Navigating Solutions and Darkness

“You’re like some strange mixture of a noblewoman, a street urchin, and a cat. Plus, you’ve managed—in our short three years together—to kill not only my god, but my father, my brother, and my fiancée. That’s kind of like a homicidal hat trick.” Elend Venture: Sanderson, Brandon, The Hero of Ages (Mistborn #3)

 “I am very happy, Jane; and when you hear that I am dead, you must be sure and not grieve: there is nothing to grieve about. We all must die one day, and the illness which is removing me is not painful; it is gentle and gradual: my mind is at rest. I leave no one to regret me much: I have only a father; and he is lately married, and will not miss me.   By dying young, I shall escape great sufferings. I had not qualities or talents to make my way very well in the world: I should have been continually at fault.”               ~ Helen Burns    Excerpt From: Charlotte Brontë,  Jane Eyre

"The only true form of freedom, the only ethical form of freedom, is through self-limitation. It's not the privilege of choosing everything you want in your life, but rather, choosing what you will give up." - Everything is Fucked by Mark Manson 

It is a well-known established fact throughout the many-dimensional worlds of the multiverse that most really great discoveries are owed to one brief moment of inspiration.

Two days afterward, they carried Matthew Cuthbert over his homestead threshold and away from the fields he had tilled and the orchards he had loved and the trees he had planted

Photo by  Mateus Campos Felipe  on  Unsplash "I believe you find life such a problem because you think there are the good people and the bad people,“ said the man. ”You're wrong, of course. There are, always and only, the bad people, but some of them are on opposite sides. " He waved his thin hand towards the city and walked over to the window. “A great rolling sea of evil,” he said, almost proprietorially. “Shallower in some places, of course, but deeper, oh, so much deeper in others. But people like you put together little rafts of rules and vaguely good intentions and say, this is the opposite, this will triumph in the end. Amazing!” He slapped Vimes good-naturedly on the back. “Down there,” he said, “are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any iniquity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathsomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you mi...

Nanny knew all the old, dark stuff – old magic, magic that didn’t need witches, magic that was built into people and the landscape. It concerned things like death, and marriage, and betrothals. And promises that were promises even if there was no one to hear them. - I Shall Wear Midnight, Terry Pratchett

Crossposted from Feminist Quill ; written August 16, 2015 Note: The movie adaptation, Love Simon, is in theatres. Don't miss out! Title:  Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda Author:  Becky Albertalli Series:  N/A #: N/A Year of Publication: 2015 Goodreads Rating (Avg.): 4.3 Goodreads Rating (Mine): 5 Plot Summary: A slice of life novel told in the first person narrative, centering around Simon Spier, a sixteen year old gay boy who's dealing with coming out, with crushing on a boy he's never met in real life, and the Defaults in our lives. "It's a weirdly subtle conversation. I almost don't realize I'm being blackmailed." This is a great way to start a book. It has all the classic hallmarks of a very good opener, and it sucked me in instantly. A successful first person narrative needs an engaging protagonist who's likable on at least a few levels. Simon is that protagonist, and he's likable on a whole bunch of levels. As a cl...

Photo by  Silas Baisch  on  Unsplash Parts of this country has literally been burning for months - years, in fact. North India is a veritable mess of communalism and a marked lack of sanity. South India is cashing in on the opportunity to prove their superiority, but honestly, it's as big a mess as it ever has been. I went on a couple of dates recently with someone I'd been talking to for like, 2-3 years. One of the things that brought us closer was cats. The other was the fact that he worked in Dubai. When I finally met him in person, I realized that Dubai was a subject we both loved more intensely than I had realized. He was brought up in India, notably in Bangalore, and shifted their to work. I came round to things the opposite way. And while literally all of my Indian friends know next to nothing about Dubai, none of my friends from Dubai are interested in eulogizing the place the way I want to. This put my date in a unique position in my friend circle - he ...

Photo by  Arian Darvishi  on  Unsplash "You know you have lost your springtime girl, your Molly on the beach with the wind in her brown hair and red cloak. You have been gone too long from her, and too much has befallen you both. And what you loved, what both of you truly loved, was not each other. It was the time of your life. It was the spring of your years, and life running strong in you, and war on your doorstep and your strong, perfect bodies. Look back, in truth. You will find you recall fully as many quarrels and tears as you do lovemaking and kisses. Fitz. Be wise. Let her go, and keep those memories intact. Save what you can of her, and let her keep what she can of the wild and daring boy she loved. Because both he and that merry little miss are no more than memories anymore.” She shook her head. “No more than memories.” “You are wrong!” I shouted furiously. “You are wrong!” - Assassin's Quest, Robin Hobb