#this truly runs the gamut of a bunch of things huh

[altschmerzes]

@jamiesfootball because you asked, here's a random assortment of clips of prose that are stuck in my brain, from the highlights sections of various books i've read on my kindle, some short, some longer, some profound, some that just got stuck in the gears:

Everyone's judgement was impaired. Nothing said or done now could be trusted. But somehow it wouldn't be forgotten or forgiven.

the ritual, adam neville

"Real magic can never be made by offering up someone else's liver. You must tear out your own, and not expect to get it back. The true witches know that."

the last unicorn, peter s beagle

The unicorn was weary of human beings. Watching her companions as they slept, seeing the shadows of their dreams scurry over their faces, she would feel herself bending under the heaviness of knowing their names.

the last unicorn, peter s beagle

But at the same moment, Prince Lír said, "No." The word escaped him as suddenly as a sneeze, emerging in a questioning squeak - the voice of a silly young man mortally embarrassed by a rich and terrible gift. "No," he repeated, and this time the word tolled in another voice, a king's voice; not Haggard, but a king whose grief was not for what he did not have, but for what he could not give.

the last unicorn, peter s beagle (cutting myself off here or i'd just include half the book) (some more under the cut)

"You're a knight now, Kay. You're one of them. They can't touch you, and they'll listen to you. I want you to be my go-between. You're my consiliarius, man. I trust you." Arthur leans over, grasps Kay's arm. Pulls him to himself, until their foreheads touch. "I love you, Kay. You know that, right?" "I love you too, Arthur." "We're brothers, Kay!" "Yes," Kay says. "Brothers." Arthur smiles. And Kay knows, at that moment, that he's lost him. That the Arthur he knew is gone forever, had perhaps never existed in the first place. This new Arthur is nobody's friend, and nobody's brother. He is alone.

by force alone, lavie tidhar

“This isn’t how the story’s written. There’s no happy ending for kings. They become by beating or killing the competition, then they rule, then…” He makes a chopping motion. “Another upstart comes along. And he’s young, and he’s hungry, and he’s just a little bit more vicious and he’s not scared to die. The king is dead. Long live the king.”

by force alone, lavie tidhar

The astonishing thing was how little appreciation existed for what all this meant; for what Tomahawk could do. As if it had not penetrated human understanding that each of them could transport a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead and that ships carried them by the score; the circumstance scarcely realized that Tomahawk embodied a revolution not just in seapower but in warfare itself, to the extent one could fairly state that it made little difference any longer what happened to land weapons, whether they were banned or not. It is a hard thing to say but the fact was this: All of the talk concerning the restriction or elimination of lad-based missiles constituted a historic charade, terrible in its meaning, its illusion. If the last one of these had been removed by such negotiations, nothing would have changed. It was almost as though people were being lulled into forgetting that there existed something called the sea: and that there are many seas, indeed that they occupy seven-tenths of the planet, and that there is no spot of land that cannot be reached by an object launched from some sea by a ship. People either did not know or could not grasp the fact that a single ship, such as ours, could fairly well exterminate a continent. And there were many ships.

the last ship, william brinkley

I read the letters the ship's blinker sent back in white bickerings across the water BOATS UNDERWAY SILVA BACK WITH FINE CATCH ENOUGH FOR ALL HANDS SILVA SAYS FISH AS GOOD AS CAPE COD SO MUST BE SOMETHING SINCE SILVA SAYS THAT'S WHERE GOD WAS BORN

the last ship, william brinkley

All witches are selfish, the Queen had said. But Tiffany's Third Thoughts said: Then turn selfishness into a weapon! Make all things yours! Make other lives and dreams and hopes yours! Protect Them! Save Them! Bring them into the sheepfold! Walk the gale for them! Keep away the wolf! My dreams! My brother! My family! My land! My world! How dare you try to take these things, because they are mine! I have a duty!

the wee free men, terry pratchett

#gav gab #this truly runs the gamut of a bunch of things huh #long post