#Ana Claudia Antunes

[dabiconcordia]

“What's the difference between rain and grain? Only a g, though they both grow in the land, and they don't land but fall. What a difference a g makes!” ― Ana Claudia Antunes

[quotelr]

Life keeps throwing me stones. And I keep finding the diamonds...

Ana Claudia Antunes, A-Z of Happiness: Tips for Living and Breaking Through the Chain that Separates You from Getting That Dream Job

[serendiquity]

Because I love you - Lovebrush Chronicles

Valentine's Day/Rose Day headcanons for the lbc boys

Clarence

"We would be together and have our books and at night be warm in bed together with the windows open and the stars bright." - Ernest Hemingway.

Detailed and meticulous, Clarence’s nature is reflected in the blue roses he gives you. He doesn’t hand them to you outright, instead tucking them in books he lends you and leaving them in places he knows you often frequent. He presses some into bookmarks to preserve for longer, hoping that perhaps you’ll grow curious enough to search up their meaning on your own.

Clarence makes sure to dye each rose in different shades, each bloom boasting beautiful petals and, if you look closely enough, the hints of dyed-blue water still lingering in the stem. 

It’s a pleasant surprise, and soon you find yourself dyeing roses to give back in exchange. Upon starting, however, you realize that you’ve greatly underestimated the difficulty of what originally seemed like a simple task. Apart from finding the perfect roses to use, the dye needs constant refreshing and your petals keep wilting before you manage to finish. 

Clarence realizes your intentions when he sees you fiddling with one of your failed attempts, the blue dye barely even reaching past the stem. His eyes widen before he smiles, eyes soft. “Here, I’ll teach you.” 

Just like that, your weekly study sessions take on an added aspect, and Clarence patiently takes the time to help with your new interest. Within a few days, you’re eager to present him with the results of your hard work, handing him a bouquet of sky blue roses. “They ended up being a bit lighter than I wanted, but I hope you like them!”

Alkaid

“True love is like little roses, sweet, fragrant in small doses.” - Ana Claudia Antunes

Alkaid is fond of white roses, and he believes their meaning encompasses you quite well: innocent, loyal, and kind, but with the thorns to protect yourself if necessary. He thinks that happiness tastes sweetest when shared and savored slowly, and so he hopes that the roses he gifts you each day can brighten your life, just like what you do for him. 

He gives you twelve roses in the days leading up to the confession, a single white blossom every day. Each, he makes sure to present in a different way. The first he hands you outright, summer sunlight shining gently down as witness. The second he makes into a pale floral tea, petals drifting and bubbles rising like tiny stars. He sees you hesitate for a moment, looking down at the cup he handed you with undecipherable emotions, before drinking the contents enthusiastically. “It’s good,” you say, and he lets out a quiet sigh of relief, breaking into a small smile. 

Throughout the next few days, he finds a multitude of ways to express his love, from pressed flowers to light flirting to your intertwined hands. Every time, he waits, watching for the slightest sign of disappointment or approval from you. When you beam and thank him, his heart lifts, and he feels a bit more confident. 

The last rose, given on the twelfth day, he tucks into your hair, thorns carefully clipped away. He leads you to a picnic he prepared, a spread of your favorite foods and treats already laid out. He watches as you enjoy yourself, blissfully oblivious to his budding feelings. For a moment, he considers reaching out to clasp your hands in his own, then blurting out the words that have been haunting him for so long. He shakes the thought away. 

… It’s alright even if you don’t realize. After all, love is best given and received in small doses, and he has plenty of time and love to give. 

Lars

“And then there were our sweet stolen moments in the midst of our work – just a word, or caress, or flash of love-light; and our moments were sweeter for being stolen.” - Jack London

To Lars, Valentines’ day is a rare chance to take a break from work and see you. Passionate and flamboyant, Lars wants to express his love in any way possible, and celebrating the holiday together is the perfect way to do it. 

He texts you early in the morning to make sure you’re free, hoping you can go with him for a surprise date. Call him classic, but he shows up at your house with a bouquet of red roses and baby’s breath, stealing your own breath away in exchange. He grins boyishly and tugs you outside, whisking you away to visit a cafe you had mentioned liking a few weeks back, going shopping together, and even arranging a candlelit dinner. Even if it’s cheesy, he boldly serenades you with love songs he prepared, and watching you laugh freely makes it all worth it.

If it weren’t for his responsibilities, he’d spend the whole week with you if he could, indulging you in whatever you wanted to do. But he can’t do that, so he settles for making today the best day he can instead. 

At the end of the day, he escorts you back home, dropping you off at the door with a dramatic bow and flourish. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees your eyes sparkle with an idea. “Come here,” you say, beckoning him closer. “Today was a lot of fun.” 

You push yourself onto your tiptoes, left arm on his shoulder for balance. Before he realizes what’s happening, your lips are pressed to his cheek, leaving a crimson lipstick mark as red as the roses he gave you before. You pull away and grin at him, turning to head inside. He stands there for a long moment afterwards, hand to his face.

Though he had intended for it to be the other way around, he thinks that today has made him fall even deeper in love with you. And if you don’t realize the depths of his feelings, then he’ll simply have to repeat himself again and again until you do. 

[lumpyorganelle]

Heartbreak & losses quotes pt.2

Ah, merciless Love, is there any length to which you cannot force the human heart to go?” ― Virgil, The Aeneid

“How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.” ― Amanda Torroni

“every loss, every mistake, was seared into her soul, creating a different kind of tattoo, one made from rage and abandonment, heart break and tears” ― Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl

“He started to estrange her… And they became strangers Who knew each other's heart, So broken as they drifted apart.” ― Ana Claudia Antunes, Pierrot & Columbine

“Did the destruction of one dream leave a vacuum that required filling with another? Is a broken heart more vulnerable?” ― Cinda Williams Chima, The Exiled Queen

“Thoughts are as simple as the process…a message from the soul; conveyed through the heart; received in the mind” ― Jeremy Aldana

“She ached so badly to be held it felt like a sickness had invaded her muscles and bones. As usual, her own arms provided little comfort.” ― Helen Hoang, The Kiss Quotient

“When the heart is down and the soul is heavy, the eyes can only speak the language of tears” ― Ikechukwu Izuakor

“Then I feel I have given away my whole soul to someone who treats it as if it were a flower to put in his coat, a bit of decoration to charm his vanity, an ornament for a summer's day.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray

“A faint cry; I can't figure out if it's mine or if it's echoing the other half of my broken heart—the one beating in his chest.” ― Aura Biru, We Are Everyone

“There has to be a whole other level of pain when your soul gets ripped in half.” ― Karen M. McManus, One of Us Is Back

“Those words created in my heart and stomach a physical effect so sickening, so painful, that I have never since doubted that these vibrational frequencies traveling upon air can land a knock-out punch more excruciating than any fist or weapon.” ― Erin Zelinka, On Love and Travel: A Memoir

“My wounded heart, too burdened by scars, struggles even to fathom the concept of love, let alone embrace its gentle touch.” ― Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

“An Ocean full of thoughts, a broken heart, and a tragic shore of insane storms. I am trapped in a body that is not my own, a world that's too alien for my soul and an evil wounding my heart.” ― Sapppho Khizar

“When stranded in a desert, and you’re dying of thirst, a mirage is the cruelest trick the mind can play. And when you are a stranger among regular folks, and you’re in search of love, a disillusioned or misguided heart is the cruelest thing.” ― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish

“That was the end of the integrity of their love. The succeeding days were a shambles of falseness and hypocrisy, mingled with her tears and moments of animal passion to which she abandoned herself with a greed made indecent by the hollowness of their days.” ― Ian Fleming, Casino Royale

“…my father explained to me in a hushed tone that in times of extreme stress or trauma, humans of all ages will resort back to the fetal position, because it is an instinctual way to protect all our vital organs and because it reminds us of the safest place we all began, thee womb.” ― Lucy Keating, Dreamology

“This was just the world. You trusted people, you loved them, you offered them the dignity of your time and the intimacy of your thoughts and the fraility of your hope and they either accepted it and cared for it or they rejected it and destroyed it and in the end, none of it was up to you. This was just what you got. Heartbreak was inevitable. Disappointment assured.” ― Olivie Blake, The Atlas Paradox

“Being of heart resists no hurt, they savor poison like fine wine. The benevolent takes no notice of betrayal, while the somnolent just moan and whine.” ― Abhijit Naskar, Yarasistan: My Wounds, My Crown

“How can I be reasonable? To me our love was everything and you were my whole life. It is not very pleasant to realize that to you it was only an episode.” ― W. Somerset Maugham, The Painted Veil

[zemagltd]

Everyday Poetry - “It takes two to Tao.”

Ana Claudia Antunes

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

The neighborhood kids coming 'round.

* * * *

“I'm a light bearer dressed in a sleep wear.” ― Ana Claudia Antunes, Pierrot & Columbine

[astroexaminer]

Astro-Inspiration for March 2, 2023: As the World Turns

To repeat from yesterday: “Don’t throw caution to the wind, remember too much of a good thing can be just that ... too much. You’re feeling a desire for self-preservation and your mind turns toward seriously considering issues surrounding self-discipline and the mental blocks impeding the way forward. But you’ll also notice a new, more sensitive, subjective, and intuitive approach is taking hold, and you could feel more vulnerable to everything you see and read. Don’t play the victim game.... but do notice people in the world who truly have been victimized and need support.

Taken together, this energy could arouse some anxiety or cause erratic behavior, so be mindful when interacting with others. On a more positive note, think expansion, prosperity, or an exhilarating breakthrough... perhaps an opportunity of a lifetime, or planting seeds of thought for a kinder, gentler future.

Today’s Quote

“Inequality and poverty, health and wealth are hand in hand. And if we are all born equal that should be true in all lands. We cannot divide the world between poor and rich countries. It's like saying the ones are good, the others are junkies. That can only increase more prejudice, miseries and sorrow. Turning the wheel today will lead to a better tomorrow.” ~ Ana Claudia Antunes

Today’s Sky

Venus in Aries Conjunct Jupiter in Aries. Mercury in Aquarius Conjunct Saturn in Aquarius, Mercury enters Pisces. Moon in Cancer Sextile Uranus in Taurus, Trine Neptune.

Note: On March 7th, Saturn moves from Aquarius to Pisces, and everyone is already beginning to feel this energy shift. Contemplate Hemingway’s novella “Old Man and the Sea.” The story of an old Cuban fisherman, down on his luck, and his supreme ordeal -- a relentless, agonizing battle with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Stream. Like the story of the “Old Man and the Sea,” Saturn in Pisces will remind the world of a fundamental human truth: in a volatile world, from our first breath to our last wish, through triumphs and pitfalls both trivial and profound, what ultimately sustains us is faith and hope.

Image by Adrien Hebert via Flickr

[ancientphantom]

Gather around, friends, because we are BLESSED this month! We are experiencing BOUNTY.

In fact, there are so many new things to tell y’all about this month that I actually can’t fit all the covers in Tumblr’s 10-only grid, so be prepared for some inline fun, too. After much consideration, I’m splitting everything roughly into groups of similar works. Here we go with the novels!

The Angel’s Kiss by Germaine Mooney is a retelling of the original story by an author who has published multiple Phantom tales, heavy on the sex scenes and apparently influenced by the Lloyd Webber show (or so Christine working at the opera but as a ballerina instead of a singer would suggest). It also has by far the best cover in this post.

Entr’acte by Cheryl Mahoney is borderline nonfiction; instead of being a stand-alone volume, it’s a collection of essays, deleted scenes, and trivia related to Mahoney’s Guardian of the Opera series.

A Ghostly Sonata by Annie James starts with a devastating fire at the Gaston LeRoux Theater that caused the death of “Erika”, a young musical prodigy and continues through the attempts of new owners to use the place in spite of a haunting a decade later and the gender-flipped fun of lead actor Christian being kidnapped by a masked figure in the middle of his performance...

Halloween Knights: The Ending of Your World by Matthew Le Star is an ensemble story that calls itself “an urban fantasy epic about a spectacular rock band, the magic they make, and the miracles they perform,” and appears to be some sort of superhero team-up between different classic monsters, with the Phantom, who has recently become disfigured through being mugged while busking, as one of the lead characters.

Love & Music by Patricia Ryan is a contemporary romance with a budding opera singer who falls in love with another singer, but is torn between him and her brooding, demanding vocal teacher, who does not approve of anything that might prevent her from becoming the next international superstar.

The Magnum Opera by M. Kienan Briscoe is a weird one; the main character joins a small artist’s commune dedicated to creating horrifying, brain-breaking art in an attempt to “evolve” humanity forward, and includes references to tons of classic literature in addition to Phantom. (The lead’s last name, for example, is Moriarty, although only a reading will tell us if this is relevant.)

The Phantom by Tamara Zeegers is a direct continuation of Zeegers’ first Phantom book, and it’s still maintaining all the absolute bananaballs of that novel: a Phantom who is a vampire and like seven millennia old, Babylonian gods who may or may not actually be divine, the Phantom going to the ALW musical in-text to angst about its portrayal of his life, and of course a Christine who keeps getting reincarnated so he can be weird about her.

Pierrot & Colombina by Ana Claudia Antunes isn’t her first Phantom-related work, or the first one to also use elements from the traditional Harlequin & Colombine archetypes, but it IS the first one in which the lead is being haunted by a Phantom but it’s a cranky little girl who used to be a ballerina, and also the first one with a serial killer boyfriend, so... evolution, I guess.

When Hushed Voices Die by Lisa R. Cheng is a modern-day take on the story featuring a young pianist who when she plays a certain instrument hears the ghostly voice that coaches her on to greatness and who she begins to love and trust in spite of never having seen him in person. It looks like this might be a Phantom who is also actually a phantom.

Now, you might be thinking, “Wow! That’s so many new novels!” But that thought is premature, because HERE COME SOME MORE:

(Yes, those ARE the same stock photo ballerina legs on two different covers this week. Publishing is hilarious.)

The Cursed Ballet by Megan Atwood is the story of a ballerina at conservatory who, when cast in the supposedly “cursed” show, is suddenly visited by a mysterious boy who mentors her to reach greater artistic heights... but who also struggles with mysterious near-death experiences as soon as he does.

Eternal Obsession by Ann Lory is another return to one of our collective favorite subgenres: the Sexy Vampire Phantom. In this case, the ballerina main character has been abandoned by the vampire who trained her, but fate is drawing them back together, or something. There’s mentorship.

Love in the Spotlight by Cait Wrexham is ALSO about a ballerina performing the same “cursed” show (sorry, Giselle, you’re as doomed as Macbeth) in a haunted theater that also happens to be coincidentally called the Majestic. Also a hot dude is there!

The Music & the Mirror by Lola Keeley is a rare WLW romance take on the story with a fresh-faced young rising star ballerina, her stern but irresistibly sexy mentor and former prima ballerina herself, and of course lots of smoldering. Bets now on whether this is actually a Christine/Phantom situation or more of a Meg/Phantom or Christine/Giry one!

Pier Lights by Ella M. Kaye is a contemporary romance starring a ballerina who has given up her dream after an injury and a facially scarred bouncer who runs into her on a beach, as you can plainly see from the cover.

Waiting for Silverbird by Conny Manero is an interesting approach to the story in which the Christine character appears to have accidentally caused the accident that disfigured the Phantom when she was a child. Twice. Somehow she still needs other characters to tell her “uh, maybe don’t put that guy in charge of your entire life?”

But wait, there’s more! It’s also the season of short stories, apparently:

The Ballet of Dr. Caligari and Madder Mysteries by Reggie Oliver is a thirteen-story anthology with a title story that I’m sure those familiar with some classic horror film will recognize. The Caligari here is a choreographer obsessed with his former love, a prima ballerina who has been catastrophically injured, and an innocent composer is caught in the middle.

The Guardian of the Opera: Collected Pieces by Cheryl Mahoney is an omnibus edition of previously-released works by Mahoney (Entr’acte, Overture, and The Confessions of Christine Daae), so if you’re a person who likes to have all their series fiction in the same place, this is the option for you!

Infamous Monsters by Don Solosan is a collection of short stories, each featuring a different classic movie monster. Bafflingly, no preview or description anywhere on the internet will give me story titles, but I know the Phantom is the monster du jour in at least one of them from the author’s Lulu tags, so... Chaney’s probably in there, somewhere. Brooding.

The Macabre Collection by David Haynes is a collection of a bunch of horror shorts, several of which have Phantom themes regarding haunted performances, ballet dancers, and general skeletal nonsense.

Night Terrors Vol. 11 from Scare Street is one of a long series of horror anthologies; each has its own theme and this one’s is “the music of the night”, so you can see where that’s going...

Plot Twists is a multi-author anthology where every piece is inspired by a piece of classical literature... so of course, we’ve got a Phantom entry! “Ghosts on the Page” is by Cheryl Mahoney (yes, the same one who appears twice on this list already) and is explicitly based on Phantom.

And if that’s not enough juiciness for you, may I present the foreign language acquisitions for this month as well?:

Bloody Shoes by Ana Claudia Antunes is Antunes’ attempt at a movie screenplay (based on her previous novel, The Pierrot’s Love) and is presented in both English and Spanish. No preview on this one, y’all, but you can always look at the novel it��s based on!

Le Foyer de Thémis by Cassandre Cain is doing a lot of zany things, a tasting menu of which includes squatting in the Opera Garnier that is NOT performed by the traditional Phantom, mysterious wasting illnesses, and a woman who is the “genetic heir of the Freemasons”. Also choreography? I don’t know but whatever’s happening, we should probably find out.

Oper der Phantome by V.K. Ludewig is here to prevent you from thinking that the Babylonian gods and Freemasonry afoot are the weirdest things on offer here. Instead, try a woman married to a shapeshifter and contacted by a secret organization to go investigate the Berlin opera house, which is apparently a portal to another dimension, which is why certain shenaniganators are so hard to catch...

Das Phantom im Opernhaus by Jan Beinssen is a murder mystery set at an opera house, in which our hapless protagonist is TRYING to propose to his girlfriend but instead is forced to navigate crewmembers being murdered, weird things going missing or breaking all over the opera house, and of course the rampant rumors of a resident ghost.

Reflet Dansant by Justine Luton is a weird and creepy story in which a performer awakens in a theater balcony with no idea how she got there and only a very frightening, otherworldly performance to watch and give her clues.

Serghey by Matthieu Biasotto is a modern-day take on the story featuring a scarred virtuoso pianist who hates everyone, except, of course, the sincere and beautiful young woman who runs into him and decides to Heal His Inner Wounds.

WHEW. I need to go lie down before I start loading all of this into the Library!

[beforevenice]

True love is like little roses, sweet, fragrant in small doses.

// Ana Claudia Antunes, Pierrot & Columbine

[blackorchld]

Like the moon shining bright

Up high with all its grace,

I can only show you at night

And hide half of my face.

Ana Claudia Antunes

[justbeingnamaste]

“My consciousness is clean and new, And my conscience, clear and vivid. I know what I've been giving to you. But I don't know what you received.”    

[zemagltd]

Everyday Poetry - "Time heals nothing. It only brings other issues and tissues, and takes what is incurable or unacceptable out of the center of our attention." Ana Claudia Antunes

[wepicy]

Chance Quote By Ana Claudia Antunes, “Life always gives us another change: It's called To Move On.” - Ana Claudia Antunes,

[beautifulbizarremagazine]

Today’s he(art) quote is inspired by the 'cycle of life' tango between ocelot and ibis in Lauren Marx's “Starry-Eyed” mixed media painting:

“It takes two to Tao.”― Ana Claudia Antunes, The Tao of Physical and Spiritual Lauren 

•••

#beautifulbizarre #laurenmarxart #animals #animalart #art #artist #artwork #beautiful #butterflies #contemporaryart #creative #drawing #decay #death #darksurreal #darksurrealism #darkart #nature #natureart #newcontemporary #watercolor #wildlifeart

[franniebanana]

"He started to estrange her... And they became strangers Who knew each other's heart, So broken as they drifted apart." Ana Claudia Antunes, Pierrot & Columbine