More 18th Century Thirst Traps Please

Noodle! Nagashi somen—a classic summer activity. The cold somen noodles get let loose in flowing water (usually through a bamboo flume), and you get to snatch them up for dipping in a cold sauce, with extra condiments like wasabi, perilla leaf, green onion, and ginger.

But I think JCR has the edge. He's got the expensive iPhone and the good lighting and he'll provide his own bearskin rug to lie on. But most importantly, JCR is comfortable with himself and doesn't mind being the centre of attention. He's used to being looked at and admired. He's also very used to keeping the spark going in a long distance relationship. I think if he sent nudes, they'd only be targeted at a very select few, but they'd be made with love.

THE NEXT TOURNAMENT SHALL BE

Yukon River

My cartoon for yesterday’s @Guardian books.

In the interest of accurate fanfiction writing, I wanted to get a feeling for appropriate language, so I sat down with Alexandre Dumas’ writing and did a bit of analysis.

A word about the “dieus” and “bleus” — “Dieu” is French for “God” and frequently used in a wide variety of curses and exclamations. To avoid blasphemy, the rhyming “bleu” (blue) is often substituted, with the term still carrying the same meaning (pardieu = parbleu), but not causing any religious offense. English translations are approximate.

All of these are only used once or twice, but might be good to add colour and variety. While every character frequently uses “Mon Dieu!”, they have distinct preferences regarding the other terms.

Before criticising Athos and d’Artagnan, keep in mind how much they speak in comparison to the other three presented here.

Finally, a list of exclamations and interjections that might come in handy from time to time.

James Fitzjames in every episode - 1x06 A Mercy