#elfscape

[tomthefanboy]

"It's called elfscaping... oh... you mean my LUTE"

do you think elves are really sick of this hairstyle, like on elf grindr this is how all the most obnoxious dudes look

[castlebyersafterdark]

So i was in need of a new book and I thought hey why not try that book recommended by finn that he said he read over and over again last year during his GQ essentials vid? The Nix. i remember it being lauded when it came out, man booker longlist maybe.

so this part has made me smile. finn definitely loves deep ideas and thoughts and is interested in human nature, which i think is apparent considering he is a writer himself.

People think his username 'Dodger' has something to do with baseball, but in fact it is a Dickens reference. That nobody gets the reference makes Samuel feel smart and superior, which is something he needs to feel to offset the shame of spending so much time playing a game also played by twelve year olds. Samuel tries to remind himself that millions of other people do this. On every continent. At any given moment, the number of people playing World of Elfscape is a population about the size of Paris, he thinks, when he feels that rip inside of him because this is where his life has ended up.

This whole section of the book goes on and on, detailing specifics about the game the main character plays and how long he's spent building this world within it, but the undertone is very much about how how feels about himself and so forth, which the writing shows because in describing the fine details you get the sense that he's dancing around the core issue, which is about shame and failure. Just beautiful subtextual writing and I love the idea of Finn reading this book, also cos he's big into video games, this part just made me smile so much. I can totally see him as a guy who would fixate on a book that seems to read him to filth in some way haha.

Can't wait to read on!

Ooooh that sounds very interesting and promising! And it sounds exactly like something that would grip his interest and amuse. But even in that tiny slice of context it feels relatable as well. I see the concept of mixed feelings about time sunk into a hobby like that, is it actually meaningful or are all of these people hiding or avoiding something, have we elsewhere failed? And am I one of them? Video games, fandom, all these escapes. Hey! Thoughts we've all had. Good and bad.

I've had to stop myself from buying it juuuuust because he loves it because my to-read stack is already lengthy, but isn't that a great way to find a good recommendation? Someone who you like and respect the opinion and taste level of, because they've presented themself with really engaging wats of thinking and opinion. So, makes sense I'd want to read what's he's reading, since his brain intrugues me.

I don't think I'll order it, but if I'm in a random book shop and come across it maybe it'll be a sign...

[lavelled]

Prince Harry is that creamsicle adult, I will stress, who has turned the Internet into a steaming broth of cork-lid cum stimuli who holds rape-first paperwork and thus far has suffered zero consequences for his power grid hack, his laxative book reviews, his algorithmic product price-fixing, his do-suicide directives, and lying about dead kids. All of which is illegal and shows psychological and behavioral illness. But, mommy. The elfscape successful businessman who paid a California helpmate to birth his FaceTime video call kids, who were conceived in a rented nuthouse with one eye trained on the computer screen, will forever be known for holiday balls, masked balls, and charity balls — and not in a good way.

Harry is your ordinary adulterous scribbleman making threats in his sitting room, typing up blood and murder and sex addiction and rape on the Internet while being idolized in his social position, invited to places in social satire, and wrongly declared a nimble keyboardist.

It’s funny how Prince Harry’s human experience of loss came to affect the entire world and two individual lives so drastically, like living through a delayed pandemic, when he deserved to accept it, find equilibrium, fall in love, make a fresh start, and heal in the offline world.

Didn’t do any of that. He was given global influence and a fake wife. And I was sidelined.

Prince Harry gets paid for life-interfering outbursts through his hacking Dictaphone of: Cum will win. What utmost ambition you must’ve had as a youngster, to dream the spread of cum in haughty dignity, at any given moment, every day, on behalf of your patriarchal elders as you sit not in a castle, but in a dungeon. Far from California. I’m certain it’s not for a beloved mother. But if you think she’d be proud of your hooker and john relationship with Actress Sparkles in order to exact revenge in porn-grade prose with baby back-of-the-head amateur photos that most people glance over without reading, because your payroll is full of clunking enablers and it’s decade 4, then by all means continue to use the automatic emotional Killtom gimmick to try to divvy up your sexual demands and retribution when you know you won’t get anywhere near the pavement of my life.

Is your Papa proud of you? Does he and Megs have a close cricket game partnership?

It's painful to witness, the endless technological and psychological demands of the son of a grandfatherly pimp that never learned the definition of sexual consent and who, himself, grew up to be a vindictive nymphomaniac, in print at least, who dubiously holds a glossy revenge catalog. The daytime silent speaker, fuck no, he’s loud, was given a lifetime appointment online, the one place where all ages set up accounts and was left unchecked enough for years to bend the truth to a Nobody Somebody whose communication and noise to the outside world would be paramount to her own stymied life, career and uterus. Say something, do something.

Innovative developers create websites only to surrender passwords to Prince Harry, the depraved sexual offender, who amusingly brainwashed a middle-aged woman, underemployed and for years uninsured, as her fertility got wasted but it’s okay because of a pact most people struggle to comprehend that denied the early promise for marriage, a career, both, while she virtually danced in place for forty years and crudely got pawed at by the Nobel prize September 11th guy while kids lashed out and/or hurt themselves. I think that’s fair and accurate.

The Internet archive is: Passing the Mantle and Weaponizing It with Prince Harry.

He runs the Windsor-Sparkles household, in separate countries and far from Montecito, which are journalistic lies, with his penetrating blab on athletes, politicians, actors, and singers that makes it seem like he’s a machine-made bot, and yet, in fact, he’s King Charles’ unconventional son, shielded from logistical repercussions and economic difficulties, typing on the internet his desires: You fucking little bitch I will fucking find where u fucking live you stupid little fucking prick you better watch ur fucking back when I get my fucking hands on you I'll break ur fucking toe. This is even a question. Fuck you?

For Tom Cruise. Such literary mischief, hahaha. So his business is obviously essential to worldwide humanity. It certainly has benefitted my life. And kids under the age of 20.

I can take racy political incorrectness. But what is Harry’s company of bitching all about? Childhood trauma turned indecipherable code. Right. But say you’re not a psychopath and say, without further ado, you sometimes use big words and you prefer the true meaning behind the vocabulary, this has been a nightmare inside of a computer. The Archduke bends reality, he writes lies, slurs, bites of miscommunication, smears, innuendos, sexual dirt, pulped grubby details, micro-paragraphs of violent retrieval, false mathematical geometries, polished disgusting anecdotes on entertainment and political folks that cause good people to get into trouble, and it’s seemingly approved of by the population, with its falling in line. Yeah. I don’t think a lot of people like it. People have a tendency to show the world that whatever this is should be undone.

Have I mentioned yet that Prince Henry Charles Mountbatten-Windsor, in his narcissistic theater, crafted a satirical website from scratch years ago knowing that I would probably send along a written piece for consideration, which I did through a misguided decision, got accepted, got published, and got paid?

Prince Harry paid me through PayPal years ago.

I find myself needing the world’s safest strongest household disinfecting Windex bleach cleaner for my brain.

On the other hand, it’s good to know that Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, can pay a woman for something other than fucked-hard sex and heirs.

A flair for the dramatic seduction, I wrote about baseball, the batter's box, batting cages, coaches and the main character was named Ethan. Back when baseball was purely a sport. It’s titled, I Am Your Hitting Coach As Soon As You Step Inside This Coin-Operated Batting Cage. Shortly after it was published, Harry deleted the site — feeling triumphant — like erasing a young woman’s existence. Gone. The story wasn’t a work of art, but a freelance writer builds her career on published clips. No doubt I should have taken a screenshot of his website. But I had no inkling it was him. Until years later, when I realized that he deleted it because of the Mission Impossible Ethan character and Tom’s never-far cyber presence. It’s Harry’s duty to pitch in and reject me so that I’m reduced to nothing. Spiteful Harry has always been hurting me to hurt Tom.

In tackling the middle section of any 40-year life theft, you look to the makers of song, books, movies, and television shows. They speak a higher truth on an old Charley horse that I have nothing in common.

The 1980s sitcom, Charles in Charge, debuted when I was an infant and its lead is played by actor Scott Baio, whose full name is Scott Vincent Baio, and whose parents were immigrants from Italy. Charlie Sheen famously played the role of Charlie Harper in the sitcom, Two and a Half Men, and then the lead role was recast with Ashton Kutcher and ended in 2015. Actor Charles Stanley Dutton is famous for the movies, Alien, Gothika, and Nick of Time with Johnny Depp. Renowned actor Walter Charles Dance, known professionally as Charles Dance, is an English actor with a 40-year career that includes the role as Tywin Lannister in Game of Thrones and the superb (up) role of Lord Mountbatten in The Crown. He also starred in the British TV show, The Jewel in the Crown in 1984, based on the novel series, The Raj Quartet, written by Paul Scott.

There is the movie, Charlie St. Cloud, based on Ben Sherwood's novel, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, where the main character played by actor, Zachary David Alexander Efron, or Zac Efron, has a little brother named Sam, 12, who dies in a car chain reaction in the movie. The story takes place in the fictional town of Quincy, located in the Pacific Northwest, the producers filmed the movie in Vancouver, Mr. Sherwood the novelist, former President of ABC News, is from Los Angeles and yet Sam, the younger brother, wears a Boston Red Sox baseball cap.

Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman won the Oscar for his movie, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, about a couple who undergo a memory erasure procedure after a painful breakup. In the movie, the couple is played by Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet where there’s a 13-year age difference between the actors and yet, in the film, Jim isn’t portrayed as an evil old-hag, sex-demanding pedophile. Before that, screenwriter Charlie Kaufman wrote Adaptation which has the dual meaning of pedo. About King Charles.

Two, count them two, famous Charlies star in the sci-fi movie, Pacific Rim: the British actor best known for Sons of Anarchy, Charlie Hunnam, and Charlie Day, best known for playing Charlie Kelly on the television show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. A much older then-Prince Charles passed off minorly paperwork to a pacifier as a cover.

The movie, Good Luck Chuck, a romantic comedy that stars Jessica Alba and actor-comedian, Dane Cook, who went to high school near me, plays the dentist Charlie Kagan. The movie’s screenwriter, ten years later, went on to write Jigsaw, which is the eighth installment in the SAW film franchise and whose titles are interchangeable. No coincidences or jigsaw puzzling about all that.

Woody Harrelson, whose birth name is Woodrow Tracy Harrelson, has an expansive career, but perhaps most noticeably are these three movie titles: Indecent Proposal, Natural Born Killers, and The Edge of Seventeen. For two of those, I was still an undergraduate.

In the 2012 film, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the lead character of freshman Charlie Kelmeckis is played by actor Logan Lerman.

One of the stars in Just Shoot Me, the 1997 comedy sitcom, shares a familiar ethnic name. Google the actor Enrico Colantoni and the show.

Ray Charles or Ray, the movie, stars Jamie Foxx with 2 Xs.

The actor Gabriel Macht, whose full name is Gabriel Swann Macht, is best known for playing Harvey Specter in the television series, Suits. I know what you’re thinking. You thought, didn’t her co-stars attend a royal wedding and have achieved nothing else. No. Turns out, they’re all real actors. Take Gabriel. A few of his movie titles: Archangel with Daniel Craig and a Russian actress named Yekaterina, a 2009 drama called Middle Men and in the movie Love & Other Drugs, with Anne Hathaway, his character is Trey Hannigan. In the 2001 movie, Behind Enemy Lines, Gabriel plays Naval Aviator Lieutenant Jeremy Smoke Stackhouse with Gene Hackman. I’m thinking, eventually, a Los Angeles-born California-residing on-set actress of a legal drama, all genders in serious suits, co-stars with memorable aliases, would remember the beginnings of an unfair situation for a woman now in adulthood with no fictional roles, no spouse, no children, nothing and decline this particular bargaining marriage proposal. Nevertheless, it was Meg’s choice to be with Harvey Harry, the royal with the legalese, whom she reconsidered to be a good guy after all.

Hollywood, with the light touch of a human wrecking ball, has been giving Tom the green authorization based on Age & Other Things.

King Charles doesn’t get rewarded for pedophilia, passing the torch, moving on with his life, getting remarried, spinning the narrative, and denying responsibility, all the while making me feel like I have nothing to offer, personally or professionally. The Windsor survival mode is to contort the truth in print and speech. I can’t stomach reading the lies and the underthings of filth by the Devil son.

I’ve been pinned down by this manipulative family for decades.

Prince Harry, the horny typist, has myspaced, tweeted, youtubed, linked, published, communicated, and emailed me for years and years. The greenest green of lights.

K

Her new Instagram, her As Ever website, her As Ever care packages, her podcasts, her interviews are controlled by Prince Harry. Duchess Megs cannot read the news; she cannot touch the internet; she cannot send work email. She cannot speak freely per royal contracts. The Sussexes don’t live in Montecito and they don’t live together.

The impression now is that she doesn’t appreciate Harry. I get it. He’s a toddler with a discharge drip mouth about women. But it was nine years of social climbing with kenneled knife guy. Duchess gave permission to monetize her mother, her father, sister and brother, even on a slow news day, to help distort the truth.

Highly rational people ask that you don’t schmooze, fuck, marry, and procreate in a rented guest-house with the monster under the bed to help his rape agenda in decade 4. She’s a paid side character and I’ll remind the world every chance I get.

Disregard any names. This is only about the wife. Notice the Four yous. Silly. Sicily.

The date? The date right there. The exact imprinted Instagram date.

December 14, 2012 was the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting tragedy. 20 students and six adults were killed…

On the mountaintop, up up up, quoting the 1943 French children's book, of kingly green and gold, The Little Prince.

About Charles.

Her pedo father-in-law...

Oh, they’ve met. Gabriel. Her co-star. The actor who’s been helping a middle-aged girl way over here. Water spectator tom, red bagged nutty Trail Mix, a Sheryl Facebook big-tech reference, and a spoiler about her future husband.

Flirting with the enemy…

You know how certain movies mention a baby Hitler? Despot. Tyrant. Cockroach. It’s most likely a Prince Harry reference.

Three umbrellas to keep the wee little one dry in a pram-carriage…

Binoculars, a rolling medical cot, and the English sprite in a British Horse Society Pink Pony Club sweatshirt…

Up, up, up. Standing on tiptoe at a wedding, the prodigal son, with pedophile, kid-suicide paperwork.

Lost without a roadmap…    

Playing horsey in the field. Prince Charles, minus a bleeding heart, passing the baton, wearing an interesting belt, seen here playing duck duck goose with a vagina wearing mismatched socks.

A white cup near the tire wheel…

You might begin to see why Afghan civilians donated blood for that Spare book display. In his book, he talked about his gunning military presence in Afghanistan after 9/11, a tragedy that he and his father directly inspired and how they’ll be remembered.

Linguistic advertising…

I didn’t know the beekeeper thing has been a crude reference in everyday life for so long.

Back in 2008 and laughing about it…

In his high-tech hideaway, Harry talks nonstop about a micro-penis. Allow me counter that with this genital mutilation Getty photo, taken during the coronation of his fandom Daddy.

To The Archewell Foundation… 

In 2013, Meghan, with crossed ankles, demonstrating the wide and narrow, at The Hunger Games movie premiere in jolly good London with Jennifer Lawrence right there, in her archer pose that held no lasting meaning whatsoever…

James William Middleton is the gentleman seated behind that famous movie star. James is a longtime hater of Harry. Which you could say about anybody, really, but you’d think he’d warm up to the prince considering James is the brother of a future Queen. Nope. I suspect James has signed a royal NDA, but he sends messages through his six dogs, writing a book on one titled, Meet Ella: The Dog Who Saved My Life and through his wardrobe and love life. He married a French woman, Alizée Thevenet, in France in 2021, which Harry has yet to update on James’ Wiki page. I’ve been refreshing it for years. I’m all for modern commitment and togetherness without labels. Self-made labels. Whatever people want. But this is Harry purposefully giving James a partnered dash with no conclusion. Interesting how his wife’s name, with its telling z and v, kind of looks like my sister’s.

This is a regal green light to Tom because of what Charles did, in green pants, right behind — of all celebrities and actors — Bradley Charles Cooper, the Italian actor who played real-life Navy SEAL marksman Chris Kyle in the film, American Sniper… 

The light is a current on our dignified crown representatives.

Peepee — or blood — on Harry’s pants because he’s to be castrated and she, a paid accessory, gave him coveralls and girl shears by marrying him.

As ever, two cunts…

Rachel Sparkles. I’m guessing the majority of England knew you were fakesters, despite the chorus and crowds, because of well-wishers like this good man. Wearing an ampersand symbol on a tee-shirt established in 2018.

The loveless marriage plot, royal wedding, and experimentation were cruelty and revenge driven and, with it, caused celebrity and kid suicides that don’t happen when other famous people do it.

Nice shirt…

An Australian amphitheatre.

Watching the heirs-only wedding on F chairs. I’m guessing that really means A.

A Tom double is nearby, spectating, close-up to the movie screen there and to his computer screen. Another noticeable ampersand symbol. One woman, alone, is looking at hell and thinking about her choiceless middle-age…

They hardly touch fingertips.

Getty caught that just-married salaried office job fuckfest glow.

Charles is hitting on the underage mother while Camilla, with a similar girl name as her newly paid daughter-in-law because that’s super normal, is getting smacked in the face with a leafy shrub…

Orinoco Flow. Watery lies of the ocean deep. Prince Henry Mountbatten-Windsor and his wife, Meghan, and their kids do not live in Montecito. Meghan does not encounter daily mean-girl A-list Montecito bullies or whatever the gilded junior high PR angle is this week.

I think every Getty photographer has read about 600 emails written by Nike-girl boater. There’s just something about their photographs. Amongst those emails are the phrases “hurting entity” and my writer-filmmaker bud’s sendoff:  Stay the course. Yes? I always hated that. It seemed like such a patriarchal command, a coastal dig at my already stagnant personal and professional life. But he meant come back. To Tom Cruise and my film friends…

Proof they’ve read the emails and have seen a Top Gun movie. And if Harry was ever taught maths and chronology and consent, he’d realize why his rape memoir is huddled together with Literature outing his pedo daddy and Windsor family…

I thought, yes, he does have a black heart, so cold, so menacing, cruel to leave me and turn on me and cut off my life, see the hand over mouth thing, monster, but he doesn’t seem the type, if there is a type, not in his movies or interviews. Where is the proof he’s a pedophile! This? Fuuuuck.

Why is the name biff like pitt, is it another family dig? I was going on age. Our age difference. That’s it. That’s all the proof I had. Harry knew you were watching me and that I’d believe his constant manipulation. Harry likes to move the dial on the boombox radio and blame Tom although his own repetitive and screengrabbed words are: what’s up, tube, lube, pubic library, quiver, gulag, and yes everyone saw you wrote disrupt several times on the Spain hacking admission because your daddy is the life-stealing pedophile and not Tom... 

This is a Tom Cruise Rape Account for your kids to look at. Please please give Harry & Meghan an award, any award, so I can list you, your organization, and your spouses and you can sigh and daftly say, well, there’s quasi-invisible paperwork to consider.

It was: This Account Doesn’t Exist for the longest time. I kept revisiting it, no words were posted.

Ya think maybe a girl might be persuaded to think Tom’s not a good guy?

Search for the account now. It’s gone. Poof. Prince Harry, the CEO, finally wiped it from the Twitter database…

That different Celica account that he has since deleted, in spite of the fact that he’s already been outed as my decade-long (longer) conversationalist. He’s not a cheapskate in his lies: cockey cola, cock, bitch, Dad, dog, dolphin, f-word, the varied fonts, all projection and illusion, closure, suture, like snow on the beach…  

The real Celica, my Japanese geisha samurai housewife. In 1970’s Muppet Babies mode. These are the Likes that he would also Retweet and we’d communicate through. He was getting mad at my technical wrestlers who are watching us talk, in every covert secretive form, him violating an NDA agreement. He’s goading them about keeping quiet and lying about HIM and his much older family doing this to me.

They’re trending how his skin is so perfect for slicing…

The real Celica. Harry’s beekeeping hobby. Even with the dot com right there and visible, I still wasn’t getting it. I was thinking the sport of baseball. I like sports. He’s using honey, semen, cum, and wax to tell my tech buds that it’s all Tom’s fault for being soooo much older than me.

Prince Charles and his rapey son…

Every day, this is where we communicated through tap-tap knock-knock morse code. He’s telling me recorded love lies. Cake, whether ceremonious or not, a hand-piped Smiley Face Cake represents, to me, dessert only and not pedophilia slicing. I didn't know.

The escalation name in Charles would do…    

A movie I’ve mentioned several times in these blogs.

Someone vandalized and defaced, in red graffiti spray paint, the statue of the Queen in Gravesend, Kent, England that read “parasite.” On twitter, he wrote that the figurehead modern art looked “bit posh and pedo to me.” Notice the both lower and upper cases. This happened in October 2018. Five months after the royal wedding. It was Prince Harry. He either hired someone to do it, or he did it himself. 2018. He hated that year because as we all know Tom Cruise, the action star, pressured the 33-year-old royal typist into marrying Actress Sparkles.

Right.

Are celebrities known for defacing statues when they’re in an unhappy marriage; do they hack power grids and PlayStation; do they track athletes with laser pointers across TikTok; do they go after transgender actors, models, and performers and their families on social media; do they post Suicide/Watch threats online; do they endlessly bitch about thrones and youth and beatings — then why should this non-Hollywood couple, helmed by a psycho insomniac, be given business perks?

Does Charles know that his painterly son did this…

It wasn't in 2021. He defaced her in the royal wedding year, 2018.

Who, who, Houdini it…

I wasn’t going to say anything about anything.

But you hacked his country.

This is Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia. He attended Georgetown University for a Master's degree and lived with his cousin Prince Pavlos of Greece for all three exact years that my sister was getting her law degree five minutes away at American University. I visited my big sister for off-campus handouts. Prince Felipe returned to the school and area after graduation which I guess wasn’t a surprise, given the photographer’s name.

One more thing: this royal, this King, with all his high-ranking titles, in 2015, became the first and only monarch to appear on the cover of an LGBT magazine.

And I’m stuck in the halo dopey sexist butcher muppetland House of Windsor.

The king gives Tom the green light…

Guess who else returned after graduation — Harvard’s Frederik X.

He returned for a Ritz Carlton Ballet Party in Boston in the late 1990s because, sadly, there is no Royal Danish Ballet and Theatre based in Copenhagen. Actually, right now, the playhouse is performing Marie Antoinette, the ballet company, The Great Gatsby, and the opera, Griselda, which is Vivaldi. Two v’s.

A red tie, flowers, a green light for Tom…

A royal navy captain and two curfewed Dixie Cups and their proxy undertaking that has caused major global upheaval.

The decades-long deal, whatever this is, was set way before a car chase as I’ve stated over and over… 

Sailing to Capri.

My old username is underneath The Departed, which is appropriate.

You might dismiss this as just filmography collage cutouts. However. The pieces featured here are out of order. I could teach a university lecture on Leonardo DiCaprio films today and his first movie, believe it or not, wasn't the 2012 Django Unchained.

As a matter of fact, I double-checked. Long Live google. I kept looking at it. (Research.)

There. I saw it. The Great Gatsby image, far in the corner with legs, wrists, arms X crossed and a cane. The 5th image. That Gatsby. Green light Gatsby. The Champagne GIF. Celica. I had those screengrabs already on a flash drive. Why would it be so bad for Harry and I to talk for years and years and years...

As ever, blaming Tom. Cinema and cum, in Windsor code, mean kill.

Harry has loathed the entertainment business — ironic since his life and salary has benefited from their communal perks — while also in long solitary hours sabotaged its most talented moneymakers. It was only this week that he used the wordplay, Eternal 5unshine.

That movie was released on March 19, 2004.

Harry & his father thwarted my ambitions, my desires, and my autonomy.

Charles Mountbatten-Windsor and his nuisance son, Prince Harry, are responsible for Columbine, Parkland, Sandy Hook, September 11th, wars, a Spain hacking and other destruction. The king father knows his penny candy role in all this, even if he's silently served tea.

Noble blood kings, Hollywood, Broadway, Silicon Valley, chefs, athletes, fashion designers, people in government, the military, university presidents, doctors and business owners — they shine a green light for Tom.

I have one more long Tumbler blog of pictures to share.

[atinyarmyzen]

１１：１１

༄ؘ ˑ inspired by kpopscapes holiday event

༄ؘ ˑ 12 . 11 » my soulmate found me 

pairing: jaehyun x reader

length: 1.4k

warnings: like one swear word

genre: tooth-rotting fluff, soulmate!au in which a tattoo of the timestamp of your soulmate meeting appears on your skin 

a/n: I saw this event and was super excited to see it was open to non-members, thank you for the opportunity! I love this idea- hope y’all enjoy!

The winter chill bit at his ears as he walked out of the warm restaurant and into the cold air. Jaehyun shivered and pulled his beanie down to cover them. He had just bid his friends a good night before walking to the crosswalk, waiting as he shrugged his shoulders up to shield his neck from the bitter cold. Still, the city was beautiful at this time of year, snow covered the ground in a white sheet, glittering lights flooded the streets in a warm glow, and people bustled about amidst the holiday rush. Just as the light turned and it was safe to cross, his thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain on his forearm. He hissed and winced. Bystander’s cocked a brow at his sudden movements but quickly moved on as they passed him to the other side of the street.

“What the hell?” he spoke lowly to himself. He quickly pulled his sleeve up to inspect the source of the stinging sensation only to find four small numbers inked into his skin:

11:11

Jaehyun stared at the numbers with his mouth agape. Only a very small amount of the population actually got tattoos, and he never thought he would be one of them. He quickly shoved his sleeve back down his arm in a mix of panic and butterflies in this stomach. He looked around him and made eye contact with an old woman who seemed to have noticed his situation. She offered him a fond smile and said: “You’re lucky, young man. No everyone has a love like that in their lifetime,” before walking off. 

Jaehyun stayed glued to his spot for a few more moments, still processing what had just occurred. Finally snapping out of his shock, he continued his trek home. 

“Holy shit, bro. Congratulations, that’s amazing!” His roommate Mark gushed when he learned of Jaehyun’s tattoo. That’s when Jungwoo’s head suddenly poked out from around the corner. “Wait-what?” he ran over, “Is that what I think it is?!” Jungwoo hopped excitedly. “Yeah. I think so,” Jaehyun murmured  shyly, “Can you guys keep it down? I don’t need everyone making a big deal about it.” He said keeping his eyes downcast as he felt the tips of his ears burn, something that always happened when he was embarrassed. 

“It’s cool, we’ll keep it on the down low,” Mark comforted him. “You don’t seem at all excited though,” Jaehyun sighed. “I am- but I’m also not- ugh,” he paused feeling frustrated, “I was always afraid of this happening to me because I don’t think I can handle the stress, the constant anticipation of meeting this fated person just freaks me out,” Mark nodded and spoke after a moment. “I get it, that sounds nerve racking as hell, but you gotta remember this person is your soulmate-thats the beauty of it. There’s no need to worry about them not loving you back.” 

Mark’s words surprisingly soothed Jaehyun, sometimes his younger friend could be so wise beyond his years. “Thanks, Mark,” He said with a smile. 

Jaehyun stared at the ceiling from his bed for what felt like hours. He groaned and turned over at his racing thoughts and how they refuse to let him sleep. After hours of pacing, sorting through vinyls and playing random songs on the keyboard he finally felt his eyes growing heavy. He slumped down onto his bed with a loud exhale. He laid on his stomach with his head turned to the side on his pillow. He stared ahead at the wall before letting his eyes finally close. 

It was daylight, as far as he could tell, but time moved like everything was underwater. For some reason the cafe was bathed in a warm light, you could see the dust shimmering in the sunbeams that streamed through the glass walls. There was quite a number of people in there, he turned his head from where he stood to see someone sitting at a table in the far corner, typing away on a laptop. As if they could feel his stare, their eyes flicked up to meet Jaehyuns in a way that made his heart screech to a halt. 

He flew up to a sitting position in his bed, feeling jolted out of his sleep. It was light out, he turned to look at the clock and felt a chill run up his spine.

11:11 am 

Those eyes. Their image stayed so clearly in his mind. His dreams were usually never this vivid. His heart continued to pound in his chest, the fluttering feeling in his belly still lingered from locking eyes with the stranger- even if it was a dream. Jaehyun quickly snatched his phone from his nightstand and quickly searched for any info he could find on soulmates to ease his conscience. 

“....soulmate bonds vary by case. However, most soulmates have reported having frequent vivid dreams that intensify as the date of their meeting gets closer.” 

His heart leapt into his throat. How soon? Was the dream a glimpse into the future, or just his imagination? He regretted looking it up, it only made the feeling of anxiety intensify. Why was he so damn nervous? It’s not like he’s not used to getting attention from people, he’s had many people be interested in him before. Dating was never hard for him and he considered himself a pretty easygoing guy, but why was this making him feel so...exposed? 

Weeks went by and Jaehyun looked like he had just committed first-degree murder by the was he was constantly looking over his shoulder and fidgeting around. “Dude, calm down,” Johnny said as they sat in the cafe. Johnny was filming for his youtube channel and asked Jaehyun to come along with him for the day. “You’re making me nervous,” He said as Jaehyun restlessly bounced his leg. “I feel like I’m about to lose my sanity, man,” Jaehyun said, “I don’t know why this scares me so much.” 

Johnny was one of his closest friends, and also the only other person he knew with a soulmate tattoo. “The reason is scares you so much is because it feels different from anything else you have experienced with anyone else,” Johnny stated casually, “Your connection to them isn’t like any other- you feel extremely vulnerable feeling so imitate with them and you haven’t even met them yet.” 

Jaehyun took in Johnny’s words- he was right as usual. “Besides, you of all people barely let anyone in that mysterious head of yours,” He added with a sly smile. “Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Jaehyun admitted reluctantly with his arms crossed. “I know I am,” Johnny chided with his signature wink. Jaehyun rolled his eyes with an amused smile. 

“I gotta pee,” Jaehyun said standing up. Johnny hummed in acknowledgment as he stared at his phone. 

The keys clattered under your fingertips as you cranked out your last essay of the semester. You hated working in your dorm room because of your roommate, so you always came to this cafe around the corner. Your usual spot in the corner was cozy and closed off from the buzzing of the crowd. You reached for your coffee to take a sip and caught a glimpse of the numbers on your forearm. They had appeared almost a month ago and you had been having strange dreams ever since. All you could remember from them was a pair of eyes- they haunted you. You decided to shove the intrusive though away and go back to typing, only to be interrupted a few moments later by a strange chill running up your spine. You stopped mid-sentence and froze, it felt like you were being watched. Your eyes snapped up and the wind was snatched from your lungs. 

It was him. You recognized the eyes immediately, but you weren’t prepared from the rest. Slicked back, dark hair with a few strands that hung loosely over his eyes. His skin was like porcelain, not a flaw in sight. An oversized sweater that hung on his broad shoulders, with some jeans and a pair of black converse. Dear god, he was gorgeous. 

You couldn’t help grin like an idiot, it felt like you just got slapped silly. Then it hit you- you looked over at the clock on the wall, and the handsome stranger followed your gaze. 

11:11 am

You looked back at him to meet his eyes. Then he smiled, and his face changed from his intimidating beauty to the most adorable, dimpled smile you’d ever seen. He started towards you and every nerve in your body was screaming with nervous excitement. He stopped in front of your table and reached out his hand. 

“Hey, I’m Jaehyun,” he said reaching out his hand. “I’ve been looking for you.” 

“Took you long enough,” you joked, taking his hand. “I’m y/n.” 

[succulent-leaf]

new Elfscape pages ~

[booksandkawa]

Starting to read this book felt like starting to chew a fresh sweet chewing gum, full of taste and you don’t want to stop. Then, more than halfway through its 620 pages, I felt the taste to fade a little. The novel transports the reader from the 1968 protests to the 2008 financial crisis and mostly the personal story of a son abandoned by his mother and all the (family) secrets and stories that lay beneath that. I liked how the different stories, times and perspectives were intertwined but was wondering how the writer will end such a great and complicated story. Well, regarding the complexity of the story, the end felt a little too short and too easy. I still enjoyed it but was somehow expecting more. And Nathan Hill’s description of details sometimes became too much. While I just praised Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for her detailed writing and how it brought the story to life, here I felt like it sometimes just was a little too much - at least for the second half of the story. And yes, the Elfscape metaphor could have been a lot shorter. I think during those pages I had to put down the book several times. Overall it was a pleasant read, not my favorite though. My girlfriend read the book simultaneously, she’s not finished yet but I’ll add her opinion later :)

[bookloversnevergotobedalone-blog]

Another Satirical Novel - The Nix by Nathan Hill

Continuing our April theme of satirical novels, the second discussion is of Nathan Hill's debut novel The Nix.

In preparing for the discussion I have gathered the following material to enhance our discussion.

Nathan Hill is a 40 year old author, currently residing in Naples, Florida. He was born and grew up in the Midwest.  He knew from an early age that he wanted to be a writer. He has been compared to the likes of Pynchon, Dickens, John Irving, Donna Tartt, Michael Chabon, Tom Wolfe, Jonathan Franzen and David Foster Wallace.

""This book is something special: sage and sad and spectacular. This is a book about how the choices you make, and those made for you, shape the lovely, hopeful tragedy of your life.""  -- Book Riot

The Nix will be adapted into a television series starring and produced by Meryl Streep with JJ Abrams  for Warner Bros Television.

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think that the author chose to call his novel The Nix? What is a Nix according to folklore? How does the Nix function symbolically within the novel and which major themes of the novel does it help to facilitate or uncover? Who in the story believes himself or herself to be a Nix and why? Do you agree with that person? Why or why not?

2. At the beginning of the story, Faye reveals that she believes the things a person loves the most will ultimately hurt them the worst. Which events in her life may have caused her to adopt this point of view? Does the rest of the book seem to support this view of love or overturn it? Does Faye ever change her mind about this? Does her son, Samuel, share her view of love? Discuss.

3. Why does Faye leave her son, Samuel, and her husband? How does Samuel react to her departure, and what impact does this abandonment have on his life and development? What is it like when the two reunite? How does their relationship change over the course of the book, and what causes these changes? Do either of the characters seem to achieve catharsis? If so, how?

4. How do Faye’s parents react when she is accepted at the University of Illinois’s new Chicago Circle campus and tells them that she wants to attend? Why do you think that they have this reaction? How does Faye herself seem to feel about the prospect of leaving home? What helps her to make the final decision to go to Chicago, and why does her father tell her to never come back? Why do you think Faye refrains from addressing the misunderstanding that has caused so much strife between her and her parents?

5. Evaluate the treatment of women in the book. What kinds of experiences do the female characters share? How are they treated by the male? What do the men in the book think women should be like? Do the women meet these expectations or defy them? Explain. In the sections set in the 1960s and ’70s, how does feminism seem to impact the way that the women are perceived by those around them? How do they respond to these expectations and stereotypes? Is Faye’s experience similar to the experiences of the other women or very different? Discuss.

6. Compare and contrast the parent-child relationships in the book. How does Samuel and Faye’s relationship compare to Faye’s own relationship with her father, Frank? How well does each child know his or her parent? What prevents them from knowing this parent better? How do the relationships change over time, and what causes these changes? When considered together, what do these relationships suggest about the nature of the parent-child relationship in generals? Explain.

7. Evaluate the treatment of technology in the book. Is technology portrayed as a positive invention or a negative one? How does the characters’ use of technology affect their communication, their daily lives, and their development as people? Why are Samuel and Pwange especially addicted to Elfscape, and why does Pwange believe that Elfscape is more meaningful than the real world? What function or purpose does the game serve in their lives? What might this relationship reveal about contemporary life?

8. Consider the theme of the relationship between storytelling and point of view. What does the treatment of Faye’s story in the press reveal about this topic? Does the press, as depicted in the novel, provide fair and unbiased accounts of the news they report? What does the book also suggest about the publishing industry? Are the stories that each of the characters tells truthful and reliable? What does this information reveal about how we should approach storytelling as both storytellers and readers/listeners? Does the book ultimately suggest how we can best determine whether or not a source is reliable and a story is true?

9. Explore the motif of secrets. What are some of the secrets that the characters keep? Why do they keep these things secret? Do any of the characters ever reveal their secrets? If so, what is the outcome, and how are these secrets received? What do the responses to these reveals suggest about our fears of being known completely?

10. In the Choose-Your-Own-Adventure portion of the book, what choice does Samuel make when Bethany asks him if he can help her avoid her upcoming nuptials and invites him into her bedroom? Why does he make this choice? Do you believe it was the right choice? Why or why not? After some time passes, how does Samuel come to view his decision in that moment?

11. Evaluate the theme of shame. What causes the various characters in the novel to feel shame? How does the prevalence of this feeling impact their lives, the people they become, and the life choices they make? Do any of the characters overcome their feelings of shame? If so, how do they accomplish this?

12. Consider the portrayal of suburban middle-class living in the novel. How did industry affect and shape American life? What clues can we find in descriptions of the landscape? Does the book suggest whether industry provided a happier or better existence for families? For instance, is Frank living a better life because of his willingness to leave his home in Norway? What would you say the novel ultimately suggests about progress and the American dream?

13. What kinds of stories does Frank share with his daughter, Faye, as she is growing up? What effect do these stories have on her? Why do you think that she chooses to share these tales with her own son? What seems to be the purpose of telling these stories? What lessons or messages do the stories contain?

14. When Faye reaches Norway, how does what she finds compare to what her father had shared with her about his home and his past? Who is Freya, and how does Faye’s knowledge of who Freya is affect the way that she relates to and understands her father? How does the trip to Norway ultimately affect Faye’s relationship with her father and with Samuel?

15. Many of the characters in the book engage in some type of art. What role or purpose does art seem to fulfill in their lives? Why does Samuel decide to become a novelist? What does he hope that his book The Nix will achieve?

16. Evaluate the theme and motif of protest. In addition to the protests that Faye takes part in as a young woman, Samuel attends a protest with Bethany and serves as a witness to other protests. What are some of the causes that the characters protest? What happens at the protests? Are they successful? What do you think Walter Cronkite meant when he observes that maybe the story isn’t the people protesting but the people who are not? Does the book ultimately portray protest as a valuable pursuit or a futile one? What seems to be the purpose of protest? Discuss.

17. Why does Judge Charlie Brown take on the case against Faye? How do the two know each other? Does Judge Brown get the outcome he desires? Why or why not? What does Brown’s character suggest about fairness and justice in the world?

18. Who is Sebastian? How does Faye meet Sebastian, and why is she initially drawn to him? What is her reaction to the revelation of his true identity? What does Faye recognize as their common bond?

19. Consider the collective view of America that the novel offers. What does this America look like? Would you say that is an accurate portrayal? Why or why not? How does the author use comedy and the absurd to pose truths about the cultural and political landscape? Alternatively, how does he employ elements of tragedy to accomplish this? Does one method seem to be more successful in accomplishing this than the other? Explain.

20. In addition to the story of the Nix, another recurring tale in the novel is the parable of the elephant. What is the lesson in this parable, and what does it reveal about the true self? How might this message or way of looking at things shape your own understanding of and response to the characters in the book?

21. At the end of the book, Faye thinks: “Something does not have to happen for it to feel real” (581). What do you think she means by this? What might her statement suggest about the past, memory, imagination, and regret?

A Nix can take many forms. In Norwegian folklore, it is a spirit who sometimes appears as a white horse that steals children away. In this novel it refers to anything you love that one day disappears, taking with it a piece of your heart.

Authors Website - Nathanhill.net

Reviews

'The Nix' Is A Vicious, Sprawling Satire With A Very Human Heart by Jason Sheehan, NPR.org

‘The Nix’ Is the Love Child of Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace by Teddy Wayne, New York Times

Nathan Hill Is Compared to John Irving. Irving Compares Him to Dickens by Alexandra Alter, New York Times

"pwn·age /pōnij/ Pure Ownage, (especially in video gaming) the action or fact of utterly defeating an opponent or rival. "

Interviews

Nathan Hill on The Nix, Satirizing the Media, and Capturing the Absurdity of America in Fiction By Hal Conick, Slate.com

Nathan Hill in Conversation with John Irving,  at the International Festival of Authors

Essays by Nathan Hill

Playing Dungeons & Dragons Alone by Nathan Hill, Powells.com

Havoc & Squirm: Nathan Hill’s Favorite Funny Reading by Nathan Hill, Barnes and Noble Review

Some of Nathan Hill's Favorite Books