The particule question

(Cross-posted from a comment on vicomte_de_chagny, since I know I'll never look for it there, and had enough trouble finding the reference to material that only existed in an untagged comment in my own blog...)

One interesting thing about Leroux's reference to the initials RC carved into the wall of the Communards' dungeon is how it relates to the particule question -- it implies that, to a Frenchman, Raoul's initials are self-evidently RC, not (as I've seen in fanfics where a handkerchief embroidered with Raoul's initials forms part of the plot) RdC, or even R.D.C.
(I wondered if I ought to drop the particule on typing up, but having now done five chapters -- 15,000 words/31 pages of manuscript/Plot Point Four -- I've stuck with having Lancard refer to him as 'de Chagny". Having him address Raoul as 'Chagny' just seemed rude and weird when I was typing it....)

Excess and shortages (ii)

I tried the supermarket again. Still no eggs or flour, but I did get butter. No dried milk (I checked in passing) -- which was probably just as well, since if they'd had any I should then have faced the ethical dilemma of whether to panic-buy it on the off-chance, despite still having more than half a packet left.

But what they did have was mountains and mountains of unsold Easter eggs. ( Read more... )