#those r the only lord Byron ones I think

[emoboybattle]

Has anyone else submitted that guy whose name I forget by Lord Byron? The first brooding sadboy in history?

Harold from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage and Manfred from Manfred each have 1 submission!

[nereidprinc3ss]

strange perfections

in which spencer reid and fem!reader meet by accident at a coffee shop. and then they keep meeting there. they've really got to stop meeting like this. (no, seriously. hotch is pissed.) / do you believe me now? bonus chapter!

series masterlist

fluff! warnings/tags: meet cute:) some dark humor, romantically inexperienced reader, spencer reid graduated from caltech, mit, and the derek morgan school of rizz a/n: this can absolutely be read as a standalone BUT it was written as a prologue for my series do you believe me now? to explain how spencer and r met! completely optional, if you're only here for the smut no worries! reading this bonus chapter might make the next chapter better though as it contains discussions of how they met:) anyway, I LOVE YOU!! let me know if you like this silly little random thing! kisses

The café door opens again. A blustery wind raises goosebumps on your arms and makes your bones ache again. You look up at the latest intruder—a hobbling elderly man in a newsboy cap and a knit red scarf. 

Stupid scarf, you think. 

Stupid door. 

Stupid wind. 

Your mug is empty, and the table you’re sitting at is sort of sticky and rickety, and there are so many papers in front of you that you wonder why the hell you thought it’d be a good idea to print the PDF out and annotate it that way instead of just doing it on your laptop like a normal person in the 21st century. Nothing is going right today. It’s the third café you’ve tried in the past few weeks as you attempt to find some place that feels homey, lucky, but this one just feels… inconvenient. 

You look at the stack of papers and sigh. 

Stupid Lord Byron. 

Stupid cafe. 

Usually, cafés are relatively quiet and peaceful—a refuge for the overworked to bask in the luxury of quiet jazz and the smell of dark roast as they continue to overwork themselves. This particular establishment, however, today hosts a group of teenagers—presumably playing hooky—who have commandeered a big booth in the back and keep walking right past your table because apparently they couldn’t have just ordered their drinks at once and they all have to do it separately and loudly. 

One of them has an incredibly irritating, gratingly pubescent laugh, and they think everything is hilarious. This whole situation is unbearable. 

Just as you’re gearing up to go, of course the fucking door opens again. This time, it’s accompanied by a particularly strong gust. 

Strong enough that Lord Byron doesn’t stand a chance. 

Your printed copy of his works blows off the table, at first page by painstakingly annotated page and then before you can even process it, all at once. 

Yeah. This is definitely not your lucky café. 

As you curse and go to stand up, you run into one of those dumb kids. His huge ceramic mug goes flying, careening against the edge of your table and completely splattering you and all your stuff in 16 liquid ounces of scalding espresso and milk. 

It’s silent for a second, save for a few drips from the puddle on your table to the floor, before the kid is apologizing profusely and turning red as a tomato. You can’t even respond—you look down at your ruined favorite sweater, and then around at the pages of Byron littered with color-coded sticky notes, overflowing with angry and purposeful red ink that you spent so much time on, scattered all over the floor. 

Eventually the boy catches on that you’re not going to forgive him and he skitters away, back to his friends, who whisper and giggle profusely. Only a few of them get up to start gathering the fallen pages with you. Several other patrons end up helping as well, so the sheets of paper are gathered and returned into your sticky hands fairly quickly. You thank each person without looking up as they hand you their respective stack. All you want is to get out of here. 

“Here—I’m really sorry about this,” someone says—a tenor-ish male voice, distinctly sympathetic as he holds out a rather larger stack of papers than anyone else had bothered to pick up. 

“I’ll live,” you sigh, straightening up. “But thank… you.”

The man standing in front of you is the kind of man who makes you want to untuck your hair from its usual spot behind your ears, and to stand up straighter, and to try and not stare even though you want his attention. He’s gloriously beautiful in a way that repels and attracts you. He’s the type of man who wouldn’t have given you the time of day in high school and probably wouldn’t now. Instantly you feel both insecure and reduced to a former version of you who would simper and fawn over boys who wanted nothing to do with her. You feel like going to the other side of the café and sitting in the best light and staring out the window poetically and hoping he’s looking at you. 

“On the one hand, I feel bad for being the person who opened the door and let the wind in. On the other… I feel compelled to say at least they’re not covered in coffee like the rest of your table is?”

You laugh vacantly, a second too late, positively coveting the awkward smile on his angular face. Then you make eye contact, and his eyes are so the opposite of angular—they’re huge and inviting and the warmest golden-brown you’ve ever seen, and they’re looking right back at you—and you have to look down. Fuck. You hate when you do that. 

Think of something normal to say!

“Yeah, true. Now I just have to reorder 264 pages. That… that don’t have page numbers.”

You shuffle through the papers. They are hopelessly scrambled. Your heart sinks just a bit.

“Um… I might actually be able to help with that, if you want?”

You frown, glancing up. What kind of sex trafficking ploy is this?

“That’s okay. Might be easier with just one person.”

He laughs—it’s similarly awkward, similarly endearing. 

“Do you mind letting me just… try? It’ll only take a minute.”

Only take a minute? Is this beautiful man deranged? Why are the hot ones always crazy?

But, perhaps because you’re a pushover who can’t stand up to people, much less beautiful people, much less beautiful men who are paying you undue attention, you find yourself giving in. You hold the stack out. 

“Sure. Give it your best shot. I’ll be impressed if you can even figure out what page one is.”

He’s already flipping through the papers with a drawn brow, walking away with them, and barely looking over his shoulder as he mutters, “I have Byron memorized. It shouldn’t be too difficult.”

You follow him, because hello, he has all your annotations. He’s definitely insane, you think, as he sits down at a table and starts rapidly sorting the sheets into separate piles. 

All you can do is stand awkwardly behind him as he stacks papers seemingly at random, barely glancing at them before deciding where they go. 

Maybe a minute, maybe a few go by, each of which have you progressively more flabbergasted, before he’s tapping the edges of a stack of paper on the table and standing, handing them to you with his lips pressed into a thin pleasant line. There’s almost a glow about him—like he couldn’t be more in his comfort zone. 

“There you go. Should be in order now.” You sport a frown bordering on a grimace as you take the stack and flip through it a bit. Sure enough, it seems that everything is in order. You keep looking between the man in front of you and the papers, incredulous as you wait for something to be in the wrong spot. 

“How did you do that?” 

His cheeks turn slightly pink. 

“I know Byron really well. I know how each passage ends and begins so I put them together like puzzle pieces.”

“How did you read that fast?”

“Uh. I’m a speed-reader?”

You scoff, taking another look through the stack. 

“I think that may be underselling it.” A thought occurs to you as you’re grazing over one of your longer annotations—full of expletives and strong opinions. “Oh, god. You didn’t… you didn’t read my notes?”

The man’s eyebrows raise as if he was waiting for you to mention that and he smiles like he doesn’t quite know how to break it to you gently. 

“Maybe a few,” he eventually decides, laughing under his breath. “I appreciated the commentary on his relationship with Augusta. It was… colorful.”

Heat rises in your cheeks as you mumble. 

“Yeah, I had a hard time appreciating the romantic poems. They’re less cute when there’s like a fifty percent chance he’s writing about his sister.”

“Half sister,” he corrects. You give him a look. 

“Does that make it better?”

“… no,” he realizes. “Not even a little bit.”

You laugh, relieved that his face looks as warm as yours feels. 

“Well… thank you, for the help,” you say after a silent second. 

“Of course. Sorry, again. I, um—I hope your day gets better?”

“Yeah, well. I feel like statistically it has to, right? It’s kind of a low bar.”

He smiles, a perfect, perfect smile, and gives you a little wave as he leaves. Without coffee. Checking the clock on the wall, you realize it’s approaching one in the afternoon. If he’d been here on his lunch break, he sacrificed it to organize your stupid Byron texts. You smile to yourself. 

He was totally in love with me. 

And he can’t prove me wrong because I’ll probably never see him again. 

All things considered—this coffee shop does seem pretty lucky. Maybe you’ll stick with it for a while. 

The next time you see the mysterious sexy speed reader is four days later—though you’ve been here every day since. He catches your eye right as he walks in, and his brows jump in pleasant recognition. You smile. He smiles back, before going up to the counter and ordering a coffee with a ludicrous amount of sugar in it. 

I should take note for when I make him his coffee in the mornings, you think to yourself, and then you snort at your own delusions, shaking your head at your book. Obviously you’re not that divorced from reality, but you’ll entertain the fantasy forever until one of you stops showing up to this café. 

What you’re absolutely not expecting is for him to walk up to your table with his to-go cup. 

“Hi,” he says. 

“Hi!”

Jesus. Tone it down, girl scout. 

He gestures to your stack of papers: now secured in a three ring binder. The cup says Spencer. 

Spencer. Spencer. 

It feels important. 

“I see you’ve upgraded.”

“Yes! Yes, I did,” you laugh self-consciously, still struggling to meet his eyes. “Thank you for the help the other day. I would still be sorting through all of this if it weren’t for that, so… yeah. Thanks.”

“Of course! I’m glad I could be of use.”

“Spence!” Someone calls from the cafe door. You both look up to see a stunning blonde beckoning him away. 

Ah. Naturally. The girlfriend who is one trillion times prettier than you. 

Spence. 

Reality sets in. 

“Coming!” He replies, with all the eager compliance of a child, before turning back to you. “Um… well… I’ll see you?”

It’s an awkward way to say goodbye to a stranger, but you suddenly don’t care enough to dwell. Instead you nod once, less enthusiastic now that you know he has a 10 waiting for him on the sidewalk. 

“I am a creature of habit.”

Another wave as he walks away. 

The two disappear from the doorway, but the perpetual breeze seems to carry a snatched bit of conversation your way. 

“Who was that?” 

“Uh… I don’t actually know.”

Yeah. Reality definitely sets in. 

Over the next few days, you break your café streak. Life is busy. There’s not always time to artfully ponder Romantic poetry and drink a six dollar coffee while waiting around for certain people to show up. 

Okay, so… maybe it has more to do with him than you’re letting on. But you’re not going to do that thing you do again, where you become limerently obsessed with a man you don’t know and who is way out of your league just because you can’t form an actual attachment to anyone to save your life. Besides, you remind yourself; we probably wouldn’t be compatible anyway. He’s probably a huge loser. Or secretly a douche. Or chews with his mouth open. Obviously nobody that attractive can also have a good personality. 

Not to mention he has a girlfriend. That should put you off, too.

But you hadn’t been lying when you’d proclaimed to be a creature of habit—you return to the café once you feel sufficiently detached from this Spencer character. 

He’s there. Of course he’s there. Why had you been expecting for him to not be there? It’s not like he was a figment of your imagination. 

This time he’s accompanied by a different blonde woman—a bespectacled blonde with a big floral headband and a patterned dress and a red cardigan and tights and heels that look self-injurious. She’s quite eye-catching; you want to keep looking at her, but you seem to draw her attention, too. Her big eyes widen minutely and briefly you wonder if you’re supposed to know her, but certainly you’d remember meeting a person like that. She doesn’t seem easily forgettable. Both of you look to Spencer at the same time, who’s looking between you with an almost panicked expression. 

“Oh! Th—” the woman whispers, cutting herself off when she realizes how loud she’s being in the otherwise silent establishment. “Ah! Okay, right. Never mind.”

 Spencer sighs. You want to laugh, but you’re baffled by the whole thing. So you go back to reading. 

Ten minutes later, they draw your attention once more. 

“Go, go ahead! It’s more problematic for you to be late than me. I’ll be like, thirty seconds tops.”

You don’t look up as Spencer leaves the café—but are you supposed to gather that these two eccentric individuals are coworkers? And what of the first blonde woman, who you’d presumed to be his girlfriend? Where is she?

While you’re wondering all of this, the new blonde teeters her way over to your table. 

“Hi!” She says pleasantly, waving a purple-tipped hand and wearing the biggest grin. 

“Uh… hi?”

“I’m Penelope. You’ve met my friend Spencer. He just left.”

“Oh—sort of,” you smile weakly, closing your book. “Not formally. I didn’t know his name.”

That’s a lie, but maybe feigning non-chalance will make it real. 

“Well, I just wanted to come over and say I love your bag. And your jewelry and your coat. I love your whole look. I bet you’re a really cool person.”

“Um—thank you!” You perk up, smiling genuinely now. The compliment warms you—you didn’t think your look was all that interesting today. “You too. I love your outfit.”

“Great! You’re—you’re great. This is good information. Um… just out of, like, sheer curiosity, could I get your name, age, and occupation? Oh—and your zodiac sign?”

What kind of convoluted sex trafficking ploy—

“Garcia!”

Spencer is at the doorway again, looking adorably miffed. 

Adorable? Get a grip. 

“Wh—I’m just making a new friend! Is friendship illegal, now?”

“This is the kind of friend-making that gets you a restraining order,” he urges. 

You look up at Penelope Garcia, enamored by their whole dynamic. They clearly care for each other, despite the squabbling. What kind of job do they have where they talk to each other like this?

“It’s fine,” you smile, introducing yourself to her.

“That is such a good name!” She says, and you’re getting the sense she’s kind of always this enthusiastic. “So now we know each other’s names—we should probably definitely be friends, right?”

“Yeah! Um, definitely!”

“Yes? Oh my god! I love this! Okay, um—we work at Quantico, so, we’re like, 10 minutes away—but this is better than the coffee shop that’s closest to the building, so we come here all the time. Usually it’s just us and five grouchy old men, which makes this is really exciting.”

“Quantico… that’s the FBI academy, right?”

“Other stuff, too,” she nods, still smiley. 

Oh! Cool. So they’re FBI agents. 

So that’s cool. 

You’re cool with that. 

Her phone starts ringing—she locks eyes with Spencer. 

“Hotch?”

“Ooh, we are in trouble,” Penelope sing-songs, leaning down to write her number on your notebook without asking. Not that you mind, of course. She adds a little heart and a smiley face next to her name before capping your pen and toddling away. “Bye, new friend!” She calls over her shoulder, waving goodbye with just her fingers. 

“Bye,” you manage, though it’s probably too quiet. 

Spencer flattens his mouth into an approximation of a smile and waves again. 

You accidentally find yourself mirroring his goodbye, facial expression and all. Fuck. You hope he doesn’t notice. You hope he doesn’t read into it. 

Nah. Boys are dumb. 

You text Penelope later that afternoon—a simple greeting so that she can save your number—and then you forget about it. 

It’s not until five days go by without sign of any of them—the two blondes, Spencer, this mysterious and foreboding Hotch figure—that you start to seriously question your sanity. Did they drop off the face of the planet, or what?

But of course, just as you’re sitting at your usual table, Spencer walks in. Alone. 

He sees you immediately, but instead of the wave you’d come to expect, he immediately flushes, looks down at his shoes and hurries into the small lunch-rush line. 

Weird.

You corner him at the coffee bar, where he’s adding more sugar to his coffee. How are his teeth so nice if he does this to himself every single day?

“Hey,” you say, affecting casual confidence as you bus your empty mug. “… Spencer, right?”

It’s comical how you’re pretending you haven’t turned that name over and looked at it from every angle hundreds of times since the first time you heard it. 

He nods, only glancing up at you as he stirs. To your surprise, he knows your name, too. When you give him an odd look, he smiles almost apologetically, finally looking at your face for longer than half a second. 

“I heard you introducing yourself to Penelope. Sorry if that’s…”

“No, no! Is she around, today? I texted her last week, but she never responded...”

“Today is operating system update day, so I don’t even really have a way of knowing if she’s alive in her office.” It’s funny to him, but you just smile, baffled. He notices your silence and catches on, scrambling to explain himself. “She’s our tech analyst. There are 243 computers in our building and she has to update them all remotely, which requires getting every agent to agree to not touch their computer at the same time for an hour or so.”

“Oh… does the FBI not have, like… an IT guy, or something?”

He laughs again—the way his eyes crinkle when he does it makes you a little breathless. 

“You should say that to her. I think you would become her favorite person.”

It’s hard not to smile when he’s smiling because of you—however indirectly that may be. Quickly you realize you’ve both been standing in front of the coffee bar for too long. 

“Alright, well… tell her good luck, for me?”

“I would, but I’ve been kicked out for an hour while she does the updates.”

Your brow furrows and you laugh. 

“From the whole building? You just can’t keep your hands off your computer for an hour?”

“Not if I want to do my job, no. And I am kind of obsessive about my job. I’ve been the reason she had to start the whole process over again before and I’d rather not be that person again.”

You say it before you can think too hard. 

“Well, if you have an hour to kill… there’s an open seat at my table? No pressure, obviously.”

And that was the first of thousands of hours you would come to spend with Spencer Reid. 

After that, it sort of becomes a regular thing. He comes almost every day—except for occasional week or so long stretches, which you have discovered are a part of his absolutely fucking insane job—and sits with you, sometimes with Penelope, once with the other blonde, JJ, who you’ve since deduced is not his girlfriend, most often alone. Usually he can’t spare more than ten minutes, but he begins pushing it, little by little, until thirty minutes go by and you think surely his boss (the great and all-powerful Hotchner) must be beginning to notice. 

One day, during your usual lunchtime rendezvous, his phone rings. He talks right on through it, like it’s not happening.

It ceases. And then it starts again. 

Your head drops to your shoulder, something like pity or regret softening your features. He catches your eye and melts slightly, mid-sentence—like he knows you’re about to tell him to be responsible. 

“Do you think you should…”

His hands drop from where they’d been enthusiastically positioned mid-air. 

“They’ll be fine if I’m late from lunch one time. I’m usually more punctual than any of them.”

You roll your lip between your teeth—it’s not that you want to tell him to go; in fact, those delusions you’ve been harboring about your future life together are only getting worse with each inexplicable minute he entertains your company. 

But his job is important. 

“What if you have a case?”

“Then I would have gotten more calls from more people by now.”

Your head tips back as you laugh lightly at his unwavering insistence.   

“I’m flattered that you so enjoy my company that much. But I can’t with good conscience keep taking up your work hours like this.”

As the laughter fades, he just… watches you, lips slightly parted, eyes intense but not entirely present. 

“You’re probably right,” he finally breathes. “Maybe… you should start taking up my other hours, instead?”

Spencer Reid, you unexpected charmer. 

You balk.

“Like… we would hang out? At a different time of day? Not here?”

“Those are the basic premises, yes,” he chuckles, nodding affably. “I’ve never actually seen you anywhere else. For all I know you could be a ghost eternally tethered to this building.”

“Where would this hanging out take place?”

Fuck, you’re totally being weird. His brow knits. 

“I don’t know. Where else do people hang out?”

He’s not genuinely asking you, he’s gently turning you in the right direction. You charge forward blindly. 

“Restaurants.”

There’s that pretty smile of his again, the one that makes all the thoughts drain from your head like cold bathwater. Though, there’s a sort of mischievous edge to it now that you haven't seen before.

“That’s certainly an option. If I asked you to hang out with me at a restaurant... would you say yes?”

You look down. God, your face feels warm. 

“Would you be asking me out on a date? In this hypothetical scenario that we’ve constructed, I mean.”

Spencer seems to think about it for a moment, which fills you with unexpected panic. When you look back up anxiously, he has the same smile on his face, but his eyes are a little softer now. 

“I would.” 

More panic sets in—just a bit. But you don’t let what is undoubtedly a tidal wave of anxiety break through the emotional guard-dam. Keep it together. This is a good thing. This is what you wanted. 

Unfortunately, you are perhaps more transparent than you’d realized. Spencer begins to look slightly worried, leaning forward in his chair. 

“You don’t have to say yes. I know we don’t know each other very well, I just—”

“No!” You find yourself assuring him, though you curse yourself because you kind of want to know what he was going to say. “I would say yes. I’ve just, um—god,” you laugh gustily, self-consciously. “Sorry I’m being so weird. I’m out of my depth. Nobody’s asked me on a date before. I don’t really know the etiquette.”

Spencer chuckles. 

“You’re doing great. Don’t worry about it.”

Not, what?

Not, you’ve never been on a date before?

Not, that’s crazy, or that’s weird, or how have you gone your whole life without being asked out?

With the implication being, you’re odd. Different. Maybe not in a good way. 

He says none of that. 

“But I should probably actually ask you, huh?” His cheeks turn pink as his laughter is redirected inwards. 

“Sounds like a good first step.”

Spencer is still smiling as he says your name and it sounds so good from his mouth. It makes you sound so real. 

“Will you go on a date with me?”

Butterflies in your stomach doesn't begin to brush what you're experiencing—your entire abdominal cavity is like a Monarch sanctuary.

“I’d love to.”

He seems genuinely relieved as he beams, slumping back in his chair. 

“Oh, thank god. I was so nervous you’d say no. I never do that. Thank you for not saying no. Not that you couldn’t have said no—it would have been completely fine and obviously within your rights to—”

His phone rings again. Both of you are relieved that he was interrupted—but admittedly you thought his rambling was super cute. 

“I should—”

“You definitely need to go.”

“Yeah,” he agrees with a still-breathless smile. “Um—what’s your number?”

You look around fruitlessly for pen and paper. 

“I don’t—”

“Just tell me. I’ll remember.”

He’s so weird. 

A breeze hits your skin as he opens the door. You’re already writing your wedding vows in the back of your mind as you watch him go. 

-

part four

[rollercoasterwords]

What do you think the other marauders besides Remus/Lily would like to read?

hmm interesting question....honestly lily & remus r the only ones i really imagine as big readers...

assuming this is in a canon-ish/canon-adjacent setting. i think mary would be a big poetry girly she'd fuck w plath & glück & césaire...also think she'd be into romantic fantasies like goldman's princess bride & dianna wynne jones' howl's moving castle...beagle's last unicorn as well perhaps...

don't think marlene would be big into reading but i do think lily would put her onto some sci-fi she'd enjoy--vonnegut, joanna russ, charlotte perkins gilman...i imagine her as a sci-fi fan as well but less into reading more into like. star wars & alien movies. same w james i don't imagine him as a big reader but i do think lily would find some sci-fi he'd enjoy...maybe more of like the philip k. dick lane than the vonnegut/russ lane tho. i think he might like some leguin as well; i imagine he'd be one of those people who really just wants to read a book that feels like a movie, nothing too dense or slow-moving.

i think all of the marauders would get a kick out of lord of the flies lol. & i imagine peter might find greek mythology interesting i could potentially see him reading like the odyssey or something. i think sirius would lowkey fuck w poetry but have a bit of a complex about it--think his faves would be the classic romantics so like shelley, byron, keats, etc. i think he would also fw baldwin & wilde, due to the homosexuality. also wuthering heights, & would have a complex abt that as well lol.

dorcas i imagine favoring a writing style that's a bit more brutal & dry...maybe some flannery o'connor, steinbeck, faulkner, etc...could also see her being big into like agatha christia murder mysteries. maybe some shirley jackson as well. emmeline would be into atwood i think...in my mind she'd also fuck hard w stone butch blues & would be reading lorde & butler (judith, not octavia) in the 90s. pandora would be into the weird gory shit she'd be reading like jack ketchum...probably stephen king & angela carter as well. maybe some more classic horror like poe & stoker's dracula, etc. also think she'd get really into octavia butler.

& regulus wouldn't read shit but if he did it would probably be like. fucking ayn rand. & maybe bukowski

[brendonuriegotcancelled]

Crush Music Management

Crush Music is a New York City and Los Angeles-based musician management company that manages Sia, Green Day, Panic! at the Disco, Lorde, Train, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy amongst others. The company was founded by Jonathan Daniel, formerly of Electric Angels and several other glam rock bands, and Bob McLynn, formerly of The Step Kings. 

Jonathan Daniel founded Crush Music in 2002. I wont get into every detail about A&R, Music Distribution and the business of music because it’s only somewhat relevant in the purpose of this post. To make this make sense to you (and me) I’ll give a quick run down. Crush Management manages some of the musicians on Fueled by Ramen’s Label. Fueled by Ramen is a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. They mostly use the big guns like Atlantic, WMG etc for Marketing and Distribution. We know that Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy signed Panic! at the Disco to his own subsidiary label of DCD2 (formerly Decaydance Records) in 2004. DCD2 is a subsidiary of Fueled by Ramen. Make sense so far? Well, FBR moved fresh out of marketing, Scott Nagelberg, to a manager position with FBR as Panic! at the Disco’s manager. Scott has been around for a long time but the first time anyone publicly saw him was in 2006.

It is tagged quite fittingly as “Brendon Urie and guest” (I am spicy today)

I am talking about Crush Management because I think a lot of people were pretty upset when the drama of 2020 was ignored by them, to the point of them blocking people for only inquiring. However, they were harassed pretty heavily and there was probably a purpose to staying quiet. I think the purpose was that if Zack was to apologize for his behavior publicly, it would be an admission of guilt on EVERYTHING (because that’s how the internet works, right? and I am guessing that Crush Management did not see that as a wise move.) But don’t worry....there are other reasons we don’t like Crush Management.

What holds Brendon to Crush is over a decade of loyalty & writers/producers that he’s comfortable working with on the Crush roster.

Examples: Suzy Shinn, Jake Sinclair, Morgan Kibby.

I don’t think he will ever LEAVE that management, however I do think he needs to be clear about things he wants with them, and I think he needs to put his foot down in terms of what he will and won’t do. Which started to happen at the end of 2019 and into 2020.

Let’s talk about the thing that bothers me the least and gradually move on to the thing that REALLY made me not like Crush.

Fame is the Thirst of Youth vs Pray for the Wicked

While I can’t entirely blame Crush for this, I think that he and the rest of CM were the one’s that opted to have ‘Pray for the Wicked’ as the album name for marketing purposes. Below is an article from the UK Independant

Panic! At The Disco frontman talks new album 'Pray For The Wicked', Broadway, and why LA is 'the best and f**king worst place in the world'

Panic! At The Disco‘s new album Pray For The Wicked was originally going to be named after a Lord Byron quote: “Fame is the thirst of youth.” Frontman Brendon Urie played with the idea, but ultimately decided that it didn’t touch enough on what the album is about.

“My despair at the current state of the world, and wanting to reflect back on my childhood...” the 31-year-old explains. “I thought it was a really beautiful line, but I’m definitely not as thirsty anymore, not as youthful... and that shit doesn’t matter to me anymore. Fame, all that shit, is a by-product of the things I really care about.”

On Pray For The Wicked, which might be Panic!’s best album yet – certainly the most well-produced and thought-out; Urie explores those themes of hedonism and guilt that are present both in his upbringing as a Mormon, and in the town in which he now resides. It certainly sounds like he had fun making it.“That’s how I live my life – I feel if I’m doing harm to somebody then I’m not a good person, but if I’m not, then where’s the harm in that?” he asks. “If I’m doing the things I enjoy, how could that be bad?”

Even the cover provokes devilish imagery, recalling a scene from the recently-revived, LA-based series Lucifer, with its titular character watching over his city of sinners (“Sure, I’m the devil,” Urie chuckles). 

“The things I’m talking about are definitely from the past couple of years, but I also wanted to link it to my childhood, think about my past and who I used to think I was, maybe romanticise some of the memories, and essentially wonder: ‘How did I get here, why am I still here?’ What it comes down to is: I love what I do, and if I didn’t then I wouldn’t still be doing this.”

Closing the album is a song called “Dying In LA” – a piano ballad which ends things in a highly unexpected and poignant way. Urie wrote the track with Morgan Kibby (”one of my favourite people”), and once it was “pretty much done” spent time speaking about what each lyric meant to them.“It was that thing when you’re not one of the top 3 artists on your label, nobody gives a fuck, so at times it feels like you could be dying in LA and nobody would care, but who gives a shit?” he says. “It doesn’t matter, everything relies on you. So that’s a little sombre note to the end of the album which I love, because the rest of the album is so high energy, and it’s good to have that juxtaposition. “LA is the best and also the worst f**king place in the world,” he adds. ”It has given me the most opportunities I’ve ever had, and has amazing networks and people to hang out with, and great weather, but also the worst people: selfish, out to get you, f**k you over, don’t give a s**t, don’t-have-any-real emotions people. It’s a very seductive town, you get here with hopes and dreams, see the stars on the boulevard...But I don’t want to rely on a town. I want to bring something to the table that actually matters.” 

Here are a few videos of Brendon talking about the tentative title and fame.

This theme runs throughout the entire album and I am unsure why he chose to go with Pray for the Wicked but as I said before, I believe it was because it was marketable and that’s what was suggested to him by management. I believe he had some internal turmoil about it as well, saying that he felt pretentious in wanting to use it.

Kinky Boots

This clip kinda speaks for itself but in several interviews, Scott is mentioned as the one who brought the role to Brendon and convinced him to do it. In this particular clip Brendon let’s it slip that Scotty didn’t want him to take it because he wasn’t going to be making any money. The truth is usually what you accidentally let slip. I believe this, 100%. Management; no matter who they are working for, are far more committed to anything that is going to make the artist more money because it makes THEM more money.

This is a perfect Segway into 2019/2020.

PFTW TOUR & After

Just a timeline of events to keep in mind before this final segment.

2016

Death of a Bachelor release, tour, Grammys & collab work, Award Shows, Music Videos, Photoshoots, Press etc.

2017

Kinky Boots while still working on music in his dressing room. Brendon took on several Broadway shows a week while working on what would be Pray For The Wicked.

2018

Pop-up shows, Pray For the Wicked release, Music Videos being made, Pray for the Wicked tour leg 1 & 2 leading into 2019

2019

“THEY HAD TO CUT MY DOOR”

Taylor Swift collab & tour still. At this point Brendon has been working constantly for 4 years straight. Brendon is absolutely exhausted. While on twitch he talks about the last day of tour and how they had to bolt cut his door open because he fell asleep so hard due to exhaustion. The only person that cared enough to get the venue to break the door was Zack. Zack thought Brendon was dead. This is the one that makes me the angriest. Management booked him so many shows at the end of tour even when he explicitly asked them not to do that.

https://youtu.be/5J82WiwaUWU

undefined

After Brendon’s collab with Taylor Swift and while he was trying to rest, he was getting consistent offers to work which were brought to him by Scott. He would refuse these, categorically. Here are a few videos of Brendon talking about it. We know his feelings on what fame is to him, and how it means absolutely nothing. To Brendon right now fame = more work, more crazy situations he’s put into, and more privacy being taken away. The man is fickle enough already but it was clear towards the end of the 2019 that he wanted to fade out for a while. Unfortunately being cancelled wasn’t the fun way to do it. I think he was exhausted emotionally & physically. So in a lot of ways I am glad that he has taken the time away from the spotlight. It had a detrimentally draining effect on his life and view of what he loved.

“I want people to forget about me”

undefined

“I’m not workin’ I’m not doing shit, I’m not reading a thing, I’m not…auditioning, I’m not”

Brendon is a stubborn man without pressure but the more you ask him to do something the less he’s gonna wanna do it. Especially if it’s something that exhausts him.

undefined

By the end of 2019 he was DONE and needed to rest. Fame=strain.

I could have gone into a little more depth with all this and I think we’re all pretty upset about how his cancellation was dealt with by management.

Thank you for reading the second part of my series. A very happy birthday to the king himself. I hope he is lounging with the people he loves and not texting his manager back.

[hedgefairy]

Okay, I know, I know, it's already old news, everybody and their uncle in the costuming community has already talked it over, but anyhoo, I made notes when I crawled my way through effing Bridgerton and I will be damned if I don't vomit them onto this site. I have 32 pages of this shit, I'm not gonna throw that away.

I'm also typing this on my phone because I'm stuck on a trainride that's just doubled in length because this is the 2021 Northern German snow storm. What, there's snowflakes on the rails? We cannot possibly keep up our schedule, say goodbye to 90% of the connections.

Okay, on to Bridgerton, Episode 1

We're in Britain (oh, London, okay), allegedly 1813. I see people who are clearly meant to be asympatico, but is this size incusivity I spot there? Daring! Gasp! Me li...

Oh wait, no. The character is promptly shamed for her figure (which is mostly caused by the horrible cut of her dress. Every size can look great in Regency garb, but never mind, we need to make the "fat one" look bad!).

Also, no shifts under the stays. Why. There was obviously enough budget, don't tell me you couldn't afford a few strappy tops - it's not like the rest is historically accurate, so it would have sufficed to send some poor underpaid intern to H&M and get some. Nvm, that wouldn't be sexay.

Wait, is the garishly dressed (always a sign of a character of bad character in a costume drama) woman Delphine from Selfridge? Does she always have to play bitches? That's not nice, and just because she has a recognisable face, which by modern (read: americanised) standards is not favourable enough. Ugh. But I like the actress, so I'll let it slide (for now).

Lol, buttocks.

Not sure about the girls' dresses. Also, the Queen is a WOC, cool!

Oh no, one of the Featherington sisters faints! But that's okay because the Featheringtons are just comic relief and foil anyway.

I get weird incest vibes from the Bridgertons.

So the court is clearly 18th century and the show is set in the 1810s. I've by now seen several explanations for this decision, I still think it robs the Queen of reproductions of her actual historical gowns which were heavily inspired by the 18th century but so. Magnificently. Weird. It would have been so neat, and more of a "hey, I'm kinda out of touch with things" vibe, but hey, I'm not the one getting paid for making those taffeta gowns here (her hair is glorious, tho).

I'm very into the intro.

That Regency gossip girl is a real b, not unlike the Dowager Countess of Downton (unpopular opinion, I think she's pretty overrated, yes, I like Maggie Smith).

Again, no shifts.

Where do I know the "pragmatic" Bridgerton sister from? Ah, it's The Paradise. And Jonathan Strange. (Wait, she's my age. And she's supposed to be a teenager. Man, do I love a good Dawson casting. I like the actress, though, she has a face ™!).

Aaaah. We get it. She's the spirited one. She also doesn't care about dresses because she's not like other girls™. I really like her voice (but she still doesn't sound like a teenager).

The heck is up with Lady F's dress and that of her friend? Oh, yeah. Antagonist fashion.

Of course the Featheringtons are Horrid Hags™ aside from Penny who's nice, but the pudgy one (at least we don't get a case of "she's not conventionally attractive so she's bad").

Oooh, the cousin! Supposed to suck, but ofc she's a stunner, and only Penny (who's the nice one, remember!) is delighted to have her around. She's also a POC, which is nice but apparently that means she does not follow fashion, hair-wise. I would have loved to see some Regency hair on her, it would have been so pretty *cries in Greek updo*

Ugh, we're still in Ep. 1, typing this on my phone was a bad idea.

Lady Danbury and the Duke guy are delightful with each other (more POC! So neat!).

The girl the oldest Bridgerbro screws is apparently a singer, which isn't up to status for his doucheship, and she doesn't wear a shift.

The music at the ball sounds like something from the Top 40s, but I'm woefully ignorant of contemporary music charts so I can't tell what it is. I like it when they do that in historical-ish works, making well-known pop or rock stuff work for the ambience (ugh, that dance scene to Golden Years in Knight's Tale. My heart. In a good way.)

I dig the Ducktail hair of Penny's crush. Oh, wait, that's a Bridgerbro. I don't quite get why the hair trends of the time don't apply to the POC characters or extras, but seeing how most white characters also show a shameful disregard for the weirdnes and gloriosity (that's not a word) that is early 1800s hair (the 1830s take the cake, tho) despite those hairdos being basically designed for white people hair, I don't think I care much (well, I do, but about all of them). Overall the hair is horrid and not very 1810s. Let's just leave it at that.

Like a good old romance novel (I've since been told that Bridgerton is supposed to be a pastiche of such novels, but I really couldn't tell from the series, not at all, and I'm not inclined to read the books) we have

a pretty, kind, superpure daughter of the main family

the mean matriarch (could have been an aunt, too, but here she's the mum) of the rivalling or antagonist family

a spirited daughter of the main family (in most romance novels this would be our heroine but so far she refreshingly lacks a love interest and pretty daughter seems to get the most screen time)

a Horrid Suitor™

a Hot Suitor™ who doesn't want attention

a really good and doting good parent

Lol, misheard Greece for Grease with Ducktail Bridgerbro, whose name is Colin, apparently. This is funny because of his Danny Zuko memorial hair.

Overall a bit too much bling for my taste, and too few pearls. It looks like an episode of My Super Sweet Sixteen with a Regency theme.

Of course the romance is going to be the Pretty One aka. Daphne and the Duke and he's even bros with her eldest bro. Wait, are they exes? I can haz bi? No? Aww, shucks. Maybe in another episode (spoiler: no).

Okay, WHAT is it with Lady F's dresses and hair. Like, she reminds me of Mars Attacks. Which, as you might remember, was not set in the Regency period.

Lord B (Bridgerbro the Eldest) sucks, he's screwing Opera Girl without any intention of marrying her but he's bitchy about his sister being ogled by his Eton (or wherever) bestie?

Oh, I'm in Hamburg now. And my train back home got canceled, so back to Berlin it is because there's not a single option to get to Hanover tonight, at least that's what the lady from the train station is saying, "oh well, you'll have to go back and try again tomorrow", so that's awesome...

Honestly, if it weren't so late and I didn't have things to do at home I'd find this terribly exciting.

Back to Bridgerton!

Where were we? Ah.

I can't even read my own annotation. Something about George III. I think I was upset about how they totally ignored that it's called Regency because George IV acted as the regent king, and he doesn't even feature in the series, I guess because they wanted to play up the Queen? Not a fan, because thanks to Horrible Histories I'm quite fond of that guy.

Again, no shifts.

Oh, look, it's Horrid Suitor™, destined for leftovers.

The Featherington cousin gets all the attention but no fleshed-out character.

Penny Featherington's dog is named Lord Byron, which ❤️

I like the Duke! He's there, drinking in his club (even though they're a patriarchal remnant of the past I have a weird appreciation for stuffy Gentlemen's Clubs, I blame Bertie Wooster and the Drones), calling Lord B out for his general fuckery.

Oh no, Ducktail Colin is more into the Cousin than Penny, who obviously pines for him!

Thank you, Lord B, for enabling Horrid Suitor™. Nobody asked you to be such a fucktwit.

The Queen is, of course, a bit of a bitch, but patronage from cool Lady *scrolls up for name* Danbury ensues for Protagonist Girl™ Daphne.

"I wish they had found a better trend language", what the heck did I even mean by that? That's what you get for just scribbling down notes while watching and simultaneously sewing. 18th century pants, in case you wanted to know.

Cousin is angry, probably because Lady F behaves like Cinderella's evil stepmother, because Cousin is prettier than her daughters and gets, like, all the suitors because Lord B bitched away everyone who wanted to get into Daphne's dowry ifyouknowwhatImeanwinkwinknudgenudge, right across the street into Cousins parlour.

The Bridgertons are annoyingly perfect. Ugh.

Oh look, it's "banter" between Daphne and Dukey! It's so Pride & Prejudice! It's almost a tiny bit Shakespeare! I put banter in parentheses because wow, nope, I'm not getting any chemistry here.

Uh, Lady B calls out Lord B (aka. her son aka. Bridgerbro the Eldest) for his screwery with Opera Girl and his outpimpery of his sister to Horrid Suitor™, buuuurrrrrnnn. He promptly calls of his affair with Opera Girl.

No shifts!

Penny gets to dance with Ducktail Colin at the thing! Good for her, but it's a country dance with jumping and fun, because she's a) the pudgy character and b) a Featherington, so it can't be something romantic and pretty (I personally like country dances, but they aren't protagonist dances).

Oooh, Cousin had her period, oh no, oh snap, oh she didn't, because she's PREGNANT! Shit, that's problematic, and not because she's an unmarried woman in the 1810s, but because she gets close to no lines at all so far, and suddenly she's pregnant and telling Lady F that she sucks for being privileged, violence ensues, this is ugly. Man, I get what some critics mean by "the POC actors*actresses get all the problems" and that not exactly being great.

Horrid Suitor™ makes property claims about Daphne, eeewwwww, thanks to Lord B's general suckiness, ewww, r@pe attempt ensues, was that really necessary? It doesn't really fit in with the rest of the series and generally nope, yay, broken nose! (which was indeed totally necessary). Nice one, and probably the only scene so far (spoiler: overall) in which I actually like Daphne. Dukey thinks a mean left hook is attractive, and, generally speaking, he's not wrong.

Daphne and Dukey come up with a pseudo-shakespearean plot to pretend to be totally into each other so she can attract suitors by being not available and he gets not to have fangirls by being not available, and as someone who has read a few too many historical-ish bodice rippers I know exactly where this is going. I mean, come on.

I can't see enough of the following choreography to complain about it. Man, I miss historical dance classes.

And that concludes Ep. 1! Finally! Thank you for getting this far, sorry for all of it (especially typos, it's the bane of unwanted autocorrect), I guess?

Update on the train situation: I've been told by the ticket control person that I shouldn't get my hopes up until noon tomorrow.

To be continued,

because I didn't take these 32 pages of notes for nothing.

[wedreamedlove]

Bai Qi In Love - Character Study

Archiving from Reddit. This is also the main post I wanted to bring over but it required my previous Bai Qi - Character Study post LOL.

So I went through Bai Qi's Spring Festival Date and I have not been the same ever since, so I wanted to expel all my emotions in another character post.

Had a couple of songs in the background while I was writing this, so feel free to put them on too while reading this post LOL.

Contains spoilers up to Chapter 15 and lines from unreleased CN cards. Translations are from the CN and JP version, so may have differing lines from the ENG version.

My road map this time is starting out with the origin of Bai Qi's love, moving onto his letter, how he's gone through his life with MC being his North Star, and then finishing off again with just how much he wants to share every moment of his life with her.

I mentioned before in my Speech Quirks post that Bai Qi always defaults to absolute sincerity when he's not sure how to respond to MC and I hope this reminds you of that, and just how he has a sixth sense when it comes to MC. Every cell in his body is attuned to her.

Normally, this level of devotion to someone is probably unhealthy but, well, MC is the paragon of goodness here so he's in good hands LOL.

FALLING SLOWLY (IN LOVE)

First (another song here!), this is the JP translation of ground zero in the [Campus Date]:

The man raised his knife and attacked Bai Qi, stabbing the sharp blade at him. But still, Bai Qi desperately countered.

Finally, everyone was knocked down but Bai Qi, who was bleeding horribly, stumbled. In his hazy consciousness, the sound of the piano gradually weakened. It was like falling into light from heaven.

In that moment, the boss of the gang took this chance to kick Bai Qi and, because of that hit, Bai Qi fell from the rooftop.

Bai Qi reached out with both hands, trying to grab something as he felt himself plummeting.

Suddenly, a melody reverberated, filled with a strong energy, pressure, and tension.

That sound crossed space and time and resonated with Bai Qi's memories.

The sight of his father wearing a military uniform and his gentle mother... memories of his childhood poured into him all at once.

"Lieutenant General, regrettably, there was no evidence of Evol in his genes."

"There's no meaning for such a useless thing to exist."

Since his mother passed away, he was always alone. It was like he was the only one in this world.

If he died, those guys would probably be happy.

Bai Qi heard rhythmical and strong piano notes and, as he was engulfed in the fierce winds, he felt his body becoming lighter.

"NO!"

Not like this.

His life didn't need his father, friends, or a meaning.

Bai Qi clenched his hands into fists with these strong emotions and the power, sleeping deep in his body, awakened.

He felt a pulse in the wind and, between the vast expanse of heaven and earth, life spread through on the wind.

The melody he heard eventually turned into something overflowing with emotions. In the depths of autumn, the gingko leaves blown up by the wind danced and glimmered in the air.

Bai Qi traveled through the air like a bird and small birds, with their wings spread, gathered happily around him.

Entranced with the piano notes, he hummed freely to the song.

The birds flapped their wings, startled by Bai Qi's sudden humming.

Bai Qi gently picked up a small bird and continued to hum.

It was joy for his reborn self and a declaration of the coming light and end of darkness.

He heard the singing of a girl along with the piano notes.

That clear voice had a powerful force which captured people's hearts and wouldn't let go.

The girl's singing and piano drew Bai Qi's mind and body over strongly.

The wind lifted Bai Qi's body and carried him to a window. Looking inside, he saw a girl playing the piano.

Maybe it was the reflection of the gingko leaves fluttering outside the window, but the girl's eyes sparkled like stars.

She continued to accompany herself on the piano and it was as if she was resonating with the wind.

It was an ordinary girl, but he felt a strong spirit from her.

The girl's hands danced on top of the white and black keys and her piano song shook Bai Qi's heart.

He quietly watched her, feeling that the seed sown in his heart was sprouting.

The girl had no idea that her piano saved a boy who was about to fall into a dark abyss.

And there was no way for the girl to know that the boy swore on his life to protect her.

BTW, the song MC was playing at this time was Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3 (Love Dream). During the second anniversary, Papergames confirmed some of the piano songs in the game.

I don't think it needs to be said that Bai Qi was literally going to die at this moment. Not only physically but I'm sure he was mentally at his limits too. Despite the tough act he puts on about being used to loneliness and not caring for what other people think about him, humans are social creatures. He felt like he was all alone in the world and was about to give up on life. I feel like we can draw some analogies to depression here.

There's also an intentional foil in [Chapter 12] between Bai Qi, Jay, and Josie. There's a reference to Josie in [Chapter 7] and MC was sympathizing about how Evol made Josie get treated like a monster, and that sort of darkness can easily change someone. Bai Qi's reply is:

[Main Story 7-18]: "Then I'm very lucky. There was someone who caught me right before I hit the bottom."

But going back to the scene with Jay in [Main Story 12-8], when he's being interrogated, he accuses Bai Qi of not knowing anything about the despair he went through. But, as we all know, Bai Qi lost his father (when he didn't show Evol genes), lost his mother (in the fire), and lost his younger brother (their father took him away and their relationship soured after the death of their mother).

Yet, unlike Jay, he didn't lash out at society and turn to the darkness because he met MC.

[Campus Date] is such a critical date about Bai Qi's character and his convictions and how, while a part of it was formed to go against his father's version of justice, it really solidified because of MC. He learned to love life and cherish its preciousness because of MC.

Because of just how important this ground zero is for Bai Qi, we see references made to this scene again and again and again:

[Main Story 15-7]: "And you saved me. Don't lower your head, look at me. Don't feel insecure and don't feel like you're useless. You caught me again right before I hit the bottom."

[Spring Festival Date]: "The day I met her, there were gingko leaves drifting and falling slowly through the air, and it was the most beautiful time in late autumn. It was also the darkest time of my life. But she was the one who caught me tightly when I fell."

[CN Rumors and Secrets: Ashes]: Bai Qi is bleeding out and touches the picture of MC that he always keeps on him in his breast pocket and sees that a corner of it is stained red. Then he thinks back to the time he heard her play the piano, lightly, gently, slowly, and how it seeped into his body and heart. [Context: this is before he reunites with MC].

THE. LETTER.

We learn about it in [Chapter 7] and how Bai Qi gave it to Minor to pass to the MC, but she saw the bloodstains on it and, because of the bad rumors around Bai Qi and how she misunderstood the sight of him threatening a student to cough up (stolen) money, she thought the letter was a threat LOL.

I'm laughing out loud, but rest assured I'm actually crying inside.

However, the truth is that it was a goodbye letter:

[Main Story 7-20]: "What I regret the most? Probably not handing that letter to that girl personally. [Was it a love letter?] No, it was a goodbye letter. [Why did you write a goodbye letter?] Why should I tell you? [Bro, look, everyone's listening. Give me some face] Because that girl said that she hated it the most when people leave without saying goodbye. [One last question. Could you tell us what was in that letter?] It doesn't matter. Let's just leave that letter in the past. We'll have lots of time in the future together."

For those curious, the contents of the letter is from [CN Rumors and Secrets: Angled Light] but I think this is part of the Dream Heart Lake event series and so won't be released: "Saturday, 9:00AM, I'll be waiting for you in the school library."

By the way, to make things more tragic, you also learn here that he waited for 14 hours at the library, until he was forced out because it was closing, and before he left he slid a gingko leaf into a book that had a collection of Lord Byron poems, which the MC often carried.

The reason he wanted to say goodbye to MC was because, after his Evol awakened and he was going to graduate, his father enlisted him into special training and (threatens) points out that Bai Qi now has someone he wants to protect, but MC is special and she won't have a peaceful life. Does Bai Qi really think he can protect her (as he is)?

It doesn't say what page Bai Qi placed the gingko leaf into, but in [CN Rumors and Secrets: Ashes] Bai Qi thinks he finally understands one of the poems in the book.

Lord Byron's "Don Juan" - Canto the Ninth, XVI and I bolded the part he quotes:

"To be, or not to be?" — Ere I decide,       I should be glad to know that which is being? 'Tis true — we speculate both far and wide,       And deem, because we see, we are all-seeing; For my part, I'll enlist on neither side       Until I see both sides for once agreeing; For me, I sometimes think that Life is Death, Rather than Life a mere affair of breath.

Meanwhile, in [CN Tide of Light SSR Chasing Dreams Date]:

"That year, I did want to give you that letter personally. But I gave myself a way out and left it up to luck. I knew that, at the time, I was still lacking a lot and so I decided that I had to meet you again with my best self."

On a last note, in [CN Yesterday's Breeze SSR Former Days Date] MC asks Bai Qi if he has ever imagined them not reuniting with each other again:

"I've thought about it before. I've thought about how, if I wasn't there, would there be people who would bully that girl and would there be anyone who'd get back at them for her? I've also thought about whether there'd be someone who'd give her a love letter and if she would end up loving someone else... So, if I was to ever meet her again, I had to make sure to catch her. And I'd never let go again."

BTW, in this date, MC has some sort of dream projection where she goes back to their high school days (but the past her also exists LOL so there's two of them) and she has some fun interactions with a grumpy high school Bai Qi. But the heartbreaking part is that MC sees the letter and runs to find him and you get to hear Bai Qi say, self-deriding, that he knew "she" wouldn't come...

HIS (GUIDING MOONLIGHT) NORTH STAR

So, after seeing just how important MC is to Bai Qi, is it any wonder that every atom of his body is attuned to her? SOBS HE JUST LOVES HER SO MUCH. Xu Mo may have the red string of fate, but Bai Qi has "all roads lead to you". She's his lodestone and his compass always points to her.

[CN Lost Forest SSR]: "I will always walk towards you first. You're forever my flag, the one I've kept to throughout every moment of my life."

[CN Go See Him: Military Uniform]: "This uniform and these medals are my convictions, and you are the direction I move forward in."

[CN Southern Wind SSR Road Trip Date]: "The start and end of this journey is you."

I feel like I'm missing more, because I swear the majority of Bai Qi's cards all seem to have some sort of direction quote and relating it back to MC.

Anyway, I won't bother bringing the examples I put in the other post (because they're over there) but this is also why it melts me whenever there's description about Bai Qi's eyes following MC or whenever he's just focusing his attention on her (with heart eyes) in the ASMRs.

Additionally, in my previous character study for Bai Qi, I talked about how MC and Bai Qi both encourage each other to grow with unconditional love and acceptance, but I want to add some quotes here about just how much he takes becoming a better person for MC to heart:

[Spring Festival Date]: "She's the one who told me I could live more strongly, and she's also the one who told me I could live more gently."

[CN Clear After the Rain SSR]: "You're the only one who can find the real me."

[CN Drunk Easterly Wind SSR Three Worlds Date]: "Regardless of whatever lives we have, I will always take my best self and give it to you. This isn't an undertaking and it's not a joke. All of these are just words from my heart."

[Slightly Drunken Date]: "No matter which side of me, they're all yours."

What can I say except that's love, baby! You don't need to complete each other, you just need to encourage each other to be the best version of yourselves!

FOREVER BY YOUR SIDE

Now that we've gotten through the bulk of what I want to say, I'm just going to dump all the romantic stuff Bai Qi has declared to MC.

It really bothers him that he wasn't there for most of her early life, but he maintains his optimism (wouldn't be surprised if he learned it from her) and looks forward to their future together.

[Prank Date]: "I wasn't there for your university, middle school, or elementary school years, and even the time before then. In my memories, there's only the sight of you in high school. At that time, your hair was longer than it is now. But it doesn't matter. From here on, we have time to create new memories."

[Love of my Life SSR Goodnight Wish Call]: "I just... thought about you in many small instances. For example... a movie, a song, a lyric, when I'm crossing the road, and... the moment I close my eyes [...] As long as you're willing, I want to take all the time that's considered yours and turn it to "ours" [...] I want to know how you were before I met you. I want to walk the roads you've walked before, see the sights you've seen before, and... brand my mark on all those moments [...] Yes. I really care about that. I want to make up for all the time I wasn't there in your life. But, right now, what I care about more is our future [...] In our future... I want to hold your hand and walk to the end of our ever after. That's the best future I can imagine."

[Mediterranean Date]: "The missed holidays, the dates I couldn't make, and the many times I had to disappear without being able to tell you... I've never had the time to make up for all of these things. So, no matter what we do, no matter where we go, as long as the person beside me is you, I won't have a single objection."

[Love of my Life SSR Wish Call]: "My wish? From the second I met you again, the wish I made to the stars every night has already been realized."

[2018 Birthday Message]: "Sometimes, whenever I pass an interesting place, I'll think about when I can bring you here to walk around. Whenever I eat something good, I'll buy one more on habit. And, whenever I run into danger on missions, I just need to think about you and my will to fight is rekindled. Because you're here, happy occasions went from being for one person to being for two people. And all the things that would worry someone have disappeared into nothing. Is it strange to hear me say this? But I want to tell you, just how important you are in my life. I don't believe in fate, but I believe in miracles. Meeting you is the most precious miracle in my life."

[Spring Festival Date]: "In the rest of my life, I want to use it all to accompany you, care for you, and love you. This is all genuine. They're all words I want to say to you... words said only to you."

[Main Story 14-22]: "I'll be with you, until the very last moment."

MOM, I LOVE THIS 2D MAN SO MUCH!! Haha, sorry, I just had to get that out of my system. Thank you for reading up to this point and I hope this lets people appreciate Bai Qi more. Gotta spread more propaganda for him and convince people that he's not just the boring vanilla character.

He's someone who was teetering on the edge of darkness and could have become someone who lashed out at society like Jay, but instead he chose to be a protector of the people and to uphold justice (even if his methods are unconventional and morally grey).

He struggles with insecurity but it never gets in the way of what he wants to do and instead motivates him to continue to better himself for MC. There's nothing wrong with setting someone or something as your goal to get through life. Baby steps until you learn how to run on your own, or not when you find someone who will walk the road of life with you.

He's a man who loved the person who literally saved his life (and is probably his raison d'être) for 7 years, never forgot her during that time, and has finally reunited with her.

Okay, ending this post for real now with the Lunar New Year card. BTW the ENG version is totally fine and I have no qualms with its translation, but I just like the nuance more in the CN and JP version.

CN goes 你是我的此生眷恋 which is literally like "you're my affection/attachment in this life". If I wasn't separating it from the English version, I'd translate it as "love of my life" too to simplify it and make it flow. But I find it interesting that 眷恋 (juan lian; sentimental attachment) is used instead of 挚爱 (zhi ai; true love) and the way you'd actually write "love of my life" is 此生挚爱 (ci sheng zhi ai) rather than the card's 此生眷恋 (ci sheng juan lian).

JP goes おまえは俺の一生の憧れ which is literally like "you're the aspiration/longing of my life". Again, I find it so interesting that neither JP or CN are using the character for love 愛 (ai) and JP's 憧れ (akogare) bundles in feelings of yearning, longing, desire, and aspiration. IMO the JP version drives in the fact that MC is someone Bai Qi's trying to catch up to. He's loved her for so long, tries so hard to better himself, and all of it is to become a person he believes can stand by her side.

[four-loose-screws]

FE4 Suzuki Novelization Translation - Chapter 9 Part 5 (The grand finale!)

If you would like to start from the beginning, read a missed part, etc., click here!

FE Game Script Translations - FE Novel Translations - Original FE Support Conversations

If you are interested in donating to support my work, please check out my Ko-fi here. Thank you!

———————————

Chapter 9: And So, the Door of Fate Opens...

Part 5

Sigurd gathered his entire army in front of the castle and announced that the war was over.

He then went on to thank everyone for all their hard work, and stated that those who were not from Grannvale and wished to return home, should do so now.

That night, a huge celebration banquet was held at Velthomer Castle.

-

The next day, those who wished to return home did so. The Silessian soldiers and Orgahill Pirates traveled to the north, the Augustrian soldiers to the west, and the Isaachian soldiers to the east.

Before they left, Sigurd generously divided the army’s remaining funds between all of them.

There were less than two hundred soldiers remaining.

The next morning, they started their final march together.

They spent the night at a town along the way, and arrived in Belhalla Field the next afternoon.

There, the Roten Ritter was lined up and waiting for them.

When Lewyn saw them, he said to Sigurd, “There’s way too many people here, don’t you think?”

Sigurd nodded, stopped Farron, and turned towards his army. “If we move towards the palace in a large unit, then we will invite another misunderstanding. I’ve decided the army will stay here, and only a limited number of people will accompany me during my audience with the emperor.”

He then chose who would go with him - Lewyn,  Claud, Lex, Azel, Brigid, Ayra, Jamke, Alec, Noish, Arden, Midir, Beowulf, and Chulainn. He left out Erinys and Lachesis.

Only less than twenty people joined him, walking slowly down the long path formed between the two lines of the Roten Ritter on either side of them.

Finally, they could see the Belhalla Castle gate.

Arvis stood before it.

When Sigurd’s group stopped in front of him, he dismounted his horse, and said, “Lord Sigurd, it is with joy that I officially recognize your return home. Congratulations.”

"Duke Arvis, we apologize for making you come all this way just to greet us. If I may ask, is His Majesty in the palace?"

"His Majesty is so gravely ill, that he cannot even leave his bed anymore. That is why I am handling all government affairs myself now."

"So that's what's going on. It pains my heart to hear it. His Majesty was very worried about me, so I will visit the palace after this to apologize to him."

"You will not be able to do that."

"Huh?"

"You will die here as a traitor. I cannot allow you to see the king."

"Wh-What are you… Duke Arvis, what do you mean?"

"Muah ha ha, you mean you haven't realized it yet? You're so soft! You plotted with Duke Byron to usurp the throne! There is no changing that fact. As the husband of the late Prince Kurth's daughter, I must punish you! Don't take it personally."

'He's such a good person, that it makes him a fool.' Arvis thought as he looked at Sigurd's face, dumbfounded in disbelief.

'Byron, Reptor, Lombard, Ring, Chagall, Dakkar… they were all such foolish men, and fools stand in the way of the utopia I am constructing. The nicer those like Sigurd are, the more of an obstacle they are. So there is no other option but for them all to die.'

-

The ideal Arvis had imagined was the construction of the Grannvalian Empire. The foundation of that empire would be equality. Everyone would be equal no matter which country they came from, the commoners would be protected from the self-centered orders of the nobles by law, and all people would be guaranteed freedom of religion. Of course, the followers of the Loptr Church would not be persecuted either, and would be able to freely worship Loptous.

The truth was, that on the night of his coming-of-age ceremony, Archbishop Manfroy of the Loptr Church had told him that Loptrian blood flowed through his veins. His mother, Cigyun, had been a descendant of Maira.

After he'd heard those words, Arvis was very troubled by them. He'd once witnessed a mother and child be burned at the stake just for being followers of Loptous, and realized there was a chance that something similar could happen to him. He worried and worried, and in the end, his conclusion was that all discrimination must be erased from the world.

 'And this is something that only I can do. Only I, who has inherited both the blood of both a Crusader and Loptous, can truly understand the meaning of discrimination.'

To turn his ideals into reality, he would have to demolish the entire current structure of the world.

And to do so, he'd decided to use Manfroy.

Manfroy and the other members of the church stirred up the greed within the nobles across every region of Jugdral, while also planting suspicion in their hearts, causing every country to get involved in the war that soon spanned the entire continent. Whether the Loptr Church’s actions were good or evil did not matter. It was all about upheaving the old structure of society.

‘Anyone would probably think to use the Loptr Church. Yes, I used them. But I did not work with them. I said that very clearly to Manfroy. “I will acknowledge your existence, but I have absolutely no intention of reviving the Loptrian Empire.” When this war is over, I will subjugate all of the surrounding countries, and establish the Grannvalian Empire. My work will be the dawn of a utopia state, and my name will be forever etched into Jugdralian history. Arvis, the first Emperor of Grannvale, will be the most famous name in all of Jugdral.’

Arvis was in very high spirits, and wanted to show his new bride the world he was creating.

‘When she sees that I rule over everything, it should add to her good memories.’

She’d appeared in front of his villa looking confused and lost, yet he’d fallen in love with her at first sight. He hadn't realized it at that time, but it was because she looked just like his mother, Cigyun. She even had the same lavender hair as his mother.

However, while she could speak, she'd lost all memory of her past. At first, Arvis had been very curious about where she was from and what kind of life she'd led until they'd met. Once they'd married and vowed to love each other, though, it didn't matter to him much anymore. Still, whenever he saw her lost in thought, he couldn't help but remember that she had a past he knew nothing about.

At one of those moments, he'd gently rubbed her shoulders and said, "There's no need for you to push yourself to remember. The future is much more precious than the past. If we make lots of good memories from now on, everything will be fine even if you don’t know your past, won’t it?”

He’d said those words for himself as much as he’d said them for her.

-

Arvis stepped back to reach for his wife's hand, who he'd told to stay safe behind the soldiers, and gestured for her to stand next to him.

"Look, this is the man who killed your father! Sigurd, son of Duke Byron! His punishment will be execution!"

The moment Arvis finished speaking, Sigurd screamed, "Deirdre!!"

And she gasped when she heard his voice.

She felt like she'd heard it somewhere before. She furrowed her brows, stared straight at him, and tried her hardest to remember.

"So it was you! Wasn't it, Deirdre!? It was him!"

"Do you… know me…?"

"You are… my…"

Sigurd started to answer, but Arvis cut off their conversation by ushering her back behind the soldiers so roughly that he almost pushed her. "Escort my wife into the palace immediately."

Two soldiers each grabbed one of her hands.

"Wait, Lord Arvis… Just give me a moment with him…"

"Deirdre!!"

"I order the entire army to kill Sigurd, the traitor, and his accomplices! There is no need to bring any of them back alive. Execute them on the spot!"

"Damn you, Arvis!" Sigurd unsheathed Tyrfing and tried to attack, but Arvis' soldiers pushed him back.

He cut down all the soldiers, only for Arvis to attack him with a Valflame spell a moment later.

 His body felt hotter and hotter with each passing second, yet he still took one step forward, then another, and another. 'Arvis!'

Valflame's fire hit Sigurd once again.

He could no longer continue forward, nor could he move at all…. 'Deirdre!!'

When the fire burned out, his charred remains were still standing proud and tall.

And in his right hand, Tyrfing was unchanged, emanating the same glittering light as always.

-

 'Erinys, run!' Lewyn shouted in his heart, while casting a Forseti spell and walking north. 'I won't die. There's so much that I must do.'

-

When Erinys realized that things had taken a turn for the worse at Belhalla Castle, she yelled, "Run, everyone! Hurry, before the enemy reaches us!"

Then, she spoke directly to Lachesis. "Get on my pegasus!"

Lachesis climbed on behind her, and the two flew north.

'Lord Lewyn told me he won't die.' She repeated to herself over and over the entire way home to Silesse. 'Lord Lewyn told me he won't die.'

-

Beowulf jumped on his horse and started galloping in the direction he knew Lachesis was in, but standing in his way was a large group of enemy soldiers.

"Outta my way!" He yelled, and forced his way into their formation.

He thought nothing of defense, only swinging his sword over and over and over again.

However, their numbers were too great, and he couldn't make any progress.

'Run, Lachesis!'

A lance stabbed into his side.

As he fell from his horse, his last thought was, 'A noble knight like you needs to make it out of this alive…’

-

Chulainn stood still, not even unsheathing his sword.

The enemy approaching him thought that he wasn't going to resist, and rushed closer.

Suddenly, like a flash of light, he attacked the enemy. Then, he stepped to the side, and cut down another enemy. He jumped, and killed yet another enemy the moment he hit the ground.

But as he killed a fourth enemy, he was struck by a meteor.

'I don't have any regrets, Sigurd.’

-

Alec said to Noish, "Seems like this is the end."

"Yeah…"

"Shall we both charge at once?"

"Sure…"

"Alright, good luck."

"You too…"

They both shouted a battle cry, then charged their horses straight into the enemies surrounding them.

Arden followed along after them. "Hey, don't leave me behind!"

-

At the sight of Arvis' cruel strategy, Azel was finally able to overcome his inferiority complex.

'Attacking us like this makes you the loser, Brother.'

He countered a ball of fire that an enemy had cast with one of his own.

'I was happier than you'll ever be, Arvis.'

There were enemies coming at him from three different directions.

He cast two consecutive fireballs, killing two of them.

However, he couldn't take out the third one in time.

'Tailtiu, take care of the children…'

-

Midair and Brigid fought side-by-side.

They shot arrows one after the other, keeping their enemies from getting close to them.

But no arrow could stop a burning meteor that was headed straight for them.

It hit Brigid's right arm, and fell directly on top of Midir.

Brigid knew immediately that her arm was now limp and useless. Midir died instantly.

'We were so happy together.'

She endured the intense pain coursing through her body, held Yewfelle under her left arm, and waited for the enemies to approach her.

"I am Princess Brigid of Jungby! Go ahead, kill me!"

-

Ayra and Lex fought back-to-back.

They no longer had any idea how many enemies they'd killed.

Suddenly, Ayra heard Lex scream in pain.

She stepped back, and realized that he'd collapsed.

'Lex, we're in the middle of battle, so I can't hold you. But I will die with you.'

After that, she continued to fight, but didn't budge an inch.

Finally, lance that she could have dodged if she had moved pierced her side.

She fell atop her husband.

'We will never part ever again, Lex.'

-

Jamke focused on attacking the enemy general.

He jumped out from behind Sigurd's charred body and aimed an arrow right at the space between Arvis' eyes.

The arrow missed its mark, instead hitting Arvis' left shoulder, but still caused him to stagger.

Then, a fireball slammed into Jamke from behind.

'Aideen, take care of Lester…'

-

Claud witnessed the events that the Valkyrie Staff had not shown him in utter disbelief.

'This is so terrible. ...Gods, are you really allowing this to happen?’

He prayed to the staff, but it didn't respond.

'This must be wrong.'

The moment he had that thought, he realized what his duty was.

He tightened his grip around the staff, and prayed again.

'Gods, I accept what is happening. But no matter how I look at it, I know it must be wrong. Please do what you must to right this wrong, for the sake of our future. I exchange my life, so that justice and love may win…'

A light shot out of the gem in response.

'Ah… thank you for accepting my prayer. With this, I have fulfilled my duty. Please accept my offering of my life.'

Not even a second later, a meteor fell on top of him.

-

Lewyn suddenly felt a strange power course through his body.

'I will not die. There's so much that I must do.' 

At first, he'd just been trying to convince himself, but now, he really believed he would survive.

He walked forward and cast Forseti spells in rapid succession, without pausing even once.

Each spell caused an explosion front of him, blowing his enemies up into bits and sending their dismembered body parts flying.

'I will not die.'

Lewyn kept walking.

He cast spell after spell, and continued forward...

-End of Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War: Sigurd’s Story Book Two-

[lunar-viper-writes]

Saying Roark was bad with kids was an understatement. He was terrible, if not the worst, with kids. He would either be too soft with them to the point it would piss them off or he would be too rough to the point they would start crying. Today was sadly one of those days where he was too rough with a kid.  Riley, Riley was the name of the kid he upset this time. One wrong thing and the kid looked at him, the bright lilac eyes staring up at him as he came close to tears. They were swimming with emotion, something he’s seen with only one other person when they were about to cry. “Damnit Roark! What the hell did you do now?” his father boomed, seeing the small boy shacking and his son trying to calm him down.  “I don’t know! I was just talking with Gardenia and Cynthia and he just did... whatever the hell this is!” Roark exclaims. He’s never seen the kid show any emotion aside from fear. The kid either showed nothing or showed fear, especially around Cynthia and Professor Rowan. “Oh no, Roark you need to just shut up for once,” Byron groans. The tears in Riley’s eyes start falling but Riley only makes a soft whimper as he tries to wipe his tears with his sleeve and hides his face. “Oh sweetie, it’s okay. Roark’s just a big meanie who doesn’t think before he speaks,” Gardenia says, smiling at Riley and patting his head. He just tries hiding his face more when she tries to comfort him. “I-it’s okay,” is all he’s able to muster as he tries to stop the tears. Gardenia’s heart melts at his soft voice and quiet tone, one that reminds her of her cousin who’s not much younger than Riley.  “Oh Arceus, why is Gardenia. now?” Zephyr asks. He raises an eyebrow at her as his great-niece Candice clings to him and watches the scene. “In short Roark made Riley cry and Riley said something to make Gardenia cry,” Byron sighs, “Is Candice ever like this?” “Not once in the thirteen years she’s been alive,” he says, “Where’s Cynthia? She has her way with kids.” “Not here, I can tell you that much,”  Cynthia walked over to the group, “My ears are burning, you two are being dicks again, aren’t you,” she frowns. “No, actually,” Zephyr says, a low growl in his voice, “And don’t swear around Candice.” Cynthia took notice of the young teen who’s sticking close to the older man, “Oh! Sorry, Zephry,” Cynthia says nervously, “Anyways, what were you talking about?” “Can you calm down Riley, please? Roark said something again,” Byron explains. “Yeah!” Cynthia smiles, “Want me to knock some sense into him too?” “No, I’ll do it later and Riley’s upset enough as it is,”  “Okay,” Cynthia sighs. She walks over to the three and bends down to Riley’s hight. The boy was small given his age, but it wasn’t anything too short. He was five feet at least, but she knew people shorter than him at his age. “Hi there, don’t worry about Roark. He didn’t mean what he said, he’s just not good with words sometimes,” she smiles. Riley glances at her, his eyes were all teary and he was trying to wipe the tears away. “I-it’s o-okay m-miss Cynthia,” he says softly, “I-I’ll be f-fine.” “Oh no,” Cynthia says, her eyes widening. She hugs him tightly and tears start welling in her own eyes, “Roark, you’re so mean. I can’t believe you would make such a sweet kid cry!” Cynthia says, starting to cry. “P-please don’t cry, miss!” Riley says, more tears starting to well in his eyes. “Oh dear lord, now she’s crying too,” Zepher groans. He doesn’t notice Candice leave his side.  “H-hey! Don’t cry! How about I buy you ice cream? That’ll cheer you up, right?” Roark says, trying to convince Riley to stop crying. He was too concerned with the small twelve year old to notice Candice come behind him. By the time he did, it was too late. She land a swift kick to the back of his knee, making him fall and groan in pain. “Shut it before you say something else, idiot,” she growls, glaring at him. Riley looks to see the girl standing over Roark and gives a small laugh at her threatening him. She notices and walks over to him, “Hiya!” she says, smiling brightly, “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Candice! My uncle’s the gym leader of Snowpoint City! What’s your name?” “R-Riley,” he says shyly. “Cool! Hey, if he ever does anything dumb again, just kick him in the knees! He has weak knees,” she says smiling. “She gets it from you and Aurora,” Byron whispers. “No, she gets it from her father if anything,” Zephyr scuffs. “Like hell, she gets it from her mother’s side of the family.” “Uh-huh, that’s what you say now,” Byron says. The two watch as Candice easily cheers Riley up and talks to him about his Lucario. Byron’s personally surprised she knew where to hit Roark but it was probably for the better so he didn’t say anything to upset Riley further. 

[alyseofwonderland]

Alyse Reads The Goldfinch, Part 2

What follows is my best attempt at liveblogging. I had the books as an audiobook in hopes that I could keep it from taking even more of my life from me. This was perhaps a mistake. I think I broke Siri trying to make notes. The notes that are rambly are the ones I dictated.

I entirely blame @rollono​ for my suffering. But I am also aware that it seems to give her joy. 

Every time I reference Tara, I am talking about @wellntruly​ who’s own live blog of the book was the only roadmap I had to follow in this waterlogged wasteland of a novel.

Part 1

I thought Tara was making up the Camel-hair coat bit but APPARENTLY NOT.

Architecture has that much to do with the city and or northern Europe, really? I mean, “whitewash” doesn't everybody do that?

Nina ( @proud-librarian​ ) is going to have a lot to say about their descriptions of the Netherlands and Amsterdam in this book. like oh my God!

Theo Deckard doesn't understand how thermostats work.

This isn't satire? I don't understand we're like three minutes in and it has to be satire. right. right?

Who the hell says my mother and I didn't like my father much? like what.... what is this? what am I reading? what is happening? what.... I don't understand.... okay maybe fine whatever

This feels like it should be... I don't know.... satire is the word I'm looking for again. I don't want to just repeat what Tara, said but Jesus. the start of the story is he is rich enough to have a Doorman but not rich enough to afford the fancy private school, and him and his friends break into vacation homes in the Hamptons. what is this? what is this? I just... just.... just write a Jane Austen or Lord Byron novel if that's what you want to do just do that. do that.

My audiobook app just turned itself off in the middle of a passage because it decided I didn't need to listen to Theo talk about whatever he was talking about.

Curse you, Donna Tartt, for also being in the "all things coconut smell like suntan lotion" club. I did not want to have this in common with you.

I am laughing so hard it turns silent into my steering wheel because the audiobook reader makes Tom Cable sound like a surfer dude from the 70s,  and I. cannot. handle. that.

"I like to think of myself as a perceptive person" is basically the way that I know that Theo has about Harry Potter level skills of observation when it comes to the people around him.

Y'all this book would be so much better if Theo actually thought like a 13-year-old that he is supposed to be in the intro part. That would just be peak comedy, which is really what I'm looking for.

Audrey Decker and the Laura Moon from American gods are now the two people that I have ever known to call men "puppy" which I still find alarming, in both cases. Surprisingly they also both die, so I guess more things they have in common.

The longer this book goes on the more clear it is that I am not bougie enough for its contents. ( timestamp 30 minutes)

(GIF BY @rollono​ BY MY REQUEST FOR EVERY TIME THIS BOOK MAKES ME FEEL POOR)

I just can't suspend my disbelief enough to think that a 13-year-old would know this much about their parent's job and be able to ask questions. I'm trying to think of what my dad was doing when I was 13, and I mean I know where he worked, and I know who his boss was, but if you tried to ask me daily issues or me giving advice... oh my gosh. I just can't. nobody talks like this.

I’m making a face akin to Kermit the frog. 

I threw up in my mouth a little at the description of Pippa walking past in the museum.

Did we just describe a 12-year-old girl's arms as marble? is that what just happened? did I just have to listen to that?

Theo has given me a lot of like “Golden State killer” vibes right now with his desire to poke around through all these people's homes and stuff. like this is clearly the Visalia ransacker's motivation in the 70s. I know too much about true crime, that's what's happening right now.

The true-crime serial killer alarms keep going off in my brain.

I know Tara already mentioned how ridiculous the Murphys bed story is but it really is incredibly ridiculous and breaks the tension of the entire scene that is occurring at the time (laughed uncontrollably to the point that Siri typed nonsense)

I get it, Donna, you know things. You do not have list every fire truck to prove it.

Let's take a child to a dinner at 3 am. Really Donna?

Why does Donna insist on giving me the text of signs around whats going on? Why did I just listen to the smoothie specials while an emotional scene is occurring?

Donna, did you just call Mrs. Barough a weasel?  [afronted gasp]

OI!  (me shouting when Donna says that Andy was weird for being lactose intolerant.)

Pukes in my mouth a little at the term 'high verbal'. I get it, Donna, you think you are smarter than all of us stop being a dick.

Donna Tartt would make it to r/iamverysmart in like a minute if she understood how the internet worked.

WHO TAUGHT HER ABOUT FMA?

Okay, so either Donna Tartt knows someone who lost a parent and basing this off them or like went through it herself because I am white-knuckling through the grief bits trying not to have my own trauma response to the situation. Or she wrote Theo with like the exact grief I had. Her incessant need to list things in a room is the only thing between me and a spiral of remembering my dad's death.

ANDY IS A RAY OF LIGHT AND DOES NOT DESERVE TO BE IN THIS FAMILY OR IN THIS BOOK!

Five whole hours before the first sight of Hobie. Like Jesus.

I miss Terry Pratchett.

Hobie thank you for making this book interesting again.

Hobie is now my main squeeze and I won't hear a word against him.

POE DIDN'T INVENT SCIENCE FICTION FUCKING MARY SHELLY DID. DONNA WHAT THE FUCK.

The Hobie part of the story just makes me more sure that a version of the movie should have been without the Baroughers (sp?) and only included Hobie and Pippa.

Any is a murderino. I love this baby boy.

Aw, I love Hobie so so much.

Donna if you call Andy annoying one more time you are gonna catch my hands. (She just referred to his voice as annoying twice in a conversation and I swear to god I will rip this character out of her snobbish clutches she doesn't deserve him.)

Theo on this we agree, I too enjoy Hobie.

Hobie is the only person who belongs in this novel and he's a god damn delight.

SEVEN HOURS AND THE PAINTING HAS COME UP AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME IN LITERAL HOURS.

Theo straight up using Spanish to fuck over his father is just *chef's kiss.

I can see how much contempt Donna has for Xandra is longer and deeper than this book will ever be.

I am going to suplex Larry Decker I swear to god. (i have a very particular trigger to spouses bad-mouthing the dead one due to personal experience.)

Necco wafers are no one's favorite candy Donna. You can't just say shit like that and expect anyone to believe you.

I have just realized that Donna Tartt has never been to a public library. How do I know? Witchcraft books are never on the shelves. Ask any librarian. They are stolen pretty much the moment we buy them.

I am standing dead in the tea aisle at the store because Theo just thought it would be “gay” to tell the doormen he has known almost his whole life he is gonna miss them.  (hours later I realize this is her backtracking in edits going "shit shit shit I have to add the repression in somewhere for those dumb readers that don't understand art" and I hate it more.)

Mrs. B is ready to physically fight Larry and I would pay real money to see it.

WHY DOES DONNA KNOW ABOUT DRAGON BALL Z?!? Step away from the things I love Donna I don't trust you near my media. (Also why she does reference it she clearly has NO concept of what DBZ hair would even look like to expect me to believe any child could achieve it.)

oh my god, Boris. I'm so happy to see you.

I am happy to report the audiobook narrator does not do an Australian accent for Boris. Thank the lord.

I knew I was going to love Boris but like a few minutes in I adore him.

It's interesting to me that Theo and Boris seem to have received similar amounts of attention/affection from non-parent adults, but while Theo finds it uncomfortable Boris soaks it in.

The Australian part of Boris's accent seems impossible.

*sobbing audibly into my keyboard* Popchyck

Boris you sweet like socialist.

Comrade Boris we need you in this election.

I'm sad he (Boris) doesn't get to go to college and like piss off every yuppie and hippie, and just make Philosophy 100 and Government 250 absolute hell for everyone.

Drunk Boris at Thanksgiving is a gift.

Me listening to this book before Boris: half paying attention, fucking around on my computer, doing chores. Me after Boris shows up: staring at the middle distance determined to listen to every fucking word because this prison sentence of a novel is finally interesting.

James: you said the author is a snob and you aren't enjoying the main character.  Me: yeah James: then stop reading it. Me: No, then Donna and her Anna Wintour knock off hair cut will win. James, frowning and backing out of the room: k sweetie.

6:30 am is too early to hear Theo Decker describe his bed as "our bed"

I WAS RIGHT. Boris belongs in college making every American white kid absolutely furious in every Poli-sci.

Larry Decker calling Theo and Boris his "kids" made my heart skip a beat.

So the nurse notices they don't have vitamins and smell but doesn't call child services. I mean I know that I learned that school nurses are less likely to call CFS on white kids than they are on black kids but like god damn.

The sheer salt of Theo refusing to learn the name of Boris’s girlfriend is so hilarious.

Now *this* is gay.

The truth is Theo is ready to cut a bitch.

Fellas is it gay to do shots while your boyfriend talks about his girlfriend?

Theo trying to set up Boris with like a nice polite girl who won't fuck him is fucking hilarious. This poor baby gay.

Theo (and Donna cuz she writes him) have never heard of learning disabilities and I will legit throw down.

LARRY IS A SCORPIO IN CANON?! I thought that was something from the fan fics. omg Ally hates this.

No one wears white sport coats Donna stop trying to make it happen.

Boris totally knows what's going on with Larry and he's just trying to look out for Theo because he loves Theo but oh my gosh Boris why do you make me feel so many feelings!

Please, Donna, I am begging you to stop telling me what the light from the sun looks like at different times of the day. I just can't take it anymore. Every scene of Theo in Xandra's house does not need the qualifier of what type of sunlight he is seeing. Some times fine. But every time?

My entire stomach just dropped when I realized what Boris has done, and I'm just I'm so sad. this is not how I wanna start my commute to work today.

I have just had my first moments of being very proud of Donna's writing, because long long time ago, in the same chapter, she had the bit about how Xandra will say "apparently" when she's being bitchy with Theo and now in a conversation where Theo isn't paying attention to her she says "apparently" to Larry and I just had to stop and say this, this is the writing I'm looking for Donna. This is clever and interesting and I LIKED IT. Stop making lists and do more of this.

Friendship ended with Book Boris, Movie Boris is my best friend now.

I don't understand how the director and the screenwriter of the film could move who said those lines and then not make it gay. Like, commit to your choice.

My mom: You finish that book yet? Me, angrily: No. My mom slightly worried: do you like it? Me: unclear.

NEW CHAPTER!

Theo, I need you calm all the way down when you are looking at Pippa.

Love this lawyer. I want to be his friend.

God poor Pippa. All the shit she goes through and she still has to put up with Theo's weird obsession.

Theo, you slid right back into the serial killer habits in a second and I want you to stop it.

Oh god, I feel that in my soul. Like "no sir you have it wrong I look more like the parent I like best." (also I do look more like my dad. like way more like him)

I am begging someone to get Theo some kind of hobby or help or something so he stops acting like a victorian ghost.

I am gonna have to get the actual book so I can see what weird spelling is going on with the text messages. I just know its weird. The narrator does it in such a weird voice.

We spent so much time dealing with emotional issues and other whatnot that going back to the bit about the painting feels like a huge tonal shift in the book. I'm like staggering around confused.

Literally no one uses strawberry shampoo.

Love that Theo ‘s final plan is the one Andy purposed an eon ago.

Salty that Theo is getting the cool college experience that Boris would have crushed.  I would have paid good money to watch him make the philosophy department cry.

[kermit in the car gif]

Yo! Theo struggling to deal with school is like exactly my semester after my dad died.  

The adults attempting to force him into different living arrangements is so what we dealt with post my dad’s death.

Grisha! (Russians the only people I trust atm)

Tara was right, Andy's death comes off like a joke!

I gotta say, Crime Theo is my favorite Theo so far.

I don't know which serial killer Donna was channeling to write the parts about Theo being obsessed with Pippa, but it is just so intensely a serial killer vibe I cannot even begin to describe the look on my face; the feelings I'm having. I'm just like this man is going to kill someone. he's going to kill a lot of people. not only that it's going to be a lot of women because he doesn't view them as people. that's what I'm getting from this it's. Theo doesn't think women are people.

If Theo was on reddit he would be part of r/niceguys and r/iamverysmart.

If I have to listen to him drone on about his fantasies of Pippa for one more minute I will kill myself in the baking aisle of Aldis.

HES HOARDING HER HAIR?! HER UNWASHED CLOTHES?!? Please someone put him in jail.

[the sound of me throwing up in the frozen food section as Theo describes Kitsey]

Donna don’t try to act like you didn’t add that foreshadowing yourself about Andy. You crack me up you relentlessly snob.

How is Theo just The Worst all the time?

Theo freaking out because two gay guys know what’s up with him is just *chef’s kiss

Me having seen only the movie: Theo and Boris should get redemption and a romance run away. Me now: [ gif of “Ive had enough of this guy” from IASIP]

I mean I understand that John Crawley was a coward in so many of his directorial choices, but the fact that he didn't put the second meeting of Theo and this Lucius guy into a crowded weird restaurant where they're both getting hit by the waiters as they go past is just the weakest move you could've made. because this makes it so much funnier.

I'm with Hobie.

honestly this book should've just been 20 hours of art crime and like to shave off a good 10 hours of LISTS because that's what 10 hours is. give me 20 hours of art crime. I would love to watch each sale happen that would've been riveting to read but instead.... this.

Bish, you like those earrings or I will cut you.

Theo salty, while Kitsey picks out new china, is so fucking hilarious.

him just like "why are we buying new plates when my job is literally to find plates that were made by craftsmen?!?!” but being too fucking repressed in his bullshit to say anything, so he just making some poor sales lady suffer.

my friend Ally: “Theo’s repression makes everyone suffer is a good summary of the book.”

Alternative version of this book that would have been 8 million times better: Theo gets into art crimes but is also a serial killer. We don't know the second bit but it begins to start dawning on us as women seem to disappear from his social circles and weird hints of thoughts about blood and rivers.  Bonus points if it ends with him on the run from the law with his only vaguely criminal (by comparison to serial killer Theo) boyfriend. We are left to wonder if they will be gunned down in the chase or if perhaps there will be one more body to great the river.

Theo's textbook serial killer nonsense is only comparable to the sheer petty gay energy he gives off.

The power trip he gets from being like "hahaha yes I have bagged the ice princess who wanted nothing to do with me when we were kids" is just so gross and hilarious.

Theo realizing he is not the only sociopath in the room is just *chef's kiss.

Boris, did you really send some guy to just watch your ex?

Boris, I am begging you. You have made Grisha so upset.

Donna shying away from describing Boris comes off, if you don't know who we are talking about, as weird and slightly racist.

You have the internet Theo, you can look up when movies are going to start. You are not living on the moors.

HOW IS THIS BOOK NOT A SATIRE OF AMERICAN PYSCHO FOR PEOPLE THAT HAVE BONERS FOR ANTIQUES?!?

Boris returns. I have almost forgiven him for what he put me through.

Maybe "fuck you" can be our always.

*tries not to cry when I realize that Boris' friends have heard about Theo

bless Aneurin for everything he did for this reunion in the movie.

Why is Boris such a slut? Why will I forgive him for anything?

Is it gay to think about the guy you used to jack off as handsome when you meet each other again?

Genetics means those kids can't be Boris' unless his mother was blonde. (Theo kind of agrees.)

My soul has left my body at the concept of Boris having a wife and kids.

I'm not saying I endorse crime, I'm just saying a mobster front with a pun in the name is really on-brand for me.

Knowing what I Know. That Boris thinks Theo is gonna try to kill him when they go for the "surprise" just makes the whole thing so tragic and sad.

Boris and his dog REUNITED AT LAST. I'm not crying. I'm fine.

Interesting that the next story we hear is about Gyuri's dead "brother" right after Boris says that Theo is "blood of his heart, his brother". Like. I might not be the biggest history buff in the world but I know gay code when I see it.

I mean I knew this was gonna happen, but I can't help but feel personally betrayed by Boris once again.

Donna, stay away from stuff about computers. Your attempts to use them make me, a technology expert, cringe.

Boris like "you don't deserve this dog. I deserve this dog."

"Babe I get that you are a WASP at heart but I need you to fight with me like a Russian now." - Boris to his disaster husband

"Did I lie?" "YES" (me laughing so hard I'm practically crying)

why does no one in this book appear to exchange numbers or like airdrop contact info.

Does Donna think that people only have iPhones?

Ally who is CTRL F reading this book "'Every few hundred pages she's like 'oh yeah, it's modern times...they're texting and there's emojis!' Seriously, there was the mention of emoji's and my soul escaped my body for a minute because it had no tether to time or space" @aces-low​

Off the top of my head, the name that Donna is not saying for this Horace to guy is Volkswagen.

Instead of being in the mob Boris should run an animal shelter.

Boris being Bitchy and jelly when Theo is talking to the German guy is just so cute. You two deserve each other with your weird shit.

If Donna wasn't a coward this book would have had Theo just getting eyeballs deep in art crime with Boris and his associates.

Adding a sin for making me listen to whatever that just was.

Things Donna forgot to list in "girl food": chicken wings, bread, rolls, other types of bread, garlic bread, a bit more bread, maybe cookies, eight more cookies, 20 more cookies, every type of chocolate humanly imaginable, jam, and barbecue ribs.

What do ankles have to do with being attractive?!?!?! this isn't the Victorian age! 

(from Ally re this comment: “I'm now convinced that every day Donna sat down to write this book she spun a wheel with different years on it, and that's the year the book was set that day”)

I didn't mind Kitsey cheating on Theo, because he doesn't even really like her. Until just now, when I realized that Mrs. B knows about it and she's keeping it from Theo, and my heart broke into 1 trillion pieces. she is the closest thing he has to a mother and he realized that she kept it from him, and I should not be crying in my car before my special Valentine night dinner.

James just walked in during a part describing Pippa and goes "Men writing women, huh?" and I had to pause the book, turn to him and say "a woman wrote this" and he just looks at me like 0_0

Mrs. B clutching Theo's hand so he won't leave her alone with Smalltalk-old-man is honestly the cutest thing in this entire book.

Hobie being able to be spotted from a distance at all times! I have a friend who is 6'5" and we can find him in crowds so easily!

Perhaps the funniest moment of this book is Theo saying "if girls loved assholes then Pippa would love me". buddy I'm going to post this entire book to r/niceguys

I WANT MORE ART CRIME! Why did you make me listen to 15 hours of boring nonsense when we could have had ART CRIME!

I deeply enjoy Boris's commitment to being a dramatic goofball, falling to his knees just be annoying.

Movie Boris appears in a dramatic way. Book Boris is just like there and also shoving food in his face and walking out of the party still eating all the food he just put in his cheeks like a chipmunk.

Hobie just like "if you want to run off with your gay love i'll cover."

Theodor Decker you get back in there and make sure that thief stays away from Nicole Kidman she has been through enough already!

Theo, I know that you don't actually have brains for anything besides drugs, crimes, being weird about women, and your own ass, but you could at least listen when people speak.

Theo is such a mess. He doesn't belong in modern times. He deserves to be Jack the Ripper.

I know the narrator is saying croissant the "correct" way. But every single time it happens I'm so fucking confused because who just leans into a french accent that hard for a single word?

Theo offers an actual good idea that Boris is going to use later and they all look at him like he's crazy.

I know "my brand" is "man holding gun" but listening to Boris assemble a gun I'm like "oh goodness I need to lay down". *fans self

Theo suddenly "I have made a huge mistake"

It's interesting to me how reluctant Boris is to make Theo a larger part of the heist. Theo reads it as frustrating but I read it like a kind of care and affection. He doesn't want his friend mixed up in something he can't handle, despite the fact that he wants Theo close so he can get him the painting back.

I see now why the heist in the movie was so fucking confusing. You need the Horst stuff and like a bunch of other nonsense that does not translate well to screen unless you re-write all the connections, which John Crowley was not willing to do.

Really love the "women drop their mark the first time" bit.

me: Theo I swear to god stop being high and sick in your room and go get some actual clothes and medication or at least don't make me listen to so much of it

this book is not 30 hours long. its 15 hours of a book and 15 hours of Donna going "gotta get that word count up or people with think I'm weak". Please, Donna. I don't need to hear this one thing happen for so long. It adds nothing to the tone, the themes, the plot, or the ambiance. You are just writing words for words sake.

The first suicide note was so well crafted that I honestly want Theo to kill himself now. If he can manage to write the others pretty okay I will be happy with this ending.

Don’t think I didn’t notice that the ghost of a dead loved one appeared on Christmas Eve.

I'm sorry who doesn't respond to "didn't you get my text?" with "my phone was dead" instantly?

me listening to Theo throw a tantrum at Boris because neither of them is capable of explaining themselves and like speaking as normal humans do: "It would have been better if Theo died"

Why must I be forced to listen to Donna make these scenes longer because these people don't talk like people?

Thud by Terry Pratchett does a much much better job of asking the question "can we trust our hearts and be the person we want to be?" And it honestly gives a better answer. And has you know, clever writing.

I thought it was like Over. I did. I was like "oh this is it wrapping up" ONLY THERE IS 30 MORE MINUTES AND I WANT TO SCREAM!

Me certain the book is over: i mean maybe this is a good ending

Me seeing i still have 30 more minutes: this is the worst book ever

This book held me fucking captive for over a week and all it left me with was like a few good lines, burning hatred for the main character, and the desire to go into Donna's home and rearrange all her stuff. 

also, I now hate antiques. out of spite.

don't read The Goldfinch. it's not worth it y’all.    

[heavycrowned]

            hey angels, i’m kit ! i’m twenty years old and reside in gmt + 1 which is the pits, lemme tell ya. i use she / her pronouns, and i love a song of ice and fire / game of thrones so much, when i saw this rp i pretty much had a heart attack ? anyhow, enough about me ; under the cut you’ll find some brief, less-than-well-phrased ( read: i suck at writing bios ) information on my literal queen, wylla ! feel free to like this or hit me up for plots, but odds are i’ll probably slide into your ims soon enough --- i can’t wait to plot & rp w all of you !

*.:｡ ✧ ( adelaide kane, twenty-two, she / her ) a little bird told me that they have seen wylla targaryen née marbrand roaming the capital, the queen of westeros, and loyal to houses targaryen & marbrand. there have been whispers that they’re determined & adventurous. however, some would say that they’re impulsive & evasive. may the old gods and the new gods be watching over them ! 

          tw for --- death, miscarriage.

alright so ! her father was lord marbrand ( obviously ) & her mom was a manderly --- that is to say, the wealthiest houses of the north and the south united, making them rich af. but their marriage was a loveless one, borne out of duty rather than affection, and lord and lady marbrand mostly played at masked resentment and avoidance

born in casterly rock as the youngest of four siblings, wylla honestly had a charmed-ass youth. she was incurably curious and bright, which also made her break rules and sneak around like a lil shit, definitely got in a lot of trouble. there were times when they just straight-up couldn’t find her for like a week. where was wylla? camping out in the library, or hanging out with the lions that still pace back and forth in the bowels of the castle

lost her sister in a fall from her horse ( sad )

ok so let’s elaborate --- wylla and her sister were less than a year apart in age, and very close. wylla had convinced her to go out of the castle on a ride and things did not go well; her horse broke an ankle and just like that, jeyne marbrand was thrown from her horse and was no more.

so this devestated wylla, but also her mother --- while before they had been quite close, her mother withdrew, to the effect that wylla turned to her father for guidance and approval

except ok, he’s sneaky and only really lookin out to claim glory, plus he’s getting on in years and can hear the clock ticking on him, so he does with her perhaps the most expedient thing that can be done with a daughter

of course, marbrands control casterly rock so they’re terribly wealthy, and the manderlys control white harbor so again, pretty important, which made wylla a pretty damn good candidate for marrying the targaryen king ( or was he still a prince at that point ? we just don’t know .. until we get him in game .. guys )

except wylla is too damn smart for her own good and she knows damn well the place a woman has in this shitty god damned world, so she’s not overjoyed at being sold off like cattle, especially not since the targaryens aren’t known for their mild tempers . like you know how every time a targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin ? yea she’s not diggin those odds

but on the other hand loves her family / house ? believes in honor and wants to do right by her fam so she does her damn best ok

married at 17 which is . late by asoiaf standards tbh but i can’t get behind the whole marrying-at-13 thing i just can’t 

honestly she is a gentle soul, who probably would have gotten torn to shreds at court if she hadn’t adapted as effectively as she has---she has her people paid off, spies and guards and servants that keep her apprised of certain situations, and after quite some discussion was even granted a seat on the small council

but she is sof. honestly the more i think about her the more she was definitely made for horseback or the open sea, not a throne --- she’s excitable and a bit of a Romantic ( capital R, lord byron Romantic ) and loves getting lost and being outside and ... was not meant for this, but here she is

thing is, things aren’t going to great now ? it’s been 5 years and she has not yet managed to produce an heir ( she miscarried twice ), spawning rumors / concerns that she is barren , or else that the king has cast her aside . either way it’s not great for her tbh . Big Stress . not to mention she’s downright terrified of like .. dying in childbirth, which wouldn’t be unthinkable

YKES

[wooduce-blog]

100 Valentine's Quotes 2020 - Most Romantic Quotes You Do Engrave on WOODUCE

1-20

Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another. -Thomas Merton

Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey. - Lord Byron

So, fall asleep love, loved by me... for I know love, I am loved by thee. - Robert Browning

Kisses are a better fate than wisdom. - e. e. cummings

Love is the emblem of eternity; it confounds all notion of time; effaces all memory of a beginning, all fear of an end. - Anne Louise Germaine de Staël

Who, being loved, is poor? - Oscar Wilde

I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be. - Charles Dickens

Anyone who has seen her smile has known perfection. She instills grace in every common thing and divinity in every careless gesture. - Edmond Rostand

He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest. - W.H. Auden

The smell of her hair, the taste of her mouth, the feeling of her skin seemed to have got inside him, or into the air all round him. She had become a physical necessity. - George Orwell

To love or have loved, that is enough. Ask nothing further. - Victor Hugo

I choose him over and over again, and he chooses me. - Veronic Roth

I look at you and I would rather look at you than all the portraits in the world... - Frank O’Hara

I want to do with you what spring does with the cherry trees. - Pable Neruda

You could have had anything else in the world, and you asked for me. - Cassandra Clare

For the two of us, home isn’t a place. It is a person. And we are finally home.- Stephanie Perkins

What I want is to be needed. What I need is to be indispensable to somebody. - Chuck Palahniuk

The way her body existed only where he touched her. The rest of her was smoke. - Arundhati Roy

If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. - Jane Austen

To be together is for us to be at once as free as in solitude, as gay as in company. - Charlotte Brontë

WOODUCE-Creative Featured Wooden Crafts Shop-Let Wood Your Life.

www.wooduce.com

21-40

You don’t love someone because they’re perfect, you love them in spite of the fact that they’re not. - Jodi Picoult

Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. - Robert A. Heinlein

To lose balance sometimes for love is part of living a balanced life. - Elizabeth Gilbert

There is nothing I would not do for those who are really my friends. I have no notion of loving people by halves, it is not my nature. - Jane Austen

The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too. - Ernest Hemingway

Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction. - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

The very essence of romance is uncertainty. - Oscar Wilde

It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them. - Agatha Christie

The one you love and the one who loves you are never, ever the same person. - Chuck Palahniuk

We’re all a little weird. And life is a little weird. And when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall into mutually satisfying weirdness—and call it love – true love. - Robert Fulghum

This is a good sign, having a broken heart. It means we have tried for something. - Elizabeth Gilbert

I won’t ever leave you, even though you’re always leaving me. - Audrey Niffenegger

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. - André Gide

And if love be madness, may I never find sanity again. – John Mark Green

You are today and all of my tomorrows. – Leo Christopher

In case you ever foolishly forget: I am never not thinking of you. – Virginia Woolf

They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered. – F. Scott Fitzgerald

My heart is, and always will be, yours. – Jane Austen

He’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. – Emily Bronte

WOODUCE-Creative Featured Wooden Crafts Shop-Let Wood Your Life.

www.wooduce.com

41-60

I exist in two places, here and where you are. – Margaret Atwood

We were together. I forgot the rest. – Walt Whitman

So, I love you because the entire universe conspired to help me find you. – Paulo Coehlo

You know, when it works, love is pretty amazing. It’s not overrated. There’s a reason for all those songs. – Sarah Dessen

You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. - Dr. Seuss

A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you. - Elbert Hubbard

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. - Martin Luther King

We accept the love we think we deserve. - Stephen Chbosky

It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not. - Andre Gide

As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once. - John Green

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. - William Shakespeare

Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. -  Neil Gaiman

Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage. - Lao Tzu

There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment. - Sarah Dessen

Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. - Robert A. Heinlein

You love me. Real or not real?" I tell him, "Real.” -Suzanne Collins

Love is like the wind, you can't see it but you can feel it. - Nicholas Sparks

If you can make a woman laugh, you can make her do anything. - Marilyn Monroe

Love in its essence is spiritual fire.-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

WOODUCE-Creative Featured Wooden Crafts Shop-Let Wood Your Life.

www.wooduce.com

61-80

If you wished to be loved, love.-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.-Antoine de Saint-Exupery

To love another person is to see the face of God.-Victor Hugo

Passion is momentary; love is enduring.-John Wooden

Love takes up where knowledge leaves off.-Thomas Aquinas

To fear love is to fear life, and those who fear life are already three parts dead.-Bertrand Russell

Lord, grant that I might not so much seek to be loved as to love.-Francis of Assisi

Love has reasons which reason cannot understand.-Blaise Pascal

When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before.-Blaise Pascal

Love is the wisdom of the fool and the folly of the wise.-Samuel Johnson

Who loves, raves.-Lord Byron

Friendship is Love without his wings!-Lord Byron

There isn't any formula or method. You learn to love by loving - by paying attention and doing what one thereby discovers has to be done.-Aldous Huxley

We are all born for love. It is the principle of existence, and its only end.-Benjamin Disraeli

The first magic of love is our ignorance that it can ever end.-Benjamin Disraeli

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.-Gilbert K. Chesterton

Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.-H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

The journey from teaching about love to allowing myself to be loved proved much longer than I realised.-Henri Nouwen

Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love, for they enkindle and melt the soul.-Saint Teresa of Avila

WOODUCE-Creative Featured Wooden Crafts Shop-Let Wood Your Life.

www.wooduce.com

81-100

Love is a great beautifier.-Louisa May Alcott

Blessed is the influence of one true, loving human soul on another.-George Eliot

Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding place.-Zora Neale Hurston

You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.-Robert Louis Stevenson

We can't command our love, but we can our actions.-Arthur Conan Doyle

True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.-Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Love is metaphysical gravity.-R. Buckminster Fuller

We may give without loving, but we cannot love without giving.-Bernard Meltzer

The more one judges, the less one loves.-Honore de Balzac

Faith makes all things possible... love makes all things easy.-Dwight L. Moody

I love that feeling of being in love, the effect of having butterflies when you wake up in the morning. That is special.-Jennifer Aniston

Love conquers all.-Virgil

There is more pleasure in loving than in being beloved.-Thomas Fuller

The eyes those silent tongues of love.-Miguel de Cervantes

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.'-Erich Fromm

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.'-Erich Fromm

True love is quiescent, except in the nascent moments of true humility.-Bryant H. McGill

In matters of the heart, nothing is true except the improbable.-Madame de Stael

Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility; for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible.-Thomas a Kempis

Love is that splendid triggering of human vitality the supreme activity which nature affords anyone for going out of himself toward someone else.-Jose Ortega y Gasset

One does not fall in love; one grows into love, and love grows in him.-Karl A. Menninger

If you wish to be loved, show more of your faults than your virtues.-Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton

Love is a force more formidable than any other. It is invisible - it cannot be seen or measured, yet it is powerful enough to transform you in a moment, and offer you more joy than any material possession could.-Barbara De Angelis

WOODUCE-Creative Featured Wooden Crafts Shop-Let Wood Your Life.

www.wooduce.com

[esthermeronobaro]

One Train May Hide Another: An Interview With Jim Jarmusch

Originally published as the cover story for the January 2014 issue of SLUG Magazine. Read it online or in print. 

“I love getting lost in a place I don’t really know—it’s something very freeing. Instead of anxiety, like some people have, I feel so free to be lost,” says Jim Jarmusch. “I like to follow instincts, and oddly enough, it’s a kind of discipline. My little game of ‘get lost and don’t know where you are’ is a process for me that is very helpful for my imagination.” 

Most know Jarmusch as an influential writer-director of American independent cinema, boasting an interlacing filmography of artistic, counter-culture films like Dead Man, Ghost Dog and The Limits of Control since the release of his debut full-length, Permanent Vacation, in 1980 as a 27-year-old grad student at NYU. The man is a sub-cultural icon, eschewing the mainstream to create rewarding works of art that long to be close read. 

Raised on Jean-Luc Godard and New Wave cinema, nurtured through adolescence by Kenneth Koch and the New York School poets, and slow diving into the future with the support of ATP Recordings and a handful of relevant musicians, Jarmusch’s intellectual repertoire is expansive and continuing. Much like his films, the man has the ability to lose himself in the present details, while retaining an impressive understanding of the past. Perhaps it was subconscious self-reflection that materialized the filmmaker’s latest character creations: a couple of incisive, decades-old vampires in his upcoming release, Only Lovers Left Alive.  

“My interest was, ‘Wow, if you could be alive that long, imagine what your perceptions would be like and all the experiences you’d have.’ Your knowledge of things would be incredible, if you could remember it all … Just having an overview of history that way was very attractive to me,” says Jarmusch. 

Only Lovers Left Alive is the filmmaker’s addition to a long history of vampire mythology in both literature and film, and he’s versed on the great and obscure. Jarmusch links his characters’ British roots to “The Vampyre,” a poem written by Lord Byron’s physician, John Polidori, in 1819, the first time vampires appear in literature. Film-wise, he cites Carl Dreyer’s Vampyr, first and foremost, claiming it’s more of a poem than a monster movie. “I like the ones that walk outside the margins, that follow the genre in a way, but they’re not just following the Bram Stoker Dracula idea,” he says. “Of course, Nosferatu is an incredibly great film as is the universal Dracula with Bela Lugosi as well, but those are the ones that meet the expectation, and I like the ones that are traveling outside the mainstream.” 

Only Lovers Left Alive, before anything else, is a love story between Adam (Tom Hiddleton) and Eve (Tilda Swinton). “Ours isn’t a horror movie … they just happen to be vampires. The thing I love about vampires, too, is that they’re not monsters, they’re humans that have been transformed,” says Jarmusch.  “Even Nosferatu is not purely a monster—there’s a sophistication to him.” Adam and Eve are such altruistic vampires, in fact, that acquiring blood the more traditional and fatally seductive way is considered retro and obscene. He describes his characters eloquently, calling them both wild, but saying, “ … [Adam’s] the guiding sunlight of the film, [Eve] the golden light of reason and intelligence … She’s very happy to have the gift of her consciousness—it’s something very fragile and beautiful to her—and he is too, but he’s a little more romantic in a way, tortured a little, somehow.”  

The filmmaker is known for being somewhat incestuous in his use of cast and crew members, and Swinton is quite obviously a favorite actor, and a good friend. According to Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive might have remained in the shadows had she not kept the project going despite the film’s languid start and precarious financing. The part of Eve was written with her in mind from the beginning. “It’s good to work with people you know, but you’ve always gotta remember there’s people you don’t know who are amazing that you might get a chance to meet and work with, too,” says Jarmusch, who also gushed over French cinematographer Yorick Le Saux, production designer Marco Bittner Rosser and editor Affonso Gonçalves, all of whom he worked with for the first time on this film.  

Other than using children’s digital cameras from Toys “R” Us for The Raconteurs’ “Steady, As She Goes” music video in 2006, Only Lovers Left Alive also marks Jarmusch’s introduction to shooting digitally. “I’m a film person. I love the magical thing of film, which is, first of all, light affecting chemistry on the surface of the film material, and then light passing through the print when you project it that creates this magical world of light and shadow,” says Jarmusch. 

“Now, digital is a different kind of magic: It’s numbers being translated. So, my first thing is that I don’t like digital, and I don’t like MP3 sound, and I like analogue sound and vinyl and cassettes … but at the same time, I believe in these things as tools, and I love technology—I just love the old stuff, too.”

However, all of his qualms about digital, including the neverending depth of field and unnatural skin tones in daylight, didn’t end up applying when shooting Only Lovers because it was mostly shot at night. Shooting digital ended up being more efficient, as the desired effect in a scene could be achieved with very minimal lighting, among other benefits. “I found great strength in [digital] even against my own prejudice,” says Jarmusch. “So it turned out to be quite a magical tool for what we were doing and very helpful. It changed my preset dinosaur obsession with film, and now I’m more open.” 

Jarmusch’s creative process is incredibly free-flowing, reflective of his self-proclaimed motto: “It’s hard to get lost if you don’t know where you’re going”—which is one of the many reasons why his films stand out. When beginning production for 2009’s The Limits of Control, for example, he didn’t even have a script—just a lot of ideas that were collected along the way. Only Lovers Left Alive started with a full script, but veered from it often. “I have this one chance in my life to be in this place, shooting this thing, with these people, so I’m going to shoot as much as I can think up,” says Jarmusch.  “I have to do that because I don’t know what I’m doing—I know that I will figure it out in the editing room … You have to listen to the film, and that’s just my way to capture everything I can … ” 

He describes a scene in the film where Adam and Eve have a sort of quarrel, saying that in preparation, he asked Hiddleston and Swinton to write out their own lengthy speeches, venting to the other character. Though Jarmusch cut out most of the dialogue, he was able to capture the feeling needed for the scene. “I’m always playing like that, trying to think of another angle for something. If we’re standing outside to do a shot and it starts to rain, most films will say, ‘OK, shut down, it’s raining, it’s not in the script,’” says Jarmusch. “Well, my first reaction is, ‘Mmm, what would this scene be like in the rain?’ … 

“I don’t like to follow the map too closely, because in life, when you take the detour, that might be where you meet your lover! Or that might be the place you learned something you never expected.” 

Of course, no Jarmusch film is complete without an exceptional, personally curated score and soundtrack. Only Lovers’ composer is Dutch lutist Jozef van Wissem, with whom Jarmusch released two albums in 2012, supplemented by Jarmusch’s latest musical project, SQÜRL, a trio including Carter Logan and Shane Stoneback. SQÜRL released two EPs in 2013, consequently with vampiric squirrel cover art and track names that undoubtedly relate to the new film. SLUG music writer Ryan Hall describes them as “no wave destruction paired with the lethargic and caustic wail of major-chord stoner riffs and a warped, warbled approximation of the music of the American West.” With a rich and varied musical background himself, Jarmusch’s track selections are always a special gift for music aficionados. 

“There’s a kind of cowardly nature in the corporate film world where the suits want everyone to get what they expect, and what a drag. What kind of life is that where you just get what you expect? So I find it so disappointing when there are these incredible genres of music around the world, and then it always sounds like the same thing.” 

Musical cameos in Only Lovers include Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan, who wrote the song she’s seen performing specifically for the film, New York psychedelic space rockers White Hills in a quick scene, and the soundtrack features Zola Jesus, ’60s soul singer Denise LaSalle and rockabilly musician Charlie Feathers.  Like everything else, the music in the film is a carefully selected detail with a touch of meaning beyond its surface appeal—especially with one of the main characters (Adam) being a musician. “[Adam and Eve] have been alive a long time, so they appreciate things from all of human history, and they’re also not hierarchical about high culture/low culture—they appreciate it all,” says Jarmusch. “So having lute music, which is particularly associated with Baroque and Renaissance periods, mixed with sludgy, molten drone rock, is a kind of nice way to reflect that mixture of their interests as well … They like good stuff—they don’t care if it’s Franz Schubert or Charlie Feathers’ rockabilly—if it’s good, it’s good, and they don’t differentiate that way.” 

It’s very Jarmuschian to write a love story about vampires free of the lustful violence usually associated with the genre. Jarmusch’s style has been criticized in the past as dull and contrived, but to appreciate his films, one must lose all expectations of Hollywood allure and watch them in the same way one would read a poem, or look at a painting: making connections, finding pleasure in the weighted details and minute brush strokes, and accepting the incomprehensible. 

“These poetic structures are much more inspiring to me in the form of my films, in a way, than prosaic structure because poetry leaves spaces around things. Poetry doesn’t have to connect everything syntactically or even logically,” says Jarmusch. “Someone said—I think it was e e cummings—that you can understand a poem without knowing what it means—which I love so much … A lot of people don’t get it or they may not like it, but the hell with ‘em.” 

It can be important to have waited at least a moment to see what was already there.  Only Lovers Left Alive has been screening at film festivals around the world, including the New York Film Festival and Cannes, and will make an appearance at Sundance in the Spotlight category. If you don’t catch it there, it’s set for theatrical release in April of this year.

[networkingdefinition]

Cinnamon Quotes

Official Website: Cinnamon Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

• A person of good intelligence and of sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality – and it’s not just a bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of a thing – it is just a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavored dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street. – George Carlin • Agent Jones switched to the big screen and a grainy video of MoMo sitting at his enormous desk, a swivel-hipped Elvis clock ticking behind his bewigged head. ‘Death to the capitalist pigs! Death to your cinnamon bun-smelling malls! Death to your power walking and automatic car windows and I’m With Stupid T-shirts! The Republic of ChaCha will never bend to your side-of-fries -drive -through-please-oh-would-you-like-ketchup-with-that corruption! MoMo B. ChaCha defies you and all you stand for, and one day, you will crumble into the sea and we will pick up the pieces and make them into sand art. – Libba Bray • Almond milk + cinnamon crunch = major key to success. – DJ Khaled • And Mocha’s berry, from Arabia pure, In small fine china cups, came in at last. Gold cups of filigree, made to secure the hand from burning, underneath them place. Cloves, cinnamon and saffron, too, were boiled Up with the coffee, which, I think, they spoiled. – Lord Byron • Anyone who gives you a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven is a friend for life. – Daniel Handler • As a rule, I do not approve of messing around with coffee. No sugar, no milk, no chocolate, hazelnuts, cinnamon, no nothing…. Just drink it black, the way God does – Klay Thompson

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Cinnamon', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_cinnamon').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_cinnamon img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously. – Vanna Bonta • C’mon, Amy, cinnamon rolls are calling us.” Dan put a hand to his ear. “Do you hear? ‘Amy? Dan?'” he squeaked. “‘Come and get my sugary, sticky goodness! – Judy Blundell • Cotton balls is an example of something I would buy, but not want to have as a nickname. Cinnamon buns, on the other hand, is something I would buy and want to have as a nickname. ‘Are you Cinnamon Buns?’ ‘You bet your sweet ass I am.’ – Demetri Martin • Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. – George R. R. Martin • For something warm, try adding cinnamon sticks and nutmeg to apple cider simmering on the stove. You’ll get the added benefit of making your home smell amazing. – Clinton Kelly • Have you tried the cinnamon things?” Poppet asks. “They’re rather new. What are they called, Widge?” “Fantastically delicious cinnamon things? – Erin Morgenstern • Her tiny hand gripped mine with a surprising warmth, and in a shocking wash of emotion, I felt everything I knew shift. The scent of cinnamon and baby powder hit me, and as my eyes widened, my heart melted, making room for her. – Kim Harrison • His smell—the scent of a demon, cinnamon incense, amber musk—wrapped around me, filled my lungs. I felt like I could breathe again, without every breath being tainted by the stench of dying cells. The smell of him seemed to coat my abused insides with peace, and flow down into the middle of my body to spread through my veins. I filled my lungs again. While I could, before what was undoubtedly a hallucination vanished. – Lilith Saintcrow • I actually put peanut butter on my bagel. I really like peanut butter and I like to ruin the bagel. You know what’s even crazier that I do sometimes? I do cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter. It is really, really out there. – Evan Peters • I always go to the lowest common denominator for that ingredient. So if I think squash, I try to think what it means to me — and if it doesn’t mean anything to me, I’m not gonna do well when I cook it. So [squash] means to me: fall, maple syrup, cinnamon, and things just come into your head so you can narrow the vortex and make it a bit smaller and you go with something because there’s no time. – Geoffrey Zakarian • I always make my favorite pancakes with milk, and I also add some fruit – like a banana or apple with some cinnamon sprinkled on top. I also sometimes put peanut butter on my pancakes! – Gabriela Isler • I can’t tell you enough about cinnamon. Cinnamon is an awesome spice to use and it goes great with something like apples in the morning or in a mixture of fruit or in your oatmeal or even in your cereal. – Emeril Lagasse • I don’t know if I’ll find the cinnamon girl. I think I already did, but I’m still singing, who knows. – Neil Young • I eat a huge breakfast every morning – it’s what I look forward to. I’ll do steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries and strawberries, an egg white scramble with mushrooms, zucchini, and onion, and a piece of cinnamon Ezekiel bread with almond butter. I could do that every single day. – Heather Mitts • I like cinnamon rolls, but I don’t always have time to make a pan. That’s why I wish they would sell cinnamon roll incense. After all I’d rather light a stick and have my roommate wake up with false hopes. – Mitch Hedberg • I love Christmas! I’m not religious, but I love the trappings of the season. I love the decorations, and the music, and Santa, and the festive food, and the cinnamon- and vanilla-infused aromas. – Jane Cleland • I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce. – Taylor Swift • I realize that it’s like spices in the kitchen. I need that turmeric. I’m sorry, but cinnamon isn’t going to substitute . I feel that I can teach my listener about a new word they can use too. “Well, what words are part of my own community, even if I’m monolingual, that I’m not allowing myself to use in a public sphere?” – Sandra Cisneros • I really don’t think I need buns of steel. I’d be happy with buns of cinnamon. – Ellen DeGeneres • I was just taking out my trash and I had, like, 300 cans of Diet Coke. It was just like, ‘How did that happen?’ I don’t even remember buying them. I also like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. My addictions are pretty much the only things I consume. – Robert Pattinson • I wasn’t eating the right kinds of calories. I didn’t know about healthy carbs such as brown rice and lentils. Now I eat small meals throughout the day: oatmeal with cinnamon to start, fruit and yogurt as a snack, and vegetables or with chicken or tuna, and a healthy carb, like a yam, for lunch. – Alison Sweeney • I’d like to wear my old [cinnamon buns] hairstyle again – but with white hair. I think that would be funny. – Carrie Fisher • I’m getting fat … as I planned. Luckily, my gut is intentional. I’m actually preparing for a big role. Sure, it’s a cinnamon roll. – Jim Gaffigan • In football you need to have everything in your cake mix to make the cake taste right. One little bit of ingredient that Tony uses in his cake that gets talked about all the time is Rory’s throw. Call that cinnamon and he’s got a cinnamon flavoured cake. – Ian Holloway • In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year. – Cynthia Rylant • Instead of doing cinnamon, nutmeg, and all those baking spices I’ll have one spice that’s for sweets, and that’s pumpkin pie spice. – Sandra Lee • It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon. – Sarah Addison Allen • I’ve been juicing lately, making different smoothies and such. It was interesting, and tough at first, but it’s been doing wonders for me. I’ve been leaning in up, shedding fat, burning fat and I’m feeling good, feeling clean. My favorite so far is some almond milk with a little cinnamon there. It’s good. I have that as a little night cap at the end of the day. – Brandon Spikes • My mother was good at reading books, making cinnamon biscuits, and coloring in a coloring book. Also she was a good eater of popcorn and knitter of sweaters with my initials right in them. She could sit really still. She knew how to believe in God and sing really loudly. When she sneezed our whole house rocked. My father was a great smoker and driver of vehicles..He could hold a full coffee cup while driving and never spill a drop, even going over bumps. He lost his temper faster than anyone. – Haven Kimmel • Oils of cinnamon and eucalyptus are as powerful against some microorganisms as conventional antibiotics, and are especially effective against flus. Sandalwood oil from Mysore, India, is not only a classic perfume oil but is also a traditional remedy for sore throats and laryngitis. Lavender oil, so often used in toilet waters and scented sachets, has a dramatic healing action on burns. – Robert Tisserand • Promises are lies wrapped in pretty ribbons -Cinnamon – Virginia C. Andrews • She serves me a piece of it a few minutes out of the oven. A little steam rises from the slits on top. Sugar and spice – cinnamon – burned into the crust. But she’s wearing these dark glasses in the kitchen at ten o’clock in the morning – everything nice – as she watches me break off a piece, bring it to my mouth, and blow on it. My daughter’s kitchen, in winter. I fork the pie in and tell myself to stay out of it. She says she loves him. No way could it be worse. – Raymond Carver • Soon to come in licorice, orange, cinnamon, and banana, but not strawberry, because I hate strawberries. – Terry Pratchett • Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow The drummer relaxes and waits between shows For his cinnamon girl. – Neil Young • The jelly – the jam and the marmalade, And the cherry-and quince-‘preserves’ she made! And the sweet-sour pickles of peach and pear, With cinnamon in ’em, and all things rare! And the more we ate was the more to spare, Out to old Aunt Mary’s! Ah! – James Whitcomb Riley • The only fruit which even much living yields seems to be often only some trivial success,–the ability to do some slight thing better. We make conquest only of husks and shells for the most part,–at least apparently,–but sometimes these are cinnamon and spices, you know. – Henry David Thoreau • The secret of food lies in memory – of thinking and then knowing what the taste of cinnamon or steak is. – Jerry Saltz • There’s no time to be modest. Reason will not work here. Without warning, I kiss Kartik. His lips, pressed firmly against mine, are a surprise. They are warm, light as breath, firm as the give of a peach against my mouth. A scent like scorched cinnamon hangs in the air, but I’m not falling into any vision. It’s his smell in me. A smell that makes my stomach drop through my feet. A smell that pushes all thought out of my head and replaces it with an overpowering hunger for more. – Libba Bray • They take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds. Dogs dung smells sweet as cinnamon to them. – Desiderius Erasmus • They would think she was savoring the taste (blueberries, cinnamon, cream-excellent), but she was actually savoring the whole morning, trying to catch it, pin it down, keep it safe before all those precious moments became yet another memory. – Liane Moriarty • This morning, Tegus welcomed me again with an arm clasp and cheek touch. I wasn’t startled this time, and I breathed in at his neck. How can I describe the scent of his skin? He smells something like cinnamon– brown and dry and sweet and warm. Ancestors, is it wrong for me to imagine laying my head on his chest and closing my eyes and breathing in his smell? – Shannon Hale • Tigers love pepper…they hate cinnamon. – Zach Galifianakis • Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter’s deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world’s oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter. – Shauna Niequist • We have fried catfish, country fried steak and cinnamon-roasted pork. We have collard greens, black-eyed peas, hush puppies, biscuits, sweet potato pie and lots of gravy. Most players love it, but we also have a baked catfish for players who are still looking to stay on the approved diet. – Mark Farner • What we feel most has no name but amber, archers, cinnamon, horses and birds. – Jack Gilbert • When a kid says “smell my hand,” it almost never smells like cinnamon. – Brian P. Cleary • You know, you still owe me pancakes. I think I could go for…apple cinnamon ones now. “ “Apple cinnamon? You sure are demanding.” “It’s all right. I think you’re man enough for it.” “Thetis, if I actually believed you had either apples or cinnamon in your kitchen, I’d make them for you right now.” I didn’t answer. I was pretty sure I had some year-old Apple Jacks, but that was about it. – Richelle Mead • You liked me.” I smiled. “You were smitten with me. You were speechless to behold my beauty. You had never met anyone so fascinating. You thought of me every waking minute. You dreamed about me. You couldn’t stand it. You couldn’t let such wonderfulness out of your sight. You had to follow me.” I turned to Cinnamon. He licked my nose. “Don’t give yourself so much credit. It was your rat I was after.” She laughed, and the desert sang. – Jerry Spinelli

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[equitiesstocks]

Cinnamon Quotes

Official Website: Cinnamon Quotes

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push();

• A person of good intelligence and of sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality – and it’s not just a bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of a thing – it is just a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavored dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street. – George Carlin • Agent Jones switched to the big screen and a grainy video of MoMo sitting at his enormous desk, a swivel-hipped Elvis clock ticking behind his bewigged head. ‘Death to the capitalist pigs! Death to your cinnamon bun-smelling malls! Death to your power walking and automatic car windows and I’m With Stupid T-shirts! The Republic of ChaCha will never bend to your side-of-fries -drive -through-please-oh-would-you-like-ketchup-with-that corruption! MoMo B. ChaCha defies you and all you stand for, and one day, you will crumble into the sea and we will pick up the pieces and make them into sand art. – Libba Bray • Almond milk + cinnamon crunch = major key to success. – DJ Khaled • And Mocha’s berry, from Arabia pure, In small fine china cups, came in at last. Gold cups of filigree, made to secure the hand from burning, underneath them place. Cloves, cinnamon and saffron, too, were boiled Up with the coffee, which, I think, they spoiled. – Lord Byron • Anyone who gives you a cinnamon roll fresh out of the oven is a friend for life. – Daniel Handler • As a rule, I do not approve of messing around with coffee. No sugar, no milk, no chocolate, hazelnuts, cinnamon, no nothing…. Just drink it black, the way God does – Klay Thompson

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'Cinnamon', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '68', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_cinnamon').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_cinnamon img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); ); • Cinnamon bites and kisses simultaneously. – Vanna Bonta • C’mon, Amy, cinnamon rolls are calling us.” Dan put a hand to his ear. “Do you hear? ‘Amy? Dan?'” he squeaked. “‘Come and get my sugary, sticky goodness! – Judy Blundell • Cotton balls is an example of something I would buy, but not want to have as a nickname. Cinnamon buns, on the other hand, is something I would buy and want to have as a nickname. ‘Are you Cinnamon Buns?’ ‘You bet your sweet ass I am.’ – Demetri Martin • Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality is plywood and plastic, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tastes of habaneros and honey, cinnamon and cloves, rare red meat and wines as sweet as summer. Reality is beans and tofu, and ashes at the end. – George R. R. Martin • For something warm, try adding cinnamon sticks and nutmeg to apple cider simmering on the stove. You’ll get the added benefit of making your home smell amazing. – Clinton Kelly • Have you tried the cinnamon things?” Poppet asks. “They’re rather new. What are they called, Widge?” “Fantastically delicious cinnamon things? – Erin Morgenstern • Her tiny hand gripped mine with a surprising warmth, and in a shocking wash of emotion, I felt everything I knew shift. The scent of cinnamon and baby powder hit me, and as my eyes widened, my heart melted, making room for her. – Kim Harrison • His smell—the scent of a demon, cinnamon incense, amber musk—wrapped around me, filled my lungs. I felt like I could breathe again, without every breath being tainted by the stench of dying cells. The smell of him seemed to coat my abused insides with peace, and flow down into the middle of my body to spread through my veins. I filled my lungs again. While I could, before what was undoubtedly a hallucination vanished. – Lilith Saintcrow • I actually put peanut butter on my bagel. I really like peanut butter and I like to ruin the bagel. You know what’s even crazier that I do sometimes? I do cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter. It is really, really out there. – Evan Peters • I always go to the lowest common denominator for that ingredient. So if I think squash, I try to think what it means to me — and if it doesn’t mean anything to me, I’m not gonna do well when I cook it. So [squash] means to me: fall, maple syrup, cinnamon, and things just come into your head so you can narrow the vortex and make it a bit smaller and you go with something because there’s no time. – Geoffrey Zakarian • I always make my favorite pancakes with milk, and I also add some fruit – like a banana or apple with some cinnamon sprinkled on top. I also sometimes put peanut butter on my pancakes! – Gabriela Isler • I can’t tell you enough about cinnamon. Cinnamon is an awesome spice to use and it goes great with something like apples in the morning or in a mixture of fruit or in your oatmeal or even in your cereal. – Emeril Lagasse • I don’t know if I’ll find the cinnamon girl. I think I already did, but I’m still singing, who knows. – Neil Young • I eat a huge breakfast every morning – it’s what I look forward to. I’ll do steel-cut oatmeal with blueberries and strawberries, an egg white scramble with mushrooms, zucchini, and onion, and a piece of cinnamon Ezekiel bread with almond butter. I could do that every single day. – Heather Mitts • I like cinnamon rolls, but I don’t always have time to make a pan. That’s why I wish they would sell cinnamon roll incense. After all I’d rather light a stick and have my roommate wake up with false hopes. – Mitch Hedberg • I love Christmas! I’m not religious, but I love the trappings of the season. I love the decorations, and the music, and Santa, and the festive food, and the cinnamon- and vanilla-infused aromas. – Jane Cleland • I love the scents of winter! For me, it’s all about the feeling you get when you smell pumpkin spice, cinnamon, nutmeg, gingerbread and spruce. – Taylor Swift • I realize that it’s like spices in the kitchen. I need that turmeric. I’m sorry, but cinnamon isn’t going to substitute . I feel that I can teach my listener about a new word they can use too. “Well, what words are part of my own community, even if I’m monolingual, that I’m not allowing myself to use in a public sphere?” – Sandra Cisneros • I really don’t think I need buns of steel. I’d be happy with buns of cinnamon. – Ellen DeGeneres • I was just taking out my trash and I had, like, 300 cans of Diet Coke. It was just like, ‘How did that happen?’ I don’t even remember buying them. I also like Cinnamon Toast Crunch. My addictions are pretty much the only things I consume. – Robert Pattinson • I wasn’t eating the right kinds of calories. I didn’t know about healthy carbs such as brown rice and lentils. Now I eat small meals throughout the day: oatmeal with cinnamon to start, fruit and yogurt as a snack, and vegetables or with chicken or tuna, and a healthy carb, like a yam, for lunch. – Alison Sweeney • I’d like to wear my old [cinnamon buns] hairstyle again �� but with white hair. I think that would be funny. – Carrie Fisher • I’m getting fat … as I planned. Luckily, my gut is intentional. I’m actually preparing for a big role. Sure, it’s a cinnamon roll. – Jim Gaffigan • In football you need to have everything in your cake mix to make the cake taste right. One little bit of ingredient that Tony uses in his cake that gets talked about all the time is Rory’s throw. Call that cinnamon and he’s got a cinnamon flavoured cake. – Ian Holloway • In November, the smell of food is different. It is an orange smell. A squash and pumpkin smell. It tastes like cinnamon and can fill up a house in the morning, can pull everyone from bed in a fog. Food is better in November than any other time of the year. – Cynthia Rylant • Instead of doing cinnamon, nutmeg, and all those baking spices I’ll have one spice that’s for sweets, and that’s pumpkin pie spice. – Sandra Lee • It looked like the world was covered in a cobbler crust of brown sugar and cinnamon. – Sarah Addison Allen • I’ve been juicing lately, making different smoothies and such. It was interesting, and tough at first, but it’s been doing wonders for me. I’ve been leaning in up, shedding fat, burning fat and I’m feeling good, feeling clean. My favorite so far is some almond milk with a little cinnamon there. It’s good. I have that as a little night cap at the end of the day. – Brandon Spikes • My mother was good at reading books, making cinnamon biscuits, and coloring in a coloring book. Also she was a good eater of popcorn and knitter of sweaters with my initials right in them. She could sit really still. She knew how to believe in God and sing really loudly. When she sneezed our whole house rocked. My father was a great smoker and driver of vehicles..He could hold a full coffee cup while driving and never spill a drop, even going over bumps. He lost his temper faster than anyone. – Haven Kimmel • Oils of cinnamon and eucalyptus are as powerful against some microorganisms as conventional antibiotics, and are especially effective against flus. Sandalwood oil from Mysore, India, is not only a classic perfume oil but is also a traditional remedy for sore throats and laryngitis. Lavender oil, so often used in toilet waters and scented sachets, has a dramatic healing action on burns. – Robert Tisserand • Promises are lies wrapped in pretty ribbons -Cinnamon – Virginia C. Andrews • She serves me a piece of it a few minutes out of the oven. A little steam rises from the slits on top. Sugar and spice – cinnamon – burned into the crust. But she’s wearing these dark glasses in the kitchen at ten o’clock in the morning – everything nice – as she watches me break off a piece, bring it to my mouth, and blow on it. My daughter’s kitchen, in winter. I fork the pie in and tell myself to stay out of it. She says she loves him. No way could it be worse. – Raymond Carver • Soon to come in licorice, orange, cinnamon, and banana, but not strawberry, because I hate strawberries. – Terry Pratchett • Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow The drummer relaxes and waits between shows For his cinnamon girl. – Neil Young • The jelly – the jam and the marmalade, And the cherry-and quince-‘preserves’ she made! And the sweet-sour pickles of peach and pear, With cinnamon in ’em, and all things rare! And the more we ate was the more to spare, Out to old Aunt Mary’s! Ah! – James Whitcomb Riley • The only fruit which even much living yields seems to be often only some trivial success,–the ability to do some slight thing better. We make conquest only of husks and shells for the most part,–at least apparently,–but sometimes these are cinnamon and spices, you know. – Henry David Thoreau • The secret of food lies in memory – of thinking and then knowing what the taste of cinnamon or steak is. – Jerry Saltz • There’s no time to be modest. Reason will not work here. Without warning, I kiss Kartik. His lips, pressed firmly against mine, are a surprise. They are warm, light as breath, firm as the give of a peach against my mouth. A scent like scorched cinnamon hangs in the air, but I’m not falling into any vision. It’s his smell in me. A smell that makes my stomach drop through my feet. A smell that pushes all thought out of my head and replaces it with an overpowering hunger for more. – Libba Bray • They take unbelievable pleasure in the hideous blast of the hunting horn and baying of the hounds. Dogs dung smells sweet as cinnamon to them. – Desiderius Erasmus • They would think she was savoring the taste (blueberries, cinnamon, cream-excellent), but she was actually savoring the whole morning, trying to catch it, pin it down, keep it safe before all those precious moments became yet another memory. – Liane Moriarty • This morning, Tegus welcomed me again with an arm clasp and cheek touch. I wasn’t startled this time, and I breathed in at his neck. How can I describe the scent of his skin? He smells something like cinnamon– brown and dry and sweet and warm. Ancestors, is it wrong for me to imagine laying my head on his chest and closing my eyes and breathing in his smell? – Shannon Hale • Tigers love pepper…they hate cinnamon. – Zach Galifianakis • Use what you have, use what the world gives you. Use the first day of fall: bright flame before winter’s deadness; harvest; orange, gold, amber; cool nights and the smell of fire. Our tree-lined streets are set ablaze, our kitchens filled with the smells of nostalgia: apples bubbling into sauce, roasting squash, cinnamon, nutmeg, cider, warmth itself. The leaves as they spark into wild color just before they die are the world’s oldest performance art, and everything we see is celebrating one last violently hued hurrah before the black and white silence of winter. – Shauna Niequist • We have fried catfish, country fried steak and cinnamon-roasted pork. We have collard greens, black-eyed peas, hush puppies, biscuits, sweet potato pie and lots of gravy. Most players love it, but we also have a baked catfish for players who are still looking to stay on the approved diet. – Mark Farner • What we feel most has no name but amber, archers, cinnamon, horses and birds. – Jack Gilbert • When a kid says “smell my hand,” it almost never smells like cinnamon. – Brian P. Cleary • You know, you still owe me pancakes. I think I could go for…apple cinnamon ones now. “ “Apple cinnamon? You sure are demanding.” “It’s all right. I think you’re man enough for it.” “Thetis, if I actually believed you had either apples or cinnamon in your kitchen, I’d make them for you right now.” I didn’t answer. I was pretty sure I had some year-old Apple Jacks, but that was about it. – Richelle Mead • You liked me.” I smiled. “You were smitten with me. You were speechless to behold my beauty. You had never met anyone so fascinating. You thought of me every waking minute. You dreamed about me. You couldn’t stand it. You couldn’t let such wonderfulness out of your sight. You had to follow me.” I turned to Cinnamon. He licked my nose. “Don’t give yourself so much credit. It was your rat I was after.” She laughed, and the desert sang. – Jerry Spinelli

[clickbank-storefront-bestselling]

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'a', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_a').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_a img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'e', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_e').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_e img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'i', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_i').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_i img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'o', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_o').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_o img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

jQuery(document).ready(function($) var data = action: 'polyxgo_products_search', type: 'Product', keywords: 'u', orderby: 'rand', order: 'DESC', template: '1', limit: '4', columns: '4', viewall:'Shop All', ; jQuery.post(spyr_params.ajaxurl,data, function(response) var obj = jQuery.parseJSON(response); jQuery('#thelovesof_u').html(obj); jQuery('#thelovesof_u img.swiper-lazy:not(.swiper-lazy-loaded)' ).each(function () var img = jQuery(this); img.attr("src",img.data('src')); img.addClass( 'swiper-lazy-loaded' ); img.removeAttr('data-src'); ); ); );

[europeanromanticism]

Byron, Shelley 6/19

Prometheus Unbound BY  PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY

Background:  Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on August 4t  h 1792 in Horsham, Sussex, England and died at the age of 29 on July 8t  h 1822. Percy was a very influential, and inspiring amongst lyric and philosophical poets in the English language. Percy did not see fame during his lifetime However, all his recognition came after his death. He was well known for being a rebellion against authority, his power of the visionary imagination and of poetry, and his spirit in search of freedom. This was not only displayed in his works but this is also how Percy chose to live his life. Most publishers and journals declined to publish his work for fear of being arrested for either  a religious crime o  r  troublemaking . One can say Shelley’s poetry was harsher than what the people were ready for. This can all be seen in Shelley’s poem  “ Prometheus Unbound” by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Prometheus Unbound is a four act lyrical drama that was published in 1820. It is a story of Prometheus, who betrays the Gods and gives fire to humanity. He is punished for this action and is left to suffer. Prometheus struggles to become free from captivity because Jupiter refuses to let him go. However, Jupiter is later left behind with his authority and ends up falling from power.

Quote 1: Whilst me, who am thy foe, eyeless in hate, Hast thou made reign and triumph, to thy scorn, O'er mine own misery and thy vain revenge. Three thousand years of sleep-unsheltered hours, And moments aye divided by keen pangs

Till they seemed years, torture and solitude, Scorn and despair,—these are mine empire:—

Question 1 : What does Prometheus mean when he says “these are mine empire”?

Quote 2 : Nailed to this wall of eagle-baffling mountain, Black, wintry, dead, unmeasured; without herb, Insect, or beast, or shape or sound of life. Ah me! alas, pain, pain ever, for ever!

Question2 : How do you think religion is tied into the poem? What is Prometheus describing?

Quote 3:

The curse

Once breathed on thee I would recall. Ye Mountains, Whose many-voicèd Echoes, through the mist

Of cataracts, flung the thunder of that spell! Ye icy Springs, stagnant with wrinkling frost,

Which vibrated to hear me, and then crept Shuddering through India! Thou serenest Air, Through which the Sun walks burning without beams! And ye swift Whirlwinds, who on poisèd wings Hung mute and moveless o'er yon hushed abyss, As thunder, louder than your own, made rock The orbèd world! If then my words had power, Though I am changed so that aught evil wish Is dead within; although no memory be Of what is hate, let them not lose it now! What was that curse? for ye all heard me speak.

Question 3:

How would you describe the poems ending verses it’s beginning? Do you think Prometheus truly learned a lesson?

Question 4:

How would you connect this poem to the time period of romanticism? Does this poem relate to any of the past stories or poems we have read?

Question 5:

What do you think is this poem’s overall message? How do you think the writer wanted his audience to receive this poem?

Argument:

One can argue that in the poem  Prometheus Unbound  Shelley wrote with an intent of raising some questions in the reader’s head. Does religion play as a dictator in our lives? Or is it a guide that one can use to seek freedom and peace? In the poem it states

Made multitudinous with thy slaves, whom thou Requitest for knee-worship, prayer, and praise, Where it states those that pray and worship are enslaved mentally,physically and spiritually.  Shelley was known to despise marriage and institutions like the

Christian Church and the Monarchy. Which is why he identifies Jupiter as a Monarch.   Shelley uses symbolism to show that resistance against authority can lead to extreme punishment and isolation from society.   Shelley was a radical thinker that believed  in freedom.By going against Jupiter and giving humanity  fire , Prometheus is essentially a hero for challenging the authoritative figure. He feels that everyone should live this way so that they can experience true freedom. Prometheus was willing to sacrifice his own comfort and life in order to stand up to power of Jupiter and live within his freedom.

DON JUAN, CANTO III

Background

George Gordon Noel Byron, 6th Baron Byron, was born 22 January 1788 in London and died 19 April 1824 in Missolonghi, Greece. He was among the most famous of the English ‘Romantic’ poets; his contemporaries included Percy Shelley and John Keats. He was also a satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe. His major works include Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812-18) and Don Juan (1819-24). He died of fever and exposure while engaged in the Greek struggle for independence.

Born with a clubfoot, he was taken by his mother, Catherine Gordon, to Aberdeen, Scotland, where they lived in lodgings on a meager income.He was extremely sensitive of his lameness; its effect upon his character was obvious enough . It was rumored that his nurse, May Gray, made physical advances to him when he was only nine. This experience and his idealized love for his distant cousins Mary Duff and Margaret Parker shaped his paradoxical attitudes toward women.

In 1803 he fell in love with his distant cousin, Mary Chaworth, who was older and already engaged, and when she rejected him she became the symbol for Byron of idealized and unattainable love. In 1805 Byron entered Trinity College, Cambridge, where he piled up debts at an alarming rate and indulged in the conventional vices of undergraduates there. The signs of his incipient  sexual  ambivalence  became more pronounced in what he later described as “a violent, though pure, love and passion” for a young chorister, John Edleston. Alongside Byron’s strong attachment to boys, often idealized as in the case of Edleston, his attachment to women throughout his life is an indication of the strength of his heterosexual drive.

During the summer of 1813, Byron apparently entered into  intimate  relations with his half sister Augusta, now married to Colonel George Leigh. He then carried on a flirtation with Lady Frances Webster as a diversion from this dangerous liaison. The agitations of these two love affairs and the sense of mingled guilt and exultation they aroused in Byron are reflected in the series of gloomy and remorseful Oriental verse tales he wrote at this time:  The Giaour (1813);  The Bride of Abydos  (1813);  The Corsair  (1814), which sold 10,000 copies on the day of publication; and  Lara  (1814).

Seeking to escape his love affairs in marriage, Byron proposed in September 1814 to Anne Isabella (Annabella) Milbanke. The marriage took place in January 1815, and Lady Byron gave birth to a daughter,  Augusta Ada , in December 1815. From the start the marriage was doomed by the gulf between Byron and his unimaginative and humorless wife; and in January 1816 Annabella left Byron to live with her parents, amid swirling rumours centring on his relations with Augusta Leigh and his bisexuality. The couple obtained a  legal separation . Wounded by the general moral indignation directed at him, Byron went abroad in April 1816, never to return to England.

Byron sailed up the  Rhine River  into Switzerland and settled at Geneva, near  Percy Bysshe Shelley  and Mary Godwin (soon to be  Mary Shelley ), who had eloped and were living with Claire Clairmont, Godwin’s half sister. (Byron had begun an affair with Clairmont in England.)

At the end of the summer the Shelley party left for England, where Clairmont gave birth to Byron’s daughter Allegra in January 1817. In October Byron and Hobhouse departed for  Italy . They stopped in  Venice , where Byron enjoyed the relaxed customs and  morals  of the Italians and carried on a love affair with Marianna Segati, his landlord’s wife.

In the light, mock-heroic style of  Beppo  Byron found the form in which he would write his greatest poem,   Don Juan , a satire in the form of a picaresque verse tale. The first two cantos of  Don Juan  were begun in 1818 and published in July 1819. Byron transformed the legendary libertine  Don Juan  into an unsophisticated, innocent young man who, though he delightedly succumbs  to the beautiful women who pursue him, remains a rational norm against which to view the absurdities and irrationalities of the world.

Summary of Don Juan

The story, told in seventeen cantos, begins with the birth of Don Juan. As a young man he is precocious sexually, and has an affair with a friend of his mother. The husband finds out, and Don Juan is sent away to Cádiz. On the way, he is shipwrecked, survives and meets the daughter of a pirate, whose men sell Don Juan as a slave. A young woman, who is a member of a sultan’s harem, sees that this slave is purchased. She disguises him as a girl and sneaks him into her chambers. Don Juan escapes, joins the Russian army and rescues a Muslim girl named Leila. Don Juan meets Catherine the Great, who asks him to join her court. Don Juan becomes sick, is sent to England, where he finds someone to watch over Leila. Next, a few adventures involving the aristocracy of Britain ensued.

Canto III A long digression from the main story in which Byron, in the style of an epic catalogue, describes Haidée and Don Juan’s celebrations. The islanders believe Haidée’s father, Lambro, has died, but he returns and witnesses these revels.  Towards the end of the canto, Byron insults his contemporaries  William Wordsworth ,  Robert Southey  and  Samuel Taylor Coleridge . In this latter section is “The Isles of  Greece ”, a section numbered differently from the rest of the canto with a different verse, which explores Byron’s views on G reece’s status as a “slave” to th e Ottoman Empire .

Don Juan  remains unfinished; Byron completed 16 cantos and had begun the 17th before his own illness and death. Over forty operas have been based on his works, in addition to three operas about Byron himself (including Virgil Thomson’s Lord Byron). His poetry was set to music by many Romantic composers, including Beethoven , Schubert , Rossini , Mendelssohn , Schumann , and Carl Loewe. There are 900 different poems of George Gordon, Lord Byron and almost all of them are about love to a woman.

Question 1: Byron removes himself from his writing and critiques his own characters; writing about love and women in an ironic and satirical fashion. Is it means to provoke just humor, or is this in response to others who do not approve of his previous works?

Quote 1:

“Haidee and Juan were not married, but The fault was theirs, not mine; it is not fair, Chaste reader, then, in any way to put The blame on me, unless you wish they were; Then if you ’d have them wedded, please to shut The book which treats of this erroneous pair,

Before the consequences grow too awful; ’T is dangerous to read of loves unlawful.”

Question 2: Byron goes off on a stagnant where a poet entertains DJ and Haidee with a lyrical ballad “The Isles of Greece”, a lament for Greece’s present state of subjection to Turkey. After the poem, he then deviates on the subject and talks about how a poet’s words has a lasting effect on the temporary nature of human fame, calling out (mocking) Wordsworth, Coleridge and other authors. What purpose does this serve in this canto and how does it tie into the original story being told?

Quote 2:

“But words are things, and a small drop of ink, Falling like dew, upon a thought, produces That which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think; ’T is strange, the shortest letter which man uses Instead of speech, may form a lasting link Of ages; to what straits old Time reduces Frail man, when paper—even a rag like this, Survives himself, his tomb, and all that ’s his.”

“Which pye being opened they began to sing’ (This old song and new simile holds good), ‘A dainty dish to set before the King’ Or Regent, who admires such kind of food. And Coleridge too has lately taken wing,

But like a hawk encumbered with his hood, Explaining metaphysics to the nation. I wish he would explain his explanation.”

“And Wordsworth in a rather long Excursion (I think the quarto holds five hundred pages) Has given a sample from the vasty version Of his new system to perplex the sages.

'Tis poetry, at least by his assertion, And may appear so when the Dog Star rages, And he who understands it would be able To add a story to the tower of Babel.”

Question 3: Byron fails to mention what happens to DJ and Haidee’s relationship and whether or not Haidée realizes that her father has come home. Why not go on with his satirical pros on the development of romance or tragedy? And do you think this Canto was purely written to mock or to express his political views of society?

Argument:

“Soft hour! which wakes the wish and melts the heart, Of those who sail the seas, on the first day, When they from their sweet friends are torn apart; Or fills with love the pilgrim on his way, As the far bell of vesper makes him start, Seeming to weep the dying day’s decay; Is this a fancy which our reason scorns? Ah! surely nothing dies but something mourns!”

Byron embraces his speaker Don Juan and uses him to express his own criticisms of English people and their culture. He takes on various views about gender,societal roles, the plea for conquered Greece, and the amusing attacks on poets while keeping to his satirical nature. In the midst of all of his own criticisms, I believe the point of this work is to express how life is short lived and even when something is gone, words written and read can send a message to be remembered throughout the ages.

[beverlyfdole]

101 Short Quotes and Sayings about Life

Sometimes you don’t have to use many words to get your point across.

In fact, keeping it short and simple can make what you’re saying extra powerful and memorable.

This is of course nothing new.

It’s something that’s many of the wisest people in history have kept in mind over thousands of years.

And today I want to share some of that sharp and quick wisdom.

This is 101 short and inspirational quotes about life and on how to make it a good, happy, loving and successful one from the past 2400 years.

I hope these quotes will give you a boost when you need it the most.

Short and Meaningful Quotes about Happiness

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” — Epictetus

“What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.” — Confucius

“The only joy in the world is to begin.” — Cesare Pavese

“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” — Dalai Lama

“To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others.” — Albert Camus

“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” — Aristotle

“It's a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” — Lucille Ball

“Happy people plan actions, they don’t plan results.” — Dennis Waitley

“It is more fitting for a man to laugh at life than to lament over it.” — Seneca

“The two enemies of human happiness are pain and boredom.” — Arthur Schopenhauer

“For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.” — Seneca

“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” — Mahatma Gandhi

“Most people would rather be certain they’re miserable, than risk being happy.” — Dr. Robert Anthony

“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” — Marthe Troly-Curtin

“Happiness is a state of activity.” — Aristotle

“The pleasure which we most rarely experience gives us greatest delight.” — Epictetus

“There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.” — Seneca

“Since you get more joy out of giving joy to others, you should put a good deal of thought into the happiness that you are able to give.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

“The unhappy derive comfort from the misfortunes of others.” — Aesop

“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.” — L.M. Montgomery

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius

 “Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.” — Winnie the Pooh

“Action may not always bring happiness; but there is no happiness without action.” — Benjamin Disraeli

“Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory.” — Albert Schweitzer

“Our envy always lasts longer than the happiness of those we envy.” — Heraclitus

Short and Inspiring Quotes about Love

 “Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.” — James Baldwin

“When we are in love we seem to ourselves quite different from what we were before.” — Blaise Pascal

“Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.” — Khalil Gibran

“I love you not because of who you are, but because of who I am when I am with you.” — Roy Croft

“A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.” — Elbert Hubbard

“Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness.” — Euripides

“Love is a friendship set to music.” — Joseph Campbell

“The more one judges, the less one loves.” — Honore de Balzac

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you… I could walk through my garden forever.” — Alfred Tennyson

“Love is when you meet someone who tells you something new about yourself.” — Andre Breton

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.” — Morrie Schwartz

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha

“If you would be loved, love, and be loveable.” — Benjamin Franklin

“Love will find a way through paths where wolves fear to prey.” — Lord Byron

“If I know what love is, it is because of you.” — Herman Hesse

“The giving of love is an education in itself.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

“Better to have lost and loved than never to have loved at all.” — Ernest Hemingway

“The best proof of love is trust.” — Joyce Brothers

“Don't brood. Get on with living and loving. You don't have forever.” — Leo Buscaglia

“Love is a better teacher than duty.” — Albert Einstein

“Love does not dominate; it cultivates.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Immature love says: ‘I love you because I need you.' Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.'” — Erich Fromm

 “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” — Robert A. Heinlein

“The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton

 “A woman knows the face of the man she loves as a sailor knows the open sea.” — Honore de Balzac

Short and Motivational Quotes about Success

 “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso

“Victory is sweetest when you've known defeat.” – Malcolm S. Forbes

“For success, attitude is equally as important as ability.” – Harry F. Banks

“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” – Florence Nightingale

“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.” – Oprah Winfrey

“Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” – Abraham Lincoln

“Not he who has much is rich, but he who gives much.” – Erich Fromm

“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” – Benjamin Disraeli

“Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.” – Richard Branson

“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise.” – Oscar Wilde

“Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John R. Wooden

“Don’t let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning.” – Robert Kiyosaki

“Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.” – Dalai Lama

“Amateurs sit and wait for inspiration, the rest of us just get up and go to work.” – Stephen King

“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” – Samuel Beckett

“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.” – Mark Twain

“The road to success is always under construction.” – Lily Tomlin

“Success is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill

“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill

“Success is largely a matter of holding on after others have let go.” – Unknown

“Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw

“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.” – Albert Einstein

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in and day-out.” – Robert Collier

Short Self-Esteem Quotes to Help You to Feel Good About Yourself

 “Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.” – Maxwell Maltz

“Why should we worry about what others think of us, do we have more confidence in their opinions than we do our own?” – Brigham Young

“Loving yourself isn’t vanity. It’s sanity.” – Katrina Mayer

“It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.” – W.C. Fields

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The better you feel about yourself, the less you feel the need to show off.” – Robert Hand

“A man cannot be comfortable without his own approval.” – Mark Twain

“Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness.” – Deborah Day

“Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.” – Benjamin Spock

“One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be, rather than being yourself.” – Shannon L. Alder

“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” – Charles Bukowski

“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” – Robert Morley

“Beauty begins the moment you decided to be yourself.” – Coco Chanel

“People who want the most approval get the least and the people who need approval the least get the most.” – Wayne Dyer

“Be faithful to that which exists within yourself.” – André Gide

“Never bend your head. Always hold it high. Look the world straight in the face.” – Helen Keller

“The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself.” – Maya Angelou

“Your problem is you’re… too busy holding onto your unworthiness.” – Ram Dass

“Growth begins when we start to accept our own weakness.” – Jean Vanier

“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.” – Malcolm S. Forbes

“There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anaïs Nin

“It is never too late to be what you might have been.” – George Eliot

What’s your favorite short quote about life? Feel free to share the best one(s) you have found in this article or in your life in the comments section below.