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landwriter · 2 years

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Unsent Letter from Dream of The Endless to one Hob Gadling, c. June 1889

ETA: Now on Ao3!

June 1 2 14 15 30, 1889

H- It may surprise you to hear that many in my life think me unfeeling after my outburst tonight last night earlier this month, but I am certain you will wish they were right by the end of this letter.

You are unusual. You act as though immune to each lie about myself that I first permitted, then took up as my own. Dispassionate, cold, terrible: I wove a mantle of them just to be better insulated from this world. I wear a story told by multitudes, and it is old and dark as the night itself. And in your company, it has become naught but tattered shreds.

I think you will tear me to shreds too if I do not do something about this. I can barely hold my tongue from offering my own ruin when you ask nothing of me. Even if I restrain myself, I know you to speak honestly of what you see, and you see me far too clearly. You will name the truths that I have banked like coals in my throat for centuries, and they will alight anew and choke me.

I would give you all my breath before you took it from me, Hob Gadling. I will write what I cannot bring myself to say beneath the heat of your regard.

You were right. I know everyone, and I know all the deeds and desires that populate their dreams. It thrums in my consciousness just as your heart beats in your chest. It is overwhelming. It is easier to pretend at not feeling at all, to make myself not feel, when I am surrounded by enough feeling that I wonder how it does not destroy me.

Lately, even this cacophony fades to nothing when I am with you, my own feelings roaring ever louder in my ears. I have not allowed myself to know your dreams for centuries now. I am craven. I instead imagine that I see clues on your face, and I hope.

I have never told you my name. I realized I could not, not when I want you to say it in more ways than you have offered. Could you ever speak my name as a lover would? Tell me you would whisper it in the dark. Tell me you would use it to undo me. Tell me you promise to speak it to me even once in tenderness, Hob, and I will give you my name and all else you ask.

You wished to know me as a friend. I cannot be one to you, because I am not lonely; I am starved. I want to taste the salt of your sweat and make it into a sea. I want to map the heft and set of your shoulders each decade, and make mountains of them in my realm, so that no version of you is forgotten. I want to know the feeling of your body beneath me as a soldier, merchant, lord, and scholar. I want to trace each new mark and scar, and whisper stories to them about the history of this land.

I am parchment covered in the ink of all dreaming things, and still I ache for you to stain me with your mouth and hands. Inscribe your regret and sorrow on my skin, so I can carry them with you. Trace your fantasies on my chest, so I can make them real. I have seen how restless your hands are whenever we meet, Hob. Tire them upon my body. Exhaust yourself in your use of me, and I will hold you in your sleep, and walk with you in your dreams.

You are one man who has lived as dozens. I once thought you dull because you did not hunger for stories like me. Now I have come to understand it is because you are yourself a story, ceaselessly retold. I see what changes. I see what remains. It is inevitable I should crave you as I have craved nobody else.

Will you tell me what you dream of?

I will await you at our accustomed time and place.

-x

first time contributing something to a fandom in my entire adult life, and I wouldn't have done it without first being bowled over by the beautiful physical letters of @wordsinhaled (go read them all under #regency epistolary dreamling) & and then seeing @rainbowvamp's life-ruining hob-yearns-for-dream letter; I read it, wondered what a dream-yearns-for-hob letter would look like, and lost all sensibility

#dreamling #letters #the sandman #hob gadling #dream of the endless #morpheus #the sandman fanfic #1889 #epistolary yearning forever #especially when you only see each other every century eh #my writing #dream x hob #hob x dream #centennial husbands

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himbocoups · 8 months

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“Love is all I ask for, as love is what you will always be to me” YOUUUUU ARE INSANEEEE ?????

I'm not even going to attempt to deny the fact that there are a LOT of thoughts in my head and that 90% of them are filled with delusions. BUT HONESTLY!!!! one of my favorite lines I've ever made seokmin write because I will roll a large boulder into a village if it meant having somebody say that to me.

#i've been delusional about that man for FOREVER #the kind of first love you keep thinking about 50 years into the future #💤 ━ pillow talk #FROM! - anon #TOPIC! - epistolary yearning

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zenkindoflove · 1 month

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Here you can find the complete list of my SJM fanfictions, moodboards, and playlists. I mostly write Elucien, Satharion, and Eris x OC.

Multichapter Fics

Summer Heat (E) - Elain x Lucien, Eris x Alexius (OC)

WIP, >100,000 words, 16/18 chapters posted

Summary: Summer Court is hosting the Summer Solstice Summit and the Night Court is sending their best emissaries to attend. It will be Elain's first time mingling in another court, and it's a good thing she has an expert guiding her: the mate she's been ignoring for the last two years. Meanwhile, Eris has been sent to the summit to spy on Summer's developments. What he doesn't anticipate is entangling in a steamy, forbidden romance

Eris x Alexius moodboard Ch 7

Eris x Alexius moodboard Ch 12

Eris x Alexius moodboard Ch 16

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Burn Forever With Me (E) - Elain x Lucien

Complete, ~69,000 words

Summary: End of ACOSF. After Feyre's traumatic birth, Elain writes to Lucien seeking comfort and company. She soon realizes that opening up to him in letters is much easier without her family's constant presence. But how long can she keep falling for Lucien a secret?

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Dear Lucien, Dear Elain: An Epistolary Fic (M) - Elain x Lucien, collab with @crazy-ache

WIP, chapters 3/? posted

Summary: “Perhaps you can speak them to me, if you so wish. I apologize if that is too forward, but I yearn to know you beyond simple pleasantries.

Yours truly,

Lucien

P.S.

My lady, your secrets are always safe with me.��

Epistolary (adj., of a literary work) in the form of letters. After the winter solstice in ACOSF, Elain and Lucien exchange letters as a means to get to know each other away from prying eyes. This fic is a collection of those letters.

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Short Fics

Kneel Before Me (E) - Elain x Lucien

One-shot, ~11,000 words

Summary: Lucien arrives at the House of Wind, only to be drawn into a sparring match with none other than the Inner Circle's own Shadowsinger. Things get out of hand and Azriel discovers whether he really can defeat Lucien easily.

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I Think I Saw You in My Sleep (E) - Elain x Lucien

One-shot, ~10,000 words

Summary: The dreams of him come from the mating bond, but Elain wants them to stay.

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Our Hearts Still Beat the Same (E) - Elain x Lucien

Two-shot, ~17,000 words

Summary: "She stood on the bridge for a few minutes, hoping that the rain might wash away the seething anger and bottomless anguish that crackled under her skin. More, more, more, repeated again and again to a steady beat. His heart beat." Part One is Cozy Tension. Part Two is all smut.

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The Art of Seducing Your Merman Husband (E) - Sathia Flynn x Tharion Ketos

Two-shot, ~7,000 words

Summary: When Sathia realizes that Tharion is purposely ignoring all of her attempts at seduction, she decides on Valentine's Day that the only way to finally get her husband in her bed is to make a gesture so obvious, that even a merman with one brain cell would figure it out.

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Embrace (M) - Elain x Lucien

One-shot, ~2,800 words

Summary: Elain is on a journey of embracing her Faeness. When studying Lucien's pierced ears, an idea forms in her head that she can't shake.

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Ficlets Masterlist - Mix of Elucien, Satharion, and Eris x OC.

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Miscellaneous

Marry Me: a Satharion playlist

Elucien 1980s clinch cover fanart

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You can find all of my SJM fanfiction as well as other fandoms on AO3.

#elucien #elain archeron #lucien vanserra #eris vanserra #satharion #eris x oc #sathia x tharion #sathia flynn #tharion ketos #elain x lucien #zenkindoflove: masterlist #zenkindoflove: pinned post #redoing this to spruce it up

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dianneking · 8 months

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10 Days of Gwen Goodbyes - Day 2 (Jane Murdstone)

Welcome to day 2 of my little 100w drabble series celebrating Gwendoline Christie's characters as well as my one true love, angst.

Today's character is our beloved dour lady, the one and only Miss Jane Murdstone... I hope you enjoy (the pain)!

As always, this drabble is crossposted on AO3 and the link's in the title below.

Summary: Jane has always been a private woman, keeping her feelings and personal affairs close to her heart. And nobody knows that in a secret pocket close to her heart is precisely where she still to this day carries this letter. The last one her lover sent her.

---

Day 2: Jane Murdstone - The Last Letter.

TW: angst, goodbyes, drabble, implied terminal illness, implied death, letter format, epistolary drabble. Wordcount: 100w

“My dearest Jane.

How desperately I miss you. I can see you frowning at this letter as if you were here in front of me, not an enthusiastic supporter of outward displays of affection, are you? Yet, oh, how my lips yearn to kiss the little crease between your brows!

Allow me my sentimentality, my beloved. One last time, at least. Even now, it is getting harder and harder to hold my quill. This might be the last letter you’ll get from me, but you’ll be in my thoughts and in my heart until my last breath.

Forever yours

YN”

Liked it? Here's the link to the previous one as well as to the next one! And to the 10 Days of Gwen Goodbyes masterpost! And to my own masterlist of all my fanfictions!

#dianneking #dianneking writes #10 days of gwen goodbyes #jane murdstone #jane murdstome x reader #miss murdstone gwendoline christie #gwendoline christie fandom #gwendoline christie characters #angst #angst fairy #dianneking fanfiction #dragonmist fanfiction #the personal story of david copperfield #jane murdstone fanfiction #Ahahahah Jane MurdstoMe #Jane mudstone x reader

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siancore · 2 months

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It was a bad idea. Sam knew as much. His mission directive was clear: Travel back in time, go to the Stark Expo, and retrieve the stolen Wakandan artefact as a promise of goodwill and a way to make amends with a valued ally. He had finished the first half of his mission and secured the artefact, but he had not activated the Temporal Shift Device to return him to his own time. Curiosity had gotten the better of Sam. Curiosity and a yearning deep inside.He knew that there was a chance that he would see this other Bucky. He knew that if he set the Device to pick-up Bucky’s corporeal frequency, he would find him in the sea of people. The fact of the matter was, Sam missed Bucky. He missed his Bucky.

Content: Thunderbolts Era SamBucky; Possibly Unrequited Love; Vintage Queer Slang; Impulsive Sam Wilson; Charming Bucky Barnes; Angst & Feels; Mission Fic; Dreams & Nightmares; Lovesickness; Messing with the Timeline; Epistolary.

Part 4 of 6

After Bucky’s fall and capture by HYDRA.

Pain grounded him in the moment. Reminded him that he was inside of his body. That he was trapped in place.

Fear tore through him like the blade of the saw.

Confusion.

Marred skin.

Terror.

Clenched teeth and eyes closed so tightly they may never open again.

Focus.

He needed to focus on something other than the dread and the pain.

A nice memory.

Just like Ma’s Sunday dinners.

Pa teaching him to drive.

Becca’s face on Christmas morning.

Stick ball with Stevie in the summer.

Seeing Sam for the first time.

Ma’s bread pudding and popovers.

Pa teaching him how to shave.

Hopscotch with Becca.

Showing Stevie how to shave.

Sitting next to Sam on the train.

The warmth radiating from Sam.

The way he smelled so good.

Ma’s gentle hand on his scraped elbow.

Pa showing him how to duck and weave.

Soda pop and ice cream with Becca.

Double dates with Stevie.

Sam’s pretty smile.

Sam’s rich laugh.

Sam’s firm hand holding on to his.

Sam’s lips pressed against his lips.

Soft and sweet.

Just like in his dreams.

Forever in his dreams.

"Wipe him," came the order as Bucky drifted off into sleep. "Wipe him."

#sambucky #sambucky fanfiction #sambucky time trave au #sam wilson #bucky barnes

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ao3feed-ineffablehusbandz · 1 year

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Remain Forever Yours

by TawnyOwl95

Seven years ago Aziraphale Device was persuaded out of accompanying his dearest friend to Egypt.

Now a famous explorer, Anthony Crowley is back in London and looking for a wife.

Aziraphale is determined to be happy for him, despite his own breaking heart.

Words: 1257, Chapters: 3/30, Language: English

Fandoms: Good Omens (TV)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens), Anathema Device, Agnes Nutter, Gabriel (Good Omens), Madame Tracy (Good Omens), Satan | Lucifer (Good Omens), Hastur (Good Omens), Ligur (Good Omens), Warlock Dowling, Harriet Dowling, Thaddeus J. Dowling, Michael (Good Omens), Newton Pulsifer

Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens), Anathema Device/Newton Pulsifer, Aziraphale & Anathema Device

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Regency, Inspired by Persuasion, IneffablyAusten, Misunderstandings, Oblivious Aziraphale (Good Omens), and boy is he going to earn that tag, Friends to Lovers, lovers to estranged, estranged to we can no longer be aquainted, no longer acquainted to lovers, Eventual Smut, impossible odds, yearning from a distance, too many cousins, Significant touches, weaponised politeness, declaration via letter, everyone knows Aziraphale is gay, except possibly Aziraphale, every austen heroine needs a sister, Epistolary Elements

From https://ift.tt/2muiJZO https://archiveofourown.org/works/46439536

#ao3feed ineffablehusbandz #ineffable husbands #good omens #aziraphale #crowley #anthonyjcrowl

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lady-snow-flower · 2 years

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Letters To: Summer / Letters from Xuemei’s Past

Read here!

Listen along!

A/N: “Letters To” will be my backstory project for Snow, and in theory I should write four parts in total. This is the first part, and I’ve worked on it a long, long time, on and off-- basically since I began conceptualizing Snow back in September. I felt shy about posting what I had for many reasons (like it felt really random to?? shouldn’t i have a reason?? shouldn’t i get even FARTHER into the project??), but figured the musical task was a great opportunity to craft a soundtrack to go along with the first part of this project. This feels especially fitting because, for me, Snow really did start coming together when I put together her playlist.

In fact, for a bit there, I struggled to find her voice! It’s important to me before I get a character to write something with them. With Snow, I had written about 1000 words and it hadn’t exactly...clicked. Despite that, I felt her intensely. I had scenes lined up in my brain, scenes I was so so excited to write, many inspired by music. Why couldn’t I write it!!!

Then it hit me-- Snow’s trauma meant that it was just...very hard for me to access that part of her in my most comfortable writing style (3rd person limited/close). I’ve always loved this writing style because it lets me be more descriptive and figurative in my language than a character might be, while also using stylized language, but it just wasn’t clicking here. I got the idea to try something really UNnatural for me: 1st person.

But not any 1st person lol. Epistolary 1st person. I’ve loved epistolary novels since I was young, and with Snow, I got to know her humor, her relationship with her parents, and the things she wanted to divulge, in HER way of telling it. It still wasn’t the complete story though, so that’s where I took inspiration from the Locked Tomb series I was reading at the same time (for Snow, actually lol), where part of it is told in 2nd person. These 2nd person POVs fill in the gap and cover the traumatic ground Snow wouldn’t let me cover. It gives her distance, but the reader closeness.

You know. In theory!

Sorry for rambling! I wanted to share the process this go around, and sort of explain why I felt like I had to put it on a Google Doc. The line breaks and different fonts (nothing too crazy I promise) are important to the epistolary experience. I really hope y’all read and enjoy it and it isn’t confusing!

Below are the songs with my thinking behind it. I really did try to think of it as a musical! DO NOT READ BELOW before u read the story unless you want spoilers!

eight (DooPiano Cover)

I’ve mentioned in tags, I’ve posted it I think twice...I consider ‘eight’ by IU to be Snow’s theme. It’s a song about grief, nostalgia, and yearning for better yesterdays-- a place you can no longer return to. My favorite line in it is ‘Forever is a sandcastle.’ However, I put on a cover. Why? Because musicals have overtures, of course! I can’t make a true overture so this was as good as I was going to get, but it sets the tone I want. And makes me cry.

The Florist (pekoe)

This song is an introduction to Snow and her character-- what’s going on and where she is now. We start Snow’s story right in the middle of it: post-death, post-affair, so this is giving the audience the backstory we need:

My heavy heart slumbered into a dream And my tears fed the emptiness that silenced me As I grew fond of eternal sleep A lady arose with inflorescent skin Picking daisies to plant on her body And wear on her sleeve

It points to what is coming next-- Snow’s travels away from her home and the life she knew: “I know it’s a big world out there.”

In terms of the story itself, this is the Prologue baby-- a farewell to her parents.

Flyweight love (Vienna Teng)

Ah, the TRAVEL song! Snow is leaving home! Set change! She lands in China! She is meeting new people! I like the upbeat nature of this song and the optimism within it because I think that’s where Snow begins her journey. I considered a lot of diff songs for this but I liked imagining this kind of montage on stage, Snow ‘meeting’ some people on her journey with their own stories and reasons for being Flyweight Loves.

Took a train to the stubborn coast Off-season towns half shuttered Said hello to the rising breeze Made a note of the setting sun

Dear Wormwood (The Oh Hellos)

Ah yes, the waking of Snow’s magic at night. This dramatic lil indie folk number I imagine happens as Snow gets up and finds the skeleton in the watch tower! I don’t have more to say, it’s really quite that simple. (Though I like that it’s sort of like an acknowledgment of her magic... which is the beginning of her arc, aka, learning about necromancy and embracing it.)

In a musical (ok i have more to say) in theory one would like the skeleton to come to life and share its story with the audience dont u think

I know who you are now I know who you are

Revenant (Anais Mitchell)

This is the scene where Ai gives Snow her first real lead-- that thread of hope that what’s happening to her doesn’t have to be a bad thing. She finds hope in a letter correspondence and so I liked that this song mentions letters and other old things and how they beckon the past forward. That’s what Snow is doing in a lot of ways: reviving a ‘lost’ art of necromancy. It’s so soft and delicate as well and I wanted the conversation to be warm and gentle for her.

Read your letters all again Coffee rings and a ballpoint pen Tear stains every now and then I remember what they meant

Traveling Song (Ryn Weaver)

Another traveling song!! I well, needed a transition from China to Ireland and this folksy Ryn Weaver song will do! Again, I just like the storytelling nature of it and it does what Flyweight Love does in capturing the liminal nature of travel. Snow is very much in a traveling state of mind u know-- she doesn’t have a home yet.

Nobody knows where they are going Oh, how we try to wrap our minds Over the edge of all our knowings Be it a bang or the divine Tip of my iceberg blues are showing I've never been one for goodbyes So, 'til I meet you there, I'm singing A traveling song to ease the ride And so you know, everywhere I roam I'll see you on the road

There Beneath (The Oh Hellos)

This song is technically about my favorite letters I got to write-- Snow getting into her necromancy!! She is learning how to “locate memory within an object” as well as “wake a bone up and remind it of its purpose”, two things which, in turn, help Snow grow as a person and rethink her entire outlook on the world, really. These were the scenes I was so excited about when I was conceptualizing Snow, and I’m still very happy with how it turned out. There beneath the willow tree I learned a lot about the way of things I learned that everything (the wind, the leaves) has breath inside They were pointing ever east To see the ever-turning aeon cease Their wills were ever bent on waiting with all their might

I know (I know) I know this There is beauty in the way of things

Secret Garden (IU)

This song is the song of Snow’s healing and most importantly, the introduction of Ottilie, Snow’s new friend. So yes, her getting to know Ottilie and feeling comfortable in her life here!! Ideally this one perhaps be a duet in a musical and I maybe should have gone to find a duet but I love these lyrics, IU’s soft voice, and the idea that friendship is a secret garden.

Forget the things of yesterday Everyone gets things slightly wrong There’s no such thing as a perfect person Look at me, filled with mistakes and loneliness

Feels like I’ve been born again After I met you From the moment you accepted My pitiful heart

Day by day, things will get better Now that you’re watching over me I must have strength, I must be happy Like a flower that bloomed late

Never Look Away (Vienna Teng)

But enough of that nice stuff, let’s get back to conflict!

This occurs during the scene when Snow first makes contact with a distressed soul and decides she should perform a seance. It’s her first seance. It doesn’t go well. This song is also about Snow really pushing the boundaries of her magic and testing her new beliefs. I love how dark and dramatic it is, and I imagine Snow could be singing to the ghost, but it’s also the ghosts singing to Snow to really wake up and face herself

So if you're out there in the cold I'll cover you in moonlight If you're a stranger to your soul I'll bring you to your birthright I want the storm inside you awoken now I want your warm bright eyes To never look away Don't you ever look away

To My Youth (BOL4)

But it isn’t the show stopper. This is the final song before the curtain closes! We are ending the first act, so to speak, in a terrible place, with an aching, soaring ballad. This is one of my favorite songs of all time, I’ve posted it SEVERAL times, I guess I just am desperate for people to listen to it and validate me idk lmfao.

But I like it because 1. it’s a letter to yourself, thus echoing the form of this project. 2. it ends so hopeful, with the singer saying they still want to be a “light in the world” and to find themself. It hurts me actually, as at the end, as the music softens, the singer really sympathizes with the younger version of themselves: “How painful must it have been? How high must my hopes have been?”

So yes I think about this at the end, Snow picking herself up. This probably happens right after the scene with Ottilie. ugh i like her a lot, my character.

#swyntask #music #story #about #mmmmmmmmmmm i wrote too mcuh on this im so sorry but i hope someone out there enjoys this

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a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit · 2 years

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Book Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

Do you know how we all have those books that are like chicken noodle soup to our souls? That warm us from head to toe like a cup of tea? The ones that feel like coming home every time we reenter their pages? For me, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, with its light uplifting tone and its collection of endearing, zany characters who cherish books and reading almost as much as they cherish each other, will always be one of those books. It's just such a thoughtful commentary on the devastations and deprivations of wartime. It's just so emphatic, so enthusiastic, about the magic of reading and the ways it can provide escape, hope, healing, and community for anyone who needs it. Especially during dark times. It's the shot of silly-meets-serious I need so the smitten can seep in, so my heart can grow wings and be blissful again, if only for the space of a few precious heartbeats. The characters deliver a smile the world can't steal or dim for me. They bring out the laughter I won't turn down even after the volume grows so loud I attract attention, the joy and comfort I emanate a fizzing sound that bubbles in the air like champagne. They circle around me, welcoming with open arms. Forever welcoming me. This is a story that makes me yearn for a world that is bursting with letters, and kindness, and strangers who quickly become family. It's a story that can't help but charm with its anecdotes, with its quick flowing missives and quirky epistolary observations, and no matter how many times I come back to it, I believe it'll always have me packing my bags, ready to move to the island of Guernsey all over again. After all, who knows? Maybe my soulmate has been a shy and quiet pig farmer who loves Charles Lamb this whole time. Who's to say?

4.5/5 stars

**Follow me on Goodreads

#ashlee bree's book reviews #the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society #mary ann shaffer #annie barrows #historical fiction #wwii #epistolary #in my favorites hoard #recs: ashlee approved!#reread december 2021 #boobklr #book reviews

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thecountvoncurdles · 7 years

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Y’all got your prom tickets?

We’re starting things off this year with something really scary.

Let’s talk about high school. I’ll start: it sucked.

Okay, that’s a little disingenuous. My high school experience, based exclusively on how other people treated me, was fine. My teachers were nice. My classmates were decent. My classes, with some exceptions here and there, weren’t too hard. If we’re to judge my high school experience based on how I treated myself, though...oh boy, I’d rather not.

Social anxiety, depression, self-loathing...there was a lot of bad on the inside, and I’m lucky that there wasn’t very much on the outside. Anybody familiar with Carrie likely knows why I’m talking about this. Carrie White, the lonely high school girl with telekinetic powers, had a lot of bad going on, inside and out.

For starters, she’s never fit in. ‘Fitting in’ is a nebulous concept, and adults might struggle to describe what all it means, but kids won’t. Kids know. How much that means, and whether the kids that don’t fit in can escape the stigma, is something of a toss-up. Carrie can’t. In part, what makes this story so haunting is how it seems like Carrier never had a chance.

The shadow of her abusive, hyper-religious mother looms long over Carrie, and whenever she dares try to step outside the strict rules Margaret imposes on her, a gaggle of popular kids are there to pick up the slack. The whole world seems to see Carrie White as a loser, even the people who want to help her, even Carrie herself.

Carrie hates that the other kids are mean to her just as much as she hates the fact that she never catches on to their pranks in time. She hates that she can’t ever seem to see it coming, that she’s a target at school and at home, that she seems destined to live lonely and broken with her mother forever. She doesn’t see anything good happening to her because she’s never had good happen to her. That kind of catastrophic thinking is intimately familiar to me, and will be to a lot of people who were lonely in high school.

Carrie isn’t just despondent, though; she’s mad. She hates people just as much as her circumstances. She’s hurt, and she wants to hurt in return. She yearns for a chance to give back even one percent of what they’ve given her. When she discovers her power, she gets that chance.

Up above, I said that this book was haunting. That’s the best word I can think of. It’s haunting because, even without seeing the movie(s), you know what’s coming. You know that Carrie is going to fall victim to cruelty even as she makes her prom dress and dares to hope. You know that she’s going to kill nearly five hundred people even as she arrives at the prom and everything seems special and magic. This is partially an epistolary novel; Stephen King quotes extensively from (fictional) interviews, research books, memoirs, and more to outline the facts of what Carrie did on Prom Night. The effect lends the entire story an air of chilling reality, plausibility, and terrible certainty. That it’s going to end in horror is a given from page one, and King doesn’t foreshadow deaths so much as admit that the clock’s ticking.

It’s the terror of knowing what’s going to happen, like being a kid and knowing you don’t fit in. It’s the horror of realizing you have power and that you should stop--Sue Snell when she joins in the name calling in the shower, Carrie White when she locks the doors--but that you don’t want to.

When you’re a kid growing into a teen, you think about power a lot. You wonder what the world would be like if you could make things happen, or what your life would be like if you could do everything that adults do, or even what yesterday would’ve been like if you could do what the people teasing you could. There might be a dark, vindictive part of you that yearns for that kind of power. There was for Carrie. Her world is a frightening, familiar, and unforgettable one.

#Book Mobster #Seamusween

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