sincerelyhannahx

[sincerelyhannahx]

i'm rewatching the phantom of the opera 25th anniversary concert and this is the only version where i'll accept the love triangle bc wdym i'm supposed to choose between ramin karimloo and hadley fraser?? like i'm literally just a girl.

[sincerelyhannahx]

'the picture of dorian gray', in quotes

'I have grown to love secrecy. It seems to be the one thing that can make modern life mysterious or marvellous. The commonest thing is delightful if one only hides it.'

'Now, the value of an idea has nothing whatsoever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it. Indeed, the probabilities are that the more insincere the man, the more purely intellectual the idea will be, as in that case it will not be coloured by either his wants, his desires, or his prejudices.'

'[...] the worst of having a romance of any kind is that it leaves one so unromantic.'

'All influence is immoral [...] Because to influence a person is to give him one's own soul. He does not think his natural thoughts, or burn with his natural passions [...] He becomes an echo of someone else's music, an actor of a part that has not been written for him.'

The life that was to make his soul would mar his body.

'I wonder who it was defined man as a rational animal. It was the most premature definition ever given.'

'Behind everything exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic.'

'When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving one's self, and one always ends by deceiving others. That is what the world calls a romance.'

'Good artists simply exist in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are. A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating [...] He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realise.'

[...] now and then, a complex personality took the place and assumed the office of art [...] Life having its elaborate masterpieces, just as poetry has, or sculpture, or painting.

Can they feel, I wonder, those white silent people we call the dead?

Sometimes [...] a tragedy that possesses artistic elements of beauty crosses our lives. If these elements of beauty are real, the whole thing simply appeals to our sense of dramatic effect. Suddenly we find that we are no longer the actors, but the spectators of the play. Or rather we are both. We watch ourselves, and the mere wonder of the spectacle enthrals us.

To become the spectator of one's own life [...] is to escape the suffering of life.

There seemed [...] to be something so tragic in a friendship so coloured by romance.

[…] Life itself was the first, the greatest, of the arts, and for it all the other arts seemed to be but a preparation.

It feels instinctively that manners are of more importance than morals […]

[...] youth smiles without any reason.

There was romance in every place. But Venice, like Oxford, had kept the background for romance, and, to the true romantic, background was everything [...]

In her dealings with man Destiny never closed her accounts.

Destiny does not send us heralds. She is too wise or too cruel for that.

When deciding I wanted to read more classics, this being one of the first might have been a bad idea, because the standard is now set so high. Anyway, slay Oscar Wilde.

[sincerelyhannahx]

evangeline fox being my favourite character <3

in 'once upon a broken heart'

... this girl, who believed in hope and fairytales and love at first sight...

... Evangeline... used to joke that if [she] were ever cursed, it would just prove that magic existed.

It wasn't because she was fearless or terribly heroic; it was because Evangeline simply had more hope than most.

Evangeline tried not to leap to any conclusions and failed almost immediately.

... Evangeline couldn't imagine her stepsister even thinking about stealing Luc from her, and even if she had, wasn't Luc the one Evangeline should have really been blaming?

Evangeline unliked her arm from LaLa's and stepped forward to curtsey. But Apollo stopped a few feet away and reached his arm out for another girl...

But Evangeline knew better than to give into another mortifying delusion.

She wasn't ready to be a wife. She just wanted to be a girl.

It was probably too much to hope for, but Evangeline had always had a weakness for hoping in things others thought impossible.

It was tempting to close her eyes and curl into a ball...

Her heart fluttered at the contact, which was the absolute wrong response.

She was starting to think that sometimes she imagined things were signs when they weren't. But that didn't mean there were not actual signs.

Evangeline wasn't scared. She was terrified.

in 'the ballad of never after'

But Evangeline knew that her heart longed to hope for the best. She believed that people could change; she believed that everyone's life was like a story with an ending that was not yet written, and therefore everyone's future held infinite possibilities.

Once, she might have run to him. Once, she might have wept for him. Now, she wanted to throw things at him. Sharp, hurtful things.

Evangeline's cheeks went suddenly hot, but she didn't let that distract her from slamming the back of her skull into Jacks's face.

If Jacks hadn't betrayed her, if he hadn't set her up for murder, she might have been a little bewitched by him.

But maybe she just didn't want to be alone, didn't want to be untethered. She didn't want to be a person who could disappear without anyone knowing she was gone. She wanted to be important to someone. If her heart stopped, she wanted someone else to feel it...

Since arriving in the North, Evangeline had always been the person in the room with the least amount of power, but that was no longer the case. She was the girl from the prophecy. She was the key - a magical key capable of magical things! She didn't need to linger in the doorway like a scared little kitten or sit politely in a chair and wait.

'She put an end to a royal family, and yet she's afraid of a spider.'

Evangeline stiffened. She instantly felt guilty about it. She had no reason to dislike this Petra Youngblood. It was jealous and petty.

Evangeline wanted to give love and be loved and feel love at just the sight of someone. She wanted butterflies and kisses. She wanted it so much that sometimes she thought her heart would burst from it.

She could not believe Jacks did not care for her. She couldn't believe his feelings for her were only because of this stone. She - She was being delusional.

in 'a curse for true love'

Evangeline Fox always believed she'd find herself inside of a fairytale one day.

Hoping and imagining and believing in magic had always been like breathing to Evangeline.

Evangeline felt silly as she realised how trusting she'd been. Although maybe the problem hadn't been that she was trusting, but that she'd trusted the wrong people.

But it seemed Evangeline still didn't have a sense of self-preservation.

He had dimples. Unfair dimples.

It felt as if she'd found a bit of her old self. And it was one of her favourite pieces. It was the part of herself that loved to hope.

Now Evangeline had never thought of herself as a reckless person. Others might disagree with this. But Evangeline would say to them that she was merely hopeful of what could be, whereas others were fearful as to what could go wrong.

He looked furious and feral. There was blood on his hands, and his eyes were shot through it as well. Yet she'd never wanted anyone more. She must have lost her mind sometime during the night...

Evangeline had always had a love affair with anticipation. One of her favourite pastimes was to dream and imagine.

He'd never heard her curse properly before. She wasn't very good at it, but she was trying furiously.

"Tragically, I can't wield a sword."

Evangeline wanted to throw up and pace, or maybe pace and throw up.

Evangeline had changed as well since the first time she had entered this clearing on her first night in the Magnificent North, when she had believed that marrying a prince could make all her dreams come true. Looking back, her dreams had felt impossible and she felt so courageous for believing in them. But now she realised those were never her dreams, not really. They had been dreams borrowed from stories, dreams she had clung to because she had yet to imagine her own dreams.

thank you evangeline fox for being a girlie™ main character and proving you don't need to be competent at warfare to survive a fantasy novel xoxo

[sincerelyhannahx]

did anyone else see the romantic poets display at the back of elliot ward's classroom? as in romantic poet thomas thorne???

[sincerelyhannahx]

its 2am and i'm crying over 'hey sarge remember me?'

[sincerelyhannahx]

rereading 'a good girl's guide to murder'

i did this for my first time read of 'a curse for true love' and actually really enjoyed the process, so welcome to my thoughts rereading 'a good girl's guide to murder' for (i want to say fourth?) time. obviously there will be spoilers ahead, so you have been warned.

RAVI <333

'i pacifically think you're better off without him' 'i antlantically think so too' i'm convinced this is a conversation taken directly from my gc.

lauren, you are not a girl's girl. i hope the heartbreak stings </3

stanley, why have you got to be a racist and then go and make me feel sorry for you later? it'd be so much easier if characters were one-dimensional.

how is ravi already so 😍🥰😭

PIKACHU ONESIE WITH A TUTU ARE YOU KIDDING??? this whole thing is just going to be me screaming over ravi and i am not sorry.

'one of his perfect smiles' pip its chapter six you can't be this down bad already. ik i am but that's different.

leslie - what i'm about to say i want you to know i mean it with my whole heart - i despise you.

TALK NERDY TO ME <333

sorry since when does ravi work at the pub???

i'm eternally grateful that holly jackson is british.

'when are the boys getting here?' lauren you couldn't be more of a pick-me if you tried.

'Stop digging, Pippa.'

BECCA WAS SEEING STANLEY??? HOW DID I FORGET ABOUT THAT???

help the liking photos from five years ago - that's rule one of internet stalking.

and at long last we start to board the 'max hastings is a dirty piece of shit' train. all aboard!!!

pip trying to buy drugs is so funny.

PIPPA FITZ-AMOBI YOU ARE EVERYTHING I ASPIRE TO BE AND MORE.

pipravi <333

'You stupid bitch. Leave this alone while you still can.' Was this Elliot? Because I know he's got a lot to lose but 'bitch' seems a bit out of character. Wait, Nat's note in Andie's locker also said 'You stupid bitch', so maybe it was her. I can't remember.

PIPRAVI <333 where do i find a ravi singh? please universe send one to me.

'REAL MEN WEAR FLORAL WHEN TRESPASSING' FUCK YEAH THEY DO!!!

help ravi's scared of cats i didn't remember that either.

ravi singh i am humbly asking for your hand in marriage.

i am officially a member of the 'nat da silva deserves better' party.

'who's taking the picture?' has to be up there with top ten plot twists of all time LIKE ITS SO CLEVER AND SO GOOD!!!

i'm also a member of the 'sal singh deserved so much better' party. ugghhhhh it actually makes me so mad.

BARNEY :((

DON'T HURT RAVI; THAT HURTS ME :((

holly jackson, i will be invoicing you for my therapy bills.

'hello, trouble' AND SUDDENLY ALL IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD AGAIN I AM GIGGLING KICKING MY FEET TWIRLING MY HAIR OVER RAVI SINGH ONCE MORE!

i'm so dead serious - where do i find a ravi?

the fact she's been setting up clues for book three this whole time is astounding. how does she do it? i'm genuinely asking, holly jackson, please teach me your ways.

becca bell i'm so sorry.

the fact we skipped the start of pipravi's relationship will never not leave me asking for more LIKE WHO MADE THE FIRST MOVE? WHAT WAS THEIR FIRST DATE? GIVE ME THE DETAILS!

'i'm ravishing' RAVI SINGH WE DO NOT DESERVE YOU <333

the fact max hastings walks free represents everything wrong with the world. but where we don't have justice, we have pippa fitz-amobi.

[sincerelyhannahx]

reading 'a curse for true love' for the first time

'caraval' was my favourite fantasy series until i read 'once upon a broken heart' and i have been WAITING for the waterstones edition paperback of 'a curse for true love' to come out for over a year (its got to match the rest of my set - the reader girlies get it) AND NOW I FINALLY HAVE IT!!! and i always wish i could read my favourite books for the first time again so this might help me relive this experience.

this goes without saying but there will be spoilers for 'a curse for true love' by stephanie garber up ahead (albeit without context) so just a heads-up for that.

my first time reading 'ouabh' and 'tbona' i was like apollo, you're a bitch. my second time reading 'ouabh' and 'tbona' i was like apollo, you're less of a bitch. so now i'm going into this one very conflicted. obviously erasing eva's memories is a big no but i don't think it was out of malice... although i'm expecting to be proven wrong.

why do i feel like martine is marisol? or someone else relevant. i'm going to be second guessing everyone because they could literally just lie and i'd have no idea.

SHE'S SEVENTEEN??? i knew that but jesus christ she is a child.

omg a new gentleman??? JACKS??? nvm its kristof. i got excited for nothing. where's jacks? i miss him.

OMFG SHE'S REMEMBERING THE CLIFF JUMP FROM 'TBONA' AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH that's so valid i think about it all the time too bestie.

wait apollo pov??? OHHHHMYYYYGOODDDDDDD!!!!!!

this is interesting character development for apollo i like it. i like that his 'death' changed him and we're not just back to square one.

lmaoooo ofc luc ran away.

oh shit yeah the valors are back. why did i assume they'd just be sat in the vault the whole time? obviously they're going to be up and about doing things.

GET PREGNANT WITH AN HEIR??? 1) let's circle back to the fact she is SEVENTEEN??? 2) then let's circle back to the fact SHE DOES NOT REMEMBER THIS MAN, that's literally sexual assault no thanks let's not do that.

wait tiberius gave him the scars? that's odd. why? give me the reasoning.

what has this wanted poster done to jacks' face??? just say you're jealous and move on.

EVANGELINE FOX AND THE PRINCE OF HEARTS!!! this is the one you want to be reading eva.

garrick you bitch.

noooooooo the engagement is over??? i mean i know it was inevitable but sorry for wanting my girl lala to be happy.

ooh what's this scroll?

'please come!' OMG IS THIS LALA??? SHE WAS DESCRIBED WITH SILVER HAIR BEFORE??? LALA IS THIS YOU??? i'm clowning so hard rn.

SOMEONE PUSHED HER??? wait why do i actually not know who. like who's the villain? there's apollo but he genuinely cares for eva... even if he's going about it in all the wrong ways. wait is this him to be like 'told you its not safe'? omg istg if it is.

awww wait this is like the story of how her parents met. that's cute.

jacks??? JACKS??? JACKS!!! sorry but who tf is evangeline i only know little fox.

omg memories from the hollow i'm going to cry.

NAHHHHH SHUT THE FUCK UP - WE GET A JACKS POV??? HOLD UP I NEED TO DO A LAP AROUND MY ROOM OMG!!! stephanie garber i love you.

jacks you're so down bad i'm laughing out loud.

'you can call me archer' OH WE ARE SO BACK ALEXA PLAY THE ARCHER.

'or i'll toss you off this bridge' help you can't lie anymore jacks i see right through you and your empty threats. you won't do shit.

okay but why is he training her? who's trying to kill her? or is he just paranoid? well obviously not if someone pushed her down a well. and this wouldn't be the first time she'd died. but even so give me names. tiberius? marisol? luc?

THE KNIFE!!! that whole scene was crazy but THE KNIFE!!!

... wait he's twenty? but evangeline's seventeen. what age are you considered an adult in the north? please help. (i know jacks is like a thousand or whatever but that's different.)

OMG IT WAS APOLLO THAT PUSHED HER!!! not him specifically BUT STILL HIM!!! THAT BASTARD!!! AND HE'S TORTURING INNOCENT PEOPLE TO TAKE THE BLAME??? nah fuck this guy this ain't protective this is batshit insane.

okay nvm i think martine is just a maid. she's probably not marisol.

wait if she goes to the hollow will her memories come back because curses don't work there? idk if its a memory curse but that could be a shout... or i just want an excuse to go to the hollow again.

i thought i wasn't going to like aurora but ykw she's a girlie™

is the employer apollo? i know he arranged for her to be pushed down a well but this seems a bit dramatic. like is he okay?

shit the fortunas are gone that's big. OMG THIS WAS CHAOS WASN'T IT? or castor now ig. BUT HE WAS THE MONSTER FROM THE VALORY and its also strange we haven't seen him yet.

NVM APOLLO IS A CONFIRMED PSYCHOPATH - SERIOUSLY IS HE OKAY?

no don't kiss him eva; he's just stabbed a child.

I KNEW IT WAS CASTOR which probably wasn't too hard to figure out but i'm giving myself credit where i can.

so i'm going to need jacks to become human again by the end of this or i don't know what i'm going to do. give my man his humanity back.

TRUSTING BYRON OVER AURORA??? yeah sorry eva we're not agreeing on this one. girl code says never trust a guy over a girl.

THIS IS WHAT I SAID NEVER TRUST A MAN FOR FUCKS SAKE. wait petra. oh well this has just got more interesting.

oh eva :(

JACKS!! FRIENDS DON'T STAB EACH OTHER!! although realistically chaos should have died long ago so that's just the universe righting itself. although by that logic evangeline should also be dead. but if chaos died when he was supposed to then she wouldn't have died so the universe owes her one.

oh nvm he's not dead.

'I AM A MONSTER BUT I'M YOUR MONSTER, EVANGELINE' EVERYBODY SHUT UP I'M GOING TO START CRYING AGAIN.

THEY'RE BACK IN THE HOLLOW I AM WEEPING.

'ONE BED' I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO SEE TWO WORDS IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!! well maybe except for little fox. BUT EVAJACKS ONE BED TROPE THIS IS EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WANTED!!!

are his eyes bloodshot because he cries blood? don't do this to me stephanie garber i'm fragile.

SHE REMEMBERS AAHHHHH OKAY ITS HAPPENING THIS IS NOT A DRILL THIS IS NOT A DRILL THIS IS THE REAL THING PEOPLE BRACE YOURSELVES wait where did jacks go?

I AM AN AURORA VALOR STAN I DON'T CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS!

nvm the whole thing was aurora's fault. although ykw i don't even care, that's just gaslight gatekeep girlboss behaviour.

apollo. you and me are going to have words. you need a serious reality check.

LALA I HAVE MISSED YOU SO MUCH THE BESTIES ARE BACK TOGETHER!!! eva, lala, aurora - girlie trio that's all i want.

'what's the point of having friends if they're not there to support your bad decisions?' after drinking way too much wine - they are so girlhood.

NOPE DON'T TRUST HIM THIS ISN'T JACKS WHEN HAS HE EVER USED THE NAME 'PET'. wait no no no no no no this is apollo. this must be what aurora gave him to make evangeline love him. HE'S PRETENDING TO BE JACKS!!!

nvm its not apollo. BUT IT STILL ISN'T JACKS.

aurora valor i love you so much.

the way aurora is the villain now and i still can't bring myself to hate her.

AURORA PUT THE ARCHER'S CURSE ON JACKS DIDN'T SHE?

ohhh wait dane is dane valor. i thought the brother of aurora's that lala was in love with was castor. why are there so many valors i can't remember them all i was like who the hell is dane? but then why was there such a vibe between lala and castor...

see aurora isn't entirely evil (but even if she was, i'd still support her).

"ONLY A GIRL WHO WILL NEVER LOVE JACKS CAN SURVIVE THE KISS" that's so funny go donatella you absolute legend.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"YOU WERE DYING" "NO I JUST FORGOT HOW TO BREATHE" OOOOOOHHHHHHHMYYYYYGGOOOODODDDDDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

omg apollo can you actually go away. like i'm over this now.

'it is. its taking you.' AHAHAHA OMG GET FUCKED APOLLO

its over. i'm not ready. stephanie garber please write a fourth one. i don't need a plot or any conflict. a sitcom-esque fourth book with domestic evajacks. please. that's all i need. i'm so empty without it.

[sincerelyhannahx]

'the ballad of never after', in quotes

Dark was for stars and dreams and the magic that took place in between days.

People called it heartbreak, but Evangeline thought that losing someone you loved broke more than just a heart.

'Happy endings can be caught, but they are difficult to hold on to. They are dreams that want to escape the night. They are treasure with wings. They are wild, feral, reckless things that need to be constantly chased, or they will certainly run away.'

... yet in that moment, Evangeline knew he would carry her through more than just freezing water. He would pull her through fire if he had to, haul her from the clutches of war, from falling cities and breaking worlds. And in one brittle heartbeat, Evangeline understood why so many girls had died from his lips.

The air shifted as Evangeline entered, redolent of old paper pages that called to her like a siren's song. Like all admirers of fairytales, she'd always loved the scent of books. She loved the paper dust in the air, the way it swirled in the light like little sprinkles of magic. And most of all, she loved the way that fairytales always made her think of her mother and endless possibilities.

She used to think love was like a house. Once it was built, a person got to live in it forever. But now she wondered if love was more like a war with new foes constantly appearing and battles cropping up. Winning at love was less about succeeding in a battle and more about continuing to fight, to choose the person you loved as the one you were willing to die for, over and over.

'In the morning... you can go back to pretending you don't like me, and I can pretend that I don't care. But for tonight, let me pretend you're mine.'

She held him as if he were hers and she were his, and there was nothing else between them. No curses. No lies. No past wounds or mistakes. She held him as if there was only now, as if nothing mattered but this moment. Then she let him go.

Magic crackled in the sliver of space between them. Golden and electric and alive. It felt like the ending of a fairytale, when one kiss had more power than a thousand wars or a hundred spells.

He held her so tightly it hurt, but this pain she didn't mind. She'd let him crush her, let him break her, just as long as he never let her go.

'There is nothing of equal value to me.

[sincerelyhannahx]

'once upon a broken heart', in quotes

If hope were a pair of wings, Evangeline's were stretching out behind her, eager to take flight again.

'I don't know if I can fix your broken heart, but you can take mine because it's already yours.'

Heroes don't get happy endings. They give them to other people.

In the North, fairytales and history were treated as one and the same because their stories and histories were all cursed.

'I believe there are far more possibilities than happily ever after or tragedy. Every story has the possibility for infinite endings'.

It was tremendously difficult to fully fall out of love with someone when you had no one else to love instead.

... not all loves happened at first; some took time to grow like seeds, or they might be like bulbs, dormant until the right season approached.

Evangeline saw symbols from countless Northern tales and ballads: star-shaped keys and broken books, knights in armour, a crowned wolf's head, winged horses, bits of castles, arrows and foxes, and twining vines of harlequin lilies.

But she was like the tide drawn by the tremendous force of the moon. It was no wonder the waves were always crashing; they must have hated the pull as much as she did.

Apollo burned like a fire that consumed instead of warmed. And yet there must have been a part of her that wanted to be scorched, or at the very least singed.

... murmurs were like villains at the end of a story. They just wouldn't die.

But Evangeline's doubt was like salt. There wasn't much of it, yet it seemed to alter the taste of her thoughts.

'I want you Evangline Fox. I want to write ballads for you on the walls of Wolf Hall and carve your name on my heart with swords. I want you to be my wife and my princess and my queen.'

'Did you ever play that game as a child - the one where there's a circle of chairs, and when the music stops playing you have to find a chair to sit in? But there's never enough chairs for everyone, so one person is always left without a seat in the circle. That's how I feel, as if I missed my chance at a chair and now I've been tossed out of the game.'

She sensed that she was living in an illusion and if she looked closely, she'd see that everything she'd thought was stardust was really just the burning embers of a wicked spell.

People called it falling out of love, but falling was easy. Letting go of Luc had been more like climbing the face of a rock. She'd clawed her way out, fighting to shake it off, to let it go, to find something else to hold on to.

LaLa was not a wilting maid pining away for lost love. She was the boldest girl at the party, the girl who was unafraid to dance by herself... She didn't make being alone seem lonely as Evangeline had always feared. She made it seem like an adventure, as if every moment were the start of a story with endless possibilities.

He looked part angel, part fallen star, and completely devastating.

[sincerelyhannahx]

phaziracrow? or phineffable phusbands? i still can't believe we got redhead!dan and blond!phil in the same timeline. welcome back good omens.

[sincerelyhannahx]

rogue, you have been promoted! you are now one of my elite employees!

[sincerelyhannahx]

doctor who??? bridgerton??? murder mystery??? jonathan groff??? dungeons and dragons??? cosplay??? kylie minogue??? previous doctors??? tragic gays??? and during pride month no less???

[sincerelyhannahx]

Our history is nothing more Than what the losers settle for

[sincerelyhannahx]

in celebration of pride month, i'd like to officially come out as good omens <3

[sincerelyhannahx]

We have a saying where I come from: God save the queen. Lucky for me, God is dead.

[sincerelyhannahx]

the fact the 'wicked' movie doesn't come out until november and spotify wrapped stops tracking at the end of october means that i can't have jonathan bailey's version of 'dancing through life' at the top and that kills me just a little

[sincerelyhannahx]

listening to 'olivia' by one direction and asking when is it my turn?