#my favourite french people

[sineva]

LÉA SEYDOUX and LOUIS GARREL for Les Inrockuptibles

ph. Thomas Chéné

[hedgehog-moss]

do you have recommendations for introspective fiction? :) i've been craving for something for my brain to much on that will also cause me pain, but i honestly have no clue where to get that. any advice?

Hello! I had trouble finding ideas at first because all the introspective & thought-provoking books that came to mind were nonfiction (diaries, etc—especially when it comes to women writers) but here are 10 suggestions, with excerpts :) Note that I took your "cause me pain" request seriously; these are not exactly feel-good reads.

Steppenwolf, Herman Hesse Man is not capable of thought in any high degree, and even the most spiritual and highly cultivated of men habitually sees the world and himself through the lenses of delusive formulas and artless simplifications—and most of all himself. For it appears to be an inborn ... need of all men to regard the self as a unit. In reality, however, every ego ... is in the highest degree a manifold world, a constellated heaven, a chaos of forms, of states and stages, of inheritances and potentialities. It appears to be a necessity as imperative as ... breathing for everyone to be forced to regard this chaos as a unity and to speak of his ego as though it were a one-fold and clearly detached and fixed phenomenon. Even the best of us shares the delusion.

Notes From Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky Why, suffering is the sole origin of consciousness. Though I did lay it down at the beginning that consciousness is the greatest misfortune for man, yet I know man prizes it and would not give it up for any satisfaction. Consciousness, for instance, is infinitely superior to twice two makes four. Once you have mathematical certainty there is nothing left to do or to understand. There will be nothing left but to bottle up your five senses and plunge into contemplation.

The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa I asked for very little from life, and even this little was denied me. A nearby field, a ray of sunlight, a little bit of calm along with a bit of bread, not to feel oppressed by the knowledge that I exist, not to demand anything from others, and not to have others demand anything from me — this was denied me, like the spare change we might deny a beggar not because we're mean-hearted but because we don't feel like unbuttoning our coat.

Ishmael, Daniel Quinn All sorts of creatures on this planet appear to be on the verge of attaining self-awareness and intelligence. We were never meant to be the only players on that stage. [But] man is the first of all these. He is the trailblazer, the pathfinder. [….] Man’s place in the world is to be the first without being the last. Man’s place is to figure out how it’s possible to do that—and then to make room for all the rest who are capable of becoming what he’s become.

The Lady and the Little Fox Fur, Violette Leduc Her hope was stored in a safe place. On tiptoe, avidly, she gazed through the windows. ... She was filled with a fixed determination to pay the next month’s rent, to sally forth once more to the pawnbroker’s, to offer him the clothes off her back, to sell her teeth, ... but at all costs to go on living against the panes of strangers’ windows. She bumped into women hurriedly buying food for their dinners; she was breathing the oxygen meant for people who had spent their day working. To cry out that it was impossible for her to begin her life all over again would be useless.

The Last Summer of Reason, Tahar Djaout The city with the many forms of iridescence that once danced on the foam ... is now a field of merciless thorns. Love is a recumbent effigy, a dead tree. Song flees into exile. ... Books—the closeness of them, their contact, their smell, and their contents—constitute the safest refuge against this world of horror. They are the most pleasant and the most subtle means of traveling to a more compassionate planet.

The Royal Game, Stefan Zweig They did nothing—other than subjecting us to complete nothingness. For, as is well known, nothing on earth puts more pressure on the human mind than nothing. ... There was nothing here that could release me from my thoughts, from my obsession with them, from my pathological reiteration of them. And that was exactly what they intended: I was to choke and choke on my thoughts until they asphyxiated me.

Dawn, Elie Wiesel [Words] serve only to give meaning to our actions. And our actions, seen in their true and primitive light, have the odor and color of blood. This is war, we say; we must kill. ... And what else can we do? War has a code, and if you deny this you deny its whole purpose and hand the enemy victory on a silver platter. That we can’t afford. We need victory, victory in war, in order to survive, in order to remain afloat on the surface of time.

Darkness at Noon, Arthur Koestler All our principles were right, but our results were wrong. This is a diseased century. We diagnosed the disease and its causes with microscopic exactness, but wherever we applied the healing knife a new sore appeared. Our will was hard and pure, we should have been loved by the people. But they hate us. Why are we so odious and detested? ... Whenever had a good cause been worse represented? When and where in history had there ever been such defective saints?

All the Lovers in the Night, Mieko Kawakami The job that I was doing, the place where I was living, the fact that I was all alone and had no one to talk to. Could these have been the result of some decision that I’d made? I heard a crow crying somewhere in the distance and turned to the window. It occurred to me that maybe I was where I was today because I hadn’t chosen anything. I had faked it the whole way. ... I was so scared of failing, of being hurt, that I chose nothing. I did nothing.

[slavicbeastie]

Mural of Jinx from Arcane Season 2 trailer is homage to

Liberty Leading the People by Eugène Delacroix about French revolution

[mail-posting]

Images stolen from my friend from @vocatoneofficial 's twitter and uh. I am insane hello?????

There is. So much here

[booplesnotts-art]

𝑳𝒆𝑹𝒐𝒖𝒙

Ik you all like my good omens stuff more but I wanted to quickly paint one of my doodles of my girlie Avalon for fun between working and school and felt like posting it here cause I love her🖤

Don’t know how much I like how I did this one but I wanted to post something here👍

[madou-dilou]

"Hey uncle Scar, when I'm king, what does that make you ?" "A monkey's uncle."

bonus under the cut

[thesarcastickiddo]

Love them for that <3

[lifeimitatesart1998]

It’s my birthday 🥳 Here are some of my favourite books that I’ve read over the years 📚

[isthenapoleoncute]

These English soldiers are bothering my Napoleon for an autograph or selfie. How do I get rid of them, can I forge his signature?

First off, obviously this is Not Cute, due to how this enclosure is simultaneously so tight that the Napoleon can't get proper exercise, but also so loose that English soldiers are just walking over to say 'how do you do?' Your Napoleon's lifespan is going to dramatically decrease due to stress, just sayin', sorry not sorry.

Forging a signature seems like something that Napoleon would, absurdly, think is lese majeste, so you'll just stress him out more if he ever finds out.

Anyway, English soldiers can be easily bribed. Offer them copious amounts of wine, and they should leave if you ask. There's a famous cause of Napoleon abuse where a Napoleon's Marchand used wine to bribe English sentries for all sorts of treats!

Alternatively, I've heard English people hate good food? So maybe offer them something spicy and they'll leave on their own.

[longagoitwastuesday]

Going through the Utahim.e tag had me checking several times if at some point I had clicked on the G.ojo/Utahim.e one instead

[spineless-lobster]

Linear warfare except when they run at each other they meet in the middle and start passionately kissing each other on the mouth with tongue

[fluentisonus]

napoleon movie was not good tbh

[bethanydelleman]

I've noticed that the gentry tends to look down on lawyers. In P&P there's a whole paragraph where Caroline talks about how Lizzy has an uncle who's a lawyer and how fitting that makes her for Darcy since his uncle was a high ranking judge. And in Downton Abby the news that the new heir Matthew Crawley works as a lawyer is almost scandalous to them. Why is that?

Okay, short answer: There are two types of lawyers and Mr. Philips and Matthew Crawley (I'm assuming, it's been a minute since I watched DA) are the wrong type. Only one type was considered gentry.

Long Answer: There were actually SIX TYPES OF LAWYERS because there were three systems of law and two types of lawyers for each system. The basic difference was this, "middle class" lawyers did research and prepared for court cases, did wills etc. Today in England they would be called a solicitor. But at this time they were also called attorneys and proctors.

The gentry class lawyers, today called barristers, are the ones who actually argued in court and could become judges. They were also called serjeants and advocates. I think we can safely assume that John Knightley (Emma) is a barrister, or upper class lawyer. The other barrister is probably Mr. William Elliot from Persuasion.

Mr. Shepherd (Persuasion), Wickham's father and Mr. Philips (Pride & Prejudice) are all probably solicitors of some variety.

So why and what is the difference? The biggest difference is that solicitors did an apprenticeship and were paid directly by their clients. Barristers were paid a commission "gift" by a solicitor, which made their profession FANCY and HIGH CLASS. They also went to university and had to join the very exclusive barrister club (there were only about 600 of them in England at this time). The wife of a barrister could also be presented at court, but not a solicitor.

And of course, in keeping with this distinction, barristers made a lot more money. On average around £4000 a year, but up to £15,000!

The three systems of law were common, canon (church), and equity. Common law covered almost everything. Equity law a secondary system where someone who believed their common law verdict was too strict could seek relief, it also handled guardianship and things like trusts. Canon law dealt with divorce and wills, as well as special permission to do things in the church, like holding multiple livings.

By the way, divorce by criminal conversation (cheating) went through the common law court, canon court, and then went to parliament. It was not cheap or easy!

Common - Serjeants, attorneys

Equity - Barristers, solicitors

Canon - Advocates, proctors

Primary Source

Secondary (and free) Source

[ahalliance]

people should stop getting their tits in a twist about why [insert random cubito] is worse than [insert different random cubito] please 🙏 who’s “better” and who’s “worse” really doesn’t matter 🙏 this is not the bestest morality award show this is the psychological horror island show 🙏 peace and love 🙏

[lolacouldnotcareless]

🎧 👀

Allez, viens, c'est bientôt la fin de ce monde qui n'entend rien Allez, viens sonner le tocsin, fais valser leurs vieux discours Viens danser, c'est notre tour

J'ai bu l'amour au souffle amer, j'ai vu les tours tomber sur terre J'ai vu l'or noir saigner la mer, tous les regards vers l'éphémère Je vois fleurir le jour nouveau, je crois le rire du fou là-haut Je veux saisir tous les mystères et m'affranchir de l'éphémère, de l'éphémère

come on, come, it's soon the end of this world which hears nothing come on, come make the tocsin ring, send flying their old speeches come dance, it's our turn

i've drunk love with a bitter breath, i've seen the towers fall on earth i've seen the black gold bleed the sea, all the eyes towards the ephemeral i see the new day blooming, i believe the laughter of the madman up there i want to grasp all the mysteries and to free myself from the ephemeral, from the ephemeral

[curiously-questing]

WTF WTF WTF I WAS THERE I SAW THAT IN CHAT THAT WAS LIVE TIME