the book is told to explain the origins of Witches, Vampires, Daemons, and Humans. Daemons are especially needy for this information because they don't have bloodlines like the other three do normally. (Witches may have normal children) They are seemingly at random and are unfortunately born to humans. Genetics does not seem to be involved, though the Daemon during lunch said that her son was lucky and was born to her a daemon where she could see the signs and explain it to him because he was, by chance, like her. 
      It's all really super cool. 

      There is also a vampire of the name Mathew who has been stalking her since she unclicked the book of it's enchantments. He's the creepy one. He has been sort of protecting her from the swarm of magicals that have come to Oxford now but still it's super creepy. 

      Also apparently Diana glows with magic; as observed by sir-stalker-man. When she sleeps, (he was looking for the book in her apartment even though she would not have taken it from the library), when she studies/researches (he's been in the same/adjacent room as her as "protection") and when she's working off extra energy by running, doing yoga, and rowing a little canoe in the river for a few hours. 

      It really isn't that I don't like him and he isn't interesting it's that a lot of hi qualities so far in the book (note I really am not that far) are negative in my opinion. 

      But everyone has to have a character arch!