#I can't explain the way they make me feeeeel they are SO

[uroborosymphony]

               @ptternminds sent:

"There are eternal flames in Australia," Sarang twirls the wilted roses between her fingers. She'd picked them up somewhere hours ago, found an odd fascination with a bouquet thrown out for reaching what Sarang would describe only as another stage of another kind of beauty. "They say it's thousands of years old. I would have named it after you, had I discovered it first," the wilted roses, of course, are no match for the ancient beauty walking by her side. It's odd, how tranquil Sarang's soul becomes, when next to Calista, someone she met as enemy, as only equal opponent. But it's true. Her soul rests. "I suggest we visit," she introduces next, halting the Lamia in her step with a hand around her wrist. Her fingers tighten, an odd contrast in desperation, to the way she maintains her smile, trying to convince Calista, every day, to find a will to live in Sarang if nowhere else. "We could leave right now. Pretend to have never existed at all, and exist in peace there." ((😌💝))

Calista pauses her steps, feeling the warmth of Sarang's hand around her wrist. Her gaze drifts from Sarang's fingers to the wilted roses, their delicate petals curling in a final dance before they crumble to dust. There is a strong allure in Sarang's words, in the way she speaks of ancient yet eternal flames, forgotten places, and the offer of existing together forever. "You would have? Mm. I am not a thousand years old yet, Beloved," Calista speaks, her voice carrying the weight of time. Yet as the words leave her lips, she realizes... one day, she will be. This past January, she and Sarang marked her 600th year with a celebration in their cabin in the woodsd. If she does not find a way to die as she has long wished, a thousand years will come sooner than she dares imagine. Her eyes always soften when they meet Sarang's. Perhaps also, it is a way for Sarang to say she wishes Calista will reach her thousand years old, with her. "An eternal flame," she murmurs, her voice like the whisper of autumn leaves. "Now that I ponder it, after wandering the world and unraveling its secrets, it seems almost inconceivable that such a flame has escaped my notice." She gently laces her fingers with Sarang's, feeling the steady pulse of life beneath her touch. "To vanish, to dwell in peace in a foreign land... It is a dangerous temptation when speaking by you, Huntress," she says, a gentle smile playing upon her lips. "Could it truly be? To simply... exist there, unburdened by the shadows of our pasts?" Her gaze searches Sarang’s, as if seeking reassurance in those depths. "When my eyes meet yours, it is a siren’s call I find most difficult to resist." A silence falls between them, Calista’s thoughts swirling like the wind. How is it that in Sarang’s presence, the centuries seem less a burden. Never has she wished to live as she does now, standing beside this fierce, tender soul that is her lover's, hers, Sarang. Yet with that wish comes a fear—what is this yearning that stirs within her? This desire to cling to life, when for so long she simply wanted death? "If we go," she continues, her voice taking on the cadence of a time long past, each word carefully chosen, "if we forsake all that has come before, it can't be for a mere moment. It shall be for as long as the flames endure, for as long as your heart desires it." She hesitates, her gaze turning inward, questioning. "But I wonder... will I have the strength to embrace this newfound yearning? To live, truly live, when I never fully knew how to?"

[jeanmoreaux]

Gaaaaahhh Poets, I'm like halfway through The Starless Sea and I have so many questions !! Also I feeeeel that Fate and Time and Fate's heart are really important to what's going on, but I can't explain what makes me think that, it just seems that all the stories circle back to them somehow. Also I want to have my own copy of Sweet Sorrows. Also I want all of Zachary Ezra Rawlins' sweaters. I hope you're having a swell day and that your current read is not causing you this much distress ✨

i get it (from the slight confusion and distress to the copy of sweet sorrows and the sweaters) !!! i think the starless sea is one of these novels that you have to reread to really get a grip of??? (i need to reread it sometime in the near future too bc i am sure i didn't *completely* get it my first time around either.) i think it's also a novel for people vibe readers like me who don't always have to know what is going on as long as i am enjoying the atmosphere of the story. so yeah, i hope you're okay with a little uncertainty and having room for interpretation :)

i am actually preparing to sit down and read the last 80 pages of jade war by fonda lee (the second book in the green bone saga), which has had me on the edge of my seat so far (it's so, so good). i am in love with the characters and SO emotionally invested. i am sure these last few chapters will bring some twists and turns that will either fuck me up or drive me insane (in the best way). i honestly can't wait to just devour jade legacy over the weekend—i think this series is going to become a new all-time favourite for me!