#first quote by ocean vuong

[ashiqui]

THE POETS AND THE SINGERS AND THE AUTHORS WRITE ABOUT ROMANTIC LOVE WHEN IT ENDS. BUT NOBODY TELLS YOU HOW TO GET OVER A FRIEND. (x)

oscar wilde / antoine de saint-exupéry, the little prince / the social network (2010), dir. david fincher / @jspark3000 (x) / ocean vuong, thanksgiving 2006 / stephen king, the body / house of the dragon, 1x04 / @s4pphoiduser (x) / the fray, how to save a life / radiohead, life in a glasshouse / succession, 1x08 / @ritikajyala (x) / richard siken, the worm king’s lullaby / hozier (x) / hannibal, 3x04 / fredrik backman, us against you / maggie nelson, bluets

[qpjianghu]

–ocean vuong [x]

Li Lianhua | Mysterious Lotus Casebook (2023)

[sunlighthroughthe-ashes]

i want to talk about how tenderly and tactfully the subject of trauma has been handled in family by choice. full credit to the original c-drama for the story — but the remake is my first introduction to the show and its premise.

families can be a person's first experience of a wound: that single unanswerable ache from which each of your hurts flow and fountain forward. it's rare for k-dramas to acknowledge this: to acknowledge that the individual to whom you are born may not belong to you. may not give you the grace you require to grow. may not take your small, hot hand; hungry for solace — and instead simply cast it aside. your family can be your first sharp disappointment — your first clear shock at the sheer ugliness of the world. to some, love is freely given — to others it is nothing more than a bone flung from a scant table. you hug the hunger like it's your own bed-pillow — it becomes your only home. the only house you ever live in.

through sanha & haejun's characters; one can see how the talons of trauma can mark you forever. both actors deserve accolades for the raw desperation and confusion in their eyes at the weight they're being asked to carry — especially inyoup. there's a muted, exhausted malaise in his eyes — the gaze of an adult caged within a teenager's body. by contrast, haejun appears younger than his years — a helpless, childlike hurt and betrayal borne by his eyes. both boys carry boulders unfit for such delicate shoulders — because there is a special kind of cruelty in asking a child to bear a burden that was never theirs to begin with. in lining their shoes with the gravel of grief since they were old enough to walk.

what does it to do to a child (in haejun's case) to be told that love is not intrinsic — and that it has to be earned? that it has to be paid back? what does it do to a child (in sanha's case) to be told that you are not enough as your own self — that you will never be forgiven for a flaw that was never yours to start with? what does it mean to taste a parent's neglect on your own tongue — to have it tint every part of your speech for the rest of time?

what does it mean to be a father to such children — as juwon's appa so fiercely upholds? to treat their scars as sacred. to harbor their hurts in his own hands. family by choice is as much about trauma as it is about healing — about the people knitted to you through their knowledge of your wounds; their patience with your past; their trust that your tears are temporary. about the neighbors, friends, and forged bonds that may not be of blood, yet sustain you nonetheless; surround your spirit with warmth. the people who choose you knowing the charred heartbreak in your chest — who love and accept you knowing the latticework of your loneliness: the people who press it all away with a single touch or smile – they are your true faith. they are your true family. they are the only ones who matter.

sanha, haejun, and juwon all have their crosses to bear — but they also have each other. there is always light to temper the dark. there is always sanha's eyes; and the way they soften when he looks at juwon: the jewel-toned reverence with which he reflects on every single thing she does for him. wherever there is trauma there is also and always a tryst with hope — a heart holding on to the idea that there will be more. there will be peace. there will be resolution. there will be sunlight at the end of the black silence.

family by choice reminds me of this quote by poet and novelist ocean vuong: "we were born from beauty. let no one mistake us for the fruit of violence—but that violence, having passed through the fruit, failed to spoil it."

[morningnoodles]

@bagginshieldweek24: June 24 - Bilbo is the Thain

“When the boy came to me one afternoon, the boy who would change what I knew of summer, how deep a season opens when you refuse to follow the days out of it,”

— Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

hello hello! this is my first long-ish comic and i literally decided to do this with only a little more than a month to spare so please be kind ❤ this is VERY self-indulgent and i've taken liberty on SO MANY THINGS haha! anyhoo, i hope you enjoy! (��´◡`❁)

each day has its own summer-/June-themed quote. all succeeding posts will be linked in the description as they're posted and all bagginshield week comics are tagged under #out of the bearded barley ✿. you can also read it in ao3 here.

day: 2

[halfbloodgf]

Quotes that remind me of Severus Snape

"When can I say your name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?"

— Ocean Vuong, from On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Penguin Press, 2019)

"Nobody is coming to save you. Get up."

"Some children are simply born with tragedy in their blood."

"I am so sorry to all the people I hurt while I was hurting."

"All the hardest, coldest people you once meet were once soft as water. And that's the tragedy of living."

"I'm sorry you were not truly loved and that it made you cruel."

— Warsan Shire

"I have spent all my life resisting the desire to end it."

— Franz Kafka

"I think you know how to love better than any of us. That's why you find it all so painful."

— Dad, Fleabag, Season 2: Episode 6

"What is a home if not the first place you learn to run from?"

— Courtney Love Prays to Oregon, Clementine von Radics

"You talk like a book."

"He had the awkward tenderness of someone who has never been loved and is forced to improvise."

"I'm restless and harsh and despairing Although I do have love inside ne. I just don't know how to use love. Sometimes it tears at my sh, like barbs."

"Until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter."

— African Proverb

"You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering."

— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms (via books-n-quotes)

"l avoid my gaze in the mirror; I have no interest in learning what it feels like to meet my eyes."

— Jayson Greene, excerpted from his memoir Once More We Saw The Stars

"Why are you full of rage? Because you full of grief."

— Anne Carson, Gief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides

"The eyes of a soldier."

"If you don't want a sarcastic answer, don't ask a stupid question."

"You can't always be strong, but you can always be beave."

"I have more scars than friends."

"He always had that 'I hate you and everyone in this fucking place' look."

[voidcanarys]

Blue Lock Fic Recs

I’ve been meaning to make one of these for a while now. I truly cannot state how much I enjoyed these fics so if a few, or even just one, stands out to you, please give it a shot. I’ve split the list into three sections, kaisagi, bachisagi and miscellaneous but I have wayyyy more fics so I’ll probs make at least a part 2, maybe a part 3.

KAISAGI

I Pay the Price, You’re the Answer to the Pain by yasuna

Teen | Completed | 42.8k words | 8/8

Romantic Hate-Flirting | Homophobia In Football | Angst | Character Study | Developing Romance

It's been one kiss. One kiss that didn't mean shit. But captured by the cameras and broadcasted for the entire world to see, it has the potential to end both of their careers right then and there.

Kaiser and Isagi navigating the world of football whilst staring on a reality tv show. The banter between Isagi and Kaiser is so fun and I love the incorporation of real life events and controversies.

Oat Milk (and Other Irredeemable Vices) by @caluette

Teen | Completed | 26.5k words | 3/3

AU - Coffee Shops & Cafés | AU - No Blue Lock | Enemies to Lovers | Getting Together

Yoichi Isagi works at a coffee shop on campus, and likes to believe he has the virtue of being patient with the people he encounters. He does not, however, file Michael Kaiser under "people." Or, the coffee shop au where they hate each other. Until they don't.

So cute. Dramatic musical theatre major Kaiser and fed up minimum wage worker Isagi. Brilliant characterisation. Love the dialogue between Kaiser and Isagi and their snarky-ness.

Kintsukuroi by laylayli

Mature | Completed | 54.3k words | 3/3

Processing Grief | Kaiser-Centric | Mending Relationships | It starts Bad But Gets Better

'“Kaiser,” he starts to say, “I’m sorry if I’m overstepping, but are you really okay?” And he’s not sure, even afterwards, what it is that makes this his breaking point. Whether it’s the fact that he’s so far away from home, feeling like he’s unmoored himself from reality in this surreal, unfamiliar place, or whether he’s just so tired, so defenceless without the fire burning through him and its fumes obscuring the things he does not want to handle. He’s not sure, if it’s because Isagi is the farthest thing from a friend or the closest thing he has to familiarity right now, but he hears himself say, “My father died,” out loud, for the first time since he got the news.' * sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you have been ruined - ocean vuong

Kaiser meeting the Isagi family and learning how to accept help and kindness. Love Kaiser internal dialogue throughout the fic and the constant push and pull between enjoying his time with Isagi and his parents but hating how it reminds him of his own familial relationships, or lack there-of. (Ness and his relationship with Kaiser is also a highlight)

BACHISAGI

Like glass from Sandy Ground by Ethereally & @putsch

Teen | Completed | 7.2k words | 1/1

Aromatic Asexual Isagi Yoichi | Pre-Relationship | Getting Together | Post-Canon

Isagi and Bachira have been best friends for eight years, and pro footballers for six. Isagi knows how Bachira takes his coffee and how many charms are on his phone, is reminded of Bachira when he sees sunflowers or nutmeg in the spice shelf. Bachira can trace every freckle on Isagi’s cheeks and count the moles on his back like constellations in the sky. Isagi and Bachira are not together.

I truly cannot emphasise more how much this fic means to me. I have read it at least 6 times and have cried every. single. time. There’s a specific quote that sends me into tears anytime I think about it (I’m tearing up as I write this). It’s such heartwarming, comforting and beautifully written fic.

Orange Juice by totallyrottentomatoes

Mature | Ongoing | 63.6k words | 5/10

Post-Canon | AU - Olympics | Slow Burn | Unreliable Narrator | Angst with a Happy Ending | Implied/Referenced Homophobia

Isagi Yoichi returns to Japan in preparation for the summer Olympics for the first time in three years, and Meguru finds him again.

The pining is so strong aughhh. Love the incorporation of the original characters. My favouite type of post-canon fic where life gets in the way but the love never leaves.

Sideline Love Story by bogreport

Explicit | Ongoing | 55.6k words | 8/29

AU - No Blue Lock | Most Characters Are Professional Soccer Players | Slow Burn | Feelings Realization | Parenting | Light Angst |

While visiting his family in Japan during the off-season, 25-year-old Bastard München player Isagi "volunteers" to coach his nephew's U-6 team. Enter: the most high-maintenance crew of soccer dads ever to make a scene on the sidelines. Although one of the kids has an older brother who Isagi wouldn't mind getting to know better... Meanwhile Bachira, his arm and his heart both freshly broken, tries to convince himself that while love is fleeting, his monster is forever.

Eeek the kids are so cute in this fic. Isagi being head over heels and not realising it. Bachira developing a crush but hesitating to persue it having just gotten out of a relationship. The author mentions that the “fic's original brainrot form, it was more like a sitcom with an ensemble cast and short silly ‘episodes’ rather than a coherent story” which makes for really fun chapter and a real long slow burn feel.

MISC

Whipper!! by bigdamnher0

Bachira Meguru/Isagi Yoichi/Itoshi Rin

Teen | Ongoing | 15.5k words | 3/6

Bachisagi Are Childhood Friends | Angst and Hurt/Comfort | Climbing As A Metaphor for Self-Actualization or Self-Destruction (Take Your Pick) | Injury | Mild PTSD

Isagi was getting used to the shape of Rin's attention: How he jammed his fingers into Bachira’s back whenever his spine sagged without tension. Barked, “WRONG,” every time they made a move that wasn’t his exact flavor of climbing. Called Isagi’s latest boulder, “fucking lukewarm,” like he was some kind of underpaid undersecretary, delivering him coffee for the day. Still, Rin never failed to hold up his end of the bargain in this tenuous belaytionship: to show them some damn good climbing. The little flame in Isagi’s chest was back. It licked him black and blue. After a near-fatal climbing accident, Rin resolved to never fail again. Isagi swore he'd take the wind out of this pretty boy's sails. And Bachira? All he wanted was a soft landing, just this once. Going up and growing up; cord of threes and all.

Rinbachisagi and bouldering/rock climbing, what more could you want. The way the author writes is so captivating and such an easy read despite all the technical terms used.

I’ll Find my Own Bravado by cygnusknights

Bachira Meguru/Isagi Yoichi/Itoshi Rin

Teen | Completed | 9.6k words | 1/1

Post-Canon | Existential Crisis on a Christmas Cruise | Isagi Yoichi & Itoshi Sae | Isagi-Centric

Meguru and Rin are hooking up. And Isagi… doesn’t hate it, but he’ll certainly have an existential crisis about it on the trio’s Mediterranean Christmas cruise, where he runs into Sae and has a weird holiday not-hookup.

The platonic saesagi is definitely the star of the show. The small Oikawa cameo was also very funny.

Despite the Overwhelming Odds, Tomorrow Came by @icarianiscariot

Itoshi Rin & Shidou Ryuusei

Teen | Completed | 19.7k words | 5/5

AU - No Blue Lock | Suicidal Thoughts | Depression | Platonic Relationships | Absent/Neglectful Parents | Angst with a Happy Ending

"Rin," Shidou repeats. "Where are you?" "I'm—" and fuck, it's so embarrassing, isn't it? The Sae in his head sneers at how lukewarm and pathetic this all is. Begging for someone to ask him to live. "Um, I'm at the bay, up on the bridge. "Silence for a few beats, and then he can hear the clink of Shidou's ridiculously oversized keychain, followed by the slam of the door and his car coming to life on the other end of the line. Rin isn't okay, and the only person he can think to turn to is his shitty brother's annoying boyfriend. A fic on platonic bonds, little things that make big differences, learning compassion toward both others and the self, and coming to terms with being alive. More or less.

A certified Blue Lock classic in my opinion. A must-read even!

On a Wire by merulus

Karasu Tabito/Otoya Eita

Teen | Completed | 128.3k words | 22/22

AU - College/University | Getting Together | Panic Attacks | Fluff & Humour | Trans Karasu Tabito

As a junior in college pursuing his passion for soccer while also putting just as much focus into having a solid post-graduation career path, Tabito Karasu honestly thought he wouldn't have enough time for romance. And especially given how his last relationship had ended, he wasn't even sure he would be able to deal with that kind of stress; he wasn't exactly a fan of letting someone in just to get hurt by them. He would rather stay on track to graduating with honors even if it meant being alone. But somehow that goddamned Eita Otoya was able to sneak his way through all of his defenses, painfully securing a place in his heart. They had been both roommates and teammates since the beginning of freshman year, and by now they also had easily solidified themselves as each other's best friend. They recently moved into an on-campus apartment with their other friend Kenyuu Yukimiya, and life was good. Karasu happened to have feelings for Otoya, but he had had this affliction for the better half of two years so it was something he was unfortunately just trying to get used to. He tried to ignore it most of the time since Otoya didn't feel the same; he was straight. Sometimes it really didn't feel that way, though.

Part 2 of a series but it can be read alone (definitely read part 1 if you enjoyed this tho)

[catboyglover]

quotes that i think are very trobed coded:

“You’re in a car with a beautiful boy, and he won’t tell you that he loves you, but he loves you. And you feel like you’ve done something terrible, like robbed a liquor store, or swallowed pills, or shoveled yourself a grave in the dirt, and you’re tired. You’re in a car with a beautiful boy, and you’re trying not to tell him that you love him, and you’re trying to choke down the feeling, and you’re trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you’ve discovered something you didn’t even have a name for.” - Richard Siken

“Eventually something you love is going to be taken away. And then you will fall to the floor crying. And then, however much later, it is finally happening to you: you’re falling to the floor crying thinking, “I am falling to the floor crying,” but there’s an element of the ridiculous to it — you knew it would happen and, even worse, while you’re on the floor crying you look at the place where the wall meets the floor and you realize you didn’t paint it very well.” - Richard Siken

“Someone has to leave first. This is a very old story. There is no other version of this story.” - Richard Siken

“If you love me, Henry, you don’t love me in a way I understand.” - Richard Siken

“I’ve been rereading your story. I think it’s about me in a way that might not be flattering, but that’s okay. We dream and dream of being seen as we really are and then finally someone looks at us and sees us truly and we fail to measure up. Anyway: story received, story included. You looked at me long enough to see something mysterioso under all the gruff and bluster. Thanks. Sometimes you get so close to someone you end up on the other side of them.” - Richard Siken

“You go to work the next day pretending nothing happened.

Your co-workers ask

if everything's okay and you tell them

you're just tired.

And you're trying to smile. And they're trying to smile.” - Richard Siken

“He was pointing at the moon, but I was looking at his hand.” - Richard Siken

“When does a war end? When can I say your name and have it mean only your name and not what you left behind?” - Ocean Vuong

“I miss you more than I remember you.” - Ocean Vuong

“Sometimes being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you’ve been ruined.” - Ocean Vuong

“What were you before you met me?”

“I think I was drowning.”

“And what are you now?”

“Water.” - Ocean Vuong

“You love him. The story still ends.

So please, I beg you,

he is all that I have,

and you have so many heroes,

and the world has so many more.

Let him be soft. And let him be mine.” - Pencap

“Yes, yes, yes, I do like you. I am afraid to write the stronger word.” - Virginia Woolf

“I’m always soft for you, that’s the problem. You could come knocking on my door five years from now and I would open my arms wider and say ‘come here, it’s been too long, it felt like home with you.’” - Azra T.

“Good news, I love you anyway. All the mess and fuss of you. All the stray hairs and uneven smiles. I love your laugh and your sigh and the way you sing along with the music. It’s all lovable. It feels so good to love you.” - Redinkskinned

“Tell me every terrible thing you ever did, and let me love you anyway.” - Edgar Allan Poe

“There is something wrong with you. There is something wrong with you that is also wrong with me.” - Hera Lindsay Bird

“I’m afraid of a lot of things, but mostly, most sincerely, I am afraid of being completely unraveled by you, and you finding nothing you want in there.” - L M Dorsey

“And I guess I realized at that moment that I really did love her. Because there was nothing to gain, and that didn’t matter.” - from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

“I just want you to know that you’re very special. And the only reason I’m telling you is that I don’t know if anyone else ever has.” - from “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky

“You are all the colors in one, at full brightness.” - from “All The Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven

“You make me lovely.” - from “All The Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven

“You know what I like about you? You’re interesting. You’re different. And I can talk to you. Don’t let that go to your head.”

“…You know what I like about you? Everything.” - from “All The Bright Places” by Jennifer Niven

“I love you.”

“It’ll pass.” - from “Fleabag�� (2016-2019) by Phoebe Waller-Bridge

“I sit here on the couch, waiting.

Waiting for this to pass.

Days go by and I’m still here. Waiting.

You sit there, nothing changes.

I wait with bared teeth.

I wait.

I wait.

I wait.

I wait for you.”

“I’ll take care of you.”

“It’s rotten work.”

“Not to me. Not if it’s you.” - Anne Carson

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

[yutamayo]

Do you think Geto Suguru deserved better friends?

Geto Suguru deserves the moon and the stars.

In relation to your question though, I think he had the great friends he deserved, but they just hadn't grown up in time to realize that friendship can't heal everything.

I think they tried their best with Geto, or felt they had at the time. They all had fun together, faced horrors, and grew together; but the mentality of "we can do anything" was a double edged sword.

For example, Gojo said "we're the strongest." The hope and naivete they all had in their ability to keep moving forward stopped them from ever imagining their friend could succumb to all the pain. I'm not blaming Geto in any way, but nobody is a mind reader. He wasn't well and it showed, but he did hide the majority of it from the people who would have helped him (if he had asked the right ones). I don't think he wanted to show weakness, a.k.a his wavering faith in the Jujutsu way, and I think that's why he asked the older sorcerer about his dark thoughts instead of his close friends. He saw them as they saw themselves; strong enough to overcome anything. And I believe they felt he saw himself that way too.

They had too much faith in strength because I know, even when noticing his struggles, they likely believed he'd get through it. He always had, until he didn't.

I don't think believing someone can get through struggle makes you a bad friend, and I wouldn't say they didn't try hard enough to notice the signs because at that point, they had too much faith. They all thought they were in it together.

Obviously we could say looking back, "Why didn't you keep asking him what was wrong, even though he answered 'nothing' the first time." But life, and friendship, isn't that simple. Unfortunately most people only learn to push past the face value of the people they love, when they've learned from previous misfortunes. And sadly, they had to learn that from Geto's downfall. What he did wasn't something they could recover from, obviously, so there was no, "Let's work on this."

It was just like every other shock, like when a friend commits suicide and you look back thinking, "I didn't know it was that bad."

On top of the fact they were distracted by life & death situations every day/basically saving the world, and alongside the fact I don't believe anything like that had happened with a Jujutsu Sorcerer before Geto, they just didn't think it was a possibility.

I get that, and I feel that anyone who says they don't, is lying to themselves.

That's why people remind others to check in on their friends. Like, really check in. Sometimes, we have too much faith in our loved ones strengths.

He had amazing friends, and I only wish they had been given the opportunity to express their pain more. If anything, I blame the leaders and higher-ups at JJHigh. They definitely didn't have enough mental/emotional supports for the literal teenagers thrown into that kind of world, and I could never blame those kids for not understanding the consequences of carrying that weight until they were forced to face them.

It reminds me of a quote I love;

-

I'm sorry I keep saying, how are you? When I really mean, are you happy? - Ocean Vuong

-

I know this is an anime post but, check in on your loved ones, please.

And ask twice.

[idontmindifuforgetme]

some of my fav quotes i highlighted on my first reading of on earth we’re briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong 🤍

[meapistrash]

Things Added in Translation - Brief thoughts on On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Foreword: This a very nerdy thing I thought about as I started reading this book, these are mostly my preliminary thoughts and opinions and is in not actually academic facts.

So this book has been in my to be read pile for approximately over 4 years ever since I found out about it and saw quotes floating around the internet. However, it took me until new years two years ago when I saw the Vietnamese translated hardcover edition at a book fair - which is still cheaper than the English version by the way - to actually get it. I had an idea to read this book in both versions, English (the original language it was written in), and in Vietnamese (the language that is Vuong’s heritage and his “mother’s tongue”). 

It’s mostly curiosity because I wanted to see how writings written by a Vietnamese American author could be translated, specifically one that is - from my current understanding - to be letters from poet/author son to his Vietnamese immigrant, illiterate mother, and the stories of a Vietnamese upbringing in a foreign country (disclaimer: i know there's A LOT more to this book but alas I haven't finished reading it).

The key reason for this intrigue is that there are nuances in the Vietnamese language that are so very difficult to translate into English (and vice versa). For example, Vietnamese pronouns are highly contextual based on age, familial relationships and relative relations via mutual connections. What choice of pronouns you use will set a different mood for the people in a conversation and third parties gazing into that conversation – this is a point I will delve into later. 

I think it’s safe to say that anyone who is at least bilingual knows you have a different identity for every language you speak. And while I don’t assume to know or understand how 2nd gen immigrant kids would feel towards their mother tongue and English in general, I thought it would be interesting to see Vuong's words as written in his voice might sound like if it were actually given to his mother in a language she understands.

FYI disclaimer, I am not a translator or a linguist expert. This is what I understand about both languages in general.

The focus of this analysis is the first two lines of Vuong’s novel. 

Let me begin again. Dear Ma,

In Vietnamese (translated by Khanh Nguyen), it is translated as: 

Để con bắt đầu lại. Mẹ ơi,

As mentioned, Vietnamese pronouns are highly contextual. Vuong uses “me” in the first line, translated to “con” (also meaning child), the Vietnamese equivalent of I/me but specifically used when you are speaking to people who you may consider parents, aunt/uncles, grandparents and teachers. If you want to be very very strict and technical, you might even be able to say that "con" is exclusive to parental-child relationships, because the pronouns are so highly contextual, it also carries a sense of ownership. I often joke with my coworkers, Tôi muốn làm con ba mẹ - I want to be my parents’ child. The punchline here is I want to be unemployed and be supported by my parents. But con ba mẹ literally means dad and mom’s child. To be someone’s con is exclusive to the father/mother noun. To use con means to give higher level of respect to the person you’re speaking to, and it’s even higher than level of respect you would owe your friends or siblings. It takes you two sentences in English, whereas it take you one sentence in Vietnamese to establish a definite power imbalance between the narrator and the person he is speaking to. The Vietnamese translation can already provide hints about his relationship with this person before we even know who he is talking to. 

Again, this is why I believe you have different identities in every language. Pronouns play a very role in any works translated into Vietnamese and it actually has on multiple occasions misconstrued my understanding of certain novels just because I read it in Vietnamese, and the work was subject to the constraints of Vietnamese language conventions, therefore added meaning where the original work doesn’t have it. But in this case, I think there’s an added cultural nuance about Vuong’s Vietnamese heritage that cannot be provided by the English language, which brings further depth into the narrator’s voice as a whole. 

In the second line, Vuong writes “Dear Ma.” It is translated to “Mẹ ơi” - “Mẹ” being mum. In the same way that the English language has mom and mum, we have regional words for mothers in Vietnamese. What is interesting here is that Vuong’s family are southern Vietnamese (as far as I’ve researched and understood). In southern Vienamese dialect, they use Má instead of Mẹ. Which was why when I saw the line in English, I didn’t think of it as just ma like mama, but má in the way that I thought Vuong would actually call his mother as per the southern dialect. I almost thought it might have been intentional on Vuong's part to use "Ma" instead of the conventional mom because it sounded very very similar to má. As to whether or not Vuong was consulted when the Vietnamese translation was done, I don't know, but I do think it’s a strange choice that the translator would choose the northern Vietnamese equivalent mẹ. It could also very well be that his family does use the northern dialect of the word because it was passed on like that - I do know some families who use different mixes of dialect - but I somewhat feel like the choice of dialect here might have fallen short in hinting Vuong’s background. 

This line in general is actually a little difficult to translate because of the nuances of affection and respect in it. “Dear” is a classic and common way to address someone in letters. The most accurate translation I think should be Thưa mẹ. Thưa, being a non-translatable word used to preface that you are beginning a conversation with someone with deep respect, in the same way Dear acts to preface the letter as being written to his mother. However, “dear” implies a sort of affection that thưa doesn’t always quite deliver. There are many other ways to say dear, such as thân mến/kính mến/yêu, but the choice in the translation is “ơi”, which though has been used for letters, is a word that is very colloquial. You use ơi to call someone regardless of their age, and it implies affection and closeness, which I guess was why it was preferred to thưa. “Ơi” has an added depth that “Dear” doesn’t carry as it is used both to call for and answer someone, like the start of a verbal conversation between two people who are in each other’s presence. So where “Dear Ma” is the beginning of a letter that is not necessarily involving the presence of both parties in a conversation, “Mẹ ơi” is Ma, I am talking to you almost seemingly with expectations to be answered. I also find it particularly poignant that this line wherein Vuong is addressing his mother is written out. I do not know if Vuong’s mother is Vietnamese literate, but regardless of the language in which the words are delivered, it is in the written medium, and as Vuong points out, “each word I put down is one word further from where you are.” It is the need to speak the words aloud with the yearning that “Mẹ ơi” evokes that it might be able to reach his mother's understanding. 

But anyhow, that's my take on the first two lines of this translation. I think it’s a privilege to be able to read this in both languages because I’ve heard great things about Ocean Vuong’s prose so I'm sure a lot of the good proses will be lost in translation later down the line. But the first two lines were very thought provoking for me, though slight disclaimer cuz I am struggling to literate in both languages lol. I'm sure the translator did their best with the translation because it is very difficult to translate into Vietnamese, and it is already incredible that I have something like this to read.

PS: Another thing also love how the Vietnamese translation is the title is Một Thoáng Ta Rực Rỡ Ở Nhân Gian, because it translates "Earth" not as the planet or the ground, but it to nhân gian (which comes from the Chinese word 人间), which means "the space of man", the space of our existence and livelihood. It's a smashing translation that captures the essence of the title in my opinion.

[astrronomemes]

ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS: STARTERS

a collection of quotes, phrases, and sayings from the 2019 Ocean Vuong novel, On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous. change & alter as needed.

"Grab your coat. I'll get you McDonald's."

"You have to get bigger and stronger, okay?"

"The human eye is God's loneliest creation. How so much of the world passes through the pupil, and still, it holds nothing."

"A survivor is the last one to come home."

"To be a monster is to be a hybrid signal, a lighthouse: both shelter and warning at once."

"You're a monster. But so am I — which is why I can't turn away from you."

"They say that trauma affects not only the brain, but the body, too — its musculature, joints, and posture."

"Stop crying! You're always crying!"

"Whether we want to or not, we are traveling in a spiral. We are creating something new from what is gone."

"Theories are for people with too much time and not enough determination."

"I don't know if you're happy, [name]. I never asked."

"It is a beautiful country, depending on where you look."

"It is a beautiful country, because you are still breathing."

"It is a beautiful country, because you are still in it."

"There are no animals here but us."

"Everything good is somewhere else, baby, I'm telling you. Everything."

"The most useful thing one can do with empty hands is hold on."

"I'm not scared of dying anymore."

"I fucking hate my dad."

"This is my superpower — to make a dark even darker than what's around me."

"What do you call the animal that, finding the hunter, offers itself to be eaten?"

"Sometimes, being offered tenderness feels like the very proof that you've been ruined."

"Do you remember the happiest day of your life? What about the saddest?"

"Do you think we'll still hang out when we're a hundred?"

"I don't like girls."

"I can leave, [name]. If you don't want me, I can go. I won't be a problem, and nobody has to know."

"For the first time in a long time, I'm trying to believe in heaven. In a place we can be together after all this blows over."

"They say every snowflake is different. But the blizzard, it covers us all the same."

"I don't celebrate my birthday anymore."

"They say nothing lasts forever, but they're just scared it will last longer than they can love it."

"I think I just deep-throated an invisible cock."

"I miss you more than I remember you."

"Too much joy, I swear, is lost in our desperation to keep it."

"If there's a heaven, I think it looks like this."

"Maybe in the next life, we'll meet each other for the first time — believing in everything but the harm we're capable of."

"Don't cry on me again. Don't you cry on me now."

"What have we become to each other if not what we've done to each other?"

"What are we if not what the light says we are?"

"All this time, I told myself we were born from war. But I was wrong, [name]. We were born from beauty."

"They say if you want something bad enough, you'll end up making a god out of it."

"I know you believe in reincarnation. I don't know if I do, but I hope it's real. Because then maybe you'll come back here next time around."

[ashiqui]

THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO LEAVE AND PEOPLE WHO KNOW HOW TO BE LEFT.

jan heller levi, waiting for this story to end before i begin another / interstellar (2014), dir. christopher nolan / taylor swift, anti-hero / ocean vuong, on earth we’re briefly gorgeous / the national, pink rabbits / jungsuk lee (x) / rien ne va plus, margarita karapanou (trans. karen emmerich) / 9-1-1, 1x10 / maggie stiefvater, the raven boys / richard siken, the worm king’s lullaby / john banville, the sea / beginners (2010), dir. mike mills / it’s time to go, taylor swift / wildest dreams (2014), dir. joseph kahn / karese burrows, poem for your leaving

[daisychainsandbowties]

What was your writing process for the Alien fic? Did you start with "scene where Ava wants to leave, Bea wants her to stay" and backfill events from there? Something more chronological that you then reorganized? Some magical third option? I love your writing style and am deeply curious about it.

so my writing process for most things is kind of like if you built a cathedral by doing the roof first, then like half the belltower and then the pews and then the glossy flagstones and then the paintings on the walls, and then the walls. with Alien AU i wrote maybe 6k of it back when i posted a snippet in May, and i started by writing the line that remains the first line of the fic.

from there i wrote maybe most of the “present-moment” avatrice scenes in one afternoon, which of course are now scattered across the fic. what i tend to do (indulgently, perhaps) is allow myself to meander off into tangents and flashbacks pretty much whenever i want. i can write in a disciplined, linear way, but i find it dull. to me a narrative is like sticking your hand into a drawer and groping around, unearthing matchsticks, dust, old coins and maybe Peter Pan’s lost shadow. i just find that more enriching and i write to entertain myself, so 🥰🥰

i didn’t actually reorganise anything; what i did do was bulk out the chapter so that, like space expanding, that initial 6k avatrice scene ended up far-scattered across the fic, with other scenes dropped in between where i felt they wanted to go. but in terms of how the fic flows the parts i wrote all followed each other from the get-go. to me they naturally follow each other, speak to each other. i tend to scatter a bunch of threads as i write the story and then tangle them all together toward the end, moments speaking to each other across thousands of words. it doesn’t always work out, but when it does it's the best feeling.

i tend to bounce around in a given chapter when i’m writing as i encounter tricky sections or just lose interest in a particular scene for a while, so i let myself work on, say, the scene where Beatrice burns her hand and then immediately jump forward to the scene where Lilith goads Ava into hitting her. that stops me from stagnating just because a turn of phrase is evading me.

i actually wrote the last line in May, but it took me a while to accept that it was the last line. that was a fun lesson from me writing poetry; that sometimes a poem starts after the first stanza and sometimes it ends when you kind of want to keep wringing its neck for meaning, but you have to let it do that and trust that you've said enough to have said something, and let the poem open instead of trying to weld it shut. i feel like sometimes prose should do that too; not try to answer all the questions it raises, leave you a little bit aching for more.

on that note my writing style is very much inspired by how i write poetry. up until last november i’d stopped writing prose pretty much altogether, and i was a lot worse at it than i am now (writing upwards of 300k of gay fanfiction will do that to you apparently) but i still can’t shake the narrative instincts that i get from being video game spec'd for poetry exclusively. there’s a very good quote by Ocean Vuong about fragmentation & linguistics in poetry which i think is a bit of a reflection of how i approach prose:

“I think this manner of breaking towards meaning is how we often live. We don’t live cohesively; we live in fractals, we live in fragments. We don’t live in a plot point. I think poetry is mimetic of that status of being human. We text in utterances. We speak in bursts. We pick up conversations that occurred hours before. Our most meaningful discourse happens in pieces, in broken ways. Our most difficult conversations happen in these ways, like for queer folks, coming out to our parents. And when we apologize, it’s rarely in a complete sentence. For me, fragmentation in language is perhaps the most human moment of our speech. For poetry to be so comfortable with that, to be so capacious with how grammar peters out and how it needs to be resuscitated towards new modes I think is a mimetic of how we’ve always been living. I think there’s a certain honesty in the ability of poetry to consider breaking not as a flaw but as a strategy, a kind of technique.” (read the whole article here it’s really excellent)

i do find the sort of eggshell structure of Alien au – broken, but still recognisable as an egg – to be really satisfying and thematically rewarding, but oddly, as with a poem, i do tend to write it “technically” chronologically, but in fragments of itself sort of rearranged ahead of time. i think a lot about my fics before i write them (though because i am me i do this mostly without noticing that there's any thinking going on) so by the time i get to that point, sitting down and writing, i have largely unbeknownst to myself a very good idea of what i want to say.

[youngestdaughtersyndrome]

Is there any chance you can give us a tag directory?

I can certainly try!!! Its not a complete directory because i have over a hundred and even i lose track of all of them. Anyways im putting the list under the cut ... i tried to organize it to the best of my ability so GENERAL is for housekeeping, TANGIBLE CONCEPTS are for physical things, FLEXIBLE CONCEPTS are things that hover between physical and conceptual, INTANGIBLE CONCEPTS are things that fully conceptual, and SPECIFIC MEDIA is for specific bands/shows/etc. I highly recommend if youre on mobile you DO NOT hit keep reading because its absurdly long and will take over ur dash. Anyways have fun knock urself out

GENERAL:

hollyws: original posts..... went by holly for a while on here, first url was honeyhollows, hollows has similar spelling to holly, you get the gist

a: a is for assorted, so anything that doesnt have an actual organizational tag goes in there-- memes, textposts, current events, etc

srb: self reblog, but not for every one of my og posts that i rb, just the ones that surpass a thousand notes and therefore get deleted. Its my greatest hits pretty much

for later: links, resources, things i want to return to, you get the gist

tag game: those like questionnaire-type games one gets tagged in

asks: asks that ive answered

vdo: in-app videos

the world flows past on both sides distant and mute: audio tag. From nazim hikmet's poem "things i didnt know i loved"

mb: moodboards

our hands empty except for our hands: webweaving and parallel posting. From ocean vuong's "on earth we're briefly gorgeous"

fave: favorites, obvs

blog thesis: the tag equivalent of me calling something real as hell, containing things that qualify as my belief system

my face: selfie tag, but most (all of them actually) get deleted approx 24 hours from original posting time so there's not really anything in there

maeve tag: pictures of my dog reside here

foster tag: my family fosters dogs sometimes, so if we've got a foster and i post a picture, it goes here

matryoshka dog, blue is your color, gi posting, betsy's ordination song, evan's dream journal: personalized tags for friends of mine

TANGIBLE CONCEPTS:

born to blow your mind or something along those lines: art! From the last shadow puppets' "miracle aligner"-- pretty much everything but photography...

the human eye is the loneliest creation: ...because this is the photography tag. I typically only use it when an image doesnt fit into any other tag, so its basically my "a" tag but for like formal images only. Kind of an ocean vuong quote but i changed it from "the human eye is god's loneliest creation" to that bc i go back and forth on god and whatnot

there's a brand new talk but it's not very clear: fashion, both in the conceptual runway sense and the "this is cute, i would wear this" sense. Aptly from david bowie's "fashion"

play pause rewind: anything having to with film or tv (that i dont have a specific tag for)-- gifsets, interviews, editorial style guides, etc.

people!: pictures where you can put a name to the face, so either celebrities or pictures that have their name in the caption

let it go free: items-- jewelry, knick knacks, tchotchkes, etc. A combination of things i would want and things i find beautiful, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive

cabinet of curiosities: a multitude of objects at once-- dollhouses, boxes full of stuff, dishes of jewelry. Its different from "let it go free" because i said so

interiors: decor, interior design, etc.

dishes: plates and platters and whatnot that i like

they really want you: dolls. From hole's "doll parts"

the light on your door: mirrors. From the velvet underground and nico's "i'll be your mirror"

releases: cars, usually crashed or rotting or in some other form of disuse, but also just normal, completely fine cars. Go watch crash 1996 dir. david cronenberg and then we'll talk

hundred voices: spirals. Also concentric circles.

nacreous: pearls, things with a mother-of-pearl inlay, etc

it's coming coming down: eyes. From sonic youth's "beauty lies in the eye"

bad girl meat: teeth. From lady gaga's "teeth"

divine and sharp: weapons, or at least some very pointy things one shouldnt run with

happiness is: a warm gun. Guns in general actually-- this is my tag for guns. From the beatles' "happiness is a warm gun". Duh

prisms: food. Lots of cake in this tag but its all foods not just cake.... i just like cake

o sailor: sailing, nautical stuff, ships, etc. From fiona apple's eponymous song

it's buzzcut season anyways: cutting hair, from lorde's "buzzcut season".

tattoos: well, its tattoos. Not necessarily ones i would want or even inspiration for future tattoos, its just that if a tattoo is the main focus of an image, it goes in here

invitation to peace: deer tag, from system of a down's "deer dance".

draw blood just to taste it hold bones just to break them: canine tag as in dogs, not the teeth, and also one that i wish wasnt so long because man this is a pain to type out. From nicole dollanganger's "dog teeth"

weird fishes: fish. From radiohead's "weird fishes"

lo voy a tener que matar: cats! From los saicos' "el entierro de los gatos". Also yeah i know it means "i'm going to have to kill him" i just think its real funny

in silence i have pulled myself free: tag for horses and all things horse related. From pj harvey's "horses in my dreams"

cowboys are frequently secretly fond of each other: cowboys. From willie nelson's eponymous song

they don't love you like i love you: places i grew up in/nearby-- it's pretty much everything west of colorado with a bit of mexico in there. From yeah yeah yeahs' "maps"

like the blue blonde hollyhocks of the dead: flower tag (all sorts, not just hollyhocks). Another bastardized quote, this time from sandra cisneros' a house on mango street-- the original is "dusty hollyhocks thick and perfumy blue-blond hair of the dead". Very good book you should read it

we return to each other in waves: things relating to the water-- the ocean, lakes, rivers, etc. It's definitely a quote from something but i cant find the og source and i dont trust pinterest

consumed and refined: fire, things on fire, burning, yada yada yada

tamer: ice, snow, frozen things, etc

01010000: all things mold and rot. Referring, of course, to the date the world began to decay, which was the day it was created

FLEXIBLE CONCEPTS:

lamentations! lamentations!: art or quotes or whatever that make me scream cry throw up wail howl prostrate myself etc.

the everything the patterns: my humanity tag! Doubles as both an "awww, arent humans cute?" tag and a catchall for people who aren't celebrities and don't have their names in the caption

god and other highways: religion and god, but mostly god. If you see something in there and you think "how could this possibly be related to god OR religion?" mind your own damn business <3

i believe in angels: things i consider to be angelic, which is a classification system even more lengthy and unnecessary than this tagging system. From abba's "i have a dream"

bolts in the head: monsters and generally spooky things. And yeah ik frankenstein doesnt actually have bolts in his head and that was a lie the movie made up but also the nature and definition of a monster is just as illusory and invented as the bolts are

whispers in the air: ghosts, or the fleeting nature of things, or the imagined, or the abstraction of the memory. So yeah its ghosts

when i love you it's forever: the dead, but focusing on the flesh left behind instead of the ghost that proceeds ahead. From "confessions of a skull mask", in the anthology "necrophilia variations"

we have put her living in the tomb: houses or general structures, officially haunted or otherwise (because all buildings are haunted in some way tbh). From my favorite edgar allen poe story "the fall of the house of usher" :)

the roots of the tree: things relating to childhood, development, or family

the lovers: art, photos, etc typically with two things interacting in some familiar way. Not necessarily nsfw, but theres definitely some lesbian erotica in there so beware

cut open my sternum and pull my little ribs around you: gore and blood and all that fun stuff. Not all images of blood go in here so if youre sensitive about pictures of blood beware. You probably shouldnt follow me if you are tbh. Anways it's from purity ring's "fineshrine"

is it a love song?: hunger, desire, violence, and the place where they intersect. Gore is in here also <3 and it's a quote from the 1983 film the hunger

race my heart race my soul: images i really really love. I would say its my aesthetic but aesthetics are a lie propagated by Big Capitalism to get you to buy more shit you dont need so no its not and dont get it twisted..... from "i'll never learn" by the shangri-las, which is possibly my favorite song. I go back and forth on what my favorite song is, but this one's up there for sure

put on your red shoes and dance the blues: all things red. From david bowie's "let's dance", but the original or 2002 remaster and not the 2018 remaster because as much as i love saxophone its totally out of the blue in the intro of the 2018 remaster and i dont like it

love me blue: all things blue, from zayn's "blue". And i have no qualms with any version of this song because i love you zayn

twilight sun: all things pink, from something that someone said to me in passing once and i thought it was nice.

the dead image of life: all things green

capable of charming god: all things yellow

tête à tête: ballet, and things relating to ballet. Even pictures of models with their ribbons tied all messed up go in here, im sorry to say

do you think you've made the right decision this time?: departure, transit, etc. Coming from, though, not going to-- the emphasis is on the leaving. From the smiths' "london" (underrated track tbh)

disappearance in transformation: bugs that can fly-- mainly moths and butterflies, but some beetles and other grubs appear here too

kill this chorus: people in relation to water-- in puddles, swimming, drowning, etc. Im not saying what this is from... if you know you know and also you know why that phrase pertains to that imagery

the luckiest by far: celestial bodies, clouds, the sky, etc. From madonna's lucky star

heaven waits on the other side: weddings, mostly brides and wedding dress-type stuff. From nicole dollanganger's "heart shaped bed"

godspeed your love: all things relating to love (and occasionally heartbreak). From possibly the greatest love song ever, the righteous brothers' "unchained melody"

lily left alone: playing cards and things having to do with suites of cards. Kind of from bob dylan's "lily, rosemary, and the jack of hearts" but not really

bloodied black: martyrs, warriors, knights. Lots of pictures of armor and joan of arc imagery here

mourning lamb: farm animals, mainly sheep but also cows and pigs and whatnot. From ethel cain's "ptolemaea"

all down: typography, handwritten things, etc-- everything from journal entries to song lyrics to letters to typed notes

time is a river: myths, folklore, classics, historical art, etc. Technically a quote from heraclitus but every knows it bc of marcus aurelius

INTANGIBLE CONCEPTS:

from the fire roads: get ready for this because this and the following five tags are all connected. This is the tag equivalent of exposition on the hero's journey-- the scene is a small town, a childhood bedroom, a parking lot, etc. From bruce springsteen's "racing in the streets"

and i see big things for you: this is the first threshold (transformation) in the hero's journey. In this particular case, the protagonist becomes a groupie for a band that passed through the town, and this world of travel and casual excess is very different from the world theyre from. The scene is a basement shows, cigarettes in a hotel bed, underfunded recording studios, etc. From wolf alice's "white leather"

somewhere there's a party: the "challenges and temptations" part of the hero's journey-- our protagonist gets tired of the constant moving and, craving something more, ends up in a big city working as a model/socialite. The scene is a closet filled with frills and designer clothes, a gala, the backstage of a fashion show, etc. From the replacements' "swingin' party"

don't cry about it: now at the second threshold (abyss) of the hero's journey, things start going downhill. The protagonist loses themself in a wave of drugs, sex, and excess; the scene is now a large bathroom with a shattered mirror, a smoke-filled bdsm club, a nosebleed, etc. From lana del rey's "this is what makes us girls"

careful fear / dead devotion: with the third threshold (atonement) in the hero's journey comes the protagonist's realization of their own rock bottom and the desire to get better. The scene is a dark bedroom with light coming through the door, a park at night, an open window, etc. From the nationals' "don't swallow the cap"

born with a weak heart: the end of the hero's journey-- the protagonist takes what money they have left and splits, getting a place in the middle of nowhere and working as an attendant somewhere they won't be recognized. The scene is a clearing in the woods, a warm kitchen, a grocery store, etc. From talking heads' "this must be the place"

there was to be no death in eden: Mostly i use it for animals that i dont have a specific tag for, large groups of animals, animals in little people clothes, fantasy art, folk tales, children's books, or anything else i consider to be edenic. Im gonna be honest with you i have a weird idea of eden because i saw it in a dream ... more on that here if u scroll down to where it says september 22 2023. Its an ellen g. white quote im pretty sure, and while i personally hate the seventh-day adventists and everything that entails, i do respect a woman who gets visions

you got your good thing: things pertaining to heaven, which is a vibe i cannot possibly explain bc i saw it in a dream as well but i will link you here nonetheless and just hope you get it. In short basically heaven is an archive and the angels never build it right because they're working off pure image untainted by emotion and human perspective so everything looks a little wonky and clinical (they mean well though). From david lynch's "in heaven (lady in the radiator song", off the eraserhead 1977 soundtrack

pelican island: birds. Also any sort of ghostly island or mysterious shore. Ghosts, too. From deena metzger's eponymous poem

ST PAUL MOMENT ST PAUL MOMENT: the nature version of my humanity tag. Refers to the biblical tale of st. paul, who was blinded then healed by jesus as a way of converting him to christianity (which is fucking crazy and sooo dramatic but we're not here to talk abt that). The point is that its the sensation of being awakened to a natural power higher than yourself, like how flowers always have a number of petals that complies with the fibonacci sequence

thou mayest: being good, being bad, the feeling of being torn between your capacities for good and evil, the shame of feeling evil, etc. Go read john steinbeck's east of eden and then we'll talk

soul opium: solitude, isolation, loneliness

thorn without a rose: hole theory. From aerosmith's "hole in my soul" #sorrywomen

shadows: poems that come off as gray to me. Yeah i dont know either man they just do its a very specific vibe and there is no other way to describe it than gray

ritualism: the color white being used in a holy, ritualistic context (or at least a context i perceive as holy)

74: my yamaha tx750 was created in 1974, which is a year that is important to me for no other reason than that (if u go into the tag its pretty obvious and if its not.... well im not telling)

p: im not sayinggggg. But here you will find white horses and things about grief

are your ears on?: writing, particularly having to do with the idea of a grand overarching narrative that tropes are forcefully enacted within

SPECIFIC MEDIA:

it's impossible to compete with the dead: my tag for all things sharp objects-related. Tag is a quote from the book

spn: that would be the 2005 cw show supernatural. #Sorry

mcr: that would be the post-hardcore band my chemical romance. #Sorryyyyyyy

shattered teacup: tag for the 2013 tv show hannibal and no other version of thomas harris's work-- silence of the lambs and whatnot can be found in the "play pause rewind" tag

little nudie turtles: tag for the 2018-2023 hbo show succession. Quote by tom (it's literally tom).

and the angels wouldn't help you: tag for david lynch's twin peaks, both the show(s) and the film

time is a flat circle: tag for season one of true detective... haven't watched the other seasons of this show because honestly nothing can beat that. So its only for season one

[the-sun-is-also-a-star]

"For someone who loved words as much as I did, it was amazing how often they failed me."

-- If We Were Villains by M. L. Rio

“Because freedom, I am told, is nothing but the distance between the hunter and its prey.”

-- On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

and as for poetry, i like to talk about "Written in my Dreams by W. C. Williams" by Allen Ginsberg with other people because it's short and rolls over the tongue nicely and i like to come back to it, puts a smile on my face, you know?

i'll also never forget "A Carcass" by Charles Baudelaire from when we read it at school years ago and then again in high school and i have now chosen Les Fleurs du mal as one of the books for my oral school leaving exam, so it's definitely one of those authors i read once and was never able to get out of my head

and last but not least, Louise Glück (may she rest in peace) and her "Theory of Memory" which includes the ending "Right now you are a child holding hands with a fortune-teller. All the rest is hypothesis and dream." and i simply don't have a choice but to love this one

i have so many more favourites, but these are the ones i can think of right now hehe <33

what r ur favourite poems and quotes??

those are brilliant actually

mine are quite, different to what one may think but i like finding meaning in things that other people think are only surface level :

思い出なんか いらん - we don't need memories

this is from the anime haikyuu LMAO which is a fucking volleyball anime and it is the team motto of one of the teams. It is quite honestly my life motto at this point. I used to live in the past, excused people for thing they do now because they were different in the past. they were different in my memories. I was so focused on the past i forgot to enjoy my present. I am done doing that. My memories hold me back. I am tired of it.

"to love and lose and still be kind" - warsan shire

this is pretty self explanatory. i dont think I've had a hard life. but i certainly haven't had an easy one. i have a habit of giving too much of myself to people. I'm working on rectifying that whilst still being kind.

"but i cut people out like tags on my clothing" - conan gray

I LOVE people watching its one of my favourite songs. but this line is really important to me. I've cut the tags off of my clothing for as long as I can remember. ever since i was a kid. I also have a habit of cutting out people the second they break my trust. as easy as cutting off tags from my clothing. I don't think its a good habit or a bad habit. it just. is.

"It's always the ones who are quietest who often have the greatest things to say" - TJ Klune, Wolfsong

This is from one of my favourite books of all time. I was a quiet child for a while. I never got excited for anything and after a while my parents suspected I had childhood depression, we still don't know for sure if I did. It makes a lot of sense though. It took me a while to become confident in my own voice and my own opinions. this quote is really important to me.

"Men don't cry. My daddy taught me that. Men don't cry because they don't have time to cry.

I must not have been a man yet because I cried. I bowed my head and cried." - TJ Klune, Wolfsong

This isn't personal to me in anyway, I just really, really love this part of the book and these two lines in particular.

"I'll be your hands." "I'll be your sanity." - TJ Klune, Ravensong

love has always been something I've read about. but this quote takes the damn cake.

as for poems,

At a Funeral by Dennis Brutus

I analyzed this poem for an English Lit class and the story behind why it was written really stuck with me. It was written after the death of Valencia Majombozi who was shot on the day of her graduation from nursing school. Its a protest poem and it just hits really fucking hard.

Death of a Naturalist by Seamus Heaney

This was the first poem that i ever took inspiration from. I had of course written before, but I really enjoyed Heaney's writing style so it strongly influenced my poem Quietude, which I am planning to submit to the empty inkwell publication...hopefully lol

Identity Card by Mahmoud Darwish

This poem is written as a form of protest poetry as well. Mahmoud Darwish was a Palestinian poet, for those of you who do not know and he wrote this poem about being asked for his identity card by Israeli Officers. Its really, really good.

[auntiefragile]

everytime i think about breath of the wild it gives me the same feeling as when i read ocean vuong’s quote “loneliness is still time spent with the world”. and it’s a weird juxtaposition of longing for a lost companionship and contentment with being alone which is exactly how i felt when i first played the game. so ultimately i understand that story like the back of my hand because you simply had to be there in those shoes and it’s also reassuring that many people have been in those shoes too. on a related note i’m gonna listen to and in the darkness hearts aglow by weyes blood now