Asking for ideas

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dongregg
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Asking for ideas

Post by dongregg » Thu Jun 09, 2016 8:44 pm

Eli is about to experience Christmas in a family setting. What gifts do Eli and Oskar buy for each other? What will they buy for the grownups and vice-versa?

What grownups? Wuhl, it's early December, 1983. They are in Malmö. This is taking place in Book 2 of "Set Me as a Seal upon Your Heart." So it's Mr. Ávila, Professor Grigore, and Sassa.

Already in the works: a boom box. A cloth doll to replace the one still in the basement in Blackeberg (If it is. I'm not real clear on whether they took it or left it. Does anybody know?).

Suggestions for tapes of albums (mostly rock and roll; I don't think Eli likes punk-rock, does she?).

Any ideas for gifts the grownups will get each other? Hint -- Since this is all in Book 2, until the first part comes out, you won't know that Sassa and the professor are an item and crazy in love.

Nice that Book 2 is starting during December, just in time for Malmö's Saint Lucia celebrations, the Yule markets, and onward to opening presents on Christmas Eve.

:wub:
Last edited by dongregg on Fri Jun 10, 2016 2:48 am, edited 1 time in total.
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intrige
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by intrige » Thu Jun 09, 2016 11:37 pm

Eli is soppy and enjoys lovesongs and lovestories, that's for sure. So at least I think he would like that, or maybe something puzzle related.

As for Oskar maybe a book about criminology or something like that. Or a book about torture devices maybe? (Fun fact, the author of the addams family comic was fascinated with those kind of things, well duh)

Or they can buy each other camera stuff.

On the other characters that you made yourself (apart from avila but you basically just took his appearance and made him your own) you made them so you know what they like the most.

And it's spelled jul. Jule markets. Julemarkeder(in norwegian) I donno about swedish.
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dongregg
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by dongregg » Fri Jun 10, 2016 3:27 am

intrige wrote:Eli is soppy and enjoys lovesongs and lovestories, that's for sure. So at least I think he would like that, or maybe something puzzle related.

As for Oskar maybe a book about criminology or something like that. Or a book about torture devices maybe? (Fun fact, the author of the addams family comic was fascinated with those kind of things, well duh)

Or they can buy each other camera stuff.

On the other characters that you made yourself (apart from avila but you basically just took his appearance and made him your own) you made them so you know what they like the most.
Yeah, Yule in English.

Thanks, Eik! Great suggestions, especially the love songs and love stories for Eli. I hope they can find a copy of Agnetha Fältskog's Försonade on the 1968 album. That tape is almost certainly still in the basement in the cassette player. Speaking of that, I wrote a lot of lovey-dovey stuff in Part 5 just for you because you asked for it. And you'll go crazy over all the kissy and huggy stuff when I finally (a few months from now) submit Part 6.

:wub:
Last edited by dongregg on Fri Jun 10, 2016 10:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by metoo » Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:38 am

dongregg wrote:Suggestions for tapes of albums (mostly rock and roll; I don't think Eli likes punk-rock, does she?).
Well, novel Eli liked Vikingarna very much...

Movie Eli, though, seemed to like Per Gessle's music. In the early eighties Gessle was the front figure of the pop group Gyllene Tider (Golden Ages). Perhaps your Eli would like it, too?
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by dongregg » Fri Jun 10, 2016 5:57 pm

metoo wrote:Well, novel Eli liked Vikingarna very much...

Movie Eli, though, seemed to like Per Gessle's music. In the early eighties Gessle was the front figure of the pop group Gyllene Tider (Golden Ages). Perhaps your Eli would like it, too?
Great! I followed your URL and see that Gyllene Tider released three albums between1980-82 that were huge.

Great tip about Vikingarna, too. I'm using albums (and t-shirt images) from the novel as well as the film.

Eik's tip about Eli's taste in reading is good, but I don't know what books would have been available in late '70s/early '80s. Mushy stuff for young readers. Anybody?
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by metoo » Fri Jun 10, 2016 8:04 pm

metoo wrote:Eik's tip about Eli's taste in reading is good, but I don't know what books would have been available in late '70s/early '80s. Mushy stuff for young readers. Anybody?
I read adult books at the age of twelve, so I think it's not too far fetched to imagine Eli doing the same. After all, Eli seemed to know Romeo and Juliet well enough to quote it, so I think you don't need to limit yourself to books for young readers.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by dongregg » Fri Jun 10, 2016 9:15 pm

metoo wrote:
metoo wrote:Eik's tip about Eli's taste in reading is good, but I don't know what books would have been available in late '70s/early '80s. Mushy stuff for young readers. Anybody?
I read adult books at the age of twelve, so I think it's not too far fetched to imagine Eli doing the same. After all, Eli seemed to know Romeo and Juliet well enough to quote it, so I think you don't need to limit yourself to books for young readers.
Do any Swedish book titles come to mind? Or books in English, too, I guess, if they were popular?
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by metoo » Sat Jun 11, 2016 5:11 am

dongregg wrote:Do any Swedish book titles come to mind? Or books in English, too, I guess, if they were popular?
Only (perhaps) Drottningens juvelsmycke by Carl Jonas Love Almquist. This was Håkan's favourite, and I imagine that Håkan might have told Eli so, comparing Eli to the novel character Tintomara. Perhaps this made Eli curious of the novel, if he hadn't read it already.

Otherwise, I think that any piece of literature might be a candidate. If Eli had read Shakespeare, he could take on anything. And I imagine that Eli had read all he had been able to get in his hands on during his long life. Reading fits Elis character, I think, even though it's not explicitly supported by neither the film nor the novel, but it's a proven way to get some relief from a depressing existence.

I actually imagine Eli and Oskar spending lots of time reading aloud to each other. Oskar liked to read, and as I said I think that Eli did too. Furthermore, it would be something Oskar and Eli had in common with Stefan and Karin, which might have helped bringing the couples together in Barcelona. I picture S&K sitting on the balcony of their rented apartment in Barcelona, reading aloud, with O&E spying on them from the roof across the street. (Unfortunately I didn't manage to get this into my ff.)
Last edited by metoo on Sat Jun 11, 2016 3:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
But from the beginning Eli was just Eli. Nothing. Anything. And he is still a mystery to me. John Ajvide Lindqvist

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dongregg
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by dongregg » Sat Jun 11, 2016 6:28 am

metoo wrote:
dongregg wrote:Do any Swedish book titles come to mind? Or books in English, too, I guess, if they were popular?
Only (perhaps) Drottningens juvelsmycke by Carl Jonas Love Almquist. This was Håkan's favourite, and I imagine that Håkan might have told Eli so, comparing Eli to the novel character Tintomara. Perhaps this made Eli curious of the novel, if he hadn't read it already.
Otherwise, I think that any piece of literature might be a candidate. If Eli had read Shakespeare, he could take on anything. And I imagine that Eli had read all he had been able to get in his hands to during his long life. Reading fits Elis character, I think, even though it's not explicitly supported by neither the film nor the novel, but it's a proven way to get some relief from a depressing existence.

I actually imagine Eli and Oskar spending lots of time reading aloud to each other. Oskar liked to read, and as I said I think that Eli did too. Furthermore, it would be something Oskar and Eli had in common with Stefan and Karin, which might have helped bringing the couples together in Barcelona. I picture S&K sitting on the balcony of their rented apartment in Barcelona, reading aloud, with O&E spying on them from the roof across the street. (Unfortunately I didn't manage to get this into my ff.)
As it turns out, metoo, I envisioned Oskar reading to Eli from the start. In Part 1, part of their split was because they were getting on each other's nerves. Eli had told Oskar that sometimes he didn't feel like being read to, among other things. I've wanted to bring reading back into the story. Part 4 introduces a little history -- in the century before Eli was born, church law dictated that ALL Swedes be taught to read, including girls. Writing was not mandated, just reading.

I hope your tips can give me enough confidence to put a book or two under the tree. BTW, I love your idea that reading might break the ice in Barcelona so that Oskar and Eli will approach Stefan and Karin, two of my very favorite characters in the JAL world. However, I tentatively have the tale ending in 2008 with Detective Chief Per Morkus getting the photo and mailing it to Karin. Let's see, at my current snail's pace (only 150 pages or so in two years), that should get us up to Book, um, Book 12? I jest. I love being with Oskar and Eli, but I'm advanced in years. I imagine I'll have to hand off "Set Me as a Seal" to someone younger long before then.

Edit: Oh my, Drottningens juvelsmycke really does hit close to home! And here I was reluctant to have Mr. Ávila take them to the movies to see Barnens Ö! Well, because of the effective way that Eli navigated Oskar's infatuation with Ingrid in Part 5, I think Eli had become a lot more sophisticated than when they first got to Malmö. Way more so than in Part 1, in Örebro.
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Re: Asking for ideas

Post by dongregg » Fri Oct 07, 2016 5:48 pm

Thanks everyone!

Many of your music suggestions found a place in "Shopping" in part 7 of Set Me as a Seal. More will show up in part 8 either when they open gifts or when they shop together for more cassettes after Christmas. As for books, two suggestions will probably become textbooks for the post-Christmas reset of their Swedish Lit classes, so Oskar will get to read to Eli again, something they both love.

Spoiler: Mr. Ávila and Professor Grigore want to add art and music to the to the kids' studies, especially since it's dark early enough to attend symphony orchestra performances. Will the grownups find an art and music tutor who can become part of the story? We'll have to wait for part 8 to see how that plays out.

BTW, part 7 will be submitted for moderation soon. There is only one vignette left to complete.
“For drama to deepen, we must see the loneliness of the monster and the cunning of the innocent.”

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