#the marriage plot

[flowerytale]

Jeffrey Eugenides, from The Marriage Plot

#jeffrey eugenides #the marriage plot #lit #literature #fragments #typo #typography #words #books #*

[the-final-sentence]

The real shame of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette, of the absurd theater of romantic comedies, of the sweeping passion of romance novels, is that they know where we are most tender, and they aim right for that place.

Roxane Gay, from “The Marriage Plot”

#roxane Gay #the marriage plot

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Hilda Hechle (British, 1902-1938) - A Moonlight Fantasy. :: (Guillaume Gris)

* * * * *

“If you grew up in a house where you weren't loved, you didn't know there was an alternative. If you grew up with emotionally stunted parents, who were unhappy in their marriage and prone to visit that unhappiness on their children, you didn't know they were doing this. It was just your life. If you had an accident, at the age of four, when you were supposed to be a big boy, and were later served a plate of feces at the dinner table - if you were told to eat it because you liked it, didn't you, you must like it or you wouldn't have so many accidents - you didn't know that this wasn't happening in the other houses in your neighborhood. If your father left your family, and disappeared, never to return, and your mother seemed to resent you, as you grew older, for being the same sex as your father, you had no one to turn to. In all these cases, the damage was done before you knew you were damaged. The worst part was that, as the years passed, these memories became, in the way you kept them in a secret box in your head, taking them out every so often to turn them over and over, something like dear possessions. They were the key to your unhappiness. The were the evidence that life wasn't fair. If you weren't a lucky child, you didn't know you weren't lucky until you got older. And then it was all you ever thought about.” ― Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

#Hilda Hechle #A Moonlight Fantasy #Jeffrey Eugenides #The Marriage Plot #quotes #fantasy and reality

[ub-sessed]

OMG!! I found the boob quote! It's real!

I'm reading The Marriage Plot, by Jeffrey Eugenides, because I read about it in The New Yorker and it sounded interesting. I'm about a fifth of the way in, and it's not really my bag: the author is condescending towards his protagonists, which is never a good look. But I thought it was worth seeing where he was going with the story. Until he describes the main character with this:

Her breasts, of which she was normally proud, had withdrawn into themselves, as if depressed.

😂😂😂!!!!!

Somebody else posted this on Tumblr a few years ago as an example of absurd things that men write about female characters, but I cannot believe I just came across it.

Here's a tip, Jeffrey: boobs are not like testicles. They don't withdraw into themselves. My baby daddy says, "Written by someone who's never had a boob. Not a single boob."

#I'm gonna be laughing for weeks #what editor allowed this to pass? #jeffrey eugenides #the marriage plot

[catmint1]

She may have looked normal on the outside, but once you’d seen her handwriting, you knew she was deliciously complicated inside.

Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

#quotes #jeffrey eugenides #the marriage plot #normal #handwriting #deliciously complicated #text

[shy-and-reserved]

#polls #books #jeffrey eugenides #middlesex #the virgin suicides #the marriage plot

[akiraofthefour]

"I've been looking for the ultimate reality but right now there are a few mundane realities I'd settle for."

Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

#Jeffrey Eugenides #The Marriage Plot #yeah

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i vote that next year instead of reading Dracula we do a Jeeves & Wooster Book Club. those two never got the rabid tumblr shipping fandom they deserved (disqualified for the sheer technicality of being published a century too soon). we must correct this injustice

#jeeves and wooster #i want to watch tumblr go rabid i want to watch ao3 overflow with jeeves/wooster fanfiction #yes obviously the fandom EXISTS but it's a cozy little neighborhood #a handful of talented artists and writers doing their best to keep their charming little village going #but i'm tired of cozy i want this fandom TRENDING #I WANT TO SEE THIS ON MY DASHBOARD PEOPLE #i swear to you if they made a shiny new tv series tumblr would absolutely obsess over these characters. good omens levels of obsession #it's just such a great dynamic! the good-natured overly-trusting bumbling idiot in constant need of rescuing! #the stoic all-knowing genius who quietly masterminds mayhem in order to protect this one moron he's devoted himself to for some reason #jeeves as a morosexual is just such a beautiful interpretation of the original text #wooster as a happy-go-lucky himbo who stumbles his way into a relationship with a protective caring and supremely competent mastermind #the angst and social complexities of a same-sex cross-class relationship in turn-of-the century london! #oh AND half the stories are about jeeves helping wooster get out of engagements/desperately avoid marriage #two men who live together constantly scheming to maintain their bachelorhood. this is quite literally the main plot point #the gay subtext is there! the gay subtext is there and very ripe for picking!!! #this thing is LOCKED AND LOADED we can pounce literally any time

[zoethewriter]

I read The Unbearable Lightness of Being some months ago and now after reading this novel, I found myself thinking, wow these guys love philosophising about sex. I don't hate it, I may even love it, but it's interesting that this is the jump off point for all these intricate, deeper questions about human relationships.

The main character had the energy of a side character even though the title of the book is based on her university thesis and the novel is framed as her story, with her connecting the other two people. Honestly, though, I'm not sure if the author himself disliked Madeleine or wanted the reader to dislike Madeleine. Her character became more and more flattened as the novel progressed. In the end, she's rounded off to poor little rich girl who borderline martyred herself. Idk

Inversely, the author really loves Leonard because he takes so much care with his characterisation. He is so careful and tender with how he talks about Leonard's shortcomings, his brilliance, his mental illness, his effortless sex appeal. And I fell under this spell at times but mostly, I felt sorry for him and more than that, for Madeleine.

I found myself waiting for Mitchell's parts, a character who was so pathetic it almost became endearing. Mitchell and his pining and his spirituality and his sad, sad travels. If this whole book was told from Mitchell's point of view, it would have been a way better read for me.

This is a thoughtful and extremely well written novel, seriously, the writing is great. It didn't reach my heart but it was good overall. 

#the marriage plot #jeffrey eugenides #american literature #literature #book review #zoesreviews

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Turtle Takedown Teamwork.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

#poorly drawn mdzs #mdzs #wei wuxian #lan wangji #tulu xuanwu #Something about changing the action sequence to something gentle is hilarious to me. #The lesson here is “Be nice to turtles. They are gentle creatures. And many are very endangered.” #don't get me wrong here; I love this scene a lot. LWJ's string technique is one of my favoyrite things. #We do get a fair amount of LWJ fighting but I always loved how the theme of strings comes into play. #There is actually a lot to unpack with LWJ being associate with 'strings'. #The musicianship: Of dedication and rigor in one's practice. #The tension between following along a path or composing your own way forwards (playing what has been written vs composing) #A string is a tightly coiled/taunt entity; The same tension that makes it sing so beautifully can be it's downfall if pushed too hard. #And as a non-musical string - something that binds. Be it to his sect and family or how he binds his fate to WWX - #LWJ cannot exist without his binds. It is not something which ties him down though. It keeps him together. #And he himself *is* a bind. He 'ties wwx down' in ways that are initially negatively viewed ('come to gusu' - feels like: come be trapped) #But later it is shown how (despite being introduced as a free spirit) WWX truly wants to be bound to something and someone. #Marriage is a bind he wants. He wants to be tied and grounded by LWJ. #It's starting to sound like innuendo. Let's call his fondness for being literally tied up smart thematic writing. #Finally. Sex scenes that are important to the plot and characters

[mylovelookup]

Cattonquick boarding school sweethearts/romeo & Juliet AU

In which Oliver also comes from old money and he and Felix fall in love in boarding school(?). The Quicks and the Cattons have been business partners since Queen Victoria was still kicking so Ollie and Felix have known each other their whole lives (summers and holidays always spent together) but when their family ties are suddenly severed after a hostile fight between their fathers, the boys’ last year at Eton is irrevocably ruined. As a reaction they decide (it was Felix’s idea and he succeeded in cajoling Oliver to agree) to elope run away on the first day of the Christmas holidays (imagine their respective chauffeurs endlessly waiting for them at the school gates lmao) and get married on a whim (also Felix’s idea to somehow "fix" things like ta-da! Can’t separate us now dad, we’re fucking married. Oliver is now a Catton. Family peace restored! No, not really Felix lmao.)

#needless to say they get caught the very next day #maybe they didn’t have much cash left and the only -pace they could’ve slept in for free was the hotel in the area that the Cattons owned #the reception prolly snitched but they both knew they would get caught eventually #also it doesn’t help that they’re the heirs of the richest aristocratic families in England #maybe they keep their marriage secret?it would be smarter to considering the repercussions but also maybe Felix it out first thing? #bc its Felix duh #as a consequence to their little escapade Oliver is pulled out of Eton for the rest of the year and the two of them only get to meet #the next year at Oxford where they have to keep things on the down low since Oliver’s father has threatened to transfer him to Cambridge if #if he’s seen frolicking about with Felix. it’s also difficult when Farleigh is acting as a (well-paid) spy for both parties #although both Jeff and James had sprinkled other eyes on the campus #oooh imagine them trying to hide in the back of the club. making out whilst crouching down behind dumpsters lmaooo #or or or! Felix attempting to throw them off by hooking up with indiabel and Oliver is so jealous he ends up doing the same thing #even tho he prolly knows about Felix’s intentions. (Farleigh doesn’t help with his catty comments about ephemeral love) #highlighting Felix’s well known shallowness. and then Felix gets jealous too so it’s a vicious cycle of pointing fingers at each other hehe #anyway they prolly end up like Romeo and Juliet #I was only supposed to do ONE canvas but got carried away and this shit developed a plot! sedate me #also this layout sucks wtf #saltburn #fanart #my art #felix catton #cattonquick #Saltburn fanart #oliver quick #felix x oliver #cattonquick fanart

[baby-xemnas]

🎬

#lawbepo #trafalgar d water law #bepo one piece #whole bunch of other people #whole mink tribe #one piece #my art #do not refer to me regarding the plot of this movie i do not remember it #i am told its about a man failing to get pussy from a religious greek woman before marriage #and thats hilarious #mostly i wanted to redraw the poster cuz it was funny to me

[thecrenellations]

Oh, you married the older sister (?) of the friend/crush you connected with on a dangerous adventure as a teenager? She has some gender stuff going on and was pretty much the only person who could get through to him when he was extremely ill after one of the most traumatic experiences of his life? On a scale of Jerott Blyth to Sounis Sophos, how well did it go?

#these four are VERY different people #WITH VERY DIFFERENT MARRIAGES #and yet #lymond #lymond chronicles #the queen’s thief #sophos #eddis helen #marthe #jerott blyth #something i #mwt #dangerous adventure is a weird way to describe a battle but I couldn’t think of anything better #lymond chronicles spoilers #hi qt fandom … sorry for potentially spoiling you for several lymond plot points when mwt reblogged this #amazing

[aliferous-ly]

ranchers au of the story of a woman who'll marry whoever can get the key off her cats neck

except it's tango, who is a magician of sorts so he's highly sought after, so he comes up with this test of whoever can get the key he'll marry. people start setting traps and whatnot. most of them tango avoids with ease, but he gets caught in one. depressed, he waits for the inevitable downfall.

only, the person who finds him isnt the one who set the trap. a man finds him, and, aghast at the sight, let's tango go. later in town as jimmy recounts this happenstance everyone around him angrily tells him off because he's squandered this perfect opportunity, and this is how Jimmy finds out about the contest.

he thinks the contest is rather upsetting, because how could someone set the whole town against a poor cat like that?

jimmy takes it upon himself to take care of the cat. he listens as people brag about traps so he can find them and dismantle them. he leaves food and fresh water out when he can, and sets up a small shelter for when it rains. he can't imagine that the cat will use it, with it looking so obviously like a trap, but he sets it up anyway.

he gets a rather negative reputation in town because of this. but instead of backing down, jimmy instead snaps back about what kind of person tango must be, to pit the whole town against an innocent animal! because of the pushback from the townspeople he gets rather righteous about his position.

his opinion is cemented further as the cat slowly learns to trust him. sometimes Jimmy rants to the cat about his neglectful and cruel owner.

time passes. many people in town give up on their endeavors. they set traps, but can't afford to check them frequently. they're too busy working. jimmy gains the cats trust and the cat hides in the shelter he built it. eventually, the cat even walks into his home.

jimmy all but adopts this cat, at this point. he feeds it, cares for it, makes sure it's safe during storms and warm on cold nights. the cat hangs around him all the time, the key dangling from its neck. it's startling, the first time the cat jumps on his lap, but jimmy rewards this trust with lots of pets and nothing else.

the cat grows bolder. it bumps it's forehead against jimmy's hand, curls up on jimmy's lap, and yowls for food at the crack of dawn. it leaves the house but never for longer than a day, always returning with an expectant gaze.

Jimmy tries to ignore the key but he grows restless. this tango guy hasn't even asked about his cat, and Jimmy's been caring for it for ages! He knows the key is to tangos house and is only for the winning suitor, but after the weather turns cold and jimmy despairs about how the cat would survive in such extreme weather without help, he takes the key and stomps up to tangos house to give him a piece of his mind.

it's a long, winding path. The cat follows him the whole way, which is odd, since the cat usually only follows Jimmy when he's safe at home. jimmy reaches the house and he knocks first, he has manners, but after no answer he unlocks it and storms in.

only, the whole place is empty. it's clean, someone clearly lives here, but there's nobody home. jimmy deflates. the cat jumps on a large cushioned chair and stares at him.

jimmy slumps over to the cat and pets it, mumbling about what to do next. he does one final sweep of the house (in jimmy's opinion, if tango wanted privacy he wouldnt have put his key on a cat!). and when he turns back to the cat, hands on his hips and ready to announce failure, his cat isn't... there. in it's place is a man with fiery red hair and a smirk firmly upon his lips.

jimmy has his moments of foolishness but he's not dense. he makes the connection. he realizes, and gapes at the man -- at tango, who's been the cat all along.

tango teases him about marriage and jimmy flusters. the two of them finally get to know each other outside of the contest and tango is firm in his reward, announcing it to the townspeople (many of which are furious at Jimmy, loudest anti-tango spokesman around, being the winner).

and jimmy and tango fall in love and live happily ever after the end.

and yes, jimmy is incredibly embarrassed about unknowingly insulting tango to his face. tango, for his part, found it hilarious and it actually endeared him to jimmy, since jimmy was so furious on the cat's behalf.

#team rancher #solidaritek #something i would love to write a full on fic for. alas #snippets #please dont write this idea!! i might write it eventually :] #if u wanna do the general au of the cat + marriage + whatever then ofc go for it but just not. this exact plot #ty #trafficshipping #trafficblr

[akiraofthefour]

"And then he was off, back into the eternally recurring past. If you grew up in a house where you weren't loved, you didn't know there was an alternative. If you grew up with emotionally stunted parents, who were unhappy in their marriage and prone to visit that unhappiness on their children, you didn't know they were doing this. It was just your life... The worst part was that, as the years passed, these memories became, in the way you kept them in a secret box in your head, taking them out every so often to turn them over and over, something like dear possessions. They were the key to your unhappiness. They were the evidence that life wasn't fair. If you weren't a lucky child, you didn't know you weren't lucky until you got older. And then it was all you ever thought about."

Jeffrey Eugenides, The Marriage Plot

#jeffrey eugenides #The Marriage Plot

[genericpuff]

Its from a while back (262) because i prefer to kill my brain all at once, but WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH HER SHIRT. That is a SQUARE. It was like this in multiple panels too

What's even funnier / weirder is why are they wearing the shirts in the first place?

1.) Eros and Psyche seem to be completely isolated in the prison, even if Apollo or Leto forced them to wear them they should be able to just remove them if they really don't want to be wearing them as soon as they're unsupervised.

2.) Who's gonna see them wearing the shirts? It's not like they were forced to do some "Apollo 4 King" video on TikTok to make it seem like they were aligning with Apollo, they're deadass just sitting in a prison cell wearing these shirts for seemingly no one and nothing but Apollo's entertainment?

3.) Love how we're just gonna pretend that Apollo's original campaign wasn't "Apollo for President". Love that for him that he finally figured out he lives in a monarchy and not a democracy.

#rachel's really trying to find ways to justify having eros and psyche in the plot #instead of giving them proper character development to begin with #seriously what was the point in rushing over their reunion and marriage if you're just gonna shoehorn them into another plot entirely #once again rachel having all the pieces for a good story and jamming them all into the wrong places together #lore olympus critical #anti lore olympus #lo critical #ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything