Thursday, February 1, 2018

Daemons Discuss - Podcast: Take 31! | Chapter Discussion about the All Souls Trilogy; Chapter 7 of Shadow of Night

A gloomy day in Seville, Spain

Take 31 - The One With the Creepers

Description: Creepers be a-creepin'! We examine the first anomaly that crops up in Shadow of Night. Who is Rima Jaén, and what has she done with the normal cast and crew?! Where is this place she works? How does this play in the big picture?! Our questions breed more questions, and in the end we walk away still scratching our heads a little, thoroughly disgusted with Daniel, perplexed (but thrilled) about our international community, eagerly anticipating the TV show, and royally pissed off at Jerry👻. Good times!😆

SPOILER ALERT! We (The Daemons) approach this podcast with an assumption that the listener has read The All Souls Trilogy, including A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life. If you haven't, and you don't mind, we certainly don't mind!  😊  Let's do this. *Note - this podcast is labeled 'explicit'

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1. Show notes:

For newcomers to the series:- We'll start with the basics: The books in discussion are A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night and The Book of Life.  Together they make The All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness.
- Our Daemon Guides to the All Souls Trilogy are available for download: ADOW, SON, TBOL

Deb's newsletter - The Blast; subscribe on her website
- If you'd like a ready-reference from the author herself, be sure to download the All Souls Real-Time Reading companion (free e-book at online booksellers via Penguin and Headline books).
- Deborah Harkness usually conducts a real-time reading on her Facebook Page (starting in September), and shares her posts across social media. Check out her website for all of her social media links, and of course all that she has to offer her readers! Be sure to sign up for her newsletter while you are there!
- To see what's available on the web as far as the All Souls universe fandom, check our links page.

In this episode:
* (1:02) - Discussers! Thanks Stephen (via voicemail), Patricia, Kit, NE Angela (via Discusser emails), and Melanie & Caroline (via our Facebook group! Details on joining will be at the end of the show notes).  Full Discusser emails can be read --> here

a. Chapter 7
* (9:00) - WHO IS THIS RIMA PERSON?! On first read we were all kind of wondering what the heck this was! We were knocked out of our comfort zone by being thrown in the present with people we don’t know.

* (10:48) - The shady stuff Jean mentioned:
There was no money to fix the problem, so the maintenance staff was hauling moldy cardboard boxes down the stairs to make sure that nothing of value was damaged in future storms. Everything else was discreetly gotten rid of in such a way that no potential donors could discover what was afoot.
* (11:15) - Valerie noted that the commonplace book blended with the book of the times because of Diana’s concern for blending her writing with what people wrote back then.

* (11:52) - The dump of an archive . . .
Rima had been stuck at her desk for weeks. Her boss had decided to clear out the storage rooms in the attic. Last winter the rain had made it through the ancient, cracked roof tiles on top of the decrepit house, and the forecast for the coming months was even worse.
* (12:26) - The first page was obscured.
[...]They typically included doodles and shopping lists as well as lyrics to bawdy songs and accounts of strange and important events. This one was no different, Rima thought. Sadly, someone had ripped out the first page. Once it had probably borne the owner’s name.
* (12:50) - Why didn’t they just burn this thing (Gallowglass, during clean-up)?! Jean says perhaps Galloglass was besotted and couldn’t bring himself to destroy this item. Gallowglass hid it in “Dad’s attic” - Fernando’s library. Angela said there’d be no anomaly chapter without it!

One of Erasmus Darwin's commonplace books (an example of a real-life British commonplace book) found at Erasmus Darwin House
* (14:39) - No one came to Spain for English commonplace books (therefore a good place to hide it).
[...]And so the book remained on her desk. In Seville such a book would always be unwanted and unimportant. Nobody came to Spain to look for English commonplace books. They went to the British Library, or the Folger Shakespeare Library in the United States.
* (15:06) - GERBERT! (Cue menacing music!)
There was that strange man who came by now and again to comb through the collections. He was French, and his appraising stare made Rima uncomfortable. Herbert Cantal—or maybe it was Gerbert Cantal. She couldn’t remember. He’d left a card on his last visit and had encouraged her to get in touch if anything interesting turned up. When Rima asked what, exactly, might qualify, the man had said he was interested in everything. It was not the most helpful of responses
* (15:42) - Javier Lopez - the theories. Angela took us through her early theory, that it may be Matthew’s son, because "Lopez" means son of wolf (Benjamin was Fuchs - German for fox), she abandoned that one though. We all thought, however he was well connected to the de Clermonts because of the opulence of his office (think about Matthew's office at the Lab in Oxford).
His expansive ground-floor office was paneled in fine mahogany and had the only working heaters in the building.
* (17:36) - Da Plane! Da Plane!

* (18:03) - More on "Jerry" later…👻

* (18:35) - We think that heater was a ruse to fool the humans (yes, we think Javier is a vampire. Then we had a little off-road trip into the ditch 😉).

* (20:05) - We discuss Rima's thoughts when she finds the rosemary and lavender tucked in the pages.  Jean says Rima reminds her of a Jane Austin character (looking for romance between the lines).
Rima flipped through the pages. There was a tiny sprig of lavender and a few crumbling rosemary leaves pressed between two of the pages. She hadn’t seen them before and picked them carefully from the crevice of the binding. For a moment there was a trace of scent in the faded bloom, forging a connection between herself and a person who had lived hundreds of years ago. Rima smiled wistfully, thinking about the woman she would never know.
* (21:02) - Angela: "Grimy Daniel." Valerie wonders about his purpose, and Jean says he’s “set dressing” to set the dank mood of the scene.
It was the third time this week he’d asked her out. Rima knew that he found her attractive. Her mother’s Berber ancestry appealed to some men—not surprising, since it had bestowed upon her soft curves, warm skin, and almond-shaped eyes. Daniel had been muttering salacious comments, brushing against her backside when she went to the mail room, and ogling her breasts for years.
* (22:40) - The de Clermont’s will touch Rima's life later on. We find her formula very similar to Phoebe's situation at the auction house in a later anomaly.

* (24:00) - We discuss Rima’s vibe around this commonplace book.
In four hundred years, would the only proof of her existence be a page from her calendar, a shopping list, and a scrap of paper with her grandmother’s recipe for alfajores on it, all placed in a file labeled “Anonymous, of no importance” and stored in an archive no one ever visited?
* (25:34) - We talk about the blank journal . . . Jean wonders if it’s from Hugh?
Like most commonplace books, it was mostly blank. Rima had seen one Spanish example owned by a Gonçalve heir sent to the University of Seville in 1628. It had been finely bound, ruled, and paginated with ornate numbers set in swirls of multicolored ink. There was not a single word in it. Even in the past, people never quite lived up to their aspirations.
* (26:19) - Lopez mutters under his breath about “feminists” — Angela’s theory is that maybe he knew of Diana’s personality and wasn’t specifically speaking of Rima.

* (26:56) - Jean thinks, *maybe* Javier was Jason?

* (27:55) - Gerbert had a network of spies, and initially it didn’t seem that Gerbert wouldn’t connect the library with the de Clermonts, but we wondered how much Gerbert knew about Fernando's connection (Fernando and Philippe did not see eye to eye - based on Fernando's version of the tale). So, would be a spot Gerbert could check? Wouldn't hurt. Just theories, folks, just theories!

* (29:57) - Jean introduces us to the possibility that perhaps Javier removed Gerbert's card . . . HMMMMM!

* (30:27) - Jean’s new mike! In case you guys are wondering, we are in the process of upgrading our recording equipment, and Valerie is very excited that Jean’s new microphone doesn’t pick up her random ambient noises (Jean is fidgety! Shhhhh! Don’t tell her we told you that!)

An example of a Hand of Fatima pendant; Image from this --> website
* (32:32) - The Hand of Fatima - Rima is of Berber ancestry, so a Hand of Fatima pendant is quite fitting to her background - but again we must reiterate, people of Muslim, Jewish, Christian, and modern neo-pagan faiths all embrace this talisman.

* (33:50) - Valerie never thought anything of this anomaly except that this was an example of a very (VERY) close call. Jean thinks this is a cautionary tale of “names are important”. Angela thought this commonplace book is an example of a ripple in a pond.

* (36:05) - We talk about our own journaling habits here.

* (38:14) - We end the chapter . . .
“Khamsa fi ainek,” she whispered, hoping her words would ward off any evil spirit she might have unwittingly called
* (40:10) Housekeeping: Thanks goes to Erik B., GStathelson (awesome review!), and Dylan!

This is the lapis necklace that Dylan was asking about in our housekeeping segment. Made by Teresa Palmer's friend for her role as Diana Bishop; see the post on IG ---> @tinker_shop_
* (43:57) Save It For the Show … Topic: Discussers emails! So, we received an email from a Discusser who was stressed because we only gave one day to reply (via email; the day prior we posted on the Facebook group). We apologize for asking for such a fast turnaround. Val didn't have a lot of time to send the email, as she was wrestling with editing two episodes recorded prior to the holiday break. There were some serious technical problems that needed overcoming so we could even have episodes to share (Murphy's, or more accurately Jerry's law was at work). We will try to do better, and we truly hope that all Discussers see this as fun and not a pop-quiz! Feel free to send an email anytime you have have thoughts to share. Even if it doesn't wind up being read during the Discusser portion, we almost always address our other emails in our housekeeping segments in future episodes. So hear us: no stress for Daemons, and no stress for Discussers from now on. Deal? Ok. 😌

* (50:13) Promo break – scroll down, or click here to get a hold of us and/or become a Discusser -- information on joining our Facebook group also located on that page.
Dammit, Jerry. 😑
* (51:25) - Last thoughts! Jean takes us through the new additions to our country roll-call: Vietnam, Columbia, Italy, Ukraine, Japan, and ... drum-roll ---- triple digits in TURKEY! Angela mentions that the that filming for the TV show is wrapping up soon (knowledge based on the Instagram post that Tanya Moodie tagged us in, and also a tweet from Greg McHugh). Valerie is majorly pissed at the ghost that plagued our last couple of episodes. YEAH, JERRY. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT YOU! Jerry was Angela's latest ... errr ... house guest.  She thinks Jerry has since moved on. Skeptics, feel free to think of this as a nice bed-time story!

* (1:00:53) RECORD SCRATCH! Outake! Val sings a 90’s country classic (a line-dancing favorite).
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  • NOTE: Please keep in mind that this group is only a supplement to our podcast. We recommend that you join only if you truly enjoy the podcast and want to discuss things further. Listening just to gain entry will be a waste of our time, and frankly yours! The screening process has been intensified to keep membership intimate, and to try to keep out folks who don’t have the best intentions for the group and its dynamic. It's an imperfect process, but we are determined to keep it a healthy place for speculation and more detailed discussion for all members, including us. When we opened the group, we decided to require listener-only membership because podcasting is a very personal medium. People who listen tend to know how we are and think. Those who like what we have to say (and don't find us too abrasive/foul-mouthed/opinionated 😈), will most likely enjoy the group to its fullest, and utilize it as a sounding board with other like-minded members who have the ability to peacefully discuss divergent or opposing ideas. We don't have time to worry about mal-intent, because it breeds drama and discourse. If we're not comfortable, then the rest of the members won't be comfortable. None of this is negotiable. It's simply how it is. This is why the Facebook group is not public and we don't advertise it on Deb's website, social media, or other venues.

Previous Episode
Take 30 - The One With the Non-Berserker
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Credits/Copyright Information 
* Intro music: "Ghost Dance" (edited down to second chorus) by Kevin Macleod, licensed for use by Creative Commons.
* News intro: by AwesomeMusicVideos21; provided for fair-use/royalty-free.
*  Outro music: Rimsky-Korsakov - "Scheherazade Symphonic Suite for Orchestra Op.35 - IV. Allegro molto," Public       

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* Cover art (+ all variations associated w/ it): © Daemons Domain 

* The term "unofficial" is explained in our disclaimer located in Terms of Use - item 14.
* The Daemons Discuss podcast is hosted and produced by the owners (Angela, Jean and Valerie) of Daemons Domain and can also be found by entering the url http://www.DaemonsDiscuss.com in your browser, (listed on the various podcast syndicates like iTunes, Stitcher, etc.) which will redirect you back to the parent site, Daemons Domain.
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* Our episode titles are a loving tribute to the show "Friends" just 'cause we love Friends and - let's face it - it's easier! Here's how one of the show creators explains their reasoning:
Jeff Greenstein: "When Marta & David & Jeff & I did 'Dream On', we used to spend a lot of time thinking about titles, because they were on-screen at the top of each episode. On "Friends", we decided that was a waste of time. We figured, why not name each episode after the thing that people will ostensibly be talking about around the water-cooler the next day?"
This was a Daemon Production

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