there will be happier times again.

Ingram, John Henry, Flora Symbolica: The language and sentiment of flowers, (London: 1869).

Dude, your glasses

useful framework

like, it’s not some impulsive thing to make her like him, and it’s not just talk; he asks her if she’s sure and then he agrees and then he remains cold and determined when he meets Claudio and Don Pedro and they try to get him to joke around with them like old times.  i think that’s one of the things that gets me the most; that there’s a scene that you half-expect to fall into that same sort of joking, where Claudio and Don Pedro are specifically like, “Huh, we inexplicably feel kind of sad after ruining this woman’s life and reputation, I bet Benedick will cheer us up!” and he just. utterly refuses to engage. and it’s so powerful and it’s such a tonal shift and such a strong indication of just how much he loves and values Beatrice and!! anything that gets the banter but doesn’t get that completely fails to understand their relationship! THB!!

And Benedick, who has been making jokes about how marriage is just misery while your harpy wife cheats on you for the entire play, when asked “do you really believe that is all women are for; was that banter or are we friends?” says “we’re friends. And I let this happen too and I will make it right” and then he fucking delivers.

‘Small Knife with Sheath’ The Ottoman Empire, 18th century. Material: steel, silver, bone, horn, mother-of-pearl, enamel [source]

one of the best feelings tbh