"and the rain stained."
my name is madi (ma/di) I’m eighteen and a Hufflepuff.
I'm a total nerd who likes to draw and fight you over Harry Potter and I will spend hours talking about fashion and I am in love with flying.
As Goncharov lies bleeding out, his last memory is that of a clandestine meeting with Andrey, several decades ago. Both of them use aliases for this - Goncharov introduces himself as Rasmus Lofvgren, and Andrey as Felix Strauss. In long overcoats and felt fedora hats, the two meet at nighttime in a park overlooking the city. Andrey looks young and unburdened, and Goncharov greets him warmly like an old friend. They hug, they laugh, and make small talk, like they’ve been doing it for years and will do so for years more.
Then as their conversation fades, there is a gesture of sudden and unexpected intimacy. The two men still, turn to eachother and Goncharov lights Andrey’s cigarette with the fire from his own. He cradles Andrey’s face with shocking tenderness that speaks of a casual familiarity and Andrey leans into the touch, almost indulgent. There is a moment of tension between them before Andrey looks down, uncharacteristically coy. The camera lingers as they stare at eachother for a few seconds before turning away. As they turn towards the glittering city that will doom them, we fade back to a dying Goncharov.
The nature of the scene is intentionally ambiguous— Andrey has only known Goncharov a few months, so chronologically, it’s out of place. Is it a false memory, a hallucination, or the wish fulfilment of a dying man?
Further examination shows another layer. Goncharov’s chosen alias was that of an actor best known for playing a time traveller, a low-budget sci-fi show whose key theme was defying your destiny. Andrey’s was that of a thespian who was playing a London National Theatre post-modernist production of Odysseus at the time. They are pretending to be other people, who pretend to be other people — actors whose characters escape their tragedy, from stories that defy fate. As if, in telling himself a story where tragic characters can escape, Goncharov puts himself in a story where he, too, can survive.
But the story is already over and nothing can be changed. Goncharov dies a lonely, desolate man, having alienated everyone who cares for him and the last act of tenderness we see him commit never even happened.
—Francine Rubek, Violent Delights, Violent Ends: On Queer Readings of Masculine Tragedy (2003, Oxford University Press)
Douglas Adams is the best when it comes to describe characters
they need to teach classes on Douglas Adams analogies okay
“He leant tensely against the corridor wall and frowned like a man trying to unbend a corkscrew by telekinesis.”
“Stones, then rocks, then boulders which pranced past him like clumsy puppies, only much, much bigger, much, much harder and heavier, and almost infinitely more likely to kill you if they fell on you.”
“He gazed keenly into the distance and looked as if he would quite like the wind to blow his hair back dramatically at that point, but the wind was busy fooling around with some leaves a little way off.”
“It looked only partly like a spaceship with guidance fins, rocket engines and escape hatches and so on, and a great deal like a small upended Italian bistro.”
“If it was an emotion, it was a totally emotionless one. It was hatred, implacable hatred. It was cold, not like ice is cold, but like a wall is cold. It was impersonal, not as a randomly flung fist in a crowd is impersonal, but like a computer-issued parking summons is impersonal. And it was deadly - again, not like a bullet or a knife is deadly, but like a brick wall across a motorway is deadly.”
And, of course:
“The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don’t.”
the one that will always stay with me is “Arthur Dent was grappling with his consciousness the way one grapples with a lost bar of soap in the bath,” i feel like that was the first time i really understood what you could do with words.
I will reblog this every time I see it because these are some of my favorite sentences in the English language.
Sisterhood really be all about throwing pillows into each other’s faces, begging each other not to get married, forming a club that includes one (1) boy you mutually agree to tolerate, and crying on each other’s shoulders huh
u know that thing where an animals grow in a far off place and some idiot introduces him to a new habitat and it turns out its characteristics that help them in their own sometimes are too helpful in the new one and they become like an invasive species yeah thats the word i was missing anyway back to my point i think i saw a human version of that just now i was driving in tonights snow storm and i saw a man wearing a big ass cowboy hat to keep the snow off him and a bandit red bandana to keep it off his face and a big ass pancho to keep him warm and nice ass cowboy boots to keep his calves dry and he was prancing along while everyone on the road looked miserable and frozen solid and idk i guess the point im trying to make here is i feel like cowboys would have taken over russia if given the chance or something
“Cowboys could be an invasive species” is an extremely hot take I wasn’t prepared for
one time we were listening to fleetwood mac in the car and my sister who was probably 4 at the time asked, without being prompted, “can girls marry girls?” and THAT is the power of stevie nicks
funniest thing would be if when Queen Elizabeth dies or steps down and Charles is all ready to assume the throne, here comes King Arthur, Excalibur in hand, sauntering back from Avalon like “oof what a nap! thanks for keeping the chair warm I’m back to be king again”
like, given that “King Arthur isn’t actually dead, he’ll be back to be King again someday” is, like, an actual aspect of the legend and a thing that a lot of people purport to believe, has anyone ever actually tried it? showing up to buckingham palace claiming to be Arthur Pendragon, The Once And Future King, and assume the throne? does the british government have a protocol for checking whether someone claiming to be King Arthur actually is? does parliament have a secret picture of the Real Excalibur kept under lock and key, only viewed if someone claims to be King Arthur, that they can use to confirm or refute the identity of alleged Kings Arthur? if not, how do they deter every jackass with a sward from pretending to be him? does filing a false King Arthur report constitute treason?
i got sad thinking how maybe after a big win or someone’s birthday, bruce decides to take the family out for a meal and well, he’s been pretty busy with batman business these past few months and alfred thinks why not make a public appearance so the world doesn’t think he’s dropped off the face of the earth, which of course means jason can’t accompany them because it’d raise questions about his possible resemblance to a certain very dead ward of bruce wayne
but then i started laughing to the point of crying because imagine jason wearing a blonde wig, a very bad wig he hasn’t even put the least amount of effort into wearing properly on his head, with his normal clothes and everything, and when an interviewer asks him who he is because they know the rest of the kids but not him, he just goes
“my name’s betty. i’m the new orphan” in a deadpan face and voice
Jason, wearing glasses and a fake mustache, in a complete monotone: Hi I am a new orphan child of Bruce Wayne, my name is Tason Jodd.
Vicki Vale: Sir are you aware that you look like Jason Todd
Dick: EXCuuuuuZE me! His name is Tason Jodd!! Did you not hear him? CAn’t YoU SeE hIS glASses? CLEARLY he is not Jason Todd, now dead orphan child of Bruce Wayne, THAT IS RIDICULOUS
if i start reading jason’s name as tason jodd from now on i will specifically make it my life’s sole goal to find you and make you pay
So this…. isn’t canon????
Reporter: So uh, how old are you Betty?
Jason, dressed in his shitty blonde wig and sunglasses : I’m like… fucking twelve
