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dan6085 · 6 months

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Creating a list of the top 50 writers of all time is a challenging task, as literary greatness can be measured in many ways, including the impact of the works, their lasting legacy, innovation in storytelling, and the depth of human emotion and thought they explore. Nonetheless, here's an attempt to highlight 50 writers from across the world and throughout history, noting some of their most significant works and contributions to literature.

1. **William Shakespeare (1564-1616)** - Often considered the greatest writer in the English language. Notable works include plays like "Hamlet," "Romeo and Juliet," "Macbeth," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream," along with sonnets that explore themes of love, beauty, politics, and mortality.

2. **Homer** - An ancient Greek poet traditionally said to be the author of the epic poems "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey," which are foundational works of Western literature.

3. **Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910)** - A Russian novelist known for "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," Tolstoy's works explore themes of morality, free will, and the human condition.

4. **James Joyce (1882-1941)** - An Irish novelist and short story writer, known for revolutionizing the modern novel with his stream of consciousness technique, particularly in "Ulysses."

5. **Charles Dickens (1812-1870)** - An English writer and social critic, Dickens is famous for his vivid characters and depictions of Victorian life, as seen in "Great Expectations," "A Tale of Two Cities," and "Oliver Twist."

6. **Jane Austen (1775-1817)** - An English novelist known for her six major novels, including "Pride and Prejudice" and "Emma," which critique the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century.

7. **Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881)** - A Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, and journalist, Dostoevsky's works explore human psychology in the troubled political, social, and spiritual atmospheres of 19th-century Russia. His major works include "Crime and Punishment," "The Brothers Karamazov," and "The Idiot."

8. **Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)** - An English writer, considered one of the foremost modernists of the 20th century and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Notable works include "Mrs. Dalloway" and "To the Lighthouse."

9. **Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014)** - A Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist. He was known as one of the greatest writers of the 20th century, particularly for "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera," which introduced magical realism to a wide audience.

10. **Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616)** - A Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists, best known for "Don Quixote."

11. **Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)** - An Italian poet, writer, and philosopher whose "Divine Comedy," originally called "Comedìa" and later christened "Divina" by Giovanni Boccaccio, is considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature.

12. **Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)** - A German writer and statesman whose works, including "Faust" and "The Sorrows of Young Werther," span the fields of poetry, drama, literature, theology, humanism, and science.

13. **George Orwell (1903-1950)** - An English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is marked by lucid prose, awareness of social injustice, opposition to totalitarianism, and outspoken support of democratic socialism. Notable works include "1984" and "Animal Farm."

14. **Marcel Proust (1871-1922)** - A French novelist best known for "In Search of Lost Time," a monumental work of 20th-century fiction published in seven parts.

15. **Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)** - An American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist, known for his economical and understated style, which he termed the iceberg theory, and his books like "The Old Man and the Sea" and "A Farewell to Arms."

16. **Franz Kafka (1883-1924)** - A Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic, exploring themes like alienation, existential dread, and absurdity. Notable works include "The Trial" and "The Metamorphosis."

17. **Mark Twain (1835-1910)** - An American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer, known for his wit and satire in prose and speech. His novels "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" remain fundamental to the American literary canon.

18. **Haruki Murakami (born 1949)** - A contemporary Japanese writer known for his seamless blend of the mundane with the fantastical, Murakami's notable works include "Norwegian Wood" and "Kafka on the Shore."

19. **Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)** - A Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic, he is best known for his first novel, "Things Fall Apart" (1958), which is the most widely read book in modern African literature.

20. **Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)** - An American poet, Dickinson was known for her reclusive nature but left behind a trove of poems exploring themes of death, faith, emotions, and the essence of life, much of which were published posthumously.

21. **Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)** - An American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. Notable works include "The Raven," "The Tell-Tale Heart," and "The Fall of the House of Usher."

22. **Herman Melville (1819-1891)** - An American novelist, short story writer, and poet from the American Renaissance period. His contributions to literature include "Moby-Dick," a towering achievement in American literature, and "Bartleby, the Scrivener."

23. **Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)** - An American novelist and short story writer known for his dark romanticism. His works often explore themes of sin, guilt, and morality. Notable works include "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of the Seven Gables."

24. **Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)** - An Irish poet and playwright known for his biting wit, flamboyant style, and infamous imprisonment. His best-known works include "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and the play "The Importance of Being Earnest."

25. **Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)** - A Bengali polymath from India, Tagore reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913. Notable works include "Gitanjali" and "The Home and the World."

26. **Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)** - A Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be among the greatest writers of short fiction in history. Notable works include "The Cherry Orchard," "The Seagull," and a vast array of influential short stories.

27. **Langston Hughes (1902-1967)** - An American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form called jazz poetry and a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Notable works include "The Weary Blues" and "Montage of a Dream Deferred."

28. **Albert Camus (1913-1960)** - A French-Algerian philosopher, author, and journalist awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1957. His works include "The Stranger," "The Plague," and "The Myth of Sisyphus," which delve into themes of existentialism and absurdism.

29. **Kurt Vonnegut (1922-2007)** - An American writer known for his satirical and science fiction works. Vonnegut's distinctive voice and sardonic commentary on American society are best exemplified in "Slaughterhouse-Five" and "Cat's Cradle."

30. **J.K. Rowling (born 1965)** - A British author, best known for writing the "Harry Potter" fantasy series, which has become one of the best-selling book series in history and a global cultural phenomenon.

31. **Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)** - An American poet, novelist, and short story writer known for advancing the genre of confessional poetry. Her novel "The Bell Jar" and the poetry collection "Ariel" explore themes of self-identity, mental illness, and the female condition.

32. **Virginia Hamilton (1936-2002)** - An American children's books author who brought black history, folklore, and fantasy to a wide audience. Notable works include "M.C. Higgins, the Great" and "The People Could Fly."

33. **Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)** - An Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, and a key figure in Spanish-language literature. His compilations of short stories, "Ficciones" and "The Aleph," are landmarks in the genre.

34. **Italo Calvino (1923-1985)** - An Italian journalist and writer of short stories and novels. His imaginative texts, including "Invisible Cities" and "If on a winter's night a traveler," blend fantasy, fables, and comedy.

35. **Salman Rushdie (born 1947)** - A British-Indian novelist and essayist whose narrative style, blending mythology and magical realism, is exemplified in "Midnight's Children" and "The Satanic Verses," the latter of which led to calls for his assassination.

36. **Maya Angelou (1928-2014)** - An American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist known for her series of seven autobiographies, which focus on her childhood and early adult experiences, most notably "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings."

37. **Toni Morrison (1931-2019)** - An American novelist, essayist, editor, and professor, her novels are known for their epic themes, exquisite language, and richly detailed African American characters. Notable works include "Beloved" and "Song of Solomon."

38. **Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867)** - A French poet who produced notable work as an essayist, art critic, and pioneering translator of Edgar Allan Poe. His most famous work, "Les Fleurs du mal" (The Flowers of Evil), expresses the complexities of beauty and decadence.

39. **Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888)** - An American novelist and poet best known as the author of the novel "Little Women" and its sequels "Little Men" and "Jo's Boys." Alcott's writing was heavily influenced by her life experiences and advocacy for women's rights.

40. **Pablo Neruda (1904-1973)** - A Chilean poet-diplomat and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda became known as a poet when he was 13 years old, and his works include "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair."

41. **Agatha Christie (1890-1976)** - An English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around her fictional detectives Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Christie is one of the best-selling authors of all time.

42. **Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880)** - A French novelist highly influential, he is known especially for his debut novel "Madame Bovary," his correspondence, and his scrupulous devotion to his art and style.

43. **Wole Soyinka (born 1934)** - A Nigerian playwright, poet, and essayist, Soyinka was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African laureate. Notable works include "Death and the King's Horseman" and "Ake: The Years of Childhood."

44. **Alice Walker (born 1944)** - An American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. Walker wrote the novel "The Color Purple" (1982), for which she won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, making her the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her work is known for its themes of race, gender, and identity.

45. **Ian McEwan (born 1948)** - A British novelist and screenwriter known for his nuanced and tightly crafted novels, which often explore the complexities of the human condition. Notable works include "Atonement," "Enduring Love," and "Amsterdam," for which he won the Booker Prize.

46. **Kazuo Ishiguro (born 1954)** - A British novelist and Nobel Laureate in Literature, born in Japan, who has explored themes of memory, time, and self-delusion. His notable works include "The Remains of the Day," for which he won the Booker Prize, and "Never Let Me Go."

47. **Chinua Achebe (1930-2013)** - A Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic, Achebe is best known for his debut novel, "Things Fall Apart," which is widely considered his masterpiece and a classic of modern African literature. His works are pivotal in bringing African literature to worldwide attention.

48. **Gabriel García Márquez (1927-2014)** - A Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1982, largely for his masterpiece "One Hundred Years of Solitude," a defining classic of magical realism.

49. **Margaret Atwood (born 1939)** - A Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, and essayist known for her works of fiction and dystopian literature. Her notable works include "The Handmaid's Tale," a prescient dystopian novel that has inspired numerous adaptations, and "Oryx and Crake."

50. **Haruki Murakami (born 1949)** - A Japanese writer and translator whose novels, essays, and short stories have been bestsellers in Japan as well as internationally. His works, which include "Norwegian Wood," "Kafka on the Shore," and "1Q84," blend pop culture, magical realism, and themes of loneliness and search for identity.

This list only scratches the surface of literary greatness, as there are countless writers who have left an indelible mark on the world’s literary heritage. The chosen authors and their works continue to inspire, challenge, and influence readers and writers across the globe.

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fandom-and-random-things · 2 years

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Year in Review

I’m feeling nostalgic, so I thought I’d reflect on the past year. To be honest, 2022 has left me with a bit of whiplash. I had some high highs, and some low lows. I lost my job, went broke, moved back home, and spent a lot of time struggling with my mental health. But I also did some of my best writing ever this year. I traveled to parts of the country I’ve never seen before. I started working with the Boys and Girls Club, and learned what it feels like to love my job. I made new memories with my friends and family. And for the first time, I committed to making changes for the sake of my mental health.

I am looking forward to the fresh start that 2023 brings. I will try to carry the good parts of 2022 with me, and try to leave the bad parts behind. But enough about my personal life! Let’s talk about my obsessive media consumption habits!

~ Books Read in 2022 ~

1. One Hundred Years of Solitude 2. Howl’s Moving Castle 3. Giovanni’s Room 4. A Marvelous Light 5. Less 6. Little Women 7. Cloud Cuckoo Land 8. The Sonnets of William Shakespeare 9- 28. Fruits Basket Volumes 1- 20 (I still have three volumes left).

~ Games Played in 2022 ~

I didn’t have time to play any video games this year, but I did start my first long-term Dungeons and Dragons campaign!

~ Music Listened to in 2022 ~

Obviously I can’t list all the music I listened to this year, but here are my top five artists according to Spotify wrapped.

1. Encanto 2. The Beatles 3. Queen 4. The Adventure Zone 5. Today’s Top Hits

~ Movies Watched in 2022 ~

Again, I can’t list all the movies I watched this year, but here are some of my favorites.

1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 2. Glass Onion 3. The Batman 4. Tons of Studio Ghibli films 5. Tons of Wes Anderson films

~ TV Shows Watched in 2022 ~

1. Thirty Rock (seasons 1-7) 2. Arcane (season 1) 3. The Legend of Vox Machina (season 1) 4. Abbott Elementary (season 1) 5. Our Flag Means Death (season 1) 6. The Handmaid’s Tale (seasons 1-3) 7. This is Us (season 6) 8. Heartstopper (season 1) 9. Stranger Things (season 4) 10. The Umbrella Academy (season 3) 11. What We Do in the Shadows (season 4) 12. The Bear (season 1) 13. Obi Wan (season 1) 14. Moon Knight (season 1) 15. Only Murders in the Building (seasons 1-2) 16. Derry Girls (seasons 1-3) 17. Freaks and Geeks (season 1)

2022 was filled with wonderful stories, some in books, some in movies, some in real life. I can’t wait to see what stories 2023 will bring! Happy new year!

#personal

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pondering-apollo · 3 years

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AOT Boys & What They’d Do For Valentines

Ft. Jean, Eren, Armin, Connie, Levi, Erwin, Kenny (so random but these are the ones that came to me so … here we are.)

Disclaimer: this is stupid as hell but I wanted to contribute something for Valentine’s. Don’t judge me. 😅 Kenny and Connie are, unsurprisingly, NSFW.

Jean

Mr romantic number one. Spends months planning it. Presents you with a sketch of you that he’s been working on in secret, a dozen red roses and then proceeds to cook and serve you a candlelit dinner. 10/10 would recommend.

Erwin

Mr romantic number two. Gifts you a leather-bound edition of Shakespeare’s sonnets, complete with handwritten annotations on each poem explaining how certain lines apply to your relationship.

‘Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds …’

Also takes you out to a very upmarket restaurant with beautiful views. 10/10, marriage material.

Levi

Cleans the house from top to bottom. Runs you a bath with a shit load of bubbles and decadent smelling bath salts. (Does not use rose petals because they are a bitch to clean.) gifts you a set of Yankee Candles and a new mop. (Because yours is apparently on it’s last legs and he refuses to clean with it.) eh, we’ll forgive him for the mop. Can’t win them all. 9/10, someone house-husband this man!

Eren

Forgets it’s Valentine’s Day. Has arranged to go to a game with the lads. Shits himself when Armin reminds him. Ditches them for you though. Buys a card and flowers on his way over, and tells you he’s arranged a romantic meal for you both. The romantic meal is take-out food. 6/10. At least he’s pretty.

Armin

Takes you for a picnic at the beach, complete with wine, fancy sandwiches and strawberries, which he shyly offers to feed you. After you’ve watched the sunset, he spreads out a blanket for you both to lie on, and spends the rest of the evening pointing out the constellations to you in between making out. 10/10, sweet, thoughtful boy.

Kenny

Arrives home half cut already, but announces that he had a big win at the guys’ poker game last week and he’s gifting all the cash to you. “Go and buy yerself somethin’ pretty sweetheart. We’re heading’ out on the town.” When you both arrive home after one too many shots, he tells you he’s going to “worship yer body like the goddess ya are.” 10/10 because the sex is, in fact, mind blowing.

Connie

Like Jean, has been planning this for months. Thinks he’s smooth AF. You come home to find him sprawled naked across your bed, with a bow on his dick. He tells you to “come and get your V day present, baby.” What ensues is several rounds of adventurous sex, punctuated with watching obscure Netflix documentaries and eating junk food. 8/10. Extra marks because he’s been practicing tying the perfect bow for a LONG time in prep for this moment.

#aot boys #valentines day #silly headcanons #hope everyone had/is having a good one!#I also want to marry Erwin in this #maybe Armin too #(and low-key Kenny and Connie) 🥴

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vermillion-dynamo · 3 years

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“I still dream about her”

is a TOP 10 saddest quotes of all time. Shakespeare writing a thousand sonnets a day for a thousand years would never come close to something so tragic in so few words.

#anime #manga #tokyo revengers #drakemma #draken #emma sano

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writerthreads · 3 years

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The top 10 classic fears in literature

By Prof. Marianna Torgovnik on TedBlog

Fear #1: Death, death, death—did I mention death?

An almost universal fear, death recurs in literature more than any other fear, all the way from canonical works through fantasies like J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. I list the fear of death three times since it occurs in many forms: fear of our own deaths, fear of family members or close friends dying, fear of children preceding parents, the death of an entire culture.

Some examples: Shakespeare’s Sonnets (“Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore”; Hamlet (“To be or not to be”); John Keats (“When I have fears”); Virginia Woolf, The Waves; Pat Barker, The Ghost Road. This list could go on and on, because the fear does.

Fear #2: Avoiding death for the wrong reasons.

Literature loves paradox and so, paradoxically, the second greatest fear is avoiding death for the wrong reasons: when death will inevitably follow a noble or moral act or out of cowardice, especially in war. For understandable reasons, this fear is less common than more general fear of death, but it is out there and memorable nonetheless.

Some examples: Sophocles, Antigone (to bury her dead brother, Antigone famously courts death); Shakespeare several times — Hamlet again (“There is a providence in the fall of a sparrow”) and Antony and Cleopatra (to avoid capture by Octavius); Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities (“It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done”); Harry Potter in his pursuit of Voldemort.

Fear #3: Hunger or other severe physical deprivation.

Survival tends to trump the finer emotions when it comes to fear. Sometimes time specific, the fear of hunger nonetheless reminds us of basic things. In romantic novels or poems, it can be and often is a symbol for more abstract needs, like love. In Holocaust literature, it portrays humanity strained to the core.

Some examples: Dante, The Divine Comedy (Count Ugolino and his children); Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (“Water, water, every where, nor any drop to drink”); Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre; Elie Wiesel, Night; Susanne Collins’ The Hunger Games.

Fear #4: Killing or causing the death of someone you love.

Whether by murder, negligence or a set of circumstances beyond our control, the fear of causing the death of someone we love is a big one. It’s a stock feature of numerous spy and crime dramas, where we tend to brush it off since the hero (think James Bond) or (more rarely) heroine’s beloved is almost always a goner. Numerous operas by Verdi, including Rigoletto and Un Ballo in Maschera use this theme, sometimes more than once; in fact, opera thrives on this fear, as in Bizet’s Carmen. It usually takes serious and even majestic forms in literature.

Some examples: Patroclus dying for Achilles in Homer’s The Iliad; Othello killing Desdemona in Shakespeare’s Othello; Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure (“Done because we are too menny”); D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love (Gerald choosing to die rather than kill Gudrun); Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl.

Fear #5: Being rejected and/or being loved by the wrong person.

At last we come to a fear that can have a lighter side and, sometimes — though not always — a happy ending. In literature, characters fear being rejected, being loved, and being loved by the wrong person in almost equal proportions. Once again, the examples span the ancient classics all the way up to the present.

Some examples: Woman loves step-son madly in three versions of the same story, none with a happy ending (Euripides, Hippolytus; Racine, Phaedra; Mary Renault, The Bull from the Sea); mixed up couples set right in Shakespeare’s As You Like It; love triumphs by the end in Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice; two different kinds of love lead to tragedy in Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles; mixed results in Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot.

Fear #6: Illness, disease and aging.

Closely allied to the fear of death — but not identical to it — the fear of illness is another constant though, as we’d expect, the disease most feared changes over time. The bubonic plague used to be the leading contender; TB enjoyed a long dominance until cures were found. Nowadays, cancer and, more often, dementia are far greater fears. There is at least one stunning example in this category of embracing the fear being absolutely the right thing to do: Flaubert’s St Julien, L’Hospitalier, in which the saint embraces a leper and achieves transcendence.

Some examples: Giovanni Boccacio’s Decameron; Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year; Oscar Wilde, The Portrait of Dorian Gray; Albert Camus, La Peste (The Plague); Ian McEwan, Atonement; Jonathan Franzen, The Corrections.

Fear #7: Lost reputation, divorce or scandal.

People used to fear this one more than they do today, when our motto seems to be that no publicity is really bad publicity and unseemly revelations are the order of the day. Still, this is a significant fear, and one that even recent books revisit in original ways.

Some examples: Sophocles, Oedipus Rex; Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina; D.H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover; Thomas Wolfe, The Bonfire of the Vanities; Phillip Roth, The Human Stain.

Fear #8: War, shipwrecks and other disasters.

The fear of shipwrecks can seem archaic — but they were the airplane crashes of yesteryear. Shipwrecks can be mere episodes or the core of the plot; in early literature, they are closely allied with war, a more global disaster. While other disasters arouse fear — earthquakes, volcanos — war and shipwrecks lead the field. Both change characters’ lives, with variable results.

Some examples: Homer, The Odyssey; Defoe, Robinson Crusoe; Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels; Tolstoy, War and Peace; Yann Martel, Life of Pi.

Fear #9: The law and, more specifically, lawyers.

Fear of the law is a surprisingly classic fear, weighing in at number nine. But what’s meant by the law changes over time. While fear of God’s judgment remains plausible in literature, it is far less common today than fear of society’s laws — and specifically the rapacity of lawyers and the law’s ability, in Dickens’ words, “to make business for itself.” In some modern books, the law becomes a metaphor for the meaning of life.

Some examples: The Bible; Aeschylus, The Oresteia; Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter; Dickens, Bleak House; Franz Kafka, The Trial; Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things

Fear #10: That real life won’t resemble literature.

While this might seem the most trivial of fears, in fact it drives a lot of great literature. Some characters want life to be elevated, inflated, like epic or romantic literature. Deprived of that illusion, they die or take their own lives—looping us back to fear #1. Other characters favor codes of renunciation that have been called by literary critics “the Great Tradition,” fearing that they will gain something by immoral or amoral actions; a variation on this fear is the fear, as George Eliot’s Dorothea puts it, “I try not to have desires merely for myself.” Not at all light for avid readers, this fear usefully reminds us that life is not really like a Henry James novel.

Some examples: Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote; Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary; George Eliot, Middlemarch; Henry James, The Ambassadors; Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending.

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shakespeareintellectualbadass · 3 years

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@dailydestieldose and @casismymrdarcy have got me on a roll with Shakespeare destiel parallels so here's another one:

Beatrice & Benedick and Dean & Cas

In Much Ado About Nothing, Beatrice and Benedick spend 99% of their time bantering and bickering and generally pulling each other's pigtails but with an undercurrent of real hurt. They have a lot of mutual friends, they move in the same circle, and despite having just spent some time apart (the men were all off at war) they immediately go right back to bickering. And they seem to know exactly what to say to push each others buttons - they know each other reeeaaally well.

And that's the thing!! They're exes!! They have history!! Something romantic happened between them in the past, and then something went wrong. The divorce arc parallels! But they have to be around each other because they have all these mutual friends - mutual friends who decide they're going to trick them into falling in love with each other. Their friend group splits in half, and they stage conversations for Beatrice and Benedick to overhear in which they loudly proclaim that the other is in love with them (side note: these are some of the funniest scenes in the play, I highly recommend David Tennant as Benedick, it goes on and off youtube but if it's up he's top notch in that scene. Equally, Kenny Leon's 2016 production of the play for Shakespeare in the Park is fucking stellar. It used to be on PBS but if you can find it anywhere it is Thee Much Ado).

And both Beatrice and Benedick, the moment they hear the other is in love with them, go "oh they love me! well guess I'd better love them back! I'm gonna love them back with my whole fucking soul."

"Love me! Why, it must be requited. I hear how I am censured: they say I will bear myself proudly, if I perceive the love come from her; they say too that she will rather die than give any sign of affection. I did never think to marry: I must not seem proud: happy are they that hear their detractions and can put them to mending. They say the lady is fair; tis a truth, I can bear them witness; and virtuous; tis so, i cannot reprove it; and wise, but for loving me; by my troth, it is no addition to her wit, nor no great argument of her folly, for I will be horribly in love with her. I may chance have some odd quirks and remnants of wit broken on me, because I have railed so long against marriage: but doth not the appetite alter? a man loves the meat in his youth that he cannot endure in his age. Shall quips and sentences and these paper bullets of the brain awe a man from the career of his humor? No, the world must be peopled. When I said I would die a bachelor, I did not think I should live till I were married."

"My friends think if I find out she loves me I'll lord it over her", "she would rather die than give any sign she loves me" (literally Cas), "I've never expected I'd get married", the fucking LIST of "beautiful and good and wise, except for falling in love with me cuz I'm not good enough for her", "I already love her back so much", "I'm gonna get a lot of shit when my friends see me in love buuuut it's worth it for her" - try and tell me these aren't Dean about Cas.

Benedick never really shuts up - he's a talkative guy (much like Dean), and once he gets started about how great Beatrice is he is really on a roll. He loves so strongly and completely (and he doesn't have Dean's self worth issues) so he jumps right to being all in.

Beatrice's reaction is, in fact, an incomplete sonnet (sonnets are Thee language of love in Shakespeare; they're 14 line poems with a specific rhyme scheme that are in iambic pentameter, which we think of as Shakespeare's signature style - 10 syllables in a line, divided into sets of 2, the first unstressed and the second stressed). It is also one of the only times she speaks in verse (poetry) rather than prose (like a novel) during the play - this is important because people in Shakespeare's plays speak in verse during significant moments or very emotional moments.

What fire is in mine ears? Can this be true?

Stand I condemn'd for pride and scorn so much?

Contempt, farewell! and maiden pride, adieu!

No glory lives behind the back of such.

And, Benedick, love on; I will requite thee,

Taming my wild heart to thy loving hand:

If thou dost love, my kindness shall incite thee

To bind our loves up in a holy band;

For others say thou dost deserve, and I

Believe it better than reportingly.

"The idea he's in love with me too has shocked me to my core", "I will never again be too proud or petty to admit I love him", "please please keep loving me, because I love you too", "I have been a wild untameable thing, but for you I'll be happy to stay at home and live a simple life", "we aren't even together yet but please marry me", "you're the best man I know" - hi this is Thee Castiel about Dean Winchester.

Beatrice is a very independent woman; especially for the time the play is written, she's still single at an age when most women were already married, and she refuses to marry because she loves her independence and doesn't want just anyone to tie her down. Until she learns Benedick loves her, she never expects to find anyone who will make her want to settle down. Benedick is much the same - he plans to live and die a bachelor.

Aaaand then they learn they're both head over heels for each other, and suddenly there's a whole lot more they want out of life. Suddenly all the stuff in their past, all the things that drove them apart, it all doesn't matter in the face of their love for each other.

In conclusion:

Banter as expressions of affection and also to cover up hurt over something that happened to drive them apart

The love for each other didn't go away though they're both just feeling unloved and lashing out

They always come back to each other, even if it takes a little outside interference

This has been another Shakespeare destiel parallel, thank you and goodnight

#please ask me about sonnets ill explain more in detail if this didnt make sense #thank you to amirah and may for being interested and inspiring me to talk about this more #shakespeare destiel parallels #much ado about nothing #deancas #shakespeare #long post

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queerchoicesblog · 4 years

Text

Epilogue: Underwater (SC Titanic, Zetta x Adele Series)

As promised, here the epilogue of the Zetta x Adele Series, folks.

This is the very end of a project that meant me quite a lot to me and got me through the last terrible year. Thanks to all those who supported it: hope you enjoyed it and will enjoy this ending.

In case you were wondering, this song inspired the whole series, particularly the last chapters:

youtube

I will skip the tag list for once since it’s pointless anyway.

➡️ Ch. 1, Ch. 2/1, Ch. 2/2, Ch. 3, Ch. 4, Ch. 5, Ch. 6, Ch. 7, Ch. 8/1, Ch. 8/2, Ch. 9, Ch. 10/1, Ch. 10/2, Ch. 11/1, Ch. 11/2, Ch. 12, Ch. 13, Ch. 14, Ch. 15 , Ch. 16, Ch. 17

_________________________

Almost a century after the sinking of the RMS Titanic and to celebrate Canada becoming the first country outside Europe to legalise same-sex marriage, the Canadian Film Institute decided to work side by side with several LGBTQ+ organisations across the world to put together an exhibition focused on the early queer cinema and the many queer stars who were forced to hide their true selves in the Golden Age of cinematography, spanning from 1890s till the aftermath of Second World War. "A testament to the role the LGBTQ+ community played in the history of cinema and that we have always been here, even if people hardly saw us" as a journalist wrote on a queer magazine. After the recent discovery of some private documents, the curators were overjoyed to include an icon of the 1900s - 1910s cinema like Zetta Serda into the retrospective and cast a new light on her extraordinary career sadly soon forgotten after the advent of the sound era. Yet, the silent picture star was mentioned as a model and 'endless source of inspiration" by many queer movie stars like Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Greta Garbo all part of the retrospective. Rumor has it that as soon as she landed in America, Marlene Dietrich demanded his agent a meeting with Mrs King.

A curator drove all the way to Montreal to meet the last known heir, a certain Mrs. Julia Nowak, who greeted him on the threshold of a cosy downtown apartment. She offered him a coffee and a slice of a Polish sweet bread: the recipe was a family heirloom, she explained, beaming. She was in her late fifties, a therapist, she said. Her hazel eyes gleamed when she added, in a pleasantly soothing voice that betrayed a hint of excitement: "I must confess I am so incredibly happy that you contacted me about the retrospective. I adore the idea and I will make sure to attend it. Also" she nodded to a wedding picture hung to the wall "did you know that my wife is in politics? She campaigned for the legalisation...yes, Madeleine Fournier: see, you know her! We got married right after the law passed. If anything, your call and project made me twice as happy". She took a pause, smiling over her coffee in remembrance. "Anyway, back to the matter of your visit...yes, as far as I know, I am Zetta's last heir. As you probably know, my family wasn't officially related to her but she stated otherwise in her will". She moved to the couch and gestured the curator to follow her as she opened up one of the boxes and chests piled into the living room and picked out an old album, the leather cover worn at the edges. Dust waltzed in the air as she opened it with caution and gentle care. She showed him a slightly discoloured black and white picture of a young couple kissing for the camera in front of a church. Another wedding picture, from a different era. "Nana Hileni and Papa Maciej's wedding picture. I still remember them even if they both died when I was barely a teen...as if one couldn't bear to live without the other. Or so I like to think. She would help me with the homework, mathematics particularly, and he baked this bread for me till he was too weak to do so. He always claimed that he won Nana's heart with his pastries but she always denied it laughing". She passed another picture of the same couple proudly standing in front of the Nowak family bakery in Hoboken. "Frankly, I believe that Papa's broad shoulders and Marlon Brando smile are more likely to blame for this coup de foudre" she laughed. "And he knew how to deal with her no-nonsense attitude and vice versa. They...balanced each other, if you wish". She picked another picture and handed it to him. A woman was looking down in tender adoration and awe to a baby nestled in her arms looking up at her, outstretching a tiny arm in an attempt to touch her face. "There! This is Dad" she pointed at the baby before turning the picture where someone wrote 'Alex meets Auntie Adele'. Turning it again, she pointed at the woman. "This is Adele Carrem. Or Auntie Adele as I've always heard calling her. Nana's sister and Zetta's publicist and companion" Putting it back into the album, she carefully picked a bunch of other old pictures. "You surely know who this one is" she smiled, handing out the one on top. The photo was rather grainy but you could still recognise the same kid, slightly older, around two, sucking his thumb, cuddled up in Zetta's lap. The actress had aged a little but her features were unmistakable and it was endearing to see her sitting by the fireplace to read that kid with the sleepy face a bedtime story. "Sadly, I have never met them. I wish I did, oh you have no idea...but stories of them lived through in our family" Julia continued. "My Dad loved his Aunties - as he called them - dearly and by what I've heard and read, they loved him in manner as if he was their own. He knew little of them or Zetta's career back then...to him they were just the sweet ladies who would buy him ice-cream in Central Park or take him to see his favourite pictures over and over again at the movie theater. He said he will never forget the afternoons he used to spend with them in a Manhattan cafe that no longer exists around Christmas: Nana and Papa worked like crazy as the festive season approached and the glorious cup of hot chocolate with an elegant puff of cream on top with the Aunties became a tradition to him. He kept it alive somehow as he did the same with me". She handed the curator a bunch of other pictures: Zetta cleaning up Alex's face smeared with jam, the both of them laughing; Zetta posing with Maciej and her Dad at a table in the Hoboken bakery. He eventually mirrored her smile seeing a five years old Alex at the beach all engrossed in building a sandcastle with Hileni and Adele, and he standing at the water edge hand in hand with Miss Carrem, looking out into the distance. "These are family pictures. I'll show you the Zetta's private memorabilia we cherished". Julia searched a little, opening an old chest and handling every item inside with tender care. When she found what she was looking for, she showed the curator an elegant set of smaller boxes containing letters, dried flowers and photos. "I have already received an offer to get these published. I'm still pondering it. Before agreeing, I want to consider throughly if this is a thing they would have wanted, even if they're no longer here" The curator nodded as she kept searching. He skimmed a few letters and smiled as his eyes fall on the photos hidden away in those boxes: the two women sitting together and chatting at Hileni's wedding, Zetta's reading a script, lazily sprawled on a chaise long in her apartment. Some had short lines handwritten on the back, like a promotional picture with "Missing you" written by Zetta herself. The curator showed another to Mrs Nowak: a visibly excited Miss Carrem proudly showing to the camera a document announcing her voter registration. On the back, in Zetta's penmanship: "On the way to vote...my sweet Adele won!". "Oh you didn't know? Auntie Adele was a suffragette! I couldn't believe it when I first heard it! Nana told me that she was in and out jail when they lived in London because of protests. You know, like those suffragettes you read about in history books but less famous. Yet she fought for women's rights and kept fighting for them even in America. She was quite disappointed though by some major decisions of some feminist movements and eventually joined a socialist Union 'more rightfully welcoming working class individuals, immigrants and black brothers and sisters'. It's all in those letters but yeah, you couldn't possibly know. So little is known about her outside family". A little smile drew on her face as she put back the photo. "That photo was taken the day of the first election open to women. I checked the date. I suppose Zetta wanted to immortalise the moment...it was sweet of her, huh? Auntie Adele must have been so proud and overjoyed that day! You know, my Dad was born in 1920 when women's right to vote was legalised nationally and Nana once told me that Auntie commented the lucky coincidence saying she was incredibly happy her nephew would get to live in a fairer world. She was a true force of nature...she never talked much of the sinking of the Titanic just like Zetta and Nana actually but when one day Dad asked...he was barely a child and probably found an old article about the tragedy...Auntie Adele minimised but Nana assured him that her sister saved her life that night, risking her own to go down to the belly of the sinking ship to bring her to safety. Auntie simply shrugged, saying that it was what sisters do and that they made it to the lifeboats only thanks to Zetta, who shouted protests to stubborn officers and eventually found them a spot on a boat. I cannot even bring myself to imagine how scary that must have been: I cried so much when Madeleine took me to see Leo and Kate...to think they were there and it was all real!" She picked a few other objects out the box: a Shakespeare Sonnets book in a leather cover with golden engravings, with a little handwritten dedication 'To Adele, my sonnet 116. Happy birthday! With all my love, Zetta'; old scripts with annotations, a framed photograph of Adele and Zetta slow dancing barefoot in the living room of a gorgeous Long Island mansion. "These have a sentimental value" Mrs Nowak noted, her voice betraying the flicker of emotions as she picked it up. She took a deep sigh and continued. "I remember the day I told Dad I was gay as it was yesterday. We had always been quite close so it came natural to tell him first. We were in his car, he had come straight from college to pick me up at ice-skating practice. I..I dropped it in the middle of a conversation, bracing myself for the worst. I heard so many bad stories about coming out to your parents I was terrified of the consequences but I couldn't hide it anymore. I mean, yes, in public: bullies get even nastier if they know and I didn't want people shouting me "dyke" at school. But I needed to get it out of my chest...with someone at least. He kept quiet for a moment and I felt like drowning in shame. But then he spoke". A nostalgic tender smile formed Julia's lips. "He said he had two amazing Aunties that contributed to make his life a wondrous adventure. It was thanks to them that he, the son of a baker, could attend a prestigious college, for instance: they offered to pay for it without asking a penny back. They also helped him write his first romantic letter to his childhood sweetheart and consoled him when the little girl turned him down. But his Aunties had a secret, he added. He said: to my kid eyes they were no less a couple than Mom and Dad and at home we all treated them in manner but one day Mom made me promise to behave differently when we were in public. In public I would refer to her sister as 'Auntie Adele' but call Zetta by her name. He didn't get it and it took some getting used to. He soon noticed that even the Aunties behaved a bit differently out in the sun: they wouldn't hold hands or use endearing words in the street or when other people were around. They simply behaved like good friends did. He understood it later when he, as stubborn as a mule, asked them directly". Julia gently grazed her fingers on the glass of the framed photograph, caressing it. "And they told me everything, he said. That they were in love, just like mom and dad were, but people out there could be uncomfortable and extremely rude to women loving other women and men loving other men. That they kept their companionship a secret in public because those people had no problems with women being friends and they didn't want to have bad words or worse happening to them. I remember asking him what he thought about it. He smiled. 'I cried. Since Auntie Zetta mentioned people claiming that women like them were sick and would burn in hell, I actually started crying. I sobbed desperately in her arms, crying that I didn't want them to burn in hell, I loved my Aunties and I was happy they loved each other. Eventually they explained me it was just a vile lie spread my malignant people. But I got quite a scare and kept staring at them with puffy red eyes and my face wet with tears for a while. It required lots of cuddling to bring a smile back on my face'. He shook his head, laughing of his endearing naivety. Then he pulled over and looked at me. He continued: 'I still don't get why people keep spreading those mean lies but I know for sure that my Aunties weren't sick and didn't end up in hell and so won't you. Don't believe bullshits like that for a split second, okay? And I also want you to remember that it doesn't change a thing for me and mom too. You will always be my little girl, our little girl and we love you'. We shared a long hug before driving back home. On the way back he insisted to buy my favourite chicken and waffles for dinner, saying mom's veggie soup could wait. For my birthday, a month later or so, he asked me to follow him to the attic and showed me this chest. To meet the Aunties that 'would have surely been there for me'". She tipped away a tear. "I told you I married Madeleine right after the legalisation of same-sex marriages. My wedding was also the last public event Mom and Dad attended together before his health worsened irremediably. He passed away last year". For a moment she looked on the verge of tears but she recovered quickly. "Sorry...anyway, that day Dad insisted on walking me down the aisle even if he was getting weak. He beamed with pride when a friend fixed a rainbow ribbon to his jacket. Later at the lunch he read a speech he had written for the day, his hand shaking. He shared the story of his Aunties. He said that despite the hardships their situation forced upon them, they had quite a happy life together, a happiness carefully hidden from the world. He wished us to find something similar to what they shared without needing to hide anymore. He said Adele and Zetta would have been so happy and proud to celebrate with all of us that day" Mrs. Nowak picked the Shakespeare Sonnet book and gave him a fond look. "He brought this to the wedding. And he read for us the sonnet 116, the one Zetta mentioned in her dedication. You know, the one that starts with 'Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments..." ----------------------- A few months later the exhibition on old Hollywood queer cinema and artists opened. Each artist had a room that soon filled with a crowd of enthusiastic visitors. In the first half, in a room arranged as a turn of the century nickelodeon with velvet chairs, all the memorabilia of Zetta Serda's public life: panels explaining the various stages of her career and the birth of her myth, promotional pictures of her performances, articles about her and a copy of a gazette announcing her wedding with the director Richard King. On the wall, on a screen her entire filmography rolled up in loop, bewitching spectators after a century. In display cases: the gorgeous sapphire necklace she wore on her last night on the Ship of Dreams and at the movie party of Surviving the Titanic, and a replica of her Cleopatra costume. The aging Queen of Egypt with a tragic love and destiny immortalised by Shakespeare was her last role back on the theater stage before retiring from the scenes. Old scripts with her personal annotation were displayed with photographs taken on sets and mundane events. The wall hosting the motion-picture screen cut the room in half. On the other side, the hidden half of her life. Her life with Adele no one suspected back then. A life kept secret that now unveiled in front of the eyes of the visitors. The curators discovered that finding public pictures of Miss Carrem was nearly impossible, true to the nickname she acquired as time went by: The Shadow. She stayed at Zetta's side until and even after she stopped acting, showing rare loyalty and devotion, but ever surrounded by this mystery allure. No one, even the most stubborn reporters managed to know anything about her and she was soon dismissed as a Titanic survivor, possibly a fan, who worked as Zetta's secretary and somehow gained her respect. Little they knew about the depth of their relationship and what stacks of secret letters and family memories revealed of the life of Miss Carrem. A panel finally told her story and her secret achievements: Adele, or better Adal, kept fighting for a fairer world and society her whole life and marched for women's right to vote on the famous parade in 1915. She also passed the teaching of Edith Garrud to her American sisters. The only pictures of her came from the Nowak family, except for one. The only photograph of a public appearance of Miss Carrem as well as the only known public appearance of Zetta and Adele. An old grainy photo accurately framed showed Adele shaking hands with The Unsinkable Molly Brown on a podium. In her free hand a shiny medal and a few steps behind the mayor of New York. According to the panel, the survivors' committee founded by Mrs. Brown decided to award Miss Carrem a medal for bravery and a generous check "to help her and her sister starting a new life in America". With great surprise, Miss Carrem received the medal and the check, thanked the board but refused the honors. Instead, she asked to deliver them both to the family of a certain Charlie Stoke, a stewart that lost his life in the sinking to save her life and those of many passengers. She added that her friend expressed the desire to study naval engineering one day and she wished that the money kindly offered to her would be enough to establish a scholarship for boys like him across the ocean. In another picture, Miss Carrem and her sister chatted with Moll Brown in company of Zetta. Eventually, other philanthropists and wealthy socialites signed checks for her cause so that the Stoke family received a generous contribution too. And today, as another picture confirmed, the faculty of naval engineering of the University of Newcastle hosts a marble engraving of Charlie Stoke: to his memory a scholarship had been instituted one year after on the anniversary of the sinking. Since 1913 it has been helping students of poor background to get an education and improve their life. Zetta herself became a philanthropist during her Renaissance and ever since. The first act of her new phase of her life was joining the Moll Brown survivors committee to provide help to the second and third class passengers families and survivors. Some said that the tragedy she witnessed touched her heart, other claimed that it was to be attributed to the influence of her publicist. Jokingly, she used to say that after all, she had too much money yet all she could have wished for in her life, so why not doing some good with it? A considerable donation under her and Mr King was received by the main hospital during the Spanish flu pandemic; she was particularly active in providing financial help to struggling neighbourhoods and female education institutions. In the middle of the room, a long glass display hosted the Shakespeare Sonnets opened at sonnet 116 and a selection of the private correspondence between Zetta and Adele. My darling, You will receive this letter tomorrow morning when I'll be already off to Chicago. The suitcases are ready and packed, this is a goodnight note scribbled the night before leaving you to remind you how much I love you and care about you. How much I'm going to miss you even if - thank God! - we won't be parted for long... Do not forget you promised me to write every day! Write to me, Adele, write to me whatever thought crosses that gorgeous mind of you: you know I could you rambling for hours without getting tired of the sound of your voice, of your sparkling wisdom. I wanna know everything. So don't be shy: I'll be waiting your letters with tender impatience. Can't wait to be in your arms once more. Adoringly yours, Zetta - Dear, dearest Zetta, I went to Central Park today with Hileni. It was a gorgeous spring day, sunny, a gentle breeze blowing: 'simply too beautiful to be wasted inside' as my sister put it. Did I tell you that she's still exchanging letters with the delivery boy from the hat shop? I thought they were over but apparently he invited her to the nickelodeon next week. Anyway, walking in the park with her I suddenly realised how I wanted to share that spring wonder with you. When are you coming back to New York? Tell me soon, please. And even 'soon' won't be soon enough: you're always on my mind since you left. But yes, tell me soon so I can make you promise we will go for a walk before the weather becomes too hot. Do you think I can wrap my arm with yours? Is it professional enough for a publicist? Even just for a few steps: oh you have no idea how I would love that! Or maybe you have? I hope so: it'd mean you miss me as much as I miss you when we are apart. Oh, I almost forgot: all settled with that magazine you mentioned before your departure! I negotiated a two pages long interview, plus pictures. And a cover mention. Hope I did well: you have already fired me as your secretary, I must prove you I am just what you're looking for in a publicist... Can't wait to see you again! Loving you always, Adele Only one letter was copied on a panel of its own on the main wall side by side with a blow-up of the picture of Adele and Zetta slow-dancing barefoot and free, for a blessed moment immortalised in a discreet shot. Adele pressing a tender kiss on Zetta's forehead, drawing a soft smile on the acrtress' lips. Many visitors commented it was heartwarming to see such a photograph that conveyed the intimacy and the warmth of affection radiating from the dancing couple. Some said that Zetta was even more beautiful like that: free, hair slightly askew and genuinely happy, loved. What stole their hearts away though was the letter attached to it. It was no surprise that the curators decided to name the retrospective Underwater. Dearest Adele, Forgive me for the tone of this letter. I am writing it down in bed while I cannot sleep and my mind runs back to you as if we could meet halfway between the miles separating us, in a world of fantasy of our own. It's ridiculous how much I miss you! I want you near, I need you near all the time. Take tonight: if you were here with me, I would be heavenly sleeping in your loving embrace. Most unfortunately, you are not and I'm lying here, insomniac, thinking of you. And about my life. No, don't frown. I am not getting all sad again. It's...bittersweet. And - I'll spoil you the ending so you will stop worrying, hopefully - it gets better the more you proceed. Have you ever felt trapped underwater? I did, my whole life. Always hiding, always measuring words, gestures, gazes not to let them see, not to let them know...so little time to go up and break the surface. Drop the mask and breathe. In, out. Once, twice. In my lowest moments I repeated to my myself: how are you gonna survive? One day an acquaintance with a remarkable passion for the sea explained me and the other bored commensals that you can keep someone alive by breathing oxygen into their mouth underwater. Pretty much like mouth-to-mouth resuscitation helps an unconscious person to regain consciousness. I found it interesting but doubted his words. Then I met you, Adele. My dearest, wondrous Adele. And I learnt that yes, you can't breathe if you're constantly underwater...but you won't drown if you have the right person swimming by your side in those deep waters. Put your lips on me, Adele. Touch me, hold me in your arms. And I can live underwater. With your love, I can live underwater. We can live underwater. I love you. I want to cover a full page of these three simple words: I love you. I want to cry them out and entrust them to the winds, to the night. But what for? Who cares if the world knows or not? I'll whisper them over your lips when we will be reunited. So you can breathe underwater. Counting down the hours separating us, my love. Eternally yours, Zetta

#titanic storyscape #sc titanic #zetta serda #adele carrem #zetta x adele #zetta x adele series

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imagineclaireandjamie · 4 years

Note

I just came across the Brian & Ellen live AU and am obsessed. Can you write another update?

anonymous asked: Brian and Ellen AU prompt: Did Ned Gowan manage to get Jamie that pardon? Imagine Jamie being able to live with his family openly again.

—

Brian and Ellen AU / Tell Me About Your Family

Chapter 1 || Chapter 2 || Chapter 3 || Chapter 4 || Chapter 5 || Chapter 6 || Chapter 7 || Chapter 8 || Chapter 9 || Chapter 10 || Chapter 11 || Chapter 12|| Chapter 13 || Chapter 14 || Chapter 15

———-

“The way I see it - of course I can’t say that you didn’t fight, because you did. However, the reason you fought - that was based on a lie.”

Jamie sighed, rubbing his face with his hands, sinking even deeper into one of the chairs at his father’s desk. “My name is on that letter, Ned. Pledging my loyalty to Charles Stuart.”

Ned looked up from his hastily scribbled notes, eyes almost comically huge as they blinked behind his spectacles. “But you didn’t sign the original version of the letter. All we know is that your name appears in the final, published version.”

“And how do you think you’ll find the original?” Brian Fraser slumped in his own chair, mirroring his son’s posture. “You cannae exactly write to the prince and ask for the original copy.”

Ned smiled. “No - but I can find out the name of the printer who originally published it. He had to have been given something to work from.”

“You mean, the original version of the letter?” Jamie thumped his head back against the chair. “It cannae hurt to ask, I suppose. But even if you were to find the printer, there’s no guarantee he’d still have the original letter. Or that whatever he has, includes signatures.”

Calmly Ned lay the palms of his hands flat against the time-polished wood of Brian’s desk. “Are you saying you do not want me to try?”

Brian reached out to squeeze Jamie’s shoulder. “No. Let’s try. We have to.”

---

“Wait - hold on. And what’s in that crate?”

Rab Fraser huffed and shifted his burden to his free shoulder. Ellen Fraser squinted first at the side of the crate, and then at the inventory clutched in her hand.

“Box 14...more ledgers. Bring that to Da’s study, please, a bhailach.”

Rab disappeared down the hallway, just as Fergus and Young Jamie appeared, carrying another crate between them.

Ellen sighed. “I knew the library at Leoch was grand - but I had no idea that Colum had added so much!”

At her side, Claire looked down at her own copy of the inventory. “Box 27...books in Greek and Latin. Would you mind if that one goes to my and Jamie’s bedroom, for now? He’ll know how best to sort them.”

“Aye. Away ye go, lads!”

And they did, breathing heavily as they navigated the crate upstairs.

“I don’t know if I ever told you about my audiences with Colum, when I first came to Leoch.” Claire adjusted the fabric wrapped around her shoulder and middle, and ten-month-old William Fraser blinked from his cocoon like a wee owl. “He didn’t know what to make of me. And he would only see me in his library.”

“I would sit in there for hours and hours on end.” Ellen sank into a spare chair, carefully laying the paper inventory on the dining room table. “It was my escape. Colum and I - we would pass many a cold winter afternoon there. Especially after the trouble with his legs started...he would lay on Father’s couch, and I’d read to him.”

Claire smiled sadly. “What would you read?”

“Greek odes. Shakespeare’s sonnets. Father’s library had so much to offer.” She smiled tightly. “I didnae have much of a formal education - apart from the basics, that is. I forced my way in to Colum and Dougal’s lessons wi’ their tutors. Even if I had to press myself up against the door, to listen.”

Brian appeared through the door. “They’re still unpacking?”

“Ian should be back any moment with the last wagonload.” Claire craned her neck, looking through the window and into the dooryard. “I still can’t believe how much Ned was able to save.”

“I still cannae believe he found the printer in Edinburgh who published Charles Stuart’s letter.” Brian eased into the chair beside his wife, and gently took her hand as she sighed.

“He’s always had a knack for that sort of thing.” Ellen squeezed Brian’s work-roughened hand. “Creative ideas. It’s kept him alive. And now, it keeps him young.”

“Jamie once told me something he had overheard Dougal say to Colum.” Carefully, Claire pulled William from his wrap, and settled his solid wee legs onto her lap, kissing the curls at his crown. “That they had only one brain and one cock between them.”

Ellen’s laugh rang clear through the house.

“Oh, Claire - I havenae heard anything so funny in years.”

“Humor is best when it rings true,” Claire agreed.

“And it will take me precisely two seconds to guess which brother had which.” Brian shook his head. “I was right to take ye away from them, mo nighean ruaidh.”

Ellen turned to face her husband. “Can ye blame me for jumping at the first chance I got?”

Faith, Brianna, Maggie, and Kitty scampered by in the hallway, giggling. On their heels, Jamie poked his head through the doorway - smiling broadly at his son, who squealed in delight.

“Here ye all are. Ian just returned wi’ the final wagon.” He crossed the room and picked up his squirming son, tossing him up in the air.

Claire, Brian, and Ellen rose, just in time for Rab and Fergus and Young Jamie and Jenny and Ian to descend on the dining room once moor, huffing under the weight of the crates representing all that was left of Castle Leoch, and Colum MacKenzie.

---

The Fraser/Murrays were still unpacking the crates six days later, when Fergus darted into the house to announce that a visitor was approaching.

Ned Gowan rolled into the dooryard looking a little worse for wear, and for the tenth time Ellen was grateful that two of Grannie MacNab’s grandsons had accompanied him on the journey to Edinburgh. Ellen wrapped a kind arm around his back as soon as he alighted from the wagon, welcoming him home and promising a restorative meal and drink within minutes.

So it was that Brian and Ellen and Jamie and Claire and Ian and Jenny and Rab all gathered around the dining room table - Ned sitting at the head, tucking into an enormous portion of neeps and tatties. Regaling those assembled with tales of what he had seen on the road - the empty villages, the beggars, the highwaymen, the despair.

Edinburgh, fortunately, was largely unchanged - just featuring more redcoated soldiers than he had ever seen. Fortunately with the help of the MacNab lads, they had secured lodging and begun their interviews of every printer on the Royal Mile.

“We finally found him on the fifth day. Abraham Bell. He barely escaped the noose himself, after the Rising. He didn’t want to speak at first, but when I told him that I am formerly of Castle Leoch...”

Beneath the table, Jamie threaded his fingers through Claire’s, squeezing impatiently.

“...only after much cajoling that he furnished the copy of the letter that a member of Charles Stuart’s retinue had provided to him.”

“And?” Jamie’s voice was desperately calm.

Ned chewed on a potato, then swallowed. “It included the printed names of the signatories, and included a blank space where the signatures where meant to be. Your signature, Jamie - it decidedly was not there.”

“That doesna mean anything.” Jamie clenched his free hand into a fist on top of the table. “This Mr. Bell could have just been furnished a list of names to print.”

Ned set down his spoon. “Yours was the only signature not on the page, Jamie. All others were written, in ink.”

Claire let out a shaky breath, desperately squeezing Jamie’s hand.

“And the printer added Jamie’s,” Brian interjected, “because his was the only one not there.”

Ned nodded, beaming. “Precisely.”

“With respect,” Jenny piped up, “isn’t it only your word against this Mr. Bell’s? How can ye convince anyone of this?”

Ned’s smile widened even further, and he patted his breast pocket. “Because I have the letter here.”

He turned to Jamie. “We have evidence to support the petition. Do you still want to move forward?”

“Yes,” Jamie breathed, without hesitation. “Yes. Definitely.”

Ned picked up his spoon and dove back into his food. “Then tomorrow, lad - we begin.”

#1life2rock #;mod gotham #brian and ellen au

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leggomylino · 4 years

Text

Vividly | Lee Felix

Genre: fluff, comedy, college au, poetry au(?)

Pairing: Lee Felix x fem!reader

Word Count: ~1.1k

A/n: Masterlist → in bio!!! | I hope you enjoy 🎔

~ ❀❀❀~

[오후 6:10]

“Shall I compare thee to a warm summer’s day? Or, perhaps, to...uh…”

He tapped the tip of his pen against his chin. On the floor somewhere diagonally behind him, Han divided up the pizza while Minho begrudgingly rose to pay, seeing as Han “accidentally” tripped and dropped the bill on his lap.

“...Oh!” He smiled, scribbling as fast as his hand would allow. “...to...a...flower…uh...of Spring! Done!”

Gathering his day’s work atop his desk, Felix beamed proudly at the words he’d managed to weave together. Tapping them twice to file, he spun his chair around, waiting for everyone’s attention.

“Minho’ll be back in a sec,” Han said between a mouthful of cheese and pepperoni. “He’s paying the delivery guy downstairs.”

Miffed footsteps could be heard rising up along the walls before, lo and behold, the devil himself arrived. He focused vexed eyes on Han. “This is the last time I’m paying for you. You owe me twenty bucks.”

“Okay.”

“On top of the two-hundred and seventy-five you already owe me.”

“...O-Oh...haha…” He smiled cheesily. “I see you’ve been keeping track.”

Minho deadpanned. “And I can see you’ll be needing floss after this.” He turned to Felix, tucking himself comfortably down into a beanbag chair Felix normally used for gaming nights. “Go ahead, Felix.”

He nodded; this was it. The words he’d spent all day putting together. They had to work, just had to. If they didn’t, well…

Han and Minho thought he’d just be failing English 101. But, really, he’d be failing himself; his chance of winning over the heart of someone very dear to him...an enigma named Y/n L/n.

“Ahem,” He started, mentally preparing himself. He had to treat this moment like the real thing. He had to channel his inner charisma and be as witty and charming as possible, but also rugged and manly...because that’s what girls liked, right? Yet, also, it was important that he was still true to himself...since that was hopefully the person you’d be falling in love with…

“...Is...that it?” Han asked, brows raised. He turned to Minho curiously. “Yo, this reminds me of that one SpongeBob episode where--”

“Quiet, loud mouth,” Minho rolled his eyes. “He just got spacey again, give him a chance.”

“...Ahem,” Felix began again. His eyes scanned the papers before him nervously, palms starting to sweat, words slightly blurring.

“A-And summer’s lease hath all too short a date,

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,

Thou art more lovely and more temperate:

Shall I compare thee to a...warm...summer’s day?

Or perhaps to a flower of spring?”

Lowering the pages, he took a deep breath before smiling as big and...what he was hoping would be happy and gentlemanly as possible.

On the other side of the room, Minho and Han both blinked. Han coughed. “...That...was… ...you wanna take this one, Minho?”

Minho sighed. “Felix…” He tried to smile politely, Felix could tell. But it just wasn’t...there. “Felix, I know you’ve been working on that all day, and you’ve been at this project for three days now. So I’m sure you’re exhausted, and I don’t want you to be too disappointed when I tell you that was just Shakespeare’s Sonnet Eighteen read backwards...and then, something you added to the end. Hey,” He suddenly brightened, giving him an air-nudge. “That last part was original! You can start again with that after, eh…” He listed his head. “...Tomorrow. Definitely tomorrow. You’re gonna make yourself sick like Hyunjin trying to pull off Mrs. Kang’s finale.”

Han paused halfway to starting his third slice. “...Since when do you know anything about English and...nice...words?”

Minho scoffed. “It’s called poetry, genius,” he rebuked, pouring himself a soda from the liters hidden in Felix’s closet. “I just got finished with her class last semester. I had to study so hard that it all just...stuck with me, I guess. Hyunjin and I would have failed if not for Seungmin and Chan’s help.” He cast his gaze back to Felix with a genuine smile. “Don’t worry too much about it. It’s not you, it’s her.”

Han rolled his eyes. “How many girls have you told that t-- oof!”

Minho held another pillow at the ready. “I’m talking about Mrs. Kang, and the assignment!” he hissed, dropping the weapon. “Anyway...here.” he said, handing his untouched plate to the homeowner. “Take a break. Eat a lot.”

“I’ve got a poem for you,” Han piped, recovered. Minho rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time, shaking his head. “Are you ready?”

Felix nodded.

“Okay! Roses are red, violets are blue--”

Minho snorted, glaring over his slice of food. “You’re a moron, and we hate you?”

“NO,” Han blurted, “...” He turned precariously to Felix. “You should have taken Home Ec with me, I told you to.”

Minho groaned. Felix, on the other hand, bowed his head, taking the last slice. The smallest. His first.

“...Perhaps you’re right.”

~ ❀❀❀~

That night, Felix dreamed of a girl who loved poetry, books, words, and the unfathomable. He dreamed of a girl whose dying wish it was to obtain a molecular understanding of the world, one who was not of the world, but was in it. He dreamed of beautiful things, of cherry blossoms dancing in the April breeze along a mountain stream, of a colorful forest in late fall, of a warm cottage home in Winter. Many seasons passed him by, all of which came converging to a single point…

And the possibilities manifested in themselves. They combined together, forming you. A girl with (h/c) hair and sweet (e/c) eyes.

Felix awoke from his dream with a jolt. He was warm, skin humming, thoughts circling round and around and around…

The clock on the wall read two a.m.. Normally, he’d be up gaming at this hour, not jolting awake from a melodiously, affable, jovial-embedded--

...Gasp. Did he just...were those words...from him? Did he think of them all on his own? They just seemed to...come to him. They came to him when he thought about you; your smile, your laugh, how the birds seemed to sing and the flowers swayed to and fro, as if euphorically spinning and twirling to the rhythm of his pining, beating heart…

Yes, he thought. It’s so...inelegant, and tasteless, but…

It was definitely a gift from you. A gift he would not let go to waste.

At 2:03 a.m., Felix sat down at his desk, pen and paper at the ready.

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fairyforselflove · 4 years

Text

William Shakespeare✍🏼

William Shakespeare (bapt. 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616)[a] was an English playwright, poet, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's greatest dramatist. He is often called England's national poet.In his work including collaborations consists of 39 plays,154 sonnet's, two long narrative poems and few other verses.

Shakespeare was born and raised in ,Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and whether the works attributed to him were written by others.

1593 and 1594, when the theatres were closed because of plague, Shakespeare published two narrative poems on sexual themes, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. He dedicated them to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton. In Venus and Adonis, an innocent Adonis rejects the sexual advances of Venus; while in The Rape of Lucrece, the virtuous wife Lucrece is raped by the lustful Tarquin.[179] Influenced by Ovid's Metamorphoses,[180] the poems show the guilt and moral confusion that result from uncontrolled lust.[181] Both proved popular and were often reprinted during Shakespeare's lifetime. A third narrative poem, A Lover's Complaint, in which a young woman laments her seduction by a persuasive suitor, was printed in the first edition of the Sonnets in 1609. Most scholars now accept that Shakespeare wrote A Lover's Complaint. Critics consider that its fine qualities are marred by leaden effects. The Phoenix and the Turtle, printed in Robert Chester's 1601 Love's Martyr, mourns the deaths of the legendary phoenix and his lover, the faithful turtle dove. In 1599, two early drafts of sonnets 138 and 144 appeared in The Passionate Pilgrim, published under Shakespeare's name but without his permission.

Sonnets

Published in 1609, the Sonnets were the last of Shakespeare's non-dramatic works to be printed. Scholars are not certain when each of the 154 sonnets was composed, but evidence suggests that Shakespeare wrote sonnets throughout his career for a private readership.

Shakespeare's first plays were written in the conventional style of the day. He wrote them in a stylised language that does not always spring naturally from the needs of the characters or the drama. The poetry depends on extended, sometimes elaborate metaphors and conceits, and the language is often rhetorical—written for actors to declaim rather than speak. The grand speeches in Titus Andronicus, in the view of some critics, often hold up the action, for example; and the verse in The Two Gentlemen of Verona has been described as stilted.

However, Shakespeare soon began to adapt the traditional styles to his own purposes. The opening soliloquy of Richard III has its roots in the self-declaration of Vice in medieval drama. At the same time, Richard's vivid self-awareness looks forward to the soliloquies of Shakespeare's mature plays.[197][198] No single play marks a change from the traditional to the freer style. Shakespeare combined the two throughout his career, with Romeo and Juliet perhaps the best example of the mixing of the styles.[199] By the time of Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, and A Midsummer Night's Dream in the mid-1590s, Shakespeare had begun to write a more natural poetry. He increasingly tuned his metaphors and images to the needs of the drama itself.

Shakespeare's standard poetic form was blank verse, composed in iambic pentameter. In practice, this meant that his verse was usually unrhymed and consisted of ten syllables to a line, spoken with a stress on every second syllable. The blank verse of his early plays is quite different from that of his later ones. It is often beautiful, but its sentences tend to start, pause, and finish at the end of lines, with the risk of monotony.Once Shakespeare mastered traditional blank verse, he began to interrupt and vary its flow. This technique releases the new power and flexibility of the poetry in plays such as Julius Caesar and Hamlet.

After Hamlet, Shakespeare varied his poetic style further, particularly in the more emotional passages of the late tragedies.

Shakespeare combined poetic genius with a practical sense of the theatre

He reshaped each plot to create several centres of interest and to show as many sides of a narrative to the audience as possible. This strength of design ensures that a Shakespeare play can survive translation, cutting and wide interpretation without loss to its core drama.As Shakespeare's mastery grew, he gave his characters clearer and more varied motivations and distinctive patterns of speech. He preserved aspects of his earlier style in the later plays, however. In Shakespeare's late romances, he deliberately returned to a more artificial style, which emphasised the illusion of theatre.

TOP 15 SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS

1 Hamlet

2 King Lear

3A Midsummer Night’s Dream

4The Winter’s Tale

5Twelfth Night

6The Tempest

7Othello

8 The Merchant of Venice

9As you like it

10 Henry IV part 1

11All’s Well That Ends Well

12 Much Ado about nothing

13 Romeo and Juliet

14 Measure for Measure

15King Richard

So these are informations ablut William Shakespeare.I love so much his poems and his plays.I do my research to find the informations.

#poetry #feel yourself #feel proud #make them feel #positive #feelings #follow your dreams #positivity #poem #William Shakespeare

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bitchbrisket · 4 years

Text

First Lines Tag

Tagged by @slightlyintimidating

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line. Then tag 10 authors!

As all my mutuals have been tagged already, I’ll just tag a couple of people, @tara-stofse and @rapidashpatronus

I’m also going to cheat and give you a favourite line from each one, simply because the first line is rarely the best and why not be a big fat show off where your writing is concerned? Didn’t link because I am a lazy cow but my AO3 profile is at the top of my page.

1. (The Worst Witch 2017) A friend like you – 'Get in loser, we're going shopping!'

Sometimes I come up with good titles and sometimes I desperately flail around and this was the best I could do. Most people should know what the opening line is a reference to and it was the first thing I thought of when the idea of this fic materialised.

· 'I know you think you're hot stuff, but Dimity can run rings around you. You have the acting skills of a potato' she icily informed a miffed Arabella.’

2. (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) An education - 'I confess, I fail to understand the point of most of them.'

Again, another crappy title but for some reason, no song lyric or poem came to me on the subject of policemen raiding a Chinese brothel in the 1920s and confiscating vibrators because they look like suspicious instruments. I did lift the first line from the script because that is partly what I based the fic on. 0/10 for originality there.

· ‘The benefit of having so many deities, Lin reflected, was that there was always someone in, should you knock on the door of their shrines.’

3. (The Worst Witch 2017) Poker – ‘Miss Bat scuttled along to the staffroom after her date and walked in, only to halt in surprise.’

Good Lord, I’m really not selling it to you with these boring titles am I? I’ve done the strip poker storyline with the hairpins in another fandom and couldn’t think up a clever title for that either.

· ‘Clothes were strewn everywhere but in front of Hecate, there was a small pile of hairpins and nothing else.’

4. (The Worst Witch 2017) Which witch is which? – ‘Wychwood forest was a mysterious place, full of wrackspurts and helipoaths and blibbering humdingers. Sometimes you'd even see a crumple horned snorcack galloping along.’

Yes, alright I borrowed something off the world of Harry Potter. A fic based off a post off of a popular post on Tumblr and title borrowed off Dianna Wynne Jones I think.

· 'Watch out for the blibbering humdingers!' she shouted vengefully after the troublesome tourists.’

5. (The Worst Witch 2017) They do it with mirrors - 'I've missed you.'

Very general, basic bitch kind of starter. Dial up the smut o’metre because witches are having the equivalent of webcam sex. Written for the Hackle Lemonade Challenge, prompt kink. Wasn’t one of my favourites to write but it does have one of my favourite paragraphs in a smutty fic. Beats the first line anyway.

· ‘She groaned and panted as her climax finally overtook her, glad of the extra support from the solid oak furniture. None of this modern rubbish that couldn't withstand a good hard fuck. There was a time and a place for IKEA but this was not it.’

6. (The Worst Witch 2017) Every inch of you – ‘Ada loved it when Hecate lightly raked her nails down her back.’

Diving straight into the smut for this other Hackle Lemonade Challenge, prompt kink fic. Title entirely appropriate.

· ‘While many people over the years could make it happen, it was a secret delight to know that nobody did it better than her.’

7. (The Worst Witch 2017) The hum of your desire – ‘Ada woke up to an empty bed.’

At least it’s promising. The story can go anywhere when you start off with an empty bed. The bed is irrelevant anyway. They end up on the sofa.

· ‘Hecate Hardbroom was nothing but a meticulous over achiever.’

8. (The Worst Witch 2017) You’re the night sky, trying to make me see your stars – ‘Hecate had been afraid to touch.’

Throws you right into the scene and lets you know there’s going to be a bit of angst in there. I love the song I took the title from (night sky – Leonell Cassio & Julia Mihevc) and I waited for a fic idea to materialise so I could use it.

· ‘Ada could feel her breathing, steady and true, vibrating through to her heart.’

9. (Ghosts) Hide & seek – ‘Giggling madly, she galloped up the stairs to seek out the best hiding place ever.’

With several of the ghosts with backstories we have yet to uncover, the possibilities are endless. Poor Kitty had to die young so I gave her a death loosely based on an English ghost story, using all the unsavoury incidents involving her sister. Title needs no explanation.

· ‘And shimmering obliquely in the corner of the landing, was the answer. The wooden chest. The one from the latest sailing ship that had brought back all that sugar and tea and rum.’

10. (The Worst Witch 2017) When breathing sounds like your song – ‘She hadn't let herself enjoy it at first.’

Luckily the only way from there is forward. For the Hackle Lemonade Challenge 2021, prompt firsts. Not sure where I got the title from, it’s possible I melded a couple of song lyrics together for it.

· ‘I always feel thirsty after a pleasurable experience' she said cheerfully.’

11. (Holby City) There is no goat that foolish – ‘Serena patted down her wide brimmed hat and set off for a walk.’

It’s an ok start to the fic. The title is terrible but honestly, its just hard to find references to goats in general.

· ‘She only just realised that they were conversing in English, not French. The other woman had a London accent. Good. She could shout at her more expressively in English.’

12. (The Worst Witch 2017) Sugar mouse – ‘What is it?’

So many possibilities here. The title does give it away, but still.

· ‘In her nightmares, her grandfather had chased her around with an eyeball on a fork.’

13. (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) Stitch up - ‘I’d like to see you operate my sewing machine, Hugh Collins.’

Another shameless ripping off from the script. But nothing else can sum up this fic so perfectly. Title self-explanatory.

· ‘Were sewing machines like dogs? He wondered. Did they take on the personalities of their owners?’

14. (Pushing Daisies) Girls don’t want boys, girls want damn respect – ‘Her boy always had an eye for the ladies.’

What a ridiculously clunky title. But apparently I couldn’t think of anything better. The opening line is much better.

· ‘Calista was reminded of the principal at school that Emerson had crushed on so hard that he'd broken every fire alarm in the school over the course of several months just to get her attention. Some things never changed.’

15. (Holby City) Tell us the tale of a goat – ‘Did I ever tell you about how Serena and I met?’

A solid opening there, full of potential. The title is a bit crap. No, I have no idea why or how Serena would be working on the Italian railway either.

· ‘You dressed one up in a poncho and called it aunt Gertrude?’ Fleur asked eventually. She really couldn’t think of anything better to say.’

16. (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) In the gracious light – ‘Jack tried not to let their questioning stares get to him.’

Based partly on the MFMM books, I’m happy with the opening line, it sets the tone. The title comes from Shakespeare’s Sonnet VII. ‘Lo! in the orient when the gracious light.’ With that, it ties in Jack and Lin quite nicely.

· ‘After all, grandmama had warned him enough about the distraction of white girls. She had said nothing about white boys.’

17. (Holby City) Not yet – ‘Bernie wouldn't describe herself as an avid reader these days.’

Title taken from a line in the book Wicked. Opening line is pretty generic. I basically wrote this fic because Elphaba reminds me of Bernie in some respects. Also, premonition, sorry about that.

· ‘In her mind, it was Serena in that cell, stretching out her hand to Bernie and chiding her affectionately for her delay.’

18. (Ghosts) Filth – ‘The Captain paid no attention to Lady Button's shrewish tone two rooms away.’

Simple title, simple opening line. Very direct. It’s the ‘why didn’t the Captain and Lady Button bond over the hot gardener in Lady Chatterly’s Lover together’ fic.

· ‘The Captain sighed. That husband of hers had a lot to answer for. Bastard. He couldn't have killed her by poison or anything, no, he had to push her out of the damn window.’

19. (Ghosts & Holby City crossover) Over the top we go – ‘He couldn't believe it.’

So many things one couldn’t believe, a pretty generic opening. The title is a WW1 reference so not the correct war for the Captain but I used it anyway. Bernie is Haver’s niece.

· ‘The Captain looked pleased but there was an expression in his eyes that Alison thought hid a sob in his heart.’

20. (Holby City) Boobs – ‘Arthur Digby was having a terrible day.’

Title, utterly crap, I know you’ll agree. Opening line, sums it up really. I like it.

· 'Well, call me Da Vinci and I'll paint you like one of those French girls.'

Art wasn't Fleur's strong point.’

So what did I learn about my opening lines? It does reflect my writing style, snappy and concise. I rarely ramble for long. Are they thrilling opening lines? Not usually. Do they set the scene or the tone? Much of the time. They are certainly not the best ones I’ve ever written. Considering that I don’t love most of these last lot of opening lines, I’m going to go with which witch is which? It’s the best one of the bunch, I think.

#fanfiction

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la-paritalienne · 4 years

Note

Eve!!!! Need your thoughts about Taylor's album!!!! 💓💓💓💓💓💓

i love getting asked :”(((((( :”))))))) thank uuuuuuuu. let’s get to it. as usual, it’s an almost-first impression (normally i write my basic thoughts during the first listen – yeah i’d started doing it before getting this, you know, just in case – and then i review them w a second one, where i also select my favourite passage). sooo, let’s go

♡♡♡♡

the 1 — such sweet yet heartbreaking lyrics... very soft sound, if it sets the mood for the album im 100 per cent in! This one didn’t stick w me after one listen, but after the second i was like wooow! I love how she says waking up alone ughhh. 8

fave lyrics: persist and resist the temptation to ask you / if one thing had been different / would everything be different today?

cardigan — !!!!!!! the sound has that bittersweet something that gets under your skin and makes you nostalgic for something you can’t even pinpoint. it reminds me of the softest lana, especially in nfr (eg bartender!!). i’m in awe. instant obsession!!!! the ending takes you to another plane of existence – ‘cause i knew everything when i was young... i knew you’d miss me... you’d come back to me. also i’m crying. 10+

[it’s hard to choose bc the whole song reads like poetry but i’m especially obsessed w] giving me your weekends; once in twenty lifetimes; tried to change the ending / peter losing wendy; you drew stars around my scars

the last great american dynasty — storytelling on pointttt and sound, too! telling the story of someone she bought her house from?? the genius jumped out. she paints it like a romantic portrait, mad woman pacing on the shore, but then also gatsbian, the crazy parties, dali... and then takes it back to today w the key lime green dog, idk, iconic. i want to know this woman. this song truly takes you somewhere else, i thought it was a bit repetitive but then the bridge came in and the final vocals plus i had a marvelous time ruining everything, i have to stan! 8+

there goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen / she had a marvelous time ruining everything

exile — ok wow, bon iver’s voice is something else!!!! i was kind of ignorant when it came to him, i admit. his depth and rasp paired with how angelic she sounds... heavenly. sound-wise, but also thematically, this vaguely reminds me of tomorrow never came w lana and sean ono lennon. (one of my fave songs of all time maybe?). the way they enunciate i think i’ve seen this film before is literally a work of art all in itself, not to mention – well i’m mentioning it bc it’s worth it! – the you never gave a warning sign vs the way she goes over it w i gave so many signs. god this makes me feel sooooo sad and like, involved. it’s so beautiful. 10

you’re not my homeland anymore / so what am i defending now?

my tears ricochet — ok wtfffff??? everything about this speaks to my soul. the airy voice, the way she sets the scene... sunlit room, the funeral metaphor, you turned into your worst fears. i didn’t have it in myself to go with grace speaks to me more than anything, but just, everything about the lyrics. truly something else, cursing my name / wishing i stayed gives me chills everytime she says it. the beat that gets more insistent towards the end, with the bridge....... the high notes that then fade..... just wow. 10

and i can go anywhere i want / anywhere i want, just not home / and you can aim for my heart, go for blood / but you would still miss me in your bones / and i still talk to you when i’m screaming at the sky / and when you can’t sleep at night you hear my stolen lullabies

mirrorball — love the lyrics, maybe a bit less the sound? i mean i do love the sound, so far i’m loving how softly produced and coherent this album is, but this one i wouldn’t listen to on repeat and maybe there’s something a bit whiny that i don’t love. powerful meaning tho, and who’d use a mirrorball as a metaphor for feeling like you’re fragile, trying too hard to be a people-pleaser and no one sees the real you? 7

i’m still trying everything to keep you looking at me

seven — ah........ i started crying as soon as this one started, pleeease picture me in the trees, i hit my peak at seven....... like ok there’s no need to go that hard??? it’s so dreamy and like... naïf? in a perfect way. the way she says i still got love for you...... and everything else... she mentions folk songs... the purest love described in the purest way. i don’t think i have enough words to descrive the way this song moves me. like i want to listen to it again and again, to be able to feel like that again, but also i’m almost scared to listen bc it touches me too deeply. i still will tho hehe. 10+ (also just realised this is track 7 ok makes sense but my mind is blown. 100)

[this is literally deeper than a shakespeare sonnet so everything literally is my fave but, having to choose] and i’ve been meaning to tell you / i think your house is haunted / your dad is always mad and that must be why / and i think you should come live with me / and we can be pirates / then you won’t have to cry / or hide in the closet / and just like a folk song / our love will be passed on

august — i love the contrast between the lighthearted, happy singing and guitars and the sad lyrics. the story it tells is so simple and yet there’s so much poetry in that... plus it reminds me of fearless or even speak now?? which are like. the taylor that gets to my heart, tbh. the bridge and the outro made the song for me. 8,5

for me, it was enough / to live for the hope of it all / canceled plans just in case you’d call

this is me trying — oh god... lyrically this song is so raw and honest, it gives me chills! i do have to say, i don’t love how she says i just wanted to know (like metrically?? idk, im weird) but these are really just small comments on amazing songs, bc i feel like all i’m saying is wow this is great, lyrics and sound, but it truly is a complete and consistent work of art, easily listened to top to bottom each time. 8-

they told me all of my cages were mental / so got wasted like all my potential / and my words shoot to kill when i’m mad / i have a lot of regrets about that

illicit affairs — ok this goes without saying but i love storyteller taylor, it’s the taylor i grew up loving and singing to in my room. the thing about most of these songs, this one included, is that they probably grow on you after a few listens, bc they’re not made to be catchy, the production and backgrounds are always very soft and some i love more than others. this one musically maybe isn’t my fave but the narration is on point, and the bridge?? the fuckkkk. plus it has one of mt favourite themes ever which is so rarely spoken about, which is the fact that language you only speak w a particular someone you love, makes you miss them even more when they’re gone. or well not exactly this but i can’t put it into words, she did tho. 8+

you taught me a secret language i can’t speak with anyone else / and you know damn well / for you, i would ruin myself / a million little times

invisible string — the color theme!!! the guitar strumming!!! and the idea of an invisible tie w someone special... i do think she outdid herself w this album. again, not my fave soundwise, maybe slightly whiny when she goes meEeeEee? but, lyrically adorable and moving. 7,5

one single thread of gold / tied me to you

mad woman — maam...... this is iconic shit........ how could she say stuff like this w such a dreamy, breathy voice. musically i get huuuge lana’a nfr vibes again (which i mean. goals) but i also adore that lyrically it’s so taylor, no one would say this shit the way she does. adore how she sings to wrap your news around and bonus for women like hunting witches too, i do love me a nod to the fact that some women are so deeply filled w machism that they’re basically men in disguise. 8,5

every time you call me crazy, i get more crazy / what about that? / and when you say i seem angry, i get more angry [isn’t this just womanhood condensed in a few lines]

epiphany — aw! it sounds like a lullaby, maybe it’s slightly ‘boring’ for my taste? meaning i get distracted which is surely a shame bc the words seem beautiful, but it’s so soft i just drift off? but reading the lyrics – for focus hehe – i’m moved. 7+

only twenty minutes to sleep / but you dream of some epiphany / just one single glimpse of relief / to make some sense of what you’ve seen

betty — okay byeeeeeeeeee. this is taylor at her finest! countryyyyyyyy, storytelling, lesbian jdjdfk no yeah I know I knowww, romance went sour. gut wrenching and beautiful, this feels like... watching a sad teen movie but w a sepia filter, idk. i dreamt of you all summer long oh my......... it’s like og taylor from her iconic first couple of albums came back but w all her baggage and growth and experience and better than ever. also why does taylor sing so wel about being in love w a woman????? well. 10+

betty, right now is the last time / i can dream about what happens when / you see my face again

peace — ..........yes yes yes. the high notes, the honesty, the syncopated parts where she says so much so quick and yet it still hits you. it’s not even a short song but it ends too soon, it goes by like that..... a poem. omg it just hit me this has flo vibes! especially from high as hope, for example grace or south london forever?? i mean... taylor doing alt folk country pop...... queen. give you my wild, give you a child?? ok ok. 10

all these people think love’s for show / but i would die for you in secret

hoax — weeeell the lana inspo jumped out w that piano!!!!! and like. mood. and lyrics...... this reminds me of wuthering heights or of lana’s tormented love stories (shades of blue.....). a powerful closer. poetry. 9

i am ash from your fire

♡♡♡♡

okkkkk this was a flattering review, very well deserved imo since the review is mine gjgjhkhk i agree w myself. thank you again and as i always say, feel free to come back w your comments! and have a great dayyyyy! much love

#taylor swift #folklore #also bonus points for the title #fave ever from her #10 #should i tag my reviews #(i think this has now become the tag)

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