I have been revisiting the Dangerous content since the recent update and have come upon the Labyrinth of Tigers. Looking at the mysterious maze with new eyes, I was delighted to recognize people from our world who had previously gone unmentioned in Fallen London’s - but on researching, I lack confirmation.
So, like, I’m pretty sure that:
Walter the elderly and cantankerous rhinoceros - Sir Walter Scott
Mary the playful octopus - Mary Shelley
Jane the disgruntled lizard - Jane Austen
the hyenas Charlotte, Anne and Emily - The Bronte sisters
the romantic penguins Robert and Elizabeth - Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning
is there anyone or anything I’m missing? I’m assuming that these writers were actually turned into animals, but are there any storylets that confirm or deny this that I’m not aware of? I know that the Labyrinth has a strong connection to Parabola - on the fourth level you have people who are possessed by fingersnakes, I believe - and there’s a bunch of stuff with the Bishop of Southwark that I haven’t fully explored.
@NotaWalrus: In the 'Neath? bodies are fluid and malleable. I mean, I don’t think it’s any less likely than any of the other weird stuff that comes up re: shapechanging.
@imeja: haha, no worries. I just got out of college with an English Literature degree, there was no way I wasn’t going to recognize them.
Oh! That’s beautiful!
(My excuse for letting this thing pass way over my head: English is not my native language and not the native literature).
Wander how many more I missed. At least the "Educating Lyme - Ask him to write a story" reference I got. Really loved that one!
[quote=Marianne Anders]@NotaWalrus: In the 'Neath? bodies are fluid and malleable. I mean, I don’t think it’s any less likely than any of the other weird stuff that comes up re: shapechanging.
@imeja: haha, no worries. I just got out of college with an English Literature degree, there was no way I wasn’t going to recognize them.[/quote]
I was simply applying a bit of Occam’s razor, but yes, one never knows in the Neath, it’s certainly within the realm of the plausible, of course. edited by NotaWalrus on 10/8/2015
But most of these authors died before the Fall… long before the Fall, in case of Jane Austen and Walter Scott. I agree with NotaWalrus, these animals are probably just named after them.
Given the malleable quality of time within FL, it isn’t out of the question. Or perhaps they have been imported from a parallel universe where time is not quite the same as in the City.
This is really cool! I’m still exploring the labyrinth; just got in. I think Percy the leopard might be a reference to Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley’s husband. Is Thomas the crab a nod to Thomas Hardy?
Mary the Octopus might also be Mary Elizabeth Braddon. However, she’s less well-known than Mary Shelley, I think. edited by Sestina Valdis on 10/20/2015
Not that I’ve met the eight-armed Mary, but it is rather a common name. She might even be Mrs Shelley’s mother, the celebrated Mary Wollstonecraft. This would be even more likely if FL has any apparent nods towards William Godwin; of course there are anarchists and revolutionaries here, but they were a dime a dozen in the Victorian period as well.
And Thomas the Crab, I reckon, could be Tom Paine (we know FL are hip to him), which would make identifying Mary with Wollstonecraft even more witty (but I’m just speculating, I’m nowhere near ready to enter the Labyrinth, even if I knew where it was.:))