Every 19th Century Novel Ever:

Golden Dust ✨ gifs made by me :)

Types of People as Piratecore Things!

Leviathan: an ancient curse, unnaturally clear water, it goes down and down and is so very dark and you still can't see the bottom, shadows beneath the waves that are more unsettling when you stop seeing them, a pistol at your side, constant vigilance, knowing so much and so little, salt-sores, whispering, always a second away from a mutiny

Whale Song: leaning out over the bow, held up by your faith in your ship and in your own body, wind tangling your hair, broken harmonies falling like meteors from the ratlines, rough hands, knowing how to wash blood out of your clothes, screaming and yelling out to the endless expanse of blue just for the sake of it, running barefoot over the deck and pulling the splinters out one by one, poke and stick tattoos, your crew is your family and you live and die like blood and saltwater

Torn Sails: storms, thunder, toothy smiles and missing teeth, sharks, trusting your blade and nothing else, knowing how to fix broken things, a half-full bottle of rum, always drinking straight from the bottle, intricate tattoos, a story only you can read, maps sprawled beneath your hands, tearing and taking from the world with hungry eyes and sharp teeth

Gold: rich wine, tired eyes, rare smiles, crooked teeth, expressions you've never learned to school into a mask, never being satisfied, the glutted feeling of success, bloody hands, thick soled boots, superstitions, refusing to learn how to swim, strange foods from strange ports, the skeleton of a mermaid hanging in your quarters, piles of coins and artifacts, you've long ago forgotten to fear death

Treasure Map: adventure, lusting for the unknown, another land, another port, another mile from anybody and anything that could stop you, long gulps of alcohol, sleeping rarely, open eyes, you will touch every corner of this earth or you will burn it down trying, knowing every star in the sky by name, never needing or wanting a map, trusting your crew with you life, unwavering faith that the horizon is just another rule to be broken, crooked fingers from being broken and never set properly, scars on your shoulders and left leg, the sound of striking matches one after another

Bloodied Lip: give em hell, bloody smiles like the end of the world, the sound of cannonfire ringing in your ears, sore muscles, pouring alcohol on the cuts that score your body, half because you know what happens if you don't, half to feel the burning one more time, a grave bookmarked at the bottom of the sea, dull knives and false hopes, a shipwreck and laughter as your last words

Academic writing advice inspired by Umberto Eco’s ‘How to Write a Thesis’:

Planning

Determine primary sources/bibliography.

Determine secondary sources/bibliography. 

Find title.

Brainstorm a table of contents with as much detail as possible (with chapters, sections and even paragraphs and sub-paragraphs - see How to Write a Thesis’ own table of contents as an example at the end of this document) (if the first drafted table of contents is good enough, it will not be necessary to start the writing from the beginning).

Do a first draft of the introduction.

Note-taking and research

Use Google Scholar to make sure you do not miss important sources.

Keep the table of contents in mind when researching and take notes of which sources could go where.

While note-taking, differentiate which parts could be used as quotations from the ones that are simply important for the argument.

Eco underlines the importance of what he calls reading sheets, which can be understood as your notes on your readings. According to him, these should contain:

information about the author if he is not a well-known figure;

a brief (or long) summary;

they should mostly consist of quotations (accompanied by all the corresponding page numbers)

any commentaries you might want to add;

an indication of which part (or parts) of your table of contents the information mentioned belongs to.

Keep reading sheets on primary sources (which should be the longest) separate from those on secondary sources (which should only be 1-2 pages long).

In the end, re-read the notes and color-code all the different parts according to where they would fit in your table of contents.

Writing and editing

A good place to start would be by redrafting the introduction.

Define every key/technical term used/mentioned unless indisputably obvious.

General writing tips:

keep sentences short;

do not be afraid to repeat the subject twice (ex: Roberta went to the shop (…) Roberta bought carrots and tomatoes);

avoid excessive details;

avoid subordinate clauses (orações subordinadas);

avoid vague language;

avoid unnecessary adjectives;

avoid the passive voice.

While drafting, write everything that comes to mind. Leave the editing for the end.

Use your tutor as a Guinea pig. Make them read your first chapters (and, progressively, all the rest) well before delivery is due. 

Ask for as much feedback as possible. Ask colleagues, friends and/or family to read your work. They will provide you with more diversified feedback, as well as allowing you to know if your writing is clear to anyone.

Stop playing ‘solitary genius’.

Don’t insist on starting with the first chapter. Start with what you know best and feel more comfortable writing about, then fill in the gaps.

Leave time for editing and try to take at least a one or two days long break in between writing and editing. 

Do not forget to fill in the gaps. When you revisit your writing, go through it with all these writing tips in mind as well as a conscience of what your most common mistakes are.

Use Hemingway in the final editing phase.

Quotations and footnotes

Since there are two kinds of sources (primary and secondary), there are also two kinds of quotations: either we quote a text which we will interpret, or we quote a text which supports your interpretation.

Some quotation rules to know:

“Quote the object of your interpretive analysis with reasonable abundance.”

 “Quote the critical literature only when its authority corroborates or confirms your statements. (…)  when quoting or citing critical [aka secondary] literature, be sure that it says something new, or that it confirms authoritatively what you have said.”

“If you don’t want readers to presume that you share the opinion of the quoted author, you must include your own critical remarks before or after the passage.”

“Make sure that the author and the source of your quote are clearly identifiable.”

“When a quote does not exceed two or three lines, you can insert it into the body of the text enclosed in quotation marks. (…) When the quote is longer, it is better to set it off as a block quotation. In this case the quotation marks are not necessary, because it is clear that all set-off passages are quotes, and we must commit to a different system for our observations. (Any secondary developments [like the quote’s reference] should appear in a note.) (…) This method is quite convenient because it immediately reveals the quoted texts; it allows the reader to skip them if he is skimming, to linger if he is more interested in the quoted texts than in our commentary, and finally, to find them immediately when need be.”

Some footnote rules to know:

“Use notes to add additional supporting bibliographical references on a topic you discuss in the text. For example, ‘on this topic see also so-and-so.’”

“Use notes to introduce a supporting quote that would have interrupted the text. If you make a statement in the text and then continue directly to the next statement for fluidity, a superscript note reference after the first statement can refer the reader to a note in which a well-known authority backs up your assertion.”

“Use notes to expand on statements you have made in the text. Use notes to free your text from observations that, however important, are peripheral to your argument or do nothing more than repeat from a different point of view what you have essentially already said.”

“Use notes to correct statements in the text. You may be sure of your statements, but you should also be conscious that someone may disagree, or you may believe that, from a certain point of view, it would be possible to object to your statement. Inserting a partially restrictive note will then prove not only your academic honesty but also your critical spirit.”

“Use notes to provide a translation of a quote, or to provide the quote in the original language.”

I’d like to be a Hufflepuff so bad. I’d like to be kind and hard-working and caring and loyal. I’d like to be a Hufflepuff, because then it would be possible for me to say “I’m a good person after all”. It’s hard to say it now. Now I fear that I am not. I fear that I’m not kind or smart or brave or ambitious. I can take the other ones (even tho they bother me sometimes, especially the smartness). 

But the kindness is killing me.

#cinematic parallels 

longing for a touch, longing to be held in someone's arms, without a rush, without time and space between you two

what is it if not the greatest pleasure and the most vicious curse of the human kind

I just came from outside. It's raining, the garden looks peaceful dressed in the gentle tones of green.

I feel the raindrops on my face, my back, my hands while I'm picking strawberries.

Things are not perfect but this moment is great and so so so grounding.

“February is nearly always melancholy.”

— Anna de Noailles, tr. by Norman R. Sharpiro, from “Your Hidden Fleshly Grace,”

Today I saw a girl from my balcony. There was a little creature on the pavement. I don't know what it was, maybe a frog or a lizard. She stopped, watched the creature for five minutes or more, until it disappeared in the safety of grass. I like girls so much.

Just remember. There is no such thing as a fake geek girl. There are only fake geek boys. Science fiction was invented by a woman.