#atotc

[pureanonofficial]

I am going to [remembers suicide jokes badly impact my mental health] get guillotined in place of my unrequited love's husband.

[secretmellowart]

A rough Sydney Carton sketch. Some book club buddies recently reminded me of my high school phase of “desperately searching the internet for Carton fanart,” so here’s sad tragique Carton for all those who follow in my footsteps. (There are dozens of us, dozens! )

[mxcottonsocks]

- chapter 1, A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens

Catch up with the first 3 chapters (sent out before today 5th May 2025), and sign up to have the remaining chapters sent to you by email, 1 or 2 chapters a week until November, following the original serialisation schedule from 1859:

[thebadchoicemachine]

I know we all like to joke about everyone knowing about Anakin’s relationship with Padmé but I think its so much more interesting if they don't.

Or at least, not to the true extent.

They know he has a crush. They know the two are closer than they should be. But every Jedi had that phase! Obi-Wan Kenobi and Satine, Aalya and Bly. Even Qui-Gon did as well.

They assume it’s the same for Anakin. He's what, 19-22 during his obsession with her? He's young, he’ll outgrow it in time, learn to quiet those impulses.

But it’s not. He doesn't. He's not just having a too-close friend or a fling, he’s MARRIED. And he is loyal to Padmé as much as he’s loyal to the Jedi Order. And that’s what ends them all.

[secretmellowblog]

It’s amazing how well Sydney Carton speaks to the Angsty Teenage Psyche. Thank you Charles Dickens for writing a character geared specifically towards the mindset of sad nerdy high schoolers. I spent so long in high school obsessed with Sydney Carton and it’s because Charles dickens accidentally (?) created exactly the kind of content that caters to that specific kind of soul. He made my teen self feel seen. Truly powerful.

[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

“describe your favorite book in the worst way possible” me:

[chai-en-kaadhale]

template for the Situations (ihnmaims edition)

alternatively:

[icantrecallaskysoclear]

"Now citizens, vote!"

"....Guilty!"

Inspired by my previous post, because I made myself sad thinking about this scene. 💔I cannot believe this isn't included in the PBS concert proshot. SMH.

source

[incorrectmusicalquotes]

Cruncher: I once sold a guy a fake Pekinese. Twas a cat.

Dr. Manette: you will not win me over with your use of "twas"

Cruncher: ...Twasn't trying to

[1yr4b3ll3]

hear me out on sydney carton tbh. haven’t finished the book but he’s kinda baddie

[goosemixtapes]

bad news the end of a tale of two cities still does some hamlet the rest is silence shit to me

[comma-after-dearest]

Does anyone think a lot about Charles Darnay’s inevitable post-novel PTSD/survivor guilt or is that just me?

[mxcottonsocks]

In honour of @dickensdaily running a serialisation from now to the end of November of A Tale of Two Cities, following the original 1859 publication dates, I've changed my icon:

[The image on the left is my old icon, of Eugene Wrayburn and Mortimer Lightwood cropped from an illustration by James Mahoney for the 1875 Household Edition of Our Mutual Friend. An arrow in the middle points to the image on the right, which is of Miss Pross and Mr Lorry, cropped from an illustration by Phiz (Hablot K. Browne) for the 1859 'monthly parts' of A Tale of Two Cities]

If anybody would like to read along with the serialisation of A Tale of Two Cities, you can do so by signing up here:

(You may need to go to the archive to see the first few chapters, which have already been sent out, but future chapters will be sent to your email.)

I'll be reading each week's chapters on a Sunday. I'm just about to dive into this week's 📖🎉

[eleftherian]

Okay, I’m aware there’s probably no way Charles Dickens could have known what autism was, but if you read “A Tale of Two Cities” with the interpretation of Sydney Carton being autistic or otherwise neurodivergent, so much about him makes sense.

I always just saw Sydney Carton as a gay alcoholic depressive but that adds so much nuance omg now I gotta reread atotc ✨

[therainbowwillow]

Do we ever find out what Charles Darnay is actually doing in France?? I’m rereading A Tale of Two Cities and I realized that it doesn’t seem to be incredibly clear?

In the trial scene, we learn that:

-He goes back and forth between England and France and has been doing so for years.

-He claims he is not supplying the French government with English intelligence to aid the Americans in their revolution but will not reveal, even when his life is threatened, what exactly he is doing on those visits.

-He might be crossing the channel from Dover like Lorry and Lucie did but neither Lorry nor Charles confirms whether or not he was one of the mail passengers.

-He boarded the same ship that Lorry, Dr. Manette, and Lucie were taking for their return journey in the middle of the night, spoke with two Frenchmen in hushed tones, and exchanged papers with them.

-Despite all the whispering and secrecy, he doesn’t appear to hesitate in the slightest to help Lucie, who is a complete stranger, to shelter Dr. Manette from the weather. And he straight-up tells her, a person who—again—he has never met before, that he is secretly traveling under a false name??

-He knows enough about American politics to make jokes about George Washington.

-He might’ve been spotted near Dover, but Sydney’s defense pokes holes in that theory.

-He was once friends with Barsad the English spy and Cly was his servant? (How the hell did he even encounter these people??)

Yeah, Charles, what are you doing???

We see him go to France on screen only twice: to visit Évremond and on his ill-fated trip to rescue a friend from prison that nearly gets him killed.

The first visit is miserable! He literally just argues with his uncle about whether or not poor people should be allowed to exist, gets borderline verbally abused for daring to have morals, and hurries back to England after said uncle gets murdered (an incident that somehow genuinely seems to have nothing to do with Charles). They do talk about Charles’ plans for the family estate, but it doesn’t seem like a conversation they’d need to have repeatedly over a course of multiple years and, if anything, it seems to make Charles deeply unhappy.

The second visit is definitely a special circumstance and not his general reason for visiting France, but maybe his relative closeness with the guy (what’s his name?) who he charges with watching the estate could be a reason for him to visit previously for a reason other than seeing Évremond?

Does he have living family besides Évremond to protect? Friends? Is there some stipulation that he has to maintain a relationship with Évremond in order to inherit the estate? Is he making plans for what to do with the estate once Évremond dies?

What am I missing here??? Is he just weird? Is this the 1770/80s version of being forced to see your one awful uncle at Christmas dinner every year except Charles brings it upon himself?

[sydney-carton-of-sour-milk]

“‘After that there gallop from Temple Bar, old lady, I won't trust your fore-legs till I get you on the level,’ said this hoarse messenger, glancing at his mare.”

I can’t believe that I, to my recollection, haven’t noticed this wonderfoal pun until now