Readingmien - Writer

one good thing about december on this hellsite is that this gif will be making its rounds again

ARWEN FEST day six: angst

arwen + freylin parallels

“While I am enjoying this exchange of pleasantries,“ Gabriel said, seeing that Henry was about to respond, "there do remain a few - central - questions about this invention.” Henry looked at him blankly. “Such as what?” “I believe, Henry, that he is inquiring whether this…doorway-” Charlotte began. “We’ve called it a Portal,” said Henry. The capitalization of the word was very clear in his tone. “Whether it works,” Charlotte finished. “Have you tried it?” Henry looked stricken. “Well, no. There hasn’t been time. But I assure you, our calculations are faultless.” Everyone but Henry and Magnus looked at the Portal with refreshed alarm. “Henry…,” Charlotte began. “Well, I think Henry and Magnus should go first,” Gabriel said. “They invented the blasted thing.” Everyone turned on him. “It’s like he’s replaced Will,” said Ggideon, eyebrows up. “They say all the same sort of things.”

— Gabriel Lightwood, Henry Branwell, Charlotte Fairchild and Gideon Lightwood (Clockwork Princess)

Thank you @thefireinmyvoice

bell hooks spoke about her disdain for the phrase “i’ve fallen in love” and calls for its change to “i’ve chosen love”, “i am loving”, “i am love” and my heart has softened since i read those words.

Season 5 Merlin + text posts because i love this absolute mess

King Arthur’s Round Table

The Round Table represents everything that separated Arthur from Uther. People repeatedly point out how Arthur isn't so different from Uther as he'd like to think, because he, too, shunned magic. But that is because of upbringing, and inputted thoughts. 

Arthur believed in equality. 

The first time he met Percival, he told him to call him Arthur instead of the expected address (my lord, sire, my king). When he first found the Round Table, Merlin was an inseparable part of it, even though he was his servant. This is because he remembered and agreed with what Gwaine said, "Nobility is defined by what you do, not by who you are." He married the servant girl, daughter of a condemned blacksmith, for goodness' sake, because she was wiser than most nobles.

Why he refused to accept sorcerers and magicians is because he did not see them as equal. Every single sorcerer he had met had betrayed him in one way or another, were dangerous people he needed to be careful around. Nimueh, the witch-hunter, Kara, Dragoon the Great, Mordred and his beloved Merlin. His mother and  father both died of sorcery. He lost his half-sister to magic. They were criminals. Why would he allow sorcerers equal status if he wouldn't grant that to petty criminals or those acquitted of treason?

No, Arthur was fair to the very end. 

He promised Dolma that he would remember there is no evil in sorcery, only in the hearts of men, and he forgave Merlin.

THE INFERNAL DEVICES - SORTING CEREMONY

“I think when we make choices—for each choice is individual of the choices we have made before—we must examine not only our reasons for making them but what result they will have, and whether good people will be hurt by our decisions.”

“Do not let any of them tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough. Anyone who looks at you and sees darkness is blind.”

“You know—you know it isn’t just tinkering for me. You know I want to create something that will make the world better, that will make things better for the Nephilim. Just as you do, in directing the Institute.”

“I promise to charm the dickens out of him. I shall charm him with such force that when I am done, he will be left lying limply on the ground, trying to remember his own name.’

“It is only that I fear— I fear that if I applied for it, Mrs. Branwell would think I am ungrateful for all that she has done for me. She saved my life and raised me up. She gave me safety and a home. I would not repay her for all that by abandoning her service.”

“But the way you hated yourself … I understood that. Jem always wanted to give me a chance, as Charlotte did. But I do not want the gifts of generous hearts. I want to be seen as I am.”

“I will give my ridiculous sister my salary for the rest of my life if she desires it, but I will not admit to wrongdoing—not for myself, not for any of us. Yes, I put an arrow through his eye. Its eye. And I would do it again.”

“One must always be careful of books and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us.” 

“We are not going to tell Charlotte of our conversation with the Consul. But neither are we going to spy on her. Gabriel, you are my brother, and I love you. I would do anything to protect you. But I will not sell out your soul and mine.”

“Never before have I sent away anyone who told me they had nowhere else to go, and I will not start now. I will ask of you only one thing. To allow someone to live in the Institute, in the very heart of the Enclave, is to place my trust in their good intentions. Do not make me regret that I have trusted you.”

— Sylvia Plath