#Betsy Potter

[celilasart]

"Think about it, Draco. All of our history. All of our past and yet… Here we are, together." ~from "We Just Do" by Sassy_Cissa (c) 2015

Happy birthday, dear @sassy-cissa, and congratulations on 111 works on AO3! You are such a wonderful person who has done so much for the Drarry fandom - whether it be modding fests, beta reading, or cheering on your friends! You're also an amazingly skilled writer! I feel so privileged to call you my friend and I hope you have the best of days :) Love you <3

[nerds-yearbook]

Matt Murdock's law partner Foggy Nelson got married to Deborah Harris in Daredevil 166#, cover date September, 1980. The issue also revealed the Gladiator's name was Melvin Potter and introduced Betsy Beatty and "Porkchop" Peterson (created by Roger McKenzie and Frank Miller). ("Till Death Do Us Part!", Daredevil 166#, Marvel Comic Event)

[im-a-heartstomper]

ME. I still like harry potter i just. don't buy merch or books anymore because fuck jkr. shoutout to my friend betsy for getting me back into it btw

[northlt03]

ok but why are there no AFTG x Marauders fics and I mean Remus Lupin as Neil Josten, Sirius Black, the one who escaped his toxic family as Kevin Day, Barty Crouch Jr as Andrew Minyard who is fiercely protective of Evan Rosier, James Potter as Jeremy Knox, Regulus Black as the one left behind to deal w the consequences of Sirius leaving aka Jean Moreau (yk the french guy who is the definition of black cat energy), Pandora as Renee, Dorcas as Dan, Fleamont Potter as Wymack, Poppy Pomfrey as Abby, McGonagall as Betsy

SOMEONE WRITE THIS PLEASE AND NATHAN ISNT ACTUALLY REMUS' DAD BUT GREYBACK IT MAKES SM SENSE PLS PLS

[jomiddlemarch]

20 questions for writers

Tagged by @asteraceae-blue who is Very Nice Indeed.

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 876

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,544,499

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Brace yourselves. Mercy Street, Shadow and Bone, Foyle's War, Poldark, The Last of Us, GLOW, A Discovery of Witches, Anne of Green Gables, Little Women, Shogun, Harry Potter, Downton Abbey, Frozen, Dune, Ted Lasso, Star Wars, The Hour, Sanditon, Leap, Brooklyn 99, Far From The Madding Crowd, Beauty and the Beast, Wonder Woman, Gilmore Girls, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Avengers, Parks and Rec, Betsy-Tacy, Wandavision, Rogue One, The Mandalorian, Bridgerton, Community, Solo, Iron Man, Call the Midwife, Lord Peter Wimsey, Fleabag, The Little Mermaid, Emma, The Guernsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society, Timeless, Rebecca, The Age of Innocence, Beecham House, World on Fire, And Then There Were None. A few more but I am tired now.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

what it is to be a thin, crescent moon

A Wife--at daybreak I shall be

Point and Click

Bear with the truths I would tell you now

The subtlest fold of the heart

5. Do you respond to comments?

I do try and answer everyone, even if I just say thanks. I will delete really rude comments, which have fortunately been rare.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I wrote "Because I could not stop for Death" for Mercy Street and killed basically every character at least once, making remaining characters miserable. Except for the last chapter, where I killed the guy we all loathed.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

This is tough because I mostly write happy endings. I think "But let thy silk twist down" counts as one, because Jed Foster is convinced that Mary is dying or has rejected him and then she surprises him by showing up and locking them into the sitting room. And in GLOW, "everything could yield him pleasure" allows Sam and Ruth to get back together over Christmas.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not very often. It's mostly been in big fandoms (Reylo, Shadow and Bone, I'm looking at you) but it hasn't been a big issue on AO3 or Tumblr. And I'm comfortable deleting and blocking.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yes, when I feel it's called for. I write grown-up sex scenes, so there are no wacky positions (unless someone talks about how they're going to throw out their back) and sometimes a breastfeeding mother's milk lets down or a woman struggles to have an orgasm. It's pretty vanilla though and all cishet. In the cock v. dick debate, I lean cock. I don't use other euphemisms for male genitals unless someone is quoting a poem. (I'm not sure that has happened but it totally could with me.)

No one in any of my sex scenes has had any bodyscaping and a not insignificant number of times, someone has left their socks on.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

OMG, YES. I love a crossover. Probably my Mercy Street/Sesame Street crossover has to be up there for zaniness. I did put Shadow and Bone characters in AOGG Prince Edward Island and I have also crossed over All Creatures Great and Small vets (James and Tristan) into the Grishaverse.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I've been asked for permission but I don't think I gave it.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes. During the pandemic, there was the Mercy Street Murder Hotel round robin with @tortoisesshells @fericita-s @broadwaybaggins @sagiow @mercurygray and also the Cruise Ship with @sagiow and @fericita-s.

(Pro tip: it's easier if you agree on your murderer BEFORE you start writing but it was fun writing clues that were 50/50 going to be red herrings.)

14. What’s your all time favorite ship?

Given the number of fics I've written for them, I have to say Mary Phinney/Jed Foster but it really could be smart-woman-who-is-underestimated/quippy-guy-who-gets-he's-smart-but-not-as-smart-as-she-is-and-that's-the-turn-on

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

This may make people sad, but I have a hard time seeing my way clear to an ending on "what is it to be a thin crescent moon" largely because I'd have to do some more plotting to get where I'd want to go. It's never say never but the truth is, I originally intended to stop when they got to the Little Palace, so everything after that was basically improv.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm pretty good at capturing a character's voice and I've often been told my work is poetic, which I appreciate, as I am a poet.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Long-form plotting. I love to read it, but I get tired trying to create it and often resort to lily-padding (my own term for jumping from scene to scene.) I overuse the word just. I don't play chess well but I cannot resist writing about gambits.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I try to keep it minimal, since I'm only fluent in English.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Mercy Street.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

What is this, Sophie's Freaking Choice? I really like my GLOW zombie road-trip story "Music shall untune the sky" because I gave them a good ride and there was so much angst! "Hope is the thing with feathers" is a fic I wrote for myself, when I was despairing about Real Life and US politics and human rights, where I let Christopher Foyle offer the comfort I desperately wished for.

Tagging @tortoisesshells @fericita-s @sagiow @broadwaybaggins @oldshrewsburyian @orlissa @amarguerite @aloveforjaneausten and @aquitainequeen but anyone else is welcome to hold forth!

[chestnutelm122]

Slime tutorials I’d probably be willing to pay for just to have a copy of:

Jessie Mueller:

• Waitress final performance (video, as I already have the audio)

• Waitress (with Charity Angel Dawson and Caitlin Houlahan — this duo too with Sara Bareilles)

• The Minutes

• Guys and Dolls (2022)

• The Music Man

• Carousel (as Julie Jordan)

• Any full P-Town concert videos

Sara Bareilles:

• Waitress (final performance on Broadway, reopening on Broadway, and any West End performances)

• Into The Woods (preferably opening or final performance, but I’d take any dates as long as it’s with the original cast of the revival)

• full ATC tour concert

• full Radio City Music Hall concert

Prima Facie:

• West End (opening/final performance)

• Broadway (opening, and when it gets available: final performance)

• WE or Broadway performance from any of the alternates

Fleabag:

• Any Phoebe Waller-Bridge performance (West End and/or Off-Broadway)

Wicked:

• Kristin Chenoweth’s vicodin show

Not a priority but would be nice to have:

• Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (original West End or OBC)

• Jagged Little Pill

• A Doll’s House (with Jessica Chastain)

• &Juliet (esp ones with Betsy Wolfe)

• SIX (I’ll take any of the OBC but generally looking for Abby Mueller’s final performance)

• The Play That Goes Wrong

• The Vagina Monologues (off-Broadway)

• Funny Girl (with Beanie Feldstein and/or Lea Michele)

• The Music Man (with Sutton Foster and Hugh Jackman)

• The Grey House (with Tatiana Maslany)

• Kimberly Akimbo

• Flower Drum Song (with Lea Salonga)

• God of Carnage

• The Thanksgiving Play (with D���arcy Carden)

• Camelot Revival

• Here Lies Love (with Lea Salonga)

If anyone can point me to the right direction, pleaaaaaaaaaaase do so. I’m accepting gifts ofc but I don’t mind paying a bit for my favorites, especially anything Jessie Mueller, Sara Bareilles, and Jodie Comer.

[dazed-and-confused23]

So, my boyfriend and I have been rewatching the Harry Potter movies, and I have found that one of my favorite things to imagine is a Southern American exchange student coming to Hogwarts. I've seen tik toks about it, and they've just fueled the giggles whenever it comes to mind.

Like instead of coffee or classic British tea or what have you. It's just criminally offensive sweet tea.

Instead of using their wands to fight, they toss that thing to the ground, and it's all just hands for days. They've got some kind of pocket knife in their robe cause all southern boys I've ever known carry one.

Southern slang that the other students just don't understand. "Bless yer heart." "Heavens to Betsy" or even. "Man I got a hankerin' for a coke"

The other students not being able to understand a word when they get real excited. That southern accent is just thick with "Y'alld've" and any other shorting of words.

I dunno. Yall can tell where I come from with just this post haha. It's fun to think of. So feel free to add your thoughts!

[einsteinsugly]

The kiddies, in my verse, where I reveal their future occupations. And not all of their endgames. *Shrugs* I think I've revealed 5/9 (Adrian, Hannah, Becca, James, and Leah).

Elizabeth "Betsy" Victoria Kelso (born January 15, 1979): Kelso and Brooke's eldest daughter, played by Minka Kelly. Is a major character earlier on in the series, and becomes a doctor. Is kind of a Laurie, but a zany one. She'll get involved in all of the kids' shenanigans, and frequently starts shenanigans of her own. Is seldom subtle.

Adrian Reginald Forman (born July 18, 1984): Fez and Laurie's son, played by Dylan O'Brien. Is a major character. Deeply introverted, he is a classic STEM nerd and avid gamer, and eventually becomes a software engineer. He doesn't have a lot in common with his dad or stepmother, or his half sister. He spends summers with Red and Kitty.

Hannah Michaela Kelso (born November 23, 1984): Kelso and Brooke's youngest daughter, played by Lyndsy Fonseca. A prominent minor character. She's a caring sweetheart with a childish whimsy. She ends up becoming a stay at home mom, and she loves every minute of it.

*****

Rebecca "Becca" Leona Hyde (born December 5, 1985): Jackie and Hyde's daughter, played by Jessica Brown Findlay. Is a major character. She's quiet and crafty, and doesn't really do well in structured environments (like school). She loves to sew and loves to listen to music. Alt pop, grunge, and oldies, mainly. She ends up setting up an alterations' shop, and helps out at Grooves sometimes. Oh, and she's bi.

Katherine "Kate" Erin Forman (born February 28, 1986): Eric and Donna's eldest daughter, played by Lacey Hannan. Is a major character. She's an idealist, and a perfectionist. She's a social butterfly, and an overachiever. But deep down, nothing she does is ever good enough. Especially after her failed stint in NYC, and a long-term relationship gone wrong. She moves back to Chicago, and works with her mother as a journalist.

James Reginald Hyde (born October 22, 1987): Jackie and Hyde's son, played by Nicholas Hoult. Is a major character. He's rebellious and ambitious, and is constantly finding ways to upend the system and make money. He ends up taking over Grooves, with his dispensary Holy Smokes as a prominent side hustle. With his wife Leah by his side...well, taking some of the edibles.

*****

Hallie Anna Rivera (born December 26, 1988): Laurie's daughter, played by Daisy Ridley. Is a major character later on in the series, as she finally falls into the Forman fold. Like Adrian, she was mostly raised by her dad. A rebellious party animal with a chip on her shoulder, the world is her oyster. Well, to crack open and destroy. She fixes things as a mechanic, eventually, like her dad. Oh, and she's a lesbian.

Ashley Maria Tate (born May 4, 1989): Fez and Rhonda's daughter, played by Josie Loren. Is a minor character. Is an avid dancer, gymnast, and cheerleader, and is an avid life of the party. She ends up taking over her parents' dance studio.

Leah Margaret Forman (born January 1, 1990): Eric and Donna's youngest daughter, played by Katie Leclerc. Is a major character. Is an awkward, nerdy tomboy with a love of Harry Potter, and is snarky and opinionated. She gets what she wants, duh. Step by step. She doesn't know what she wants for a career, though, like her dad, but ends up teaching in the same school as her dad. As an English teacher, where she can geek out over her favorite books.

[harrydracompreg]

Fic: A Gentleman of Good Conceit - Mature [R]

Title: A Gentleman of Good Conceit Author: Anonymous Prompt: Draco Malfoy had never been a easy to please man. He's vain, selfish, has a bad temper, and all. He's the opposite of 'cute'. But wait until you see him pregnant. Maybe then his normal self would look a lot cuter. Basically, Draco is a hormonal prick when he's pregnant. And Harry is simultaneously annoyed and overflowing with love for him when he's like that. Word Count: 4.2 k Rating: Mature [R] Contains: Established Relationship, Pregnant Draco Malfoy, Blow Jobs, Fingering, Arrogance, Conceit, Massage, Pampering, Besotted Harry Potter, Spoiled Draco Malfoy, POV First Person, POV Draco Malfoy Spoilers: No Spoilers Marked. Who is pregnant: Draco Notes: Thank you to my two wonderful betas T and S, I appreciate all your kind words and insightful suggestions. Thanks to Betsy and Tim for being fabulous, as always. Summary: Harry worships me, hungers for me. Facts are facts. What's also a fact is that I'm egotistical, an utter snob, and totally impossible to live with. But then, when has the impossible ever stopped Harry Potter? A Gentleman of Good Conceit Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the proprty of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.

[isfjmel-phleg]

March 2023 Books

(@lady-merian I do talk about reading the first L&C book, please feel free to ignore)

The In-Between by Rebecca Ansari

A fascinating fantastical premise to account for a real-world case of missing children. A bit dark but I did enjoy reading this.

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett (reread)

Annual reread! You all know how I feel about this book.

The Secret Garden: The Cinematic Novel by Linda Chapman (reread)

Reread after watching the movie again, because I was curious how they compare. I originally read this before the movie came out. There were definitely parts of the novelization that are absent in the film, and the book does a more thorough job of explaining this. But on the whole they are pretty similar.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher (reread)

I remember reading an excerpt from this book in one of our elementary school readers. It's been a while since I read the whole book, but I enjoyed it more than I expected. I wish I had read it as a child.

The Secret Garden of Yanagi Inn by Amber A. Logan

The Japanese setting was this book's strength. As a retelling, however, I didn't love it. It transformed the story into a generic tale of a rather bland woman processing her grief and working through baggage from her past while on a mysterious photography job in Japan. It retained the basic beats of TSG but not so much the spirit of the story (which is not about healing from grief, why is that so hard to understand) or characters.

Messenger and Son by Lois Lowry

I don't know what the heck is going on in these stories' universe, and Messenger was rather bizarre and depressing, but Son had some interesting themes and proved a satisfying ending to the series.

The Humming Room by Ellen Potter (reread)

Reread for TSG season.

I love this retelling, but this time it struck me that I'm not especially crazy about Potter's choices in depicting her Dickon analogue. He's clearly designed to be a heartthrob (brooding nature boy! mysterious past! possibly one of the fae! ponytail!), maybe more that than a parallel to Dickon's actual role in the original. It doesn't ruin the book for me at all, but this time...I was kind of mentally rolling my eyes.

The Making of May by Gwyneth Rees

I wouldn't call this a retelling of TSG, because it isn't, but it interacts with that text and draws inspiration from it. The young heroine is particularly attached to a film version of TSG (clearly the 1975 miniseries) that she has on VHS, she identifies a lot with Mary, and like Mary she has a lot of growing to do in a mysterious old house with walled gardens. A more enjoyable book than I expected.

A Bit of Earth by Karuna Riazi

A retelling of TSG in a modern setting with a Pakistani heroine coming to live in Long Island. The cultural setting and many of the plot points are significantly different from the original, but very much in the same spirit. Riazi clearly loves and respects the original text while breathing her own fresh life into it. The blend of poetry interspersed with the prose that forms the majority of the narrative is a bold but effective choice. It enhances the emotion and gives insight into the heroine that we wouldn't have otherwise. I enjoyed this one more than I expected. Thank you for the recommendation, @allieinarden!

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers (reread)

Reread in a rush for a reading group.

The Chestry Oak by Kate Seredy

Seredy's books take me off guard with how powerful they can be. This one was no exception.

A Secret Princess by Margaret Stohl and Melissa de la Cruz

This was not good. I knew it was not going to be good. I read it anyway. I regret that.

A retelling should honor the spirit of the original while bringing something fresh and original to the story. This book did not do that. This Sara, Mary, and Cedric bore almost no resemblance to their original counterparts, and themes from Burnett's stories are discarded, even disdained. For some reason, the story is set in the 1860s, decades before Burnett's books were published/set, but little or no historical research seems to have been done, and the result was not very believable in its portrayal of nineteenth-century England. The plot is all over the place, and the romances are painfully forced. I was not impressed.

The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud

I really liked it! (...maybe not for the same reasons as everybody else, sorry, I am not swooning over anyone.) Stroud's prose is fantastic, and he turns the most effortlessly inventive similes. The characters are well-developed, and the story, even though it's not the type of plot I would normally seek out, is quite readable. I plan to finish the series.

The Secret Garden on 81st Street by Ivy Noelle Weir (reread)

Reread for TSG season.

A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth

A friend has been on my case about forming a book club between the two of us, and she wanted me to pick the first book, something I hadn't read before. I arbitrarily selected this one, which was on my shelves. I regretted it. I wanted to love it, it has such a pretty cover, but I couldn't connect with the heroine and her motivations, and the pseudo-historical setting was distractingly implausible for me.

Mystery of the Black Diamonds and Mystery of the Green Cat by Phyllis A. Whitney

Black Diamonds hasn't aged well and has a bit of a far-fetched plot, but Green Cat was quite enjoyable. I appreciate how Whitney weaves her mystery plots with more interpersonally-focused plots that bring additional investment in the characters.

[ssadumba55]

Hope you don't mind me being my 69 cats with me. They all have separation anxiety 🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🐈

Here we have Damien, Alex, Ernie, Betsy, Randall, Warden, Patricia, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Draco, Severus, Albus, Remus, Sirius, Alastor, Minerva, Pen, Pineapple, Apple, Pen Jr, Meg, Claudette, Dwight, Jake, Adiris, Anna, Evan, Kazan, Herman, Adriana, Tarhos, Bruce, Little, Jen, Kira, Aughra, Rian, Deet, Brea, Michael, Billy, Stu, Hannibal, Bubba, Chucky, Tiffany, Momo, Clementine, Doc, Zbalthazar, Rick, Daryl, Carol, Carl, Maggie, Negan, Princess, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple, North, South, East, West and Fluffy

WHY DO YOU HAVE SO MANY CATS and they're almost all named after random characters.

let's see we got some harry potter, some dark crystal, some dbd/assorted horror, walking dead. interesting interesting. very many cats ofc they are all welcome.

[kwebtv]

 A Christmas Carol  -  TNT  -  December 5, 1999

A Hallmark Entertainment Production

Running Time:  95 minutes

Stars:

Patrick Stewart as Ebenezer Scrooge

Richard E. Grant as Bob Cratchit

Joel Grey as Spirit of Christmas Past

Ian McNeice as Albert Fezziwig 

Saskia Reeves��as Mrs. Cratchit

Desmond Barrit as Spirit of Christmas Present

Bernard Lloyd as Jacob Marley's Ghost

Dominic West as Fred

Trevor Peacock as Old Joe

Liz Smith as Mrs. Dilber (Charwoman)

Elizabeth Spriggs as Mrs. Riggs (Laundress)

Kenny Doughty as Young Ebenezer Scrooge

Laura Fraser as Belle

Celia Imrie as Mrs. Bennett

John Franklyn-Robbins as Mister Crump (Undertaker)

Claire Slater as Martha Cratchit

Ben Tibber as Tiny Tim Cratchit

Barnaby Francis as Young Boy Cratchit

Tabitha Francis as Young Girl Cratchit

Tim Potter as Spirit of Christmas Future

Jeremy Swift as Mr. Williams

Rosie Wiggins as Fran (Scrooge's sister)

Crispin Letts as Topper Haines

Helen Coker as Betsy

[desertdollranch]

what pattern did you use for Elizabeth's pretty pink dress in your newest post? it looks so nice!

Thank you! I used Flossie Potter's Betsy Ross shop dress pattern with some modifications. I made the bodice separate from the skirt and hemmed the bottom edges. Instead of sewing the seams on the sides of the bodice, I put a seam down the middle and sewed on the ribbon bows. It still fastens in the back, as the original pattern has it. I shortened the sleeves and added the ruffles to the hems. I omitted the neckline ruffle. And the skirt is three pieces--a pink under-petticoat and a two piece outer petticoat--layered on top of each other.

[105nt]

Norfolk reads - David Copperfield

I finished listening to David Copperfield, read by Martin Jarvis via Audible (it's included, which I find extraordinary, because it's an astounding good piece of work - he is so in character with every word spoken that it is practically a dramatisation (but without all the annoying mood music in the background) and supplemented with my hard copy - this beauty, of which I only have volumes I and II.

My memory of reading this in my early teens is loving Betsey Trotwood and Wilkins Micawber, but being frustrated by Little Em'ly (the fallen woman) Dora Spenlow (the "child-wife") and Agnes Wickfield (the ministering angel), who all seemed so insipid and limited to me next to the literary heroines I admired - Jane Eyre, Maggie Tulliver, Anne Shirley.

Reading it now with the advantage of several decades, I wonder that I didn't appreciate the minor female characters more, because they are truly wonderful - Rosa Dartle with a scar every bit as expressive as Harry Potter's, Jane Murdstone's fine example of an oppressor in the Simone de Beauvoir mode, and Miss Mowcher - what the hell I made of her when I was 12 I can't think - but there she is, a procuress in plain sight.

I still love Micawber and Aunt Betsy best, but characters I would have hated without reservation are now nuanced to me - none more so than Uriah Heep, who is physically as repulsive to me as he ever was, but now I feel he might have had a point when he says that Copperfield always hated him. The book now reads to me as if he wasn't suffered to rise at least partly because he wasn't of the right class. Like Milady in The Three Musketeers - eventually I must have reached an age when I was less concerned about his crimes and more that he was surrounded by a bunch of entitled snobs.

The description of the storm at Yarmouth and the wreck is as fine as I remember:

As we struggled on, nearer and nearer to the sea, from which this mighty wind was blowing dead on shore, its force became more and more terrific. Long before we saw the sea, its spray was on our lips, and showered salt rain upon us. The water was out, over miles and miles of the flat country adjacent to Yarmouth; and every sheet and puddle lashed its banks, and had its stress of little breakers setting heavily towards us. When we came within sight of the sea, the waves on the horizon, caught at intervals above the rolling abyss, were like glimpses of another shore with towers and buildings. When at last we got into the town, the people came out to their doors, all aslant, and with streaming hair ...

The tremendous sea itself, when I could find sufficient pause to look at it, in the agitation of the blinding wind, the flying stones and sand, and the awful noise, confounded me. As the high watery walls came rolling in, and, at their highest, tumbled into surf, they looked as if the least would engulf the town. As the receding wave swept back with a hoarse roar, it seemed to scoop out deep caves in the beach, as if its purpose were to undermine the earth. When some white–headed billows thundered on, and dashed themselves to pieces before they reached the land, every fragment of the late whole seemed possessed by the full might of its wrath, rushing to be gathered to the composition of another monster. Undulating hills were changed to valleys, undulating valleys (with a solitary storm–bird sometimes skimming through them) were lifted up to hills; masses of water shivered and shook the beach with a booming sound; every shape tumultuously rolled on, as soon as made, to change its shape and place, and beat another shape and place away; the ideal shore on the horizon, with its towers and buildings, rose and fell; the clouds fell fast and thick; I seemed to see a rending and upheaving of all nature ...

One mast was broken short off, six or eight feet from the deck, and lay over the side, entangled in a maze of sail and rigging; and all that ruin, as the ship rolled and beat—which she did without a moment's pause, and with a violence quite inconceivable—beat the side as if it would stave it in. Some efforts were even then being made, to cut this portion of the wreck away; for, as the ship, which was broadside on, turned towards us in her rolling, I plainly descried her people at work with axes, especially one active figure with long curling hair, conspicuous among the rest. But a great cry, which was audible even above the wind and water, rose from the shore at this moment; the sea, sweeping over the rolling wreck, made a clean breach, and carried men, spars, casks, planks, bulwarks, heaps of such toys, into the boiling surge.

Last words to my favourites:

Ilsa is as sharp as Betsey Trotwood, if not as discreet:

'I think Agnes is going to be married.'

'God bless her!' said I, cheerfully.

'God bless her!' said my aunt, 'and her husband too!'

"And now, in short, I proceed to devour that inestimable volume, The Shrieking Pit by Arthur Rees, and if any remain to accompany me on this literary pilgrimage, in due course here shall be found such ruined vestiges as yet

Remain

Of

A

Fallen Tower"

105 (with apologies to Wilkins Micawber)

[jansuta]

I see these everywhere so here's a very specific poll of things about me

[jomiddlemarch]

Ten Fandoms; Ten Characters

Tagged by @iamstartraveller776 whose tag game is STRONG.

I have no idea if there's a particular theme to the character choice but I suppose one will emerge...

Mercy Street, Mary Phinney

Betsy-Tacy, Carney Sibley

Anne of Green Gables, Diana Barry

Star Trek: TNG, Deanna Troi

Parks and Rec, Ann Perkins

GLOW, Ruth Wilder

Shadow and Bone, Alina Starkov

Harry Potter, Hermione Granger

Star Wars, Leia Organa

Downton Abbey, Lady Mary Crawley

(My theme: favorite brunette!)

Tagging @fericita-s @sagiow @broadwaybaggins @orlissa @vesperass-anuna @artielu @incognito-princess @nervousladytraveler @daisyyydaisyyydaisyyy @asteraceae-blue