observe my insanity
Oct. 11th, 2004 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edenfallingWell, I did it. I signed up for NaNoWriMo. I'm convinced I'm insane, but at the least, it'll be an interesting ride.
Plus, hey, it's already induced me to read a book about biological and chemical warfare in ancient times. Yes, there was a lot more of it than you think, starting with simple poisoned arrows and culminating in things like Greek Fire or the really nasty trick the people of Tyre pulled on Alexander the Great when he besieged them -- they roasted grains of sand and bits of scrap metal until they were red hot, and then catapulted them in showers over the city walls. The sand and metal sank into the soldiers' skin, burning all the way, and fell down between their armor and their skin. Pretty diabolical. Then there were the people of Hatra, who in addition to using naphtha to cast liquid fire down at Roman legions, also flung scorpions and blood-sucking insects at the invaders. The Romans actually broke through the city walls, but gave up and left in the face of such... well, dirty war.
Fascinating stuff.
The book on the Victorian underworld is also interesting.
(Yes, my story isn't a very nice story. But then, a really nasty environment is so helpful when you need to torture your characters a bit! *evil grin, rubs hands together*)
Plus, hey, it's already induced me to read a book about biological and chemical warfare in ancient times. Yes, there was a lot more of it than you think, starting with simple poisoned arrows and culminating in things like Greek Fire or the really nasty trick the people of Tyre pulled on Alexander the Great when he besieged them -- they roasted grains of sand and bits of scrap metal until they were red hot, and then catapulted them in showers over the city walls. The sand and metal sank into the soldiers' skin, burning all the way, and fell down between their armor and their skin. Pretty diabolical. Then there were the people of Hatra, who in addition to using naphtha to cast liquid fire down at Roman legions, also flung scorpions and blood-sucking insects at the invaders. The Romans actually broke through the city walls, but gave up and left in the face of such... well, dirty war.
Fascinating stuff.
The book on the Victorian underworld is also interesting.
(Yes, my story isn't a very nice story. But then, a really nasty environment is so helpful when you need to torture your characters a bit! *evil grin, rubs hands together*)
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-11 10:36 pm (UTC)Chex Mix!!!!!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-11 10:45 pm (UTC)the above was solely meant in jest. Although it does remind me to write a post on those who really REALLY REALLY get red-hot-excited about the darkest of dark fic. and truth be told this did make me shiver.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-12 12:03 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-12 12:08 am (UTC)But it's not something I enjoy in the normal sense of enjoy. I can appreciate the craft and the fascinated horror evoked, or the reluctant identification with a sadist, but it's not anything to like, really.
It's an interesting book. A lot of it will make you want to pretend you never read it, because people have come up with far too many... well, evil ways to kill each other over the millennia. But it's a good thing to remind readers that no, war wasn't somehow more honorable back in the good old days. People have always resorted to any and every means to survive and win.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-12 12:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-12 12:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-12 01:15 am (UTC)