Obsidian Sea - Bibliography

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Obsidian Sea
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Obsidian Sea - Bibliography

Postby Obsidian Sea » Tue Jul 05, 2016 12:09 pm

The stories of Aryen Caladras and Tristan Thalavar were written side-by-side in early 2014, earning small edits as I went along. Like the character that preceded them - the first character that I made for NWN RP - they were literary and artistic projects as much as they were a way to pass the time and enjoy the community in an interactive way. On the previous forum that we used for TER I had written up a bit of a preface/bibliography thing for Aryen Caladras' biography posts, for which this is essentially a replacement and expansion. Having written the stories of these two characters simultaneously, I find that they share many of the same prevailing themes and ideas.

I will add to this as I go on, more than likely. As mentioned, I did not take with me the bibliography I had already composed for the old forum, and I'm on a new laptop now, so there's likely a few references omitted here. My university has trained me well, however, and my conscience dictates that I should add the other inspirations when I can.


Aryen Caladras - Toward Impiltur

This series pays a lot of service to Romantic literary ideas and poetry, which was the only literary period I looked to for it. I thought it was really suitable for providing a credible and insightful way of allow other players to access Aryen Caladras' mental and emotional state. There was very little expressiveness on his part when he first arrived in Impiltur, and it has been relatively recently that he's become a visibly three-dimensional and nuanced character, despite that having always been very privately the case. This series was an early means of demonstrating the fact that there was more to him than the classic anti-social Ranger archetype on which he is modeled.

Literature

Lord Byron - Manfred
Emily Brontë - Remembrance
Felicia Dorothea Hemans - Nature's Farewell
Charlotte Smith - Sonnet IV To the Moon
Charlotte Smith - Sonnet XXII To Solitude
Charlotte Smith - Sonnet XXIII To the North Star
Charlotte Smith - Sonnet XXXII To Melancholy

Music

Sara Bareilles - December
Kate Bush - Wild Man
Sam Tsui & Kina Grannis - Bring Me The Night

Aryen Caladras - The Drawing Down

My attempt at a Bildungsroman, which carried across some of the Romantic ideas of the first biography series, but which deals with a more familiar and classic narrative style whilst establishing its own themes and perspectives.

Literature

Mary Shelley - Frankenstein
Anne Brontë - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Charlotte Brontë - Jane Eyre
Edith Wharton - Ethan Frome
Felicia Dorothea Hemans - Nature's Farewell
Percy Shelley - Mont Blanc

Music

Sara Bareilles - December
Sara Bareilles - Satellite Call
Rogue Valley - The Wolves and the Ravens
Marina & The Diamonds - Buy The Stars
Rachael MacFarlane - I'm Glad There Is You

Tristan Thalavar - Inheritance

Tristan Thalavar's story is in many ways the one that I am most proud of. Born out of my love for the Fin de Siècle period of literature, it touches on a lot of my favourite themes. Highly concerned with ideas of art; identity & inheritance; pride; power; and degeneration, it inverts the cited list of Aryen Caladras' stories to something darker and more Gothic, going towards the opposite end of the Victorian period.

In each chapter of this series, a quote was included from a Marina & The Diamonds song. The quote needn't be literally applied to the chapter which accredits it, but they share a relationship that is, if nothing else, artistic. Originally, 'Tristan Thalavar - Inheritance' was potentially going to work exclusively from Marina & The Diamonds' sophomore album, Electra Heart, but due to the themes that were later added into the series and the relevance of a lot of her work to my personal interests, I decided that rather than scrap the idea entirely, I would just expand it outwards to all of her published work.

Literature

Robert Louis Stevenson - The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Bram Stoker - Dracula
Mary Elizabeth Braddon - Lady Audley's Secret
Oscar Wilde - The Picture of Dorian Gray
F. Scott Fitzgerald - Tender Is The Night
Isak Dinesen (Karen Blixen)- Seven Gothic Tales
Elaine Showalter - Sexual Anarchy: Gender and Culture at the Fin de Siècle

Music

Marina & The Diamonds, Electra Heart
Marina & The Diamonds, The Family Jewels
Marina & The Diamonds, Froot
Caro Emerald - Paris
Regina Spektor - All The Rowboats
Kate Bush - Coffee Homeground
Rachael MacFarlane - Out Of This World
Lena Horne, Lennie Hayton & His Orchestra - Get Out Of Town



The intention remains to add more as and when I get my hands/memory on the remainder of the sources. I will also go through the chapters of 'Tristan Thalavar - Inheritance' and cite the song that was quoted for each one. A final thing that I must do is thank everybody who has been supportive in their own ways about these series. They were a pleasure to write, and are always a pleasure to discuss with others. Thanks for indulging me!
Heomar Bloodstone

Previous Characters
Aryen Caladras
Tristan Thalavar
Nathaniel Askovar
Elizabeth van der Lowe

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Obsidian Sea
Posts: 699
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 3:09 pm
Location: London, UK

Re: Obsidian Sea - Bibliography

Postby Obsidian Sea » Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:48 am

Tristan Thalavar - Inheritance

This is the list of songs quoted for use in 'Tristan Thalavar- Inheritance'. Again, the song which has been attached to each post has been informative to a tone or impetus which was used for the chapter to which it corresponds, but is not necessarily literal or helpful as a summary of the complete content of any of the chapters.

Prologue - Marina & The Diamonds, Numb
Chapter I - Marina & The Diamonds, Hypocrates
Chapter II - Marina & The Diamonds, Froot
Chapter III - Marina & The Diamonds, Forget
Chapter IV - Marina & The Diamonds, Solitaire
Chapter V - Marina & The Diamonds, Teen Idle
Chapter VI - Marina & The Diamonds, Immortal
Chapter VII - Marina & The Diamonds, Are You Satisfied?
Chapter VIII - Marina & The Diamonds, Primadonna
Chapter IX - Marina & The Diamonds, Power & Control
Chapter X - Marina & The Diamonds, Better Than That
Chapter XI - Marina & The Diamonds, Homewrecker
Heomar Bloodstone

Previous Characters
Aryen Caladras
Tristan Thalavar
Nathaniel Askovar
Elizabeth van der Lowe


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