#thelonelybrilliance

[itspileofgoodthings]

Just say when, I'd play again He was my best friend Down at the sandlot I felt more when we played pretend Than with all the Kens Cause he took me out of my box Stole my tortured heart Left all these broken parts Told me I'm better off But I'm not

BEEN IN MY HEAD ALL DAY

he was my best friend leaped out at me on first listen and the way the whole song fits around it —-😭😭😭

KILL ME.

[isfjmel-phleg]

Since you love Tenthragon, have you been able to get your hands on The Memoirs of Jack Chelwood? Now I want to read it but the printing was so limited I can't find it anywhere and don't know anyone's take on it but I know Savery considered it her best novel!

I did manage to get it through interlibrary loan about three years ago. There are about about ten libraries in the US that own it (not to mention five in the UK, one in Ireland, and one in New Zealand), but not all of them circulate it, and most of them do not typically loan for free, although that might depend on your library and where you are.

My comment on it at the time was "Savery apparently considered this one her best work. I would debate her on that if I could, but it’s certainly the lengthiest and most intricate of what I’ve read of hers." But honestly, I don't remember much about it and can't provide further details.

However, I've put in another ILL request and will give it a reread. Sometimes impressions change the second time around. I had read a lot of Savery around that time, which probably didn't give me adequate space to process the book.

[francesderwent]

I have. also. read a lot of fanfiction this year. and some of it has been truly transcendently good. so, mutuals, knitting circle, beloveds: reblog and tag with the best fanfiction you’ve read so far this year.

[septembersghost]

spoiled myself intentionally, so i knew every major thing that was going to happen in stranger things, and i STILL bawled my eyes out

[thelordofgifs]

Friday Fic Recs

A compilation of gen fic recs for @tolkiengenweek!

a cup in summer’s hand by @vidumavi. Maglor and Caranthir cuteness!! Love love love Maglor’s characterisation here and the complicated loving brotherly dynamic. 3k, canon compliant, complete.

lakesong by @welcomingdisaster. Maedhros and Maglor and a skirmish with orcs, featuring terrifying unearthly Maglor and sad protective Maedhros. 1k, canon compliant, complete.

Friendship and Stern Demand by @polutrope. An incredible epistolary fic exploring the exchange of letters between Maedhros and Elwing pre-Third Kinslaying. SUCH fantastic characterisations and linguistic details as always! 2k, canon compliant, complete.

Faithless Is He That Says Farewell When the Road Darkens by @cycas. A War of Wrath-era fic in which Elrond and Elros encounter Celebrimbor, fight some ghosts, and have a fraught meeting with Maglor. 13k, canon compliant, complete.

Through the Smoke I See You by @sweetteaanddragons. The Dagor Bragollach, featuring Maedhros, Maglor and his Guilt. 3k, canon compliant, complete.

And What Happened After by @thearrogantemu. One of the absolute best post-canon Valinor fics of all time. It’s so hopeful and clever and touching and redemptive. Also Fëanor made me cackle from his first introduction. 73k, canon compliant, complete.

we will make this place our home by @leucisticpuffin. My favourite kidnap fam fic of all time!! I’d say I rec it too often but… it’s impossible to rec this too often. A 1970s rural England AU featuring traumatised eight-year-olds Elrond and Elros, Maedhros and Maglor as war veterans who have lost pretty much everything, a host of very charming and delightful OCs, and ghosts. 166k, AU, in progress.

let us love him at right angles (and each other not at all) by @thelonelybrilliance. Just Faramir and Boromir and Denethor being dysfunctional and heartbreaking 💔 629 words, canon compliant, complete.

where no storms come by @arrivisting. A lovely sad elegiac piece in which Maglor comes to Rivendell shortly before Elrond Sails, and must reckon with a wealth of memories as he decides whether or not to go with him. 14k, canon compliant, complete.

The War of the Ring by morwen_of_gondor. The sons of Fëanor sail back to Middle-earth to help with the war against Sauron. General chaos (in a non-cracky sense) ensues. 178k, AU, complete.

The Care & Feeding of Hobbits by Baylor. Boromir and hobbits you guys. BOROMIR AND HOBBITS. They are adorable. 20k, canon compliant, complete.

[thelonelybrilliance]

2023 Reads: thelonelybrilliance

Final count 72! I set a goal of 52 originally but raised the bar when I realized that would only bring me into early November.

Decided it would be fun to share some stats and recommendations along with the full list.

First, ten recommendations:

The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner (best completed series)

Gregory Orr, The Last Love Poem I Will Ever Write (best new poetry read)

Minka Kelly, Tell Me Everything (best memoir)

E.B. White, Here Is New York (best short read)

Carrie Fisher, The Princess Diarist (best journals)

Sydney Taylor, All-of-a-Kind Family (best children's lit)

Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout (best poetry memoir)

George Eliot, Middlemarch (best classic)

Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart (best food writing)

Red Rising series by Pierce Brown (best sci-fi/ongoing series + best audio drama (Red Rising (Book 1))

Of my 72 reads, 31 were rereads, 41 new . Four were audiobooks, the rest print (primarily e-books). My longest read was David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. My shortest read (I think? A lot of poetry collections are short) was the longform essay, Here Is New York by E.B. White. I read the most books in December (15) and the least in June (2). 50 authors were women, 21 were men, and one poetry collection was multi-author. My most-read authors were as follows:

Megan Whalen Turner (7 books)

Lucy Maud Montgomery (6 books)

Louise Glück (5 books)

Elizabeth Wein (5 books)

Jane Austen (3 books)

Pierce Brown (3 books)

Full list organized by month under the cut!

Favorites: Bold | Rereads: Underline

Fiction: Blue | Non-Fiction: Red | Poetry: Purple | Audiobook: *

JANUARY

Megan Whalen Turner, The Thief

2. Annie Chagnot & Emi Ikkanda (eds.), How Lovely the Ruins

3. Banana Yoshimoto, Kitchen

FEBRUARY

4. Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

5. Richard Siken, War of the Foxes

6. Jane Austen, Sense & Sensibility

MARCH

7. Rita Dove, Playlist for the Apocalypse

8. Louise Glück, The Seven Ages

9. Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey

APRIL

10. Megan Whalen Turner, Moira's Pen

11. Megan Whalen Turner, The Queen of Attolia

12. Megan Whalen Turner, The King of Attolia

13. Megan Whalen Turner, A Conspiracy of Kings

MAY

14. Megan Whalen Turner, Thick as Thieves

15. Megan Whalen Turner, Return of the Thief

16. Elizabeth Wein, The Winter Prince

17. Elizabeth Wein, A Coalition of Lions

18. Elizabeth Wein, Sunbird

19. Elizabeth Wein, The Lion Hunter

JUNE

20. Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

21. bell hooks, Applachian Elegy

JULY

22. Michael Gibney, Sous Chef: 24 Hours on the Line*

23. C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

24. Elizabeth Wein, The Empty Kingdom

25. Dorothy Dunnett, Spring of the Ram

26. Michael Bazzett, You Must Remember This

27. Lisa Ampelman, Romances

28. Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential

29. Natalie Diaz, Post-Colonial Love Poem

AUGUST

30. Jenny Han, The Summer I Turned Pretty

31. Jenny Han, It's Not Summer Without You

32. Natalie Diaz, When My Brother Was an Aztec

33. Ocean Vuong, Time Is a Mother

34. L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Windy Poplars

35. Ocean Vuong, Night Sky with Exit Wounds

SEPTEMBER

36. Gregory Orr, The Last Love Poem I Will Ever Write

37. E.B. White, Here Is New York

38. Minka Kelly, Tell Me Everything

39. P.G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves

40. Carrie Fisher, The Princess Diarist

41. Jonathan Stroud, The Screaming Staircase*

42. Tobias Wolff, Old School

OCTOBER

43. Emi Nietfeld, Acceptance*

44. Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

45. R.F. Kuang, Yellowface

46. Louise Glück, Vita Nova

47. L.M. Montgomery, Emily of New Moon

48. L.M. Montgomery, Emily Climbs

49. L.M. Montgomery, Emily's Quest

50. Ada Limón, The Hurting Kind

NOVEMBER

51. Ron Rash, Poems

52. Louise Glück, Meadowlands

53. Tom Perrotta, Election

54. L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Avonlea

55. Louise Glück, Averno

56. L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

57. Curtis Sittenfeld, Prep

DECEMBER

58. Tom Perrotta, Tracy Flick Can't Win

59. Pierce Brown, Red Rising*

60. Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle

61. Frances Hodgson Burnett, A Little Princess

62. Pierce Brown, Iron Gold

63. Sydney Taylor, All-of-a-Kind Family

64. William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying

65. George Eliot, Middlemarch

66. Louise Glück, Ararat

67. Michelle Zauner, Crying in H Mart

68. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

69. Kate Baer, And Yet

70. Marguerite de Angeli, The Lion in the Box

71. Pierce Brown, Golden Son

72. Laurie Halse Anderson, Shout

[mapleymood]

crooked love (in a straight line down)

@mapleymood, @thelonelybrilliance

Part 1: Summer

“It is to be broken. It is to be torn open. It is not to be reached and come to rest in ever. I turn against you, I break from you, I turn to you. We hurt, and are hurt, and have each other for healing. It is healing. It is never whole.”

― Wendell Berry, The Collected Poems, 1957-1982

Broken promises, distant memories... Taylor Jewel and Jeremiah Fisher should have nothing in common but mutual resentment. Why do they share a growing understanding instead?

[abadpoetwithdreams]

@thelonelybrilliance sent me a surprise birthday present aaa I love it 😭

[itspileofgoodthings]

What ttpd track is hitting today

Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me? Is really having its moment with me today!!

I love when it’s all her raw, weird darkness unleashed and then I love when it wears really gently, almost to the point of sweetness.

This one’s right at that meeting point for me right now!

[fictionadventurer]

What are these Golden Four archetypes you speak of? I'm intrigued.

It's a concept I got years ago from @thelonelybrilliance, who outlined the four archetypes of male characters that draw devoted fanbases, with some characters fitting multiple archetypes, and some of the most beloved characters fitting all four, placing them in the ranks of the "Golden Four." I've adapted it into a broader personality classification system that can be applied to all characters by looking at how they approach suffering and deal with problems. The best outline of my approach is in this post.

[francesderwent]

happy 33rd birthday, Taylor! (a tag game)

six taylor music videos:

ME!

You Belong With Me

Mine

Out of the Woods

I Bet You Think About Me

Delicate

six taylor looks:

glittery green asymmetrical dress at the AMAs, dress of my DREAMS

red patterned ballgown for the Cats premiere

the blue sunflowered gown of staring into joe alwyn’s eyes

the black and gold reputation tour outfit with the slit up the side and the boots. you know the one.

the lavender begin again dress. you definitely know the one.

the red tour outfit with the high-necked lace shirt and the high-waisted leather shorts and the red shoes OR tbh bleachella. she really had it OR the rainbow striped dress in the Endgame mv

six taylor songs which are among my personal favorites:

Enchanted

tis the damn season

peace

Long Live

That’s the Way I Loved You

I’m Only Me When I’m With You (and Paper Rings and Labyrinth and Story of Us and Last Kiss and Mary’s Song and Safe and Sound and Hits Different)

six taylor songs which I believe are objectively her best:

All Too Well

happiness

Cornelia Street

New Years Day

Tim McGraw

Better Man (and Cruel Summer and Getaway Car and evermore and Betty and Mine and If This Was a Movie and White Horse and You Belong With Me and peace)

six taylor songs which are the most me:

I Wish You Would

right where you left me

august

This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things

I Forgot That You Existed

State of Grace (and Don’t You and Place In This World and Ready for It? and Never Grow Up)

three taylor albums:

Speak Now

reputation

folklore

tag your friends: @itspileofgoodthings @thelonelybrilliance @madamescarlette @contagiousgrace @imissthembutitwasntadisaster @magpie-trove @nuttmeg13 and tbh ANY AND ALL OF YOU, I can never remember who’s in deep with Taylor and who is kindly putting up with the general furor but if you could come up with six items for each list then you’re tagged, baby!

[septembersghost]

*update*

to @nerdfaerie, @arthurwilde, @dontfeedthestansaftermidnight, and @fancykraken who have quite literally helped keep me alive and sane, have been my rocks and guiding lights and confidants, have contacted sources for me, and have provided more through all of this than i could ever repay in three lifetimes.

also to my dearest @cowboylikedean, @xxsparksxx, @christinedaae, @spookyjackaubrey, @deaneverafter, @thesnuggliestduckling, @someoneoffthestreet, @lanne13, @werebunniesfordean, @thelonelybrilliance, @snowstormserenade, @cauldronofmorning for all of your care and all you've given me too.

and to everyone who has been here for me, listened to me, let me lean on them, and helped me through everything...words will never be enough to thank you. i love you so much.

the foreclosure was postponed, and now, thanks to assistance given by my dad (which has been an ordeal for everyone and i wish he had not had to do, and we're carrying some heavy guilt from that), is cancelled. we never got real assistance from, well, anyone we contacted? 😩 it's actually frightening how broken the system is and how little support there seems to be for indigent people facing homelessness, and the sheer hell and stress we've been living with for the past few years feels like it's permanently rooted in my body at this point, but, for now, our little home is safe.

i have a lot more to say, polina and mary to you specifically, and i owe you like a dozen messages apiece and i'm so sorry. my energy is so depleted lately that it's been hard to even form the necessary sentences.

there are still things to be worked out, and a lot of issues to deal with, and long term...isn't something we can think about. i don't know how long we'll be able to make ends meet. i don't know how long things are sustainable, or what's going to happen with the severity of both my mom and my health issues. i can't say anything with certainty about any of that, and it's really hard continuing to be on shaky ground, but at the very least, we aren't losing everything we have right now and that's a miracle. just enough is plenty today.

we're never guaranteed time in this life. we don't know how much we have, no matter who we are or what we do, everything can change in an instant, and i certainly recognize that. my circumstances require living day by day, but maybe that's all any of us can ask for or manage. just make it one moment to the next, and hope that some measure of it matters and that we can move in love and kindness, and find our little joys and comfort along the way, and cherish those, and the people we share them with. that's what i have here with you, and i'm so grateful for it. it's such a lifeline.

at any rate, it seems you're stuck with me and my silly little thoughts and feelings from my silly little spooky sparkly birdcage for a little bit longer. 💖💗💖💗💖

serendipitously on my timeline this morning:

[gamajun]

got tagged by @love-n-purple to post my lock screen, last picture taken and saved, last song and 9 songs on repeat. thank you darling💜

my lock screen;

last picture taken;

and saved (this one's a screenshot of some books😅)

last song;

nine songs on repeat;

eat your young - hozier

trust - sophie lowe

familiar - agnes obel

maroon - taylor swift

climax - djo

love came here - lhasa de sela

talking to myself - gatlin

i don't wanna know - charli XCX

liberian girl - michael jackson

i'm tagging: @feytouched @northwindow @bramblekiss @yevrosima-the-third @thelonelybrilliance 🤍

[thelonelybrilliance]

2023 Music: thelonelybrilliance

Albums that provided the soundtrack to my year, whether they were released in 2023 or not:

Taylor Swift, Midnights (for obvious reasons)

Taylor Swift, 1989 (Taylor's Version) (for timeless, towering pop)

Griff, vert1go vol. 1 (best Taylor recommendation)

Miley Cyrus, Endless Summer Vacation (best sunshine on a winter day)

Taylor Swift, Speak Now (Taylor's Version) (best nostalgia)

Noah Kahan, Stick Season (best northern attitude)

Gracie Abrams, Good Riddance (best slowburn)

Maggie Rogers, Heard It in a Past Life (best yearning)

Carly Rae Jepsen, The Loneliest Time (best Rufus Wainwright feature)

Maisie Peters, The Good Witch (best occasional bop on an album I found very silly)

Kelsea Ballerini, Rolling up the Welcome Mat (best short story collection (but at what cost))

[cakeyouareoh]

tagged by the lovely @dangerously-human💜

relationship status: single

favorite color: green

favorite food: ice cream

song stuck in my head: Cancer by MCR

last thing i googled: how to paint 3d printed figurines

time: 8:08 p.m

dream trip: a month long road trip of the US where I didn’t have to worry about money or time off of work.

currently reading: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman, Small Spaces by Katherine Arden, The Figurehead by @thelonelybrilliance(if you like Stranger Things you should check this out-I am loving it so far!), and various other fics.

I tag @elliteracy, @imissthembutitwasntadisaster, and @thatgeekydamegeekydame if you would like to do it.

[madamescarlette]

Would just like to extend a thank you to @thelonelybrilliance and @contagiousgrace for spoon-feeding me the best of ST so I don't need to return to it and can instead rest content in the beams of what y'all love about it. <3