#if I could kill James Tartt I would | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

devotioncrater · 1 year

Note

idk how that WIP fmk ask game works but i’d be curious to hear ur thoughts on any ted lasso wips you have !

HELL yes tysm!! i LOVE talking abt WIPs

fuck - the story you just want to read instead of having to write it yourself

i have the outline done for a tedtrent western film AU inspired by a convo with @stevecarrington @tomlinfonda and @larkin21 !!

the fic is set in the 60s, right as the western genre is going out of style. rebecca owns a film studio (richmond studios) in hollywood, and wants to blow up its reputation to get back at rupert. so she has higgins cast ted, a high school drama teacher from kansas, to star in an upcoming western film. she then personally hires trent, an established director well-known for being a cold-hearted bitch to work with, to direct the movie. the film itself is risky, as it subverts cornerstones of the western genre. this is the film's synopsis:

Mason "Badlands" Morris (Theodore Lasso) is a lone cowboy rider hired for a job he don't normally do: escort a Miss Josephine Fairfax (Keeley Jones) from Kansas all the way to California so she can reunite with her beau Jack (Jamie Tartt). To ensure no untowardness, her uncle Ezra (Roy Kent) accompanies them, himself desperate for a change. Over the course of 14 days during the spring of 1856, the trio face unexpected challenges and uncover secrets which would best be left buried.

the fic spans from the first initial table read all the way to release day. shenanigans and unlikely romances ensue. i have everything for this SO clearly mapped in my head and on paper, but i know it's going to be a massive undertaking putting it into words. so if i could just...read it instead that'd be amazin LMAO

marry - the story you're obsessed with writing and never want to stop working on or thinking about

break me, shake me, devastate me (come here baby) is one i cannot stop writing/thinking about. the second and final chapter for it is going to be at minimum 7k words long because i keep adding more details in or reworking scenes. especially since the james lance interview dropped and we got more trent lore. the flipside to this is that i'm chewing my nails, sweating over the fact i haven't updated in 12 days. i deadass tried to update this past sunday but!! no!! it didn't feel complete yet. so hopefully this weekend it'll happen

grief and longing are my favorite themes to write about, which this fic explores. i have a playlist titled "grieving" that i made purely to listen to while writing this fic.

kill - the story you're most frustrated with and would rather just put it in the trash (or a high shelf somewhere to forget about for a long time)

i've kind of already done this, but there's a royjamie fic i'm bashing my head against the wall about. i got inspired by AURORA's songs "forgotten love" and "soft universe", specifically the lyrics:

You are the reason I can dance Within a fire of goodbyes, of goodbyes I can lie in a dark room without the feeling that I'm lonely

and

My body falls off the side of her bed And now I know what love feels like Don't let me turn into pain All of this is loveliness Chaos came, we laid our head Down on the feather cotton bed You find a heart and catch your breath Let the universe go red Speak to me, speak to me With love in your words Make for me, make for me A soft universe

basically the fic is about different times roy and jamie sleep together in the same bed. it explores their unspoken codependency and the soft intimacy they share underneath their weird dynamic. the reason i'm frustrated is that i cannot seem to find a good enough explanation for why they start sharing a bed LMAO

currently i have something inspired by the fonda/redford film Our Souls At Night, where jamie shows up at roy's door one night and is like "i can't sleep, mate. i miss having a person next to me."

we'll see though. maybe i'll find motivation for the fic again

#thank you for the ask!!!!!

10 notes · View notes

jvstheworld · 7 months

Text

My Ted Lasso Re-watch: S1E10

The Hope That Kills You: Jamie Tartt and his 'dad'

So in my post yesterday I said I wanted to focus on this specifically and that's what I'm doing.

Trigger/Content warning for abuse.

Jamie has suffered abuse from his father since he was a child. Football was the reason he came back into his son's life and his overbearing and controlling ways forced Jamie to be the person he is now. He wanted his dad to stop calling him soft, so he made himself a prick so people would think he is tough. In reality, Jamie was never soft, he was a child, growing up, playing a game that he loved because his mum wanted him to be happy.

In season 1 Jamie is supposed to be 23 years old. His dad showed back up in his life when he showed talent, and used him to brag to people. Because let's face it, James Tartt Snr has not done a damn good thing in his life. His claim to fame is his son. Nothing he has actually done himself, but what Jamie is capable of doing. He didn't show up to support his, we wanted a trophy. He wanted everyone to see him a 'good dad' because Jamie was achieving. And to keep up that appearance, he abused his son. He continued to do so until Jamie fought back in season 2. This time it suck because Jamie had Roy.

For 10+ years, Jamie suffered ridicule, mental, emotional, and physical abuse at the hands of his own father. It caused him to dissociate when he was being yelled at, as we see in this episode and in the episode where Ted shouts at him. While Ted isn't his father and has no intention of hurting him, Jamie's response is to try and protect himself, by shutting down and making himself small. Making himself less of a target. Tartt Snr, in the other hand, wouldn't hesitate to hurt Jamie if it got his point across. In the scene we see in this episode, Jamie already started to dissociate, but Tratt Snr threw the boot to bring Jamie's attention back. But it was very close to hitting Jamie, even if it wasn't his intention. But it doesn't matter if it was his intention or not, he was trying to scare his son into acting a certain way. It's still abuse. And he goes on to shove Jamie's head down, forcefully. It's still abuse.

Now, the thing that people like to discuss is Ted's actions. He saw what went down and left. And Jamie saw that. People like to say that he should have done something to help Jamie. But the what could he have done? Reasonably and honestly, what could Ted have done?

I think people sometimes forget is that if you don't have an exit strategy ready for a victim of abuse, it's not going to help. It will make things worse. Sure, Ted could go in and try to stop what was going on, but Tartt Snr clearly has no problems using violence, and it would get Ted hurt too, because Ted isn't one to fight. And it will then make things worse for Jamie later. When watching the show back, knowing what happens to Coach Beard in 'Beard's Night Out' and he comes across Tartt Snr and his two friends, Beard gets the shit kicked out of him. And he only threw Tartt Snr out of the locker room. For that one small act, Beard got beaten up. You don't think the same or worse could happen to Ted if he walked in?

It's very easy to say, 'Oh, I'd do something if I saw it' but we don't. When we actually see it happen, majority of us freeze up and don't know how to react, because we're in an unfamiliar situation and we don't know how to handle it. We can't say for sure that when Ted was a coach in Kansas that he saw something like this happen. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't. If he did, then he might know not to intervene until a way out was planned. If he didn't, then how would he know what to do? But he did what most people, regretfully, would do. He walked away.

That's the sad fact of the world. When abuse happens, people can't act or won't act to help. Because it's not our place, it's not our business. Ted's reaction was normal. And I think that's what annoys a lot of people. Because when we hear about stories of abuse, we think of what could be done. And it's so much easier to do that when you're on the outside looking in. Hindsight is a wonderful if you don't have to go through this. But when actually faced with it, would you really be able to help?

All I'm saying is that Ted's actions are true to life. We wish, as viewers, for him to do more because he's the good guy. But, he's more realistic than we give him credit for. And in that moment he was.

Luckily, Jamie does get away from his 'dad' and manages to start undoing the damage that was done to him. He starts living and playing football for himself again. To make his mum proud of him. And that's amazing. Jamie deserves to be happy and live free from that abuse. His mum got out and is now happily married to a wonderful man who loves to bake. She found her happiness away from her abusive ex (because I would not put it past Tartt Snr to be abusive towards her while they were together). Jamie needs to find his own version of happiness away from his dad. This time with support from the people around him, which eventually becomes the A.F.C Richmond team, but more importantly Roy and Keeley.

Now, that scene in the last episode, I will have more thoughts about when I get there. Because I will have more thoughts about the locker room scene in season 2 and the 'thank you, fuck you' bit when Jamie talks to Ted in season 3. I will talk about it when I get there. For now, this is all I can say. I have no idea if any of this makes sense to anyone but me, feel free to tell me it doesn't and where abouts, ask me questions, leave comments, all that stuff. But right now, at the time of writing, that's where my head is at. So I'll leave it here.

#ted lasso #jamie tarrt #james tartt sr #jamie tartt deserved a better father than that piece of shit #fuck jamie’s dad #tw abuse #cw abuse #ted lasso rewatch #tv show thoughts

0 notes

aion-rsa · 3 years

Text

How Ted Lasso Sneakily Crafted its Empire Strikes Back Season

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

This article contains Ted Lasso spoilers through season 2 episode 8.

Perhaps you’ve heard, but Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso was the subject of some dreaded Discourse recently.

Since the Internet is infinite and we privileged few in the media have nothing but time, a handful of features came out weeks ago essentially questioning what Ted Lasso season 2 was even all about. Many of these features were well-written, well-argued, and fair, but when filtered through Twitter’s anti-nuance machine (i.e. Twitter itself), every feature boiled down to the same reductive take: Ted Lasso season 2 doesn’t have a conflict.

In some respects, this take was the inevitable reaction to the metanarrative surrounding Ted Lasso in the first place. Despite drawing its inspiration from a series of somewhat cynical NBC Sports Premier League commercials, the first season of Ted Lasso was all about the transformative power of kindness.

Or at least that’s what we critics declared it to be. And I don’t blame us. Awash in a flood of screeners about antiheroes, dystopias, and the end of the world, the simple kindness of Ted Lasso seemed revolutionary. They made a TV show about a guy who is…nice? They can do that? But the inherent goodness of its lead character was always Ted Lasso’s elevator pitch, not its thesis.

There’s been a darkness at the center of Ted Lasso since its very first moment, when an American man got on a flight to London in a doomed attempt to save his marriage. And, as season 2’s brilliant eighth episode rolls around, it’s become clear that that darkness is what the show has really been “about” this whole time.

Season 2 episode 8 “Man City” (the title is referring to AFC Richmond’s FA Cup match against opponent Manchester City but also stealthily reveals that this installment will be all about men and their respective traumas) is quite simply the best episode of Ted Lasso yet. It also might be the best episode of television this year. Near the episode’s end, right before AFC Richmond plays a crucial FA Cup match against the mighty Manchester City, coach Ted Lasso (Jason Sudeikis) finally comes clean with his coaching staff. He’s been suffering from panic attacks of late. His assistant coaches hear him, accept him, and then head off to the pitch where Man City absolutely obliterates their team.

Man City destroys AFC Richmond. They annihilate them. Embarrass them. Stuff them into a locker and steal their lunch money. The final score is 4-0 but it might as well be 400-0. The coaching staff is rattled but the players are hit even harder. Richmond’s star striker and former Man City player Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster) is forced to endure watching his scumbag father cheer for his hometown team from the Wembley Stadium stands at the expense of his son.

After the game, Jamie’s father, James (Kieran O’Brien), enters the locker room where he drunkenly accosts him for being a loser and demands that Jamie grant access to the Wembley Stadium pitch for him and his scumbag friends to run around on. When Jamie refuses, his father pushes him, so Jamie reflexively punches him right in the face. James is dragged out of the locker room by Coach Beard (Brendan Hunt), leading a stunned and traumatized Jamie Tartt standing in the middle of the room, as if in a spotlight of pure pain, surrounded by teammates too afraid to even approach him. And then something amazing happens…

Here’s the dirty secret about television: there’s a lot of it. Due to the sheer number of TV shows released each year, even the best of them are destined to become little more than memories long-term. Sometimes all you can ask from multiple episodes and seasons of television is to provide you with one moment, one line, or one warm feeling to carry with you into the future. I don’t know how much I’ll remember from Ted Lasso 30-40 years from now when I’m immobile and reclined in my floating entertainment unit, Wall-E style. But I know I’ll at least remember the moment that Roy hugs Jamie.

The great Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) – a character so disconnected from his own emotions that some fans are convinced he’s CGI – embraces the one person in the world he is least likely to embrace. As Roy and Jamie wordlessly hug, it’s hard to tell which man is more shocked by the moment. Ultimately, however, it might be Ted Lasso himself who is hit hardest. Shortly after seeing Roy play father to the younger Jamie, Ted quickly exits the locker room and calls sports psychologist Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (Sarah Niles) on his Apple TV+-apporved iPhone.

“My father killed himself when I was 16. That happened. To me and to my mom,” Ted says, weeping.

And that, my friends, is what Ted Lasso is all about. Pain. And dads. But mostly pain.

None of us can say that Ted Lasso didn’t warn us it was coming. To go back to the discourse of it all real quick – I don’t blame anyone for not picking up on the direction that this show was so clearly heading in. Ted Lasso is, first and foremost, a sitcom. The beauty of sitcoms is that you welcome them into your home to watch at your own pace and your own terms. If having Ted Lasso on in the background so you can occasionally see the handsome mustache man who smiles while you fold your laundry is the way you’ve chosen to engage with the show, then great! Just know that season 2 has been operating on a deeper level this whole time as well.

Let’s take things all the way back to the beginning – back to before season 2 even began. You’ve likely heard the old philosophical thought experiment “if a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Well Jason Sudeikis’s interviews leading up the season 2 premiere beg an equally as interesting hypothetical “how many times can one man mention The Empire Strikes Back before someone notices??”

Sudeikis referred to Ted Lasso season 2 as the show’s “Empire Strikes Back” multiple times before the premiere including in his local Kansas City Star and his technically local USA Today. The show even explicitly mentions the second Star Wars film in this season’s first episode when Richmond general manager Higgins (Jeremy Swyft) tells Ted that his kids are watching the trilogy for the first time. Sudeikis (who co-created and produces the show) and showrunner Bill Lawrence clearly want us to take the idea that Ted Lasso season 2 is The Empire Strikes Back seriously. And why would that be?

Think of how ESB differs from its two Star Wars siblings in the original trilogy. This is the story that features arguably the series most iconic moment when Luke Skywalker discovers his dad is a dick on a literal universal level. It also has the only unambiguously downer ending of any original trilogy Star Wars film. Luke is thoroughly defeated in this installment. Having one’s hand chopped off by their father and barely escaping with their life is definitely the Star Wars version of a 4-0 defeat.

The Empire Strikes Back can safely be boiled down into two concepts:

Dads are complicated.

Everything sucks.

When viewed through those two conceptual prisms, so much of Ted Lasso season 2 begins to make more sense.

Episode 1 opens with the death of a dog and then leads into a classic Ted Lasso speech that could serve as this season’s mission statemetn. After recounting the story of how he cared for his sick neighbor’s dog, Ted concludes with: “It’s funny to think about the things in your life that can make you cry knowing that they existed then become the same thing that can make you cry knowing that they’re now gone. Those things come into our lives to help us get from one place to a better one.”

Things like…a father who you didn’t have nearly enough time with? Following episode 1 (and following just about every episode this season), Bill Lawrence took to Twitter to assuage viewers’ fears about a lack of central conflict this season. He had this to say about Ted’s big speech.

Look, Merrill. It was thought out, but the speech he gives after (Written by Jason himself – I loved it) is the core of the season, but we knew some people might bum out.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 27, 2021

Sorry, truly. Ted’s speech after (which I love, but am obviously biased) is a big part of the season. But it sounds like you had a crappy thing happen recently.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 28, 2021

It’s not. But Ted’s speech has big relevance. Stick around!

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 26, 2021

He also had this to say about dads.

Effin Dads, man. Love mine so, but he’s struggling a bit.

— Bill Lawrence (@VDOOZER) July 27, 2021

“Effin dads” and our complicated relationships with them are all over Ted Lasso season 2. In the very next episode, Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) tells Ted “You know, my father says that every time you’re on TV, he’s very happy that I’m here. That I’m in safe hands with you.”

Ted smiles at this bit of info but not as warmly as you might expect. Because to Ted, a dad isn’t a reassuring presence but rather someone you love who will just leave when you need him the most. That’s why he’s been trying to be the perfect father figure this whole time. That’s why he did something as extreme as leaving his family behind in Kansas while he heads off to London. If giving his wife space was the only way to preserve the family and remain a good dad, then he was going to give her a whole ocean of space.

Moreover, Ted hasn’t just been trying to serve as a father figure to his son this whole time but to everyone else as well. Sam’s comment to Ted reminds him that not everyone has a good dad, which encourages him to bring Jamie into the fold in the first place.

As time goes on, however, the stress of being the consummate father to everyone in his orbit begins to wear on Ted. Throughout the entirety of this season, Ted Lasso appears to be trying to be Ted Lasso just a bit too hard. His energy levels are too high. His jokes go on too long. The same life lessons that worked last year aren’t working this year. AFC Richmond opens with an embarrassing streak of draws before Jamie’s immense talents set things straight.

It all culminates in this season’s sixth episode when Ted has his second panic attack in as many years. This time it’s in public during an important game. The experience sends Ted running through the concourse of the stadium until he somehow ends up in the dark on Dr. Fieldstone’s couch, instinctively, like a wounded animal.

It’s certainly no coincidence that this panic attack occurs on the same day that Ted received a call from his son’s school asking him to pick him up, not realizing that he’s an ocean away. In that moment, Ted can’t help but remember what it’s like to be left behind by his own father and subconsciously wonder if he’s doing the same.

Though the shallow waters of Ted Lasso season 2 may have appeared consequence free for half its run, beneath the surface was a tidal wave of conflict. Just because the conflict wasn’t taking place between a happy-go-lucky football coach and a villainous owner doesn’t mean it wasn’t there.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin is terrible at meeting deadlines but great at writing. According to him (and William Faulkner, from whom he borrows the quote), the only conflict worth writing about is that of the human heart with itself. That’s something that The Empire Strikes Back understood. And it’s something that Ted Lasso season 2 does as well.

The post How Ted Lasso Sneakily Crafted its Empire Strikes Back Season appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3E4eqHF

#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

1 note · View note

p-and-p-admin · 3 years

Photo

Interview given to The Severus Snape and Hermione Granger Shipping Fan Group.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/199718373383293/

Hello Lariope and welcome to Behind the Quill, it is a pleasure to talk with you.

Many of our group’s members requested you as an interview subject, but amongst more than a dozen stories in the HP universe you are probably best known for Killing Time, Second Life, and Advanced Contemporary Potion Making.

Okay, let’s jump right in. What's the story behind your pen name?

So, there's a really common plant in my area called Monkey Grass. Most people use it as landscaping filler. I thought it was pretty and asked someone who had some what it was called. She told me that it's technical name is Liriope, which I heard as Lariope. This was around the time that book 6 was released, and it struck me as a very witchy name, particularly as JKR likes flower names. Which Harry Potter character do you identify with the most? Wow. Probably Neville. I'm certainly not as brainy or as confident as Hermione, not as out-there as Luna, not as athletic as Ginny. I'm less angsty than Harry and less apt to charge off in my own direction. And I am certainly not as thoughtless as Ron, not as strict as McGonagall, not as dark as Snape. And if you've read Second Life, you know my feelings about Dumbledore! But I was someone who took some time to come into my own. Often bumbling or nervous, but when my back is to the wall, brave and honorable. So I'm going with Neville. Do you have a favourite genre to read? (not in fic, just in general)

I love fiction, but honestly, other than Harry Potter, I don't read fantasy! I tend to like "domestic" fiction, as in Anne Tyler, and literary fiction. I also really love Stephen King, oddly enough. Do you have a favourite "classic" novel?

By classic do you mean like, the literary canon, or just not fanfiction? My top five favorite novels are, in no particular order, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, It by Stephen King, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon, The Temple of Gold by William Goldman, and The Secret History by Donna Tartt. I'm not big into the classics, which is weird for an English major to say. At what age did you start writing?

I've been writing all my life. The first time I saw Stand by Me at 11 years old, I rewrote it with a new ending because I could not bear the death of Chris Chambers. I think I've always been interested in working with other people's texts. How did you get into writing fanfiction?

I loved Harry Potter so intensely. I came to it as an adult at a particularly lonely time in my life. When book 6 was released I read it all in one gulp, and then felt kind of despondent when it was over. I thought of the good old rule of the internet, that if it exists, there is porn of it, so I went looking for what I called "Potterotica," figuring that it would give me an opportunity to read more about the characters I loved. I didn't yet have a concept of fanfiction, let alone fanfiction that wasn't erotica! As I read, I had the persistent feeling that I hadn't yet found exactly the story I was looking for. I kept feeling that I would do this or that differently. Then after the release of book 7, I was tormented by the fate of Snape. I really felt I needed to save him. That I couldn't relax until he'd had some love in his life before his death. I didn't have the sense yet that I could change his fate, only that I needed him to have happiness and love before he died. I have a Master's Degree in fiction writing, so I decided to just give it a try. My first story was terrible!!! It was called If Memory Serves and was archived only on the Restricted Section. But it definitely forced me to reawaken some skills, and whetted my appetite. What's the best theme you've ever come across in a fic? Is it a theme represented in your own works?

Hm. I'm not sure how to answer this question. I know that one of the things that I respond most strongly to in fic is a feeling of inevitability--that regardless of how or when, these characters had unfinished business with each other. I hate to use the word destined... but that feeling that there were many points in canon where something minor could have changed which would have changed everything and brought two characters together--and that that could have happened at any point, in any number of ways. I like very much when canon is reimagined or reinterpreted to make that relationship deeper--like reimagining the scene where Snape insults Hermione's teeth to have a totally different meaning in the context of their relationship. I think I am remembering Somigliana's The Traveller being particularly gratifying in that way. Obviously I play with canon a lot in my own work. I like for fanfiction to feel "real" as in, possible in a canonical context. What fandoms are you involved in other than Harry Potter?

Almost none! I've been fannish all my life, but Harry Potter was the first experience I ever had of "fandoms," that is to say, community built around a narrative. I usually just freaked out over things in private. After HP, I tried very hard to get into the Sherlock fandom, because I had a dear friend from the SS/HG community who was into it, but in the end, I could just never become invested in quite the way I had with Harry Potter. Subsequently, I had children, so I mostly support their fannishness now. If you could make one change to canon, what would it be? Do you have a favourite piece of fanon?

I wish Snape could live. I really do. He had a lot left to learn and a lot left to give to the world beyond the sacrifice of his own life to the cause. There are certain things I have ultimately accepted as head canon, as far as pieces of fanon are concerned. Honestly, they are so ingrained that I'm having trouble thinking of any! Sometimes when I watch the movies with my kids, I think, but wait, what about?... oh yeah, I forgot that wasn't canon. Do you listen to music when you write or do you prefer quiet?

I need dead silence to compose, because I hear the words in my head as I write and I can't be distracted from them. But I often pick pieces of music that I listen to obsessively in my downtime when I'm writing a story, that I think of as sort of like theme songs. Falling Slowly by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova was one for Second Life. Table for Glasses by Jimmy Eat World still calls up Dark Santiago for me. What are your favourite fanfictions of all time?

Oooh. Ok. So I read a lot of Drarry, and I pretty much love everything that Sara's Girl has ever written. Somigliana's work--the Traveller was amazing. All the Best and Brightest Creatures by Wordstrings (Sherlock). I also really loved greywash's Sherlock fic. There was an SSHG that has been long since removed that was called Dear January--I still think of it. I loved all the epics of my particular time in the SSHG fandom. Mia Madwyn, Subversa, Loten. Are you a plotter or a pantser? How does that affect your writing process?

Definitely a plotter. I kept pages and pages of working notes and planning points as I was writing Second Life. I always began a chapter with a working document of where I thought the chapter was going, as well as a reread of that portion of canon. Points of discovery along the way still happened all the time--I'd be in the midst of something I had planned when all of a sudden I'd see some point of connection I hadn't even thought of, and something would open up bigger than I had thought it would be. I remember in particular the end of the Bathilda Bagshot chapter of Second Life, when Snape is running toward James and Lily's house and feeling like time is doubling back on itself--I didn't see that parallel until I was in it. I think you always have to have room to surprise yourself, even in the thick of your planning. That sense of discovery affects the reader's journey through your work. What is your writing genre of choice?

Haha, fanfiction is my writing genre of choice. No, I wrote short stories when I was pursuing my degree in fiction, which is kind of hilarious now, as I became sort of known for my long-windedness. Why say 100 words when 10,000 would do? I grew to love the novel during my time in fanfiction. It would be hard to imagine turning back to a shorter form now. But who knows. I always tell myself that once the children are grown I will get back to writing. I was beginning a sort of cross between fantasy and domestic fiction when I had children and I still think the idea has legs. Which of your stories are you most proud of? Why?

Oh, different ones for different reasons. I think Dark Santiago is the most structurally tight and sound thing I've ever done. Second Life is like a miracle that it even happened, that I was able to control such a behemoth and bring it home. I was terrified the whole way. And weirdly, there's a drabble series that is called The Sins of Severus Snape that I am still really proud of. I think of those like linked poems. A real exercise in being concise for someone who likes to sprawl all over the page. Did it unfold as you imagined it or did you find the unexpected cropped up as you wrote? What did you learn from writing it?

I think I've pretty much covered those questions in all my ramblings. I knew the general structure, I was happily surprised along the way, and I learned to write novels from writing fanfiction, Second Life in particular. How personal is the story to you, and do you think that made it harder or easier to write?

There's not a lot of personal parts of the story to me in Second Life. I mean, every character is drawn from me, in a way, just because they come into being informed with my way of looking at and understanding the world and other people. But there isn't a lot in there that echoes my experience. Advanced Contemporary Potion Making was personal, and I think you can feel that in the story. It takes the biggest step away from canon. It wasn't hard to write, but it was hard to live. And now, as I look back, I have a different perspective on my life and on the story itself than I did at the time that I wrote it. What books or authors have influenced you? How do you think that shows in your writing?

Oh man, Stephen King is all over my writing. I don't think I've ever written a sex scene that didn't have a grain of that scene in the sewers of It inside it. Not because of the child thing--I know that skeeves people out about that scene--but because in it, Beverly discovers the power of sex--sex as a force, a life-giving force, something with teeth. I think that idea shows up a lot in Second Life. I like fiction in which you are very much inside the character's heads, and I think that's apparent in my writing. I think I got that initially from Stephen King, who leaps around inside his different character's heads sometimes in the same paragraph! I also think the theme of unending loyalty, the power of friendship, the triumph of good over evil--those are very Kingian themes that I recognized in Potter and then carried into my own writing. Do people in your everyday life know you write fanfiction?

Yes. That wasn't always the case. During the time that I was active in the fandom, I was a young elementary school teacher, and I dreaded anyone finding out that I wrote sex scenes with children's book characters. I was very private about my fanfic then, and even a few of my closest real life people did not know. My parents still do not know. My children are teenagers now and into fanfiction in their own right; they know I wrote it, but they don't know my ship or my pen name. My husband has read most of Second Life. I recently started a new job, and during one of those "get to know you" games, I was asked to share something that other people wouldn't guess about me. I said that I had once been a fanfiction writer. How true for you is the notion of "writing for yourself"?

Mmm. I wrote the stories I wanted to read. Do you know what I mean? I wrote things because that's how I wanted to see them, how I wished they were, and I wrote to my own preferences. But writing in real time, for people who were actually reading and responding--that was crucial to the process. My biggest fear during the writing of Second Life was that I wouldn't finish it, or that I would lose control of it and it would become crap. "Breaking the story," I used to say, and I was terrified of breaking the story. But the fact that there were people experiencing it with me and waiting for it, reacting to it, and giving insightful feedback--that helped keep me very focused and motivated. I never wrote something because I thought it would be appealing to others, but I was so gratified that what I wrote did appeal to others. How important is it for you to interact with your audience? How do you engage with them? Just at the point of publishing? Through social media?

I had a LiveJournal and although I was not a frequent poster, I read my friends list every day during that time. I read what everyone else was reading and talked about the stories and themes that everyone else was talking about. I made a number very close friends during that time--other authors, people who were reading my stories and commenting. We talked on the phone frequently, and I had a team of beta readers. I went to conventions. I participated in the ss/hg exchange. A lot of those people were my audience, were reading my stories. And many of them became my good friends. I had a policy to answer all reviews when I was writing Second Life, and I did that until I was unable to do it anymore. When I had multiple stories it got much harder. That community changed a lot toward the end of my time in it. People were leaving LiveJournal, and Tumblr was on the rise, which felt like a much bigger pond. AO3 was replacing the smaller archives on which I had really grown as a writer. And once the movies were over and there was no more "fresh canon," people started to drift away. I do think that I might have lasted longer if that tight knit community had stayed in place. It played a big role in my commitment to my work and continued enthusiasm. As a side note, one of the friends I made in the SS/HG community is still my best friend. She is the "aunt" to my children, and we still talk on the phone weekly and visit at least yearly. What is the best advice you've received about writing?

If you want to write, then write. Make a routine. Write a certain number of words a day. Read them out loud to yourself. You'll hear your own bad habits and improve them.

What do you do when you hit writer's block?

If I'm already in a project, I will force myself to write a certain number of words per day. I will hold a scene that I'm longing to write out in front of myself like a carrot. Like, if you write this transition part that feels yucky and like you are stuck in it, then you can write the big reunion scene that you know is coming. If I'm not in a project... well, then I don't get through it. I just don't start a new project. If I need to write a story, as I did during graduate school or during the ss/hg exchange--I would do this thing one of my professors suggested--pick three headlines, words or ideas that have interested you over time and force them into the same story. Dark Santiago was that way. I had the prompt of fortune telling. I added an idea about the way magic works for muggleborns and the ocean town where I was living. Voila: Dark Santiago. Has anything in real life trickled down into your writing?

I'm sure it has in ways I can't even see. I remember once talking to a friend on the phone about Second Life as I was writing it, and she pointed out that the fact that I'm a Quaker was informing the story--like my own perspective on war and the horrors of violence were bleeding into the the kind of philosophy of Second Life. Do you have any stories in the works? Can you give us a teaser?

I don't. I wish I did! I often miss my time in fandom, the spirit of creativity and community, all those ideas just bubbling out in every direction. Any words of encouragement to other writers?

I don't believe that the end goal of fanfiction is to become a published writer, just as I don't think every guitarist has to have the goal of selling out a stadium, or every golfer has to want to compete in the Masters. I think you can love a thing without making it your livelihood. You become a "real" author the minute someone else reads a story that you wrote. Many of you reading this right now are people who made me an author. It is, as Stephen King once wrote, a kind of telepathy. I thought of something once, in 2008, in the southeast of the US, and you can read it right now wherever you are, and experience the thoughts and feelings I was dreaming up then. It's a wonderful gift, writing. And working among people who are dedicated to improving their craft and talking about stories and ideas--that is just the very best ground for making something that makes YOU proud. Thanks so much for giving us your time.

Thank you! I am really honored to be asked

#fanfiction #fanfic #ss/hg #snamione #writing

5 notes · View notes

iwritefanfictionsometimes · 4 years

Text

still growing up now

for @curlymcclain (and myself bc I’m nothing if not selfish)

AO3

Chapters: 1/1

The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Theodore Decker/Boris Pavlikovsky

Characters: Theodore Decker, Boris Pavlikovsky, James "Hobie" Hobart

Additional Tags: Someone You Meet at the Wrong Time Then Re-meet at the Right One, Post-Canon, Open Ending, Kinda, Fluff, Theo sorts out his emotions, Healing

Summary: It’s been six months since Amsterdam, six months since I’ve been home for any significant period of time and, six months since I last saw Boris. Maybe after not seeing him for eight years, six months should seem like nothing, but with the new clarity of my sobriety and the strange knowledge in the back of my mind that I would kill for Boris it's harder to ignore the pull in my chest when I think of Boris’ curls and the smile in the corner of his mouth when he’s about to do something definitely stupid and possibly illegal.

----

or, the birthday fic

It’s been six months since Amsterdam, six months since I’ve been home for any significant period of time and, six months since I last saw Boris. Maybe after not seeing him for eight years, six months should seem like nothing, but with the new clarity of my sobriety and the strange knowledge in the back of my mind that I would kill for Boris it’s harder to ignore the pull in my chest when I think of Boris’ curls and the smile in the corner of his mouth when he’s about to do something definitely stupid and possibly illegal.

I’m home now, possibly for good. All the Changelings I can remember selling have been bought back, I’ve righted my wrongs. Or at least, most of them. There’s still the wide and horrible divide between me and Kitsey that I don’t think will ever be repaired. It hadn’t broken her heart when I’d called off the engagement, but it had ruined what stability her family had built. I'm not surprised she can’t forgive me for that. I don’t let myself think of what questions I have that continue to go unanswered.

Popper barely moves when I open the door, I think it’s a wonder he’s still alive. I kept thinking I would get a call in the middle of Europe telling me I needed to come home right away. But it never came. I can’t help but remember the way he’d screamed and jumped around when Boris walked in with me only six months ago. But he’s always liked Boris better.

Hobie appears in the doorway to the basement. He looks more tired then I can remember since I showed up at his door unexpectedly after Vegas. It’s not a good look. I want him to smile again like he did while business was doing well. He watches me silently as I drop my bags in the entranceway. I stand there unsurely for a moment —it’s not a familiar feeling— before he sighs and opens his arms. I’m not used to this, even from him, but the hug is good. It means I’m forgiven.

“Go get cleaned up, Theo, I have to run out for a moment,” Hobie says gruffly once we let go.

“Oh,” I say awkwardly, “I was just stopping to see you and get some of my clothes.”

Hobie frowns at me.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d be welcome here. And anyway, I thought it was time to start fresh.”

“What are you talking about, Theo?”

“I’ve rented a place, an apartment, it’s not far but I thought I should give you some time.”

Hobie looks sad for a moment and he puts a hand on my shoulder.

“I was never that mad, you know you are welcome to stay,” he tells me gently.

I don’t know how to explain that this was as much for me as it was for him. I am, after all, a selfish creature. Very few things in my life have been done without any regard for my personal gain.

I nod instead of trying to explain everything to him. He studies my face for a moment and then pulls away. “Tell me where your apartment is,” he says while putting his coat on, “I’ll bring over some things I’ve been meaning to give you tomorrow.”

Again, I nod. There isn’t really anything I feel I can say. He’s out the door with one last searching look and a flap of his coat. The lightness with which he moves still surprises me.

I stand there for a moment, both at the bottom and the top of the stairs, before I shake my head and take my first step up to my room. Or I guess my old room.

It takes longer then I thought it would to pack a suitcase. My room is a maze that my sober self doesn’t know how to navigate. Inevitably I end up standing in the doorway with a suitcase beside me and my home for the last nine years looking nearly as bare as it was when I first came. I only look at it for a second before leaving. I don’t put a name to the churning in my stomach.

Boris is at my apartment. I stop halfway down the hallway, and my heart beats a frantic rhythm in my chest. He makes no sense in this hallway. Again, he is a magazine page torn from other chapters of my life. He looks so normal it’s strange, wearing a too-big t-shirt and jeans he looks like any boy waiting outside their friend’s apartment. He looks up when he hears my footsteps stop. There is the startling reality of his face, the paleness of his skin and then how dark his hair is against it, the sharp angles of his jaw and cheekbones. There’s a tentative smile in the corner of his mouth, not enough to crinkle his eyes but it’s there.

“Potter,” he says, like this is normal.

I would ask him how he knew where I was, but I didn’t really want to know.

“What are you doing here?” I sound more rude then I had intended, but Boris knows me well enough not to be offended.

He smiles a real smile then. My feet carry me over to him without a thought.

“Do you not know what day it is?” he asks.

I stumble over the dates in my head before oh. Oh. It’s my birthday.

Birthdays in Vegas were never big affairs, neither of us had the money or the commitment to make actual plans. But the two I had with him were both memorable. I haven’t had one like that since I left. I wasn’t even sure if I’d ever told Hobie my birthday, although he must know.

“You missed eight of them.”

I’m not sure what else I could say.

“Yes, but misunderstanding. It is all cleared up now,” he grins, “are you going to let me in?”

I can’t do much else but open the door. I’m hardly about to turn him away, not after thinking I might never see him again. He follows me in and kicks off his boots carelessly in the entryway.

“So, new place!” he observes, “it is very empty, Potter.”

I sigh and wheel my suitcase away from him. He follows me back to the bedroom chatting inanely about the weather and how loud New York is in the summer and ‘Potter! Remember how hot we were in Vegas? Always wearing sweaters!’

He wanders around my room as I drag my clothes out of the suitcase and get to work putting them away. I’m running on autopilot now, my mind too caught on —he’s here in my room his hands are on my things— him to make any good decisions about what I should be doing. He picks up the few trinkets I have with careful hands and studies them intensely while talking. I’m too caught up in the loop of Boris to immediately pick up when his voice stops. Then suddenly, I realize the room is too silent. I look up from my clothes to see him standing extremely still with his head bent towards whatever he’s holding in his hands. The line of his shoulders is tense. I stand up slowly, there’s a pounding in my chest where my heart is beating double time. I don’t know what’s in his hands, but whatever is coming feels inevitable. He turns to face me when I stand beside him.

“You kept it,” he whispers.

I look down to see what he has clenched in his hand. It’s his father’s lighter. The heavy gold one he’d left in my bag a few days after the first birthday I spent with him. I know exactly how it feels in my hands. The swirling designs on the sides are worn down from years of my fingers rubbing them when I was nervous, and the lighter doesn’t even work anymore because of how much I’d used it, and yet, I’d brought it everywhere with me for the last nine years.

His eyes are dark and startled when they meet mine.

“I had not expected you would keep it.”

“It’s the only thing I had of yours,” I say, laughing awkwardly.

It’s still difficult to be honest with him, even if I’ve almost gotten used to being honest with myself.

There’s a silent minute where I have to clench my fists to stop words I’d regret from bursting out of my mouth, and then he lets out a shaky breath. We’re somehow too close.

“Potter…”

“Why did you come, Boris,” I interrupt to ask again, a little more desperate.

“I missed you,” he mumbles, almost unintelligible through his accent.

His arm is under my hand, I don’t think about it too much. He’s warm. I can’t read whatever is in his eyes, but it leaves me a little short of breath. He’s fidgeting with the lighter still and I’ve never been more aware of the change in our height difference. I’m almost looking at the top of his head because he won’t meet my eyes. The fear from years ago creeps into my chest but I push it down. I worked for this, I didn’t sleep for this, I called a therapist a couple of times for this. Whether I take the leap or not it’s possible I won’t see him for years. I’m tired of it never being the right time.

“I missed you too.”

It sounds like a secret, and Boris reacts like it’s one, jerking his eyes up to mine so fast it looks like it hurts his neck. There’s a defensive smirk just under his skin, I can tell, but he looks vulnerable like I haven’t seen since the night I left Vegas. I wonder what he would’ve said if I hadn’t refused to hear it. His study of my face must give him the answer he wanted because the fake smirk disappears and his eyes widen.

The lighter clatters to the floor.

His hand is tight on my shoulder, almost painful, and his face is intense: filled with emotions I don’t understand, and fear.

“This is not a funny joke, Theo,” he hisses, and I know he’s serious because he uses my real name. It sounds odd on his tongue.

“I’m not joking.”

“Are you high?” he asks, pulling away suddenly.

“Boris!”

“Is a fair question, Potter.”

I squeeze my eyes shut and take a deep breath. I have to say this right. There’s years of misunderstandings and unspoken lies to try and explain.

“I’ve been thinking,” I start, “I know there are things we never talked about.”

Boris’ jaw clenches and he stands a little straighter. The sun reflects in his eyes through the window. It reminds me of Vegas a little, the sun always too bright and too hot, leaving Boris’ skin red and mine brown. But before he burned and peeled he was stunning in sunlight, gold falling on the many high points of his face and making him look like he was glowing. I could never resist him when he looked like that.

“I also know there are things I don’t remember,” I shift nervously, Boris is completely still.

“I don’t even know if you have any interest in me, but I just. I’ve been thinking-”

Boris’ hand on my cheek causes my mouth to snap shut.

“Potter…” he whispers, and that is a secret as well.

I can’t stop myself from swaying toward him —he’s always had a way of pulling me into his orbit— but I know I need to say this in full. “I didn’t let myself think about anything,” I whisper like the air will shatter if I talk louder.

“Not us, not my mom, and not about my own feelings. I was too empty and too full. And you were dangerous.”

The brush of his fingers in my hair is distracting, and I want nothing more than to let him pull me in, but I’ve done enough thinking that I know I have to tell him this. There has been too much avoidance in our history. Thankfully Boris is quiet. New York is loud outside, but that hardly matters.

“I still am not sure about most things, but I know there was something-” I still can’t say it.

“Something more?” Boris asks.

“Something I never said.”

He looks up at me and touches the edge of my lips gently. I know there’s a scar there from one of the times he punched me. My breath hitches, I remember his lips on my fingers after both our mouths were bloody, I remember the desperate press of his own lips against mine so long ago. We’re both deathly silent.

“What was it?” He asks finally.

I can’t say it. I’ve thought it more times then I can count, and it’s swirling around my head on a loop, but I can’t make the words come out of my mouth. Boris looks like maybe he understands.

“Is okay, Theo. I understand.”

The air leaves me in a rush and then my lungs are burning because his lips are on mine and I can’t break away to inhale.

There’s a sense of relief, like this was the inevitable ending to our story —although I’m not sure it really is an end— like if nothing else had been right in my life at least I had given myself this. One thing that was even more perfect for the disaster it started as. I couldn’t help but hate that it had taken so long, even as his hands fist in my hair and shirt, but I know it wouldn’t have been right nine years ago, or even six months. I couldn’t have done this sober and he couldn’t have done it with me high, not again.

He feels right in a way neither Kitsey or Pippa ever did, no matter how much I made myself believe they were. I place careful hands on his neck and waist and just let myself sink into him. It’s more gentle then I had expected, I had half convinced myself it would be a frantic tumble much like our youth. But of course, when given the chance now he held me like I’d run away.

It’s several long minutes before I break away. “Are you staying?” I ask quietly.

He’s silent, stroking his fingers lightly over the lines of my face and staring at me like he can’t quite believe I’m here. I let him.

“Do you want me to?”

“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t want you to.”

He nods like he knew.

“You know I was always waiting for you, Potter,” he smiles slightly mischievously, “you were always the last to know everything.”

I laugh, because what else is there to do when he looks so happy and there’s something growing in my chest that tells me I might be as well. There’s more to talk about, but tonight I just want to sleep and remember what it feels like to have him beside me and not feel guilty about it this time.

“Sleep?” I ask.

He searches my face for a moment.

“Yes, I think that would be alright.”

I look down at him the next morning. The sun is still rising —I’ve gotten used to waking up early for flights— and it just barely shines through his messy hair, lighting it up to gold. The angles of his face are so familiar, even with years of being apart and the haze of drugs I’d been in. I think maybe I’d remember him even if I forgot everything else. I think I’d forget my own mother before him; maybe I already have. Her voice doesn’t sound familiar in my head anymore. In contrast, his had sometimes been the only one I recognized in my delirium. He clenches a fist in the sheets before his eyes open. Everything about him is startling. His dark hair and eyes against my white sheets, the curl of his lips as he catches me staring, the rasp in his voice from sleep.

“Shall we just stand here tenderly and gaze?” He mumbles.

I fight the smile rising.

“We aren’t even standing, Boris.”

He laughs and presses his face into the pillow.

“Is the thought of it, Potter.”

I don’t respond. Eventually, he blinks up at me and rolls a little so he doesn’t have to crane his neck. I wonder how long he’s waited for this; how long I’ve waited for this.

“Are you alright?” He asks softly.

I don’t know. There’s an unnamable feeling bubbling in my chest. I remember waking up a thousand times with him, wrapped up together or across the room, and each time felt dangerous. Could I let myself have this? Even a year ago I would’ve said no, I wouldn’t have even thought of it. But a year ago I didn’t have Boris in my bed looking at me with so much hope (even though he tried to hide it). A year ago I hadn’t spent six months trying to fix the wrong I’d done to the world and to myself. Planes and airports leave a lot of time for self-reflection. Sometime in between Las Angeles and Phoenix, I’d come across the startling realization that almost everything I made myself believe about myself was false in one way or another.

It wasn’t hard to accept now that Boris made me better. Better in the worst way, yes, but more myself -messy and angry and the opposite of what I’d built my life around- then anyone else ever has. He knew about the worst parts of me and just let me be broken. He was there, and demanded nothing but my honesty.

I’d called Pippa sometime in London. She’d told me one thing after I’d apologized for every misguided advance I’d made. She said that the only way she’d moved on was by letting it hurt. She told me that only once she’d cried and screamed and cut her hair did the pain start draining away. Her voice had been so quiet —like she was afraid of scaring me— when she’d asked if I ever had that. I hadn’t. I’d drowned it all in drugs and alcohol before I even felt half of the pain. So I’d tried. I lay in nameless hotel rooms and stared at the ceiling, will for the tears to come. They hadn’t. I thought about the things I’d avoided for so long because I was scared of how I would react. But my eyes stayed dry. I wondered if I was broken. If the drugs had numbed something inside me to the point of it being unfixable.

Looking at the boy, man really, in my bed now though I can feel the slightest whispers of emotions squeezing in my chest.

I lay back down and reach a hand out tentatively between us. His eyes meet mine across what seems like miles of pillow. His fingers slide to meet mine. I can’t look at him.

“Theo?” his voice is soft and careful, his accent tripping messily around my name.

I close my eyes. His hand leaves mine but I don’t flinch when his fingers brush my cheek.

“Open your eyes, Potter,” he whispers.

His hand spreads across my jaw. His thumb brushes under my eye. I know my eyes are wet when I open them. He raises his eyebrows at me, it’s almost familiar. But not quite. We’d never been this gentle before. I know there is much more to talk about, but I’m determined to ignore that knowledge for as long as I can. For now it’s just this, I can allow myself this without panicking.

“Are you alright?” he asks again.

‘As long as you stay with me I will be.’ I think, but that feels like too much.

“I think so,” I say instead.

I hope he hears the rest when I reach a shaking hand across to smooth away his frown.

#boreo #the goldfinch #tgf fic #boris pavlikovsky #theo decker #tgf #my writing #fanfiction

98 notes · View notes

mandarinastronaut · 5 years

Note

different anon but i was wondering if you could go further into why you think boreo stay together and what the romantic moment at the apartment in antwerp was? ive finished the book and while i personally like to think they stay together ive always struggled to find any evidence that they do.

First I have to say that the ending, in my opinion, is poorly written. It feels like an afterthought, and the disconnect from Theo makes you feel he’s no longer the one talking to you, but Tartt herself is. It’s rambly, confusing, and messy. It’s the part of the book that made me feel unsure as to what Tratt’s intent with boreo was, if it was only queerbait, or if she left it up for interpretation merely because she didn’t want the controversies of having an explicitly queer book. Either way, Boris is almost completely forgotten, and so is his and Theo’s relationship.

That being said, you could interpret that it’s Theo’s fault, rather than Tartt’s. He doesn’t want the reader to know what happened after Antwerp, so he just leaves it, leaves Boris, out. After all, he is still the same extremely unreliable and messy narrator we’ve grown to love since the very first pages of the novel.

Theo tells us very little, and very briefly, about his time in Antwerp. This is suspicious because he and Boris must’ve shared some important moments there, since this is straight after Amsterdam and also the last time Boris is mentioned. It’s very obvious that he doesn’t want us to know what happened there. But luckily we can make an educated guess.

Tartt relies very heavily on symbolism in her work, and this book is no exception. Drugs are probably the main tool she uses in tgf, besides the painting. Boris, for example, symbolizes everything Theo thinks, or is supposed to think, is bad and unhealthy. He symbolizes drugs, criminality, wildness, freedom, queerness, vulnerability, and so on. So let’s analyze the Antwerp scene.

“Do you ever think about quitting? I asked, during the boring part of It’s a Wonderful Life, the moonlight walk with Donna Reed, when I was in Antwerp watching Boris with spoon and water from an eyedropper, mixing himself what he called a ‘pop’.

Give me a break! My arm hurts!…”

“…Well, big stigma and fear, I understand. Me–honest, I prefer to sniff most times–clubs, restaurants, out and about, quicker and easier just to duck in men’s room and do a quick bump. This way–you always crave it. On my death bed I will crave it. Better never to pick it up. Although–really very irritating to see some bonehead sitting there smoking out of a crack pipe and make some pronouncement of how dirty and unsafe, they would never use a needle, you know? Like they are so much more sensible than you?

Why did you start?

Why does anyone? My girl left me! Girl at the time. Wanted to be all bad and self-destructive, hah. Got my wish.

Jimmy Stewart in his varity sweater. Silvery moon, quavery voices. Buffalo Gals won’t you come out tonight, come out tonight.

So, why not stop then? I said.

Why should I?

Do I really have to say why?

Yeah, but what if I don’t feel like it?

If you can stop, why wouldn’t you?

Live by the sword, die by the sword, said Boris briskly, hitting the putton on his very professional-looking medical tourniquet with his chin as he was pushing up his sleeve.

And as terrible it is, I get it. We can’t choose what we want and don’t want and that’s the hard lonely truth. Sometimes we want what we want even though we know it’s going to kill us. We can’t escape who we are…” (862-863)

a lot to unpack there oh boy

Boris is injecting himself with heroin. It’s one of the most amazing sensory pleasures one could experience, and it’s often compared to sensual pleasures; orgasms. He says he’ll crave it on his death bed. This very brief moment they share is intimate, and isn’t completely what it seems to be on the surface. Yes, they are talking about literal drugs and addiction, but they’re also addressing the feelings they have for each other–Boris will crave the sexual feelings he has for Theo, but also the strong emotional bond they share (love), and ultimately, Theo as a whole.

Boris says he began because a girl left him, and if I remember correctly, this was after Theo left Vegas (I’m pretty sure I’m correct, bc I really don’t remember Boris doing it back then, but correct me if I’m wrong). Theo left him completely and utterly alone, and that’s when he started. The timeline matches, so it’s plausible, if not likely.

Boris explains he doesn’t want to stop. So what if it’s bad? So what if it’s a sin? So what if it’ll kill me? In the words of Achilles (from The Song of Achilles) I wouldn’t stop. And Theo says he understands. He says two very suggestive and convenient lines; we can’t choose what we want, we can’t escape who we are. I’m sure I don’t even have to breakdown the subtextual meaning behind that, it’s so blatant.

And this whole conversation’s happening while the famously acclaimed romantic scene from It’s a Wonderful Life plays in the background. Tartt deliberately chose a cinematic masterpiece of a romance scene for this conversation. And if that doesn’t create enough of a romantic atmosphere for the scene, this does. You see, the moon is an occurring symbolic tool in tgf. Theo’s mother told him to look up at the moon when he felt homesick, Boris is quite literally the moon as his Islamic name Badr means moon, and at one point Theo asks Boris if the moon looks the same everywhere, to which Boris of course replies yes you fucking idiot. So adding this very specific movie sequence where James Stewart promises to lasso the moon for Mary, is not a coincidence. @zombiebowlcut has a separate post regarding this, so here’s that!

Theo’s final monologue is about having a heart that cannot be trusted, about wanting things you shouldn’t want, not having the yearning to conform to conventional social constructs, not getting to choose your own heart, not getting to choose the person you are, and finally about how to confront this, if you should stuff your ears with wax like Kitsey, or if you should embrace it like Boris, throw yourself headfirst and laughing into the holy rage calling your name; if you should live inauthentically or authentically. And Theo chooses the latter. He’s done with crime, since he’s finally unchained from the painting. He’s buying back the fake antiques, and he’s not getting married to Kitsey. The only thing missing from Theo’s truth is his sexuality, and furthermore Boris. And that, is why I believe you can interpret they end up together in the end.

#the goldfinch #boreo #theo decker #boris pavlikovsky #ask #asks #ahh sorry this took so long I literally wrote most of this at 4am yesterday #bc i didnt have time left from my schedule aksdkjsdkj #and now its 6pm and I finally have time to finish and post this #they say as they're really supposed to be writing a composition thats deadline is in a few hours #sometimes you just have to cope through boreo yk

221 notes · View notes

queer-ragnelle · 4 years

Text

Okay I know I said I was going to sleep but I really want to do a deep-dive on eye dialect. Reddit almost unanimously hates it and calls it racist but that’s honestly reactionary when you take into account all the well-researched and thoughtful examples out there from diverse writers.

Off the top of my head from what I’ve personally read, Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series uses it often for a wide range of characters including real life-coded ones as well as vampires and death. Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon utilizes Scottish Gaelic as well as Scots slang mixed with English (first book had a lot of errors but she wrote it in the 90s before the internet and has since corrected her errors with the help of Scottish people so a positive for me). Boris from The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt is Russian and speaks multiple languages that are laced throughout his English dialogue as well as utilizing subtle tricks like dropping words as is common for those whose first language is Russian. A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James utilizes eye dialect for a Jamaican character (the author is Jamaican).

Now what I personally think sets these examples apart from other less positive examples is A) the character’s accents are not depicted as a stupid trait, rather their otherness is celebrated in the narrative and simply highlighted by the accent. B) the characters are culturally foreign as well, in that you couldn’t race-bend them and keep the same themes as they’ve been written in such a way that their accent highlights their foreignness as opposed to defines it, which is an important distinction when using eye-dialect (think back to poorly dubbed anime with weird accents, random and without basis). C) they are not the singular examples in the narrative and encounter others with the same accents or even sometimes multiple overlapping eye dialects to highlight that the world is full of different people and this individual is foreign only in certain contexts or from the perspective of the main character.

I could honestly go on and on about this and also provide websites and videos and all kinda of research materiel I’ve gathered in studying this and maybe sometime I’ll do that with some textual examples of eye dialect from my books (this is the tip of the iceberg I’m a hoarder) but I just think it’s not so black and white as reddit would have you believe. It doesn’t all have to be difficult to read like Grapes of Wrath or Clockwork Orange, it can heighten the reading experience for me when it’s done thoughtfully and respectfully and I genuinely seek it out. Finding critique partners who speak those languages and working with actual human beings is my advice. I don’t pretend I speak any other languages or live all the other experiences but I want to showcase them and so I do what I can to portray it accurately and honestly. If someone’s gonna be mad about “ye” instead of “you” and some sprinkled French words I doubt my efforts would’ve mattered to them anyway. So fuck em.

I dunno, thoughts?

#what the fuck do i tag this as #honestly its incoherent so i dont want it in the language tag #please discuss with me though!! i love this #my post

3 notes · View notes

abubblingcandle · 5 months

Text

Tagged by @jamiesfootball for this year in review! Got a bit of time to kill while listening to Rick Astley on the BBC so lets do it!

1.How many stories did you post?

29! 27 in Ted Lasso, 2 in Shadow and Bone

2. Which ones were your favorites?

A Treatment Room Doors Moment is my firstborn child. I love it. I love where it's going and I'm so excited to show everyone. I was also insanely nervous to post it but did and others like it too!

3. Which one was the most satisfying to write?

Snap is my catharsis fic. It started as a little one shot to talk about Jamie and Beard sharing the experience of having you ass kicked by James Tartt Sr but then became a place to go "hey you were actually treated badly at this moment and in this episode, lets just vent about it"

4. The most difficult?

Roll Call for some reason was a fic whose concept I loved but I just could not get it to work. It took a lot of writing and redrafting but I am happy with how it is formatted now

5. Rec something that you're proud of.

Get You Down is the fic I am most proud of because it was the biggest divergence from canon I've written and it dealt with Jamie's childhood in a more direct way

6. Wow us with whatever big thing you might want to work on next!

Actually finishing fics for once! And finishing whumptober!

To finish whumptober I've got:

Ch4 of Make Me Fret or Make Me Frown

Ch4 of Where the Hell is the Karma?

Ch3+4 of Roll Call

Ch3+4 of Dutch Courage

Ch3+4 of A Treatment Room Doors Moment

Ch8 of Have You Noticed You Are Breathing

7. Show us that word count stat!

183,365 words which is insane to me, fully cannot believe it

Tagging @nativestarwrites and @asteria-argo if you would like to

#candle writes #ted lasso fanfic #ask box is always open #ask meme

6 notes · View notes

libralita · 5 years

Text

January Wrap Up | 2019

This month I tried to read as many books as I possibly could because I’m starting my second semester of college and I know that I will not have time. I also really want to try and beat last year’s record of 150 books so I want to stay ahead of how many books I was reading last year. I really succeeded. I read a total of eighteen books which is amazing! A lot of those books were really great as well.

The first book I read of 2019 was Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce:

This book started out a little rocky. I didn’t really like how fast we went through Arram’s schooling. Especially because it didn’t feel like the trio really grew that much until the end. But as Arram started to change and start to discover who he is then the story got a lot better. I really liked seeing Arram healing, it really felt like he was in his element and how passionately he works. I wish we got to see more of Varice, I still don’t really understand what a kitchen witch is. Ozorne was interesting but I also feel like I want to see more of him. I don’t know whether I’ll continue on with this series.

Next I read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami:

While I enjoyed this book, it wasn’t as good as 1Q84. The most interesting part of this book was the flashbacks to Manchuria and Boris the man skinner. It was horrifying and interesting. Toru wasn’t ask interesting as the other characters in 1Q84 and this book felt a little bit more pointless. However it was still interesting and the ending really saved it. I gave this four out of five stars.

Next I read The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz:

I really loved Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe so I decided to read his other books. This book started out a bit rocky. I always get a little annoyed when authors throw in a bit of Spanish to make sure you know your Mexican characters are Mexican. The “No bueno” thing was really annoying. Every book that tries to be feminist, ends up being sexist. However, when the completely heartbreaking stuff started to kick in, I started to really enjoy this book. My favorite character was Fito Fresquez. He had such a tragic story and his sadness felt so real. While I had issues with this book in the beginning it turned out to be a pretty good book. I gave this book five out of five stars.

Then I went back to Haruki Murakami with Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage:

This book was so good and has the protentional to be one of the best of the year. I related so much to Tsukuru because if I had a group of close friends and they suddenly decided to cut my out of their group, I would have no idea what to do. I also really liked Haida and am sad that there was no closer on what happened to him. What happed to Shiro is crazy and I would never forgive the friends for what she did. I’m sad that we didn’t get to see if Sara accepted Tsukuru but I think she did so there. I gave this book five out of five stars.

Next I randomly picked up The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt:

This was an interesting book. It reminded me of Name of the Wind and that’s not a bad thing. It has beautiful writing and Theo reminds me a lot of Kvothe he has a serious passion, is border lined obsessed with a girl, and has a tragic backstory with his parents. I think the only thing that I didn’t like was that time jump was a little jarring, I wish that it had been more led in. But I really enjoyed this story. It was just…beautiful. I gave it five out of five stars.

I finally finished Timothy Zahn’s Thrawn Trilogy with The Last Command:

This book was so amazing. Leia had her twins, Jaina and Jacen, and I cannot wait to see more about them. The ending is what really made this book great. There was a Luke clone which was such a good twist. Then in order for Mara to be free of the Emperor’s control she kills Luuke Skywalker. Very clever. Then Luke gives Mara his lightsaber. That’s so sweet. Such a great ending to this trilogy. Five out of five stars and one of the best of the years.

I continued on with Silver Spoon with Volume 4 by Hiromu Arakawa:

I really enjoyed this volume! It’s nice to come back to this lighthearted series. I really like seeing more of Hachiken’s family, especially his father. I can’t wait to see more flashbacks of his middle school mental breakdown…does that make me a bad person? Any way, five out of five stars. Fun time.

Next for my YA Literature class I had to read the Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater:

So I don’t really like the way Stiefvater writes. She usually has really great writing, semi-interesting premises but BORING characters. And this was no different. So borrinnggggggggg! I had to read this book for my YA Literature class and oh my god I was so uninterested in this book. The characters were so dull, I didn’t even bothering learning the side characters name. I didn’t care about the romance. I didn’t care about the world. I was so uninterested in this book. The premise was kind of interesting but it doesn’t save this nothing of a book. I gave this book one out of five stars.

Next I picked up The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman:

This was an incredibly sad story to read, like all Holocaust stories. The only problem I had with this is that the present day storyline too up a little too much time. I care more about what happened during the Holocaust then Vladek’s marriage problems. But it was still a great story. Five out of five stars.

Then I read An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington:

I would say that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I enjoyed the first one. I wish we could have seen more of Caeden, Davian, Wirr, Kara, and Asha together. At points they would see one another but I really want to see them all interacting. But again Islington is really great at doing dark twists. I think Caeden is my favorite character. Everything with his wife and the shapeshifter. But then at the end of the book when Caeden had killed older Davian. That is so insane! Such a good book. I gave this book five out five stars.

I was in the mood for super sad contemporary after reading Aristotle & Dante and the author’s other books so I bought They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera:

I didn’t like this book as much as More Happy Than Not. I think it’s because I didn’t really care that much about Mateo and Rufus’s relationship. I teared up a little bit when Mateo died and the ending was pretty good. However, I think the premise of two people falling in love on their final day is really cool, I just think that it wasn’t as powerful. It would be a three star but the ending bumped it up for a four.

Next I picked Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton

Alright take this review with a grain of salt because I absolutely adore these types of stories. I’ve always had a soft spot for ballet school dramas. I use to love Dance Moms, Bunheads, and this one Australian show that I can find no matter how much I google it. Point being I love ballet stories and I love the dramaz. This book was full of drama. So much romance and backstabbing…or foot stabbing. I gave this book five out of five stars.

After really loving the Goldfinch by Donna Tartt I decided to pick up The Secret History:

This book slightly missed the mark for me. It was still good, I gave it four out of five stars because I really enjoyed the transition from the friendship between the group of Greek students to then killing Bunny and the aftermath. However, I think after a while when the students are starting the spiral out of control, I stopped caring. Especially Charles, I did not like his transformation. It was very annoying and he was a character that I really liked. So, I’m sad that it missed the mark but it was still a good book.

Next the final book that I had to read for my YA Literature class was Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson:

I’m not much of a poetry person so I that probably hindered my enjoyment of this book. It was an interesting story about a black girl growing up during the Civil Rights movement in America. It was interesting to see the different places throughout America and her family life. There were a few really great poems, most of them got the point across. I gave this book four out of five stars.

I then continued with the Tiny Pretty Things Duology with Shiny Broken Pieces by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton:

So I liked this book a little less than I did the first one. This duology is really a guilty pleasure series. I just love it for the drama. I actually think this book handled it’s finale a bit better than a lot of other contemporary books do. I think the one problem I had with it was Cassie and her over the top villainy. Like she is perfectly fine with people potentially dying. I felt like Eleanor got the short end of the stick. She was hospitalized twice in this book for the shit that Gigi and Cassie did. Poor girl. And Cassie does have a good case against Bette because Bette was horrible. So her handling made me not like this book as much. But I felt like the ending really made this book work enough to give it five out of five stars.

Next I read Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami:

I didn’t really like this book that much. Mostly because I didn’t understand what was going on. Maybe I’ll reread it at some point but right now I could not tell you what the point of this book was. I think I enjoy Murakami’s more realistic stories then he’s completely off the wall stories. That said, he had the beautiful writing, interesting characters, and the world ended so I gave it three out of five stars.

Because I’ve become somewhat obsessed with Japanese literature I picked up Go by Kazuki Kaneshiro:

I really enjoyed this book. It reminded me a lot of current American YA books, I guess the angst-y teen really is universal. It was a very short book but it covered a lot of stuff about national prejudice between people. It was less than 200 pages but it didn’t feel rushed. It didn’t waste time and gave a really satisfying story about a romance. I highly recommend this book. I gave it five out of five stars.

Finally, I read the Blade of the Immortal Omnibus Vol. 1 by Hiroaki Samura:

It took me a while to get into this book, mostly because it was hard to remember all the characters and who was who. At one point I thought Machi and Rin were the same person. It was also hard to tell what was flashbacks and what was happening in that moment. But after I got into the story and figured out who was who then I really started to enjoy it. It’s a really interesting story about revenge and I really like the dynamic between Rin and the immortal warrior. I really liked this book and I think I’ll continue on with the story. I gave this book five out of five stars.

Those are all the books I read this month and hopefully next month I can read at least a few books!

6 notes · View notes

idontreadthesecrethistory · 7 years

Text

goldenexperience replied to your post

“So The New Big Thing I’ve been vaguing about is going to involve...”

not to tell you how to live your life but it BETTER be The Goldfinch

I appreciate your enthusiasm and respect for boundaries, but buddy, As You Know, I have already read the Goldfinch. My analysis of it can be summed up thusly:

Clearly “is this James/Sirius or Harry/Draco” is a trick question, the answer to which is “both”, but is the repeated insinuations from Boris that Hobie is gay a nod to Dumbledore? Does Tartt think Draco and/or Sirius would have to insist to Harry and/or James that this was so?

Could the intro be any more aggressively Dickens

WE REALLY DID NOT HAVE TO USE A BUNCH OF THOSE WORDS, DONNA, HOLY SHIT

I cannot believe that she did not kill off that dog, and I am grateful every day, what the fuck

I cannot believe how it ended AND I LOVE IT, FIGHT ME

I would love it even if it weren’t the logical conclusion to what she was clearly Trying To Do, i.e. “tell a “chosen one” narrative within the restrictions of contemporary American reality”, although one could argue given that this Pulitzer prize winning novel is, intentionally, Harry Potter slash fanfic, it should have been set in London at some point. See also: Dickens.

No seriously that reunion with the dog is the only emotion I ever care to feel for dogs in literary novels

Donna Tartt thinking LARP is one single website is the greatest thing lack of editorial oversight has ever given us

HOW DOES SHE KNOW WHAT FULL METAL ALCHEMIST IS AND DOES SHE KNOW IT IS VERY MUCH FOR THE BEST THAT A CHILD WHO JUST LOST HIS MOM CANNOT CONCENTRATE ON IT?

I impulse bought The Goldfinch along with some orange chicken one day a few months after I finished The Secret History. I texted friend, “You know how you have to invite a vampire into your home before it can hurt you?”

She immediately replied, “you bought The Goldfinch, didn’t you?” without any further or prior context.

#goldenexperience #the goldfinch #donna tartt #the secret history #achrestomathy

20 notes · View notes

lastgunfighterballad · 7 years

Text

Books books books

I was tagged by @rebelnurse1986 and @mountain–miss to do this book tag thingy aaages ago and I’ve been meaning to get round to doing it …

Book(s) I love: ‘Wild’ by Cheryl Strayed, ‘Unapologetic’ by Francis Spufford, ‘A Brief History of Seven Killings’ by Marlon James, ‘Never Let Me Go’ by Kazou Ishiguro, ‘American Sniper’ by Chris Kyle, ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ by Harper Lee, ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood, 'The Secret History’ by Donna Tartt, anything by Agatha Christie, 'The Essex Serpent’ by Sarah Perry … I could go on!

Book (s) I hate: 'Fifty Shades of Grey’ by E.L James - I’ve never read it cover to cover but the snippets I have seen make it clear that to read it would be a waste of time, money, head space and paper. Clearly written by a middle-aged woman with daddy issues and a dildo that “won’t quite do the trick” (Sorry)

Book I think is underestimated: 'How to Be a Grown-Up’ by Daisy Buchanan. The saying 'never judge a book by its cover’ is relevant to this book. I turned my nose up at the glitter, gold&hot pink writing and slightly patronising title, but my colleague was telling me how amazing it is and how sensible & helpful the content is. I read it and I loved it. It covers all areas of our adulting lives - friendships, sex, work, money, ambitions etc… and basically reassures you that, yes, you’re winging it but that’s okay because we all are. It’s funny, helpful and brilliantly written.

Book I think is over-valued: The Twilight saga is nauseating.

Book I want to see the movie of: 'Into the Wild’ by Jon Krakauer. Bloody brilliant book but I’m a little scared to see the film in case it butchers it.

Book I just finished: 'The Opposite of Loneliness’ by Marina Keegan and I’m currently reading (nearly finished) 'The Dark Circle’ by Linda Grant

Book or Saga I want to finish: George R R Martin’s 'Game of Thrones’. I’ve read the first few but got sidetracked by other books. They’re well written.

Book or Saga I don’t want to finish: Elena Ferrante’s 'Neapolitan’ series. Pretty writing but I couldn’t get into those books.

Next book: Being a bookseller means I have to have a couple on the go at the same time. I’ll be reading 'Silence’ by Shusako Endo, 'The Hate U Give’ by Angie Thomas (I run the children’s department and this YA novel has had the most amazing reviews), 'The Boy, the Bird and the Coffin-Maker’ by Matilda Woods (I run a kids reading group - this month’s choice) After those I want to read 'Pachinko’ by Min Jee Lee.

Best end: 'Homegoing’ by Yaa Gyasi. Probably the best book I’ve read this year - and the ending ties everything together so well.

Worst end: I thought 'Girl on the Train’ by Paula Hawkins fell a little flat. Interesting idea for a novel but predictable ending, plus the characters are grim.

I tag: @john-paul-jonesing-for-liberty @accidentallypatriotic @forestwildflower @americansweetpea @medic981 and a anyone else who wants to do it!

#i really enjoyed doing this #books

10 notes · View notes

kawuli · 7 years

Text

@thelettersfromnoone tagged me in this books-i’ve-read list: Bold I’ve read all of, italic on my “to-read” list, bold + italic started but did not finish.

For as much as I read as a kid, I’m pretty bad on the “Western Canon” or whatever. Going to engineering school didn’t help with that. But whatever.

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte Harry Potter series - JK Rowling To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee The Bible (er, I’ve read some of it) Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman Great Expectations - Charles Dickens  Little Women - Louisa M Alcott Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

Complete Works of Shakespeare Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger Middlemarch - George Eliot Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald Bleak House - Charles Dickens War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams (many times) Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck (v. good would recommend) Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy David Copperfield - Charles Dickens Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis Emma - Jane Austen (I also started this at some point and did not finish. I just am not a fan of the 19th c British Ladies genre /hides) Persuasion - Jane Austen The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis (OK but why this AND chronicles of narnia?) The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne Animal Farm - George Orwell The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (what, i was in peace corps i read anything i could find that was in english) One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood Lord of the Flies - William Golding Atonement - Ian McEwan Life of Pi - Yann Martel Dune - Frank Herbert Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens Brave New World - Aldous Huxley The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov The Secret History - Donna Tartt The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas On The Road - Jack Kerouac Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie Moby Dick - Herman Melville (on my list actually...a friend looooves it) Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens Dracula - Bram Stoker The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett (the first book I ever owned myself) Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson Ulysses - James Joyce The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome Germinal - Emile Zola Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray Possession - AS Byatt. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell The Color Purple - Alice Walker The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry Charlotte’s Web - EB White The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (part) The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad (the first bit, until the unrelenting racist white man’s burden bullshit overpowered me) The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks Watership Down - Richard Adams (apparently I really need to read this) A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas Hamlet - William Shakespeare Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl Les Miserables - Victor Hugo (i had to read this in high school and I haaaated it will you get to the damn point please sir)

I don’t tag people in stuff like this but if you want to please do :)

#books

2 notes · View notes