never satisfied.

SO. all of my blogs are, for the time being, on an indefinite semi-hiatus + i'm dropping everything older than 3 months, unless i already wrote it in my notebook and just need to type it up. i do intend to come around intermittently but. who knows!!!

i miss writing desperately but everything is so very... A Lot right now!! i'm also supposed to be moving at the end of august!! HELL SUMMER HELL SUMMER HELL SUMMER!!!! 🎉

SO. all of my blogs are, for the time being, on an indefinite semi-hiatus + i'm dropping everything older than 3 months, unless i already wrote it in my notebook and just need to type it up. i do intend to come around intermittently but. who knows!!!

i miss writing desperately but everything is so very... A Lot right now!! i'm also supposed to be moving at the end of august!! HELL SUMMER HELL SUMMER HELL SUMMER!!!! 🎉

send one to have our muses meet for the first time.

“Sorry, were you just talking to me?”

“I think you dropped this.”

“You look lost. Need some help?”

“I don’t usually talk to strangers, but…”

“You’re sitting in my spot.”

“Whoa! Careful!”

“We’ve never met, right? You seem familiar.”

“Is that seat taken?”

“Sorry, I think I just spilled something on you.”

“You’re blocking the doorway.”

“Were you just staring at me?”

“Excuse me, do you know the time?”

“Wait — are you the person I’m supposed to meet?”

“I’ve been sent to find you.”

“Please don’t be alarmed, but I think we have the same bag.”

“Do you work here?”

“I’m fairly certain that’s mine.”

“You’ve got something on your face.”

“Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“Do you know the way to ___?”

“You’re hurt. Do you need help?”

“That’s a fine ___ (cloak/hat/book/etc.). Where did you get it?”

“This might sound strange, but can I hide behind you for a moment?”

“You look like you could use a friend.”

“I think your dog just stole my lunch.”

“Hey, you dropped your coin purse.”

“I think we’re stuck in here together.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to overhear, but…”

“Are you the new neighbor?”

“First time in town?”

“I’m not sure if this belongs to you, but…”

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“I’ve been hearing a lot about you.”

“Do you mind if I join you?”

“I think you’re in the wrong place.”

“You seem… out of place.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but are you following me?”

“That was a close call.”

“Not to alarm you, but someone’s watching you.”

“Mind if I walk with you?”

“You look like you’re in trouble.”

“Was that your doing back there?”

“You don’t look like you’re from around here.”

“That was impressive. How’d you manage it?”

“I’m guessing you’re not here by accident.”

“Do I want to know what just happened?”

“You might want to keep your voice down.”

“Is it always this strange around here?”

“I have a feeling we’re about to become acquainted whether we like it or not.”

"is this seat taken?"

"did you seriously believe their word over mine?"

"why would i ever do that?"

"why does this keep happening to me?"

"are you proud of what you've done?"

"you lied, didn't you?"

"why did you lie about it?"

"does this really seem like a good idea to you?"

"want to go someplace quieter?"

"where have you been?"

"are you flirting with me?"

"is this your first time?"

"are you in love with [her / him / them]?"

"what was your first impression of me?"

"you know this wasn't your fault, right?"

"we going to need to run.. can you run?"

"have we met before..?"

"are you trying to steal that?"

"can you stay a little longer?"

"this is what you've been doing the entire time?"

"are you feeling better now?"

"does this make any sense to you?"

"am i invited?"

𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙼𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙰𝙶𝙴 , 𝚆𝚁𝙾𝙽𝙶 𝙼𝙴𝚂𝚂𝙴𝙽𝙶𝙴𝚁 . coraline was the last person on earth that had the right to criticise someone else's love life ; to have the audacity to wield the weapon that could so easily be used against her . THEY HAD MORE IN COMMON THAN NOT , her own youth spent with men that objectively , had no business being around . though she can only see the wrongness from a third person's perspective . after all , she had allowed them to take pieces of her psyche wilfully , because what does it matter ? perhaps she could mock onceler if she wished to go back &. change how it all played out . . . but she doesn't . THE ONLY DIFFERENCE IS THE PEOPLE SHE DATED WERE SMART ENOUGH NOT TO END UP CAUGHT ( . . . that she knows of ) ; &. it's not as though her own taste in men has evolved over the years .

   “And you’re really telling me that people can’t make mistakes in life and still be successful?” He does not recognize anything that transpired in his life as a mistake, really, and anyone would be hard-pressed to get him to admit to ones he may or may not have made. But he knows Cora doesn’t feel the same way about absolutely all of her history, and he is trying to weaponize some of her former words against her.

   “Far be it for you”—there is a sharp tone of judgment in his voice, as if he can’t forget the autobiography about which she is so open—“to completely disregard somebody’s opinion just because of who they’ve gotten with in the past.”

   “Oh, good!” he says. “A couple different versions would be excellent, and you don’t have to worry about video editors. I do have those covered.” He has seen the effects on Lance’s work, and it’s not that he doesn’t trust the guy, but… well… he doesn’t trust the guy. Not to make a relatively high-production commercial, anyway. While he likes to snatch up new talent where he can get it, he also understands the importance of specializations and doesn’t want to force anyone into a roll in which they would not be comfortable. It’s much better to assign people only a task or two at a time and delegate the rest to others.

    "For a time, yes. I designed my outfits when I danced at the speakeasy I worked for," she smiled. "A good friend of mine always gave good advice. Juniper's her name. I ought to get you two to meet one day! She's very ... uptight, but just the sweetest kitty ... "

    A smile crossed her face, thoughts of sweetness running into her head before the bubble popped. "Oh! Right, my ... ahem, my designs. I enjoy a more fluid take on clothes. Ones to dance in, you know. I may have photos from my time as a flapper girl in my suitcase if you're interested.

    "But that is a job offer I may look for. With your knowledge on this Thneed product, it's ... interesting. It feels soft and smooth, like spider silk ... Where does this come from? If I may ask."

    It was a first to have her ideas be heard by a man all about fashion. If it were any other man, it would take attempts at tantrums and threats of walking off the project to let her ideas be taken seriously. And most cases where she was, products sold. She was a woman of knowledge, and she wasn't about to let that be soiled over a man's opinion.

    Though, with the Onceler, she couldn't help but smile at his remarks. He knew his fashion, and she couldn't help but respect that.

    "It takes a woman to know the basics of fashion," she smiled with a soft wink. "Taking up a part-time costume designer job as taught me many, many things about being a little fashionista. It makes the magazines and advertisements convincing that you know something, no?

    "Besides, we can always experiment. What works best can be the thing to make your Thneed sell."

          More so, he simply didn’t see her as a threat, and that made him more inclined to want to hire her, rather than sabotage her.

          “When we’re done here, I’d be interested in seeing some of your designs.  Maybe I’ll commission you for something.”  He didn’t offer her a full-time gig off the bat because he wanted to see how she worked first, and he didn’t know what kind of contract she was under with her current job, or if she was even still doing that kind of work.

Agnes wouldn't call herself bold with her tastes by any stretch of the word, but she did have a soft spot for dishes that others would steer clear of. Learning about the history of meals made her feel more connected to people, food has and will always be a universal gatherer. "You cut it open and serve it on something more starchy, which I think is a little more fun as well. It's one of those meals that is served best with side dishes." The texture of intestines specifically is one that Agnes can't stand, and she has stayed away from dishes with similar textures because of it.

She really should start to stock some sort of proper creamer if the Onceler is going to start hanging around as much as he does with the Archivist. While that thought does get her moving again to prepare a cream pitcher and hunt down her sugar dish, she is listening close for his reaction to hearing Simon's name. Her worries fall away as soon as she turns around to see his smile, bringing the dishes to the table and setting them down in front of the Onceler. "He is an acquired taste to some," She says, chuckling. Simon managed to somehow be more eclectic than all of the other avatars combined, and it had endeared her to him almost instantly.

"But he is hard to reach." Whether that be due to him being busy, or something like Peter Lukas where he simply did not want to be contacted, she's not sure. Agnes tries to avoid talking about Elias whenever possible with Simon, knowing the same thing about him that the Onceler does. He would likely end up choosing Jonah over anyone else if he was forced to do so, despite his claims. "I swear that he knows when I want to go out before I do, showing up at my door before I have the chance to even try to reach out to him."

          “I bet there are still people who make it the original way, just not publicly.”  It is somewhat disappointing that he won’t be able to experience it in its original form, unless he can find someone in some little village somewhere that would be willing to make it for him, which he is not about to take the time to seek out.  The larger part of him is relieved by the information about synthetic casings, anyway.  “I mean, who is there to really stop somebody from doing it in their own home if they want to?”

          For the Onceler, Simon was not an acquired taste.  He had taken to the man immediately and later found out that Elias had not wanted the two of them to meet at all, perhaps because they were so similar to one another.  “That’s funny,” he says, “because people say the same thing about me.  Whatever the taste is, you must have acquired it a while back.”

          The Onceler doesn’t think that Simon is really ‘busy,’ at least not in a traditional since, just that he finds ways to keep himself from getting bored.  He doesn’t have to work as hard to pencil people into his schedule, even if he seems to have it quite full.

          “I did notice that about him, that he just kinda comes and goes as he pleases, swishes in and out of the room in the same second.  I like that, though; it keeps him interesting.”

"Would you let me talk to them, then?" To satiate her own curiosity, if nothing else. Ava grins at him from behind her hands before she drops them, sitting back up and leaning towards him. "I'm curious, I like to learn about things. I had expected you to at least tell me a couple things, but if you're not going to I only have two options to turn to."

          “Sure, go for it,” he says.  “It will give you something to do for an hour or two, get you out of my hair.”  Really, he doesn’t mind her being here as a general rule, but she is making him uncomfortable with all of her questions, her showing that she knows more than he does.  And while researching does take time, he is sure that his people have something they could tell her that might satiate her curiosity.  “I hired plant people from universities and shit, so I know that they’re doing good work.  I know where my talents are and play into those while they play into theirs.”

          He knows that she is going to talk to the Lorax eventually, too, and has made at least some peace with that, as much as he is able.

"They're a little better about the flittin' around thing when there's someone on 'em," For a moment, Ava had forgotten that planes did not, in fact, hover like some space craft were able to and had been about to question what he was talking about. "But yeah, the hoverin' is pretty normal." Her dragonflies weren't exactly like their smaller counterparts, but the flying was for the most part a close match.

          It is fortunate that he does not have any power over such creatures because he would not be nearly as responsible with it as Ava is.

          One doesn’t usually think too hard about dragonflies having muscles, but he can feel Peony’s powerful flight muscles flexing under his legs.  It really isn’t too different from sitting atop a horse except that the muscles were in uncannily strange places.  She is clearly ready for take off, and he supposes that he is as prepared as he is ever ging to be.  He can’t think of anything better to do to prepare himself, so he gives Ava a nod.

    "I think I have quite a few necklaces. A few with pearls and ... diamonds ... a few chokers, what might catch your eye." She had preferences in how she dressed outside of photoshoots, but this was different. For something so soft and affordably comfortable, perhaps pearls were best. Thoughts were crossing her mind as she quickly left to find her suitcase.

    She returned quickly with the items she was looking for. In one hand was the selection of necklaces that she noted, and the other had two different skirts; one with glitter and sparkles, and the other with a more softer and silkier look.

    "I'd like to suggest the pearls. They go best with the Thneed," she suggested with a smile. "And if I may ask ... Onceler sir, do you have another project in mind aside of your Thneed? Perhaps jewelry or ... different accessories? I hear older styles are coming back in style."

          “They would lay very nicely against the Thneed’s fluff, I think.”

          While the Thneed was currently great for items like socks and skirts and pillowcases, the way it was made resulted in it being too big to turn into necklaces and earrings and the like.  There was still that huge market just waiting for him to tap into it.

          “I would like to offer little accessories, yes.  Maybe mini Thneeds that we sell for half the price.  We might have to get more people to hand-knit them.  The machines are great, but they’re too big for that kind of meticulous detail work.  I’ll have to invest in smaller ones eventually.”

› prompts from fyodor dostoevsky's novel the idiot (1869). feel free to tweak as you see fit.

❛ beauty will save the world. ❜

❛ it is better to be unhappy and know the worst, than to be happy in a fool's paradise. ❜

❛ i am a fool with a heart but no brains. ❜

❛ we’re both unhappy, and we both suffer. ❜

❛ a fool with a heart and no sense is just as unhappy as a fool with sense and no heart. ❜

❛ i want to talk about everything with at least one person as i talk about things with myself. ❜

❛ it's life that matters, nothing but life. ❜

❛ one can't understand everything at once. ❜

❛ look at the eyes that gaze at you and love you! ❜

❛ i almost do not exist now and i know it. ❜

❛ sometimes you dream strange dreams, impossible and unnatural. ❜

❛ it is as if your dream has told you something new. ❜

❛ oh i've plenty of time, my time is entirely my own. ❜

❛ we can very rarely accurately describe the motives of another. ❜

❛ one must feel a great longing to sit down, close one's eyes and wait. ❜

❛ if he's alive he has everything in his power! ❜

❛ i have often been struck by the fact that parents know their children so little. ❜

❛ human beings are created in order to torment one another. ❜

❛ i'm drunk but truthful. ❜

❛ perhaps i shall meet with troubles and many disappointments. ❜

❛ i have made up my mind to be polite and sincere to everyone. ❜

❛ more cannot be asked of me. ❜

❛ nothing helps a man to reform like thinking of the past with regret. ❜

❛ you are so eaten up with pride and vanity that you'll end by eating up one another. ❜

❛ we demand, we don't ask. ❜

❛ lunatics! vain creatures! ❜

❛ speak of a wolf and you see his tail! ❜

❛ it's easier to be humble.”

❛ and how can one love two at once? ❜

❛ the worst thing is that it is certain. ❜

❛ you seem to be ashamed of what you've said, ❜

❛ there is something else here, and there will always be something else. ❜

❛ you are very beautiful, (name,) so beautiful that one is afraid to look at you. ❜

❛ a dead man has no age ❜

❛ you are ill now, and you had much better go to bed. ❜

❛ why will you go on dwelling on it? ❜

❛ but you are not to blame for anything. ❜

❛ your life cannot be altogether ruined. ❜

❛ few people would do what you have done. ❜

❛ i will look after you. ❜

❛ i swear to you that i am not quite such an ass as i like to appear sometimes. ❜

› prompts from louisa may alcott's novel little women (1868). feel free to tweak as you see fit. may include some movie quotes because literally every website mixes them in together for some reason.

❛ i am not afraid of storms. ❜

❛ i like good strong words that mean something… ❜

❛ i'd rather take coffee than compliments just now. ❜

❛ whether i can unlock the door remains to be seen. ❜

❛ if we are all alive ten years hence, let’s meet, and see how many of us have got our wishes, or how much nearer we are then than now. ❜

❛ i want to do something splendid  . . .  something heroic or wonderful that won't be forgotten after i'm dead. ❜

❛ the stars incline us, they do not bind us. ❜

❛ i’ve had lots of troubles, so i write jolly tales. ❜

❛ be comforted, dear soul! ❜

❛ there is always light behind the clouds. ❜

❛ love is a great beautifier. ❜

❛ let us be elegant or die! ❜

❛ the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning, and may be many. ❜

❛ be worthy love, and love will come. ❜

❛ some people seemed to get all sunshine, and some all shadow . . . ❜

❛ books are always good company if you have the right sort. ❜

❛ i make so many beginnings there never will be an end. ❜

❛ i don't pretend to be wise, but i am observing, and i see a great deal more than you'd imagine. ❜

❛ hearts, like flowers, cannot be rudely handled, but must open naturally… ❜

❛ i wish i had no heart, it aches so… ❜

❛ i’m not like the rest of you. ❜

❛ i have nothing to give but my heart so full and these empty hands. ❜

❛ i am lonely, sometimes, but i dare say it's good for me . . . ❜

❛ i could have been a great many things. ❜

❛ fly at me again. i rather liked it. ❜

❛ i hate ordinary people! ❜

❛ i never wanted to go away, and the hard part now is the leaving you all. ❜

❛ i don't like favors. ❜

❛ i'd rather do everything for myself, and be perfectly independent. ❜

❛ you have grown abominably lazy. ❜

❛ you are contented to be petted and admired by silly people. ❜

❛ love will make you show your heart some day. ❜

❛ sometimes there is a hungry look in your eyes that goes to my heart. ❜

❛ don't cry so bitterly. ❜

❛ i know i shall be homesick for you . . . ❜

you're not doing it right.

i'm just going to sit here and watch you.

that's not how it works.

all right, since you're such an expert, why don't you show me?

let me know when you need my help.

is that the best you've got?

you're holding it all wrong.

try to swing your sword.

was that you trying?

i've never done this before.

i look like a fool.

you're getting the hang of it!

you know what they say, practice makes perfect.

i'm never going to be ready in time.

let me walk you through it.

this is where you went wrong.

watch how i do this.

see? it's not so bad!

i feel like i'm making a fool of myself.

who taught you how to do this?

i wish i had more confidence in myself.

i'm never going to get it.

try again. harder this time.

put your back into it.

that was weak.

i expected better of you.

you've really disappointed me today.

it's easier to just give up.

hold it like this instead.

watch me, and then you try.

who taught you to hold it like that?

no no, you're doing it all wrong.

see? a little practice always helps.

keep going. don't stop until you've perfected it.

i'm going to leave and come back, and you'd better be ready by then.

again. do it again.

i'm not giving up on you.

maybe i wasn't meant to do this.

maybe i'll let someone else handle this.

this is too complicated for me.

you're not giving yourself enough credit.

you came this far. don't give up now.

i believe in you.

i know you can do it.

if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.

the last person i taught was your mother.

the last person i taught was your father.

you're just as stubborn as they were.

i'm not letting you give up this easily.

a little hard work, and you'll get it.

i always believed in you from day one.

see that? that's where you're aiming.

deep breath in, deep breath out.

you're stronger than you think.

if you give up, you'll never forgive yourself.

a lot of people are counting on you.

everything rides on your shoulders.

they need you to learn this.

this is the only way you're going to prove yourself.