Chivalrous love...courtly love...romantic love...passionate love...tragic love
Funny because I had a whole lecture on love and chivalry today and I didn't even notice that the professor did it on VALENTINE'S Day. XD
(In the context of Armida and Goifredo being similar and dissimilar to Aeneas and Dido. Armida is the diversion from Goifredo's true mission [liberating Jerusalem] the same way Dido is the diversion from Aeneas' true mission [building Rome]. However, Aeneas is drawn in...and ultimately, his departure is heartbreaking, made all the more aggravating by the coldness with which he dismisses the woman who truly loves him and whom he shares some feeling with. Goifredo does not much care for Armida's deceptive beauty and stays focused on his true calling, dismissing her "urgent" needs and telling her she'll have to get in line and wait her turn...he'll deal with her problems once he's freed his holy city from heathens.)
The day was absolutely marvelous. Didn't sleep, so thought the day was fated to be a disaster...but as it unfolded, it got better and better. Ran into my old roomy (who is infinitely sweet and funny, even if others might find her a bit...unconventional [she's a stripper]) and immediately after that, I ran into a really cool former classmate of mine who I used to have very interesting and intellectually challenging debates with who also happened to be carrying around a "FREE HUGS" sign ("Do you want a hug?" "Uh...YE~AH." "Happy Valentine's, Leila!") and was wearing a kangaroo outfit. :P
To celebrate our nearly universal "lonesomeness," my roommates and I planned a dinner...we made tacos, I made grasshopper pie, and we sat down to watch Ferngully I and Ferngully II. The second is TERRIBLE (but with a scene here or there that made my heart flutter), and the first still makes me angry (WHY oh WHY must it be ZAK???), but in my head, Pips wins and that's all that matters. Crysta and Pips need to go make lots of faerie babies. Man, someone needs to make Ferngully fanart...cuz seriously, Crysta and Pips: OTP!!!!!!!
And in the spirit of the holiday...I decided I wanted to try something a little different. I contemplated singing a wonderful song for all of you and trying to trick you all into listening to it, but truth be told, I'm not really a good singer. I do it about fifty times a day, but that doesn't mean you should have to hear it. :P
Monologues were no good. I found crap. Nothing fit my mood or the occasion. So then I turned to books. And I found an excellent passage.
Except, it's probably the complete antithesis of Valentine's. But it is not without romanticism.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5nhuc4 (nope, your eyes are not deceiving you...I really do read it aloud XD)
I'm horribly distracted at the beginning, so I sound like a robot, but whatever. I've had my headset/mic for over a year and this is the first I've really used it (besides to send my mommy a Mother's Day recording when I was overseas XD). If I'm sufficiently amused, I may do this more often. But with more interesting content. Hah.
The Sun Sword (book six of the Sun Sword Series) by Michelle West, read by Leila Winters. SPOILERY. The premise: a great battle was just won against demons by The Ospreys, a band of rough soldiers that technically don't exist anymore. After the dust settles, the commander, Duarte AKalakar discovers his second and his lover, Alexis, mortally wounded.
I am in love with this passage and keep trying to draw the scene where he holds her...but I know I can never do it justice, so I freak myself out and stop. Reading it aloud...doesn't really do it much more justice, but I wanted to see what would happen.
THE TEXT:
Duarte AKalakar knelt in the dirt. He carried sheathed sword, and little else of value. But he held Alexis.
Her breath rattled. Her lips were red, and blood tricked from their corners. Eyes wide, too wide, in the stillness of her face. “We did it,” she told him softly, seeing something beyond him.
He said nothing for a long moment. He could think of nothing to say.
“Make her give us back our colors,” she said, when it became clear that he wouldn’t speak.
“No one makes The Kalakar do anything,” he replied, stroking her hair, her blade thin face.
“This wasn’t really our fight.” She coughed. Wheezing breath, rattling breath, accompanied the shallow rise of her chest. He bent his head over hers, and he kissed her forehead gently. Could not bring himself to kiss her lips.
“The…others?”
“Fiara is dead,” he told her. “And waiting for you in the Halls.”
“Cook?”
“We found him. He’s lost an eye. His temper is still intact.” He paused, then added, “He killed the demon that-“
She coughed again.
He gathered her close, and held her, just held her. Healers were distant; he did not rise to summon one. If one could be found, he would have to be able to fly across the fissure that separated them from the camp.
Fly, he thought, as Valedan had done.
Ser Alfredo stood at a respectful distance, waiting. The Ospreys-those who had survived-guarded him carefully, but they did so with half their hearts; the other half, he knew, were with Alexis.
But only for a moment.
“It was good,” she told him, her eyes now completely wide. “Even in this darkness, it was better than the last time. Go home. Retire.”
He said nothing.
“Duarte?”
“I’m here.”
“I can’t see you.”
“I’m here, Alexis.”
“Good.” She coughed again; last cough. He knew. “Don’t let the carrion eaters get me.”
“Never.”
She was half of his life. He closed his eyes, pressing his face to hers, wanting to kiss her. Afraid that the last thing he would have, if he did, was the memory of the taste of her blood.
END TEXT
And just in case that was too much of a downer for you, theodorusflynn sent me a crap-ton of nerd-boy e-Valentines. This was my absolute favorite (shut up. I don't care if it's been done).
Happy late-ish Valentine's to everyone! May you spend it in good company or with something you truly enjoy doing. :)
(In the context of Armida and Goifredo being similar and dissimilar to Aeneas and Dido. Armida is the diversion from Goifredo's true mission [liberating Jerusalem] the same way Dido is the diversion from Aeneas' true mission [building Rome]. However, Aeneas is drawn in...and ultimately, his departure is heartbreaking, made all the more aggravating by the coldness with which he dismisses the woman who truly loves him and whom he shares some feeling with. Goifredo does not much care for Armida's deceptive beauty and stays focused on his true calling, dismissing her "urgent" needs and telling her she'll have to get in line and wait her turn...he'll deal with her problems once he's freed his holy city from heathens.)
The day was absolutely marvelous. Didn't sleep, so thought the day was fated to be a disaster...but as it unfolded, it got better and better. Ran into my old roomy (who is infinitely sweet and funny, even if others might find her a bit...unconventional [she's a stripper]) and immediately after that, I ran into a really cool former classmate of mine who I used to have very interesting and intellectually challenging debates with who also happened to be carrying around a "FREE HUGS" sign ("Do you want a hug?" "Uh...YE~AH." "Happy Valentine's, Leila!") and was wearing a kangaroo outfit. :P
To celebrate our nearly universal "lonesomeness," my roommates and I planned a dinner...we made tacos, I made grasshopper pie, and we sat down to watch Ferngully I and Ferngully II. The second is TERRIBLE (but with a scene here or there that made my heart flutter), and the first still makes me angry (WHY oh WHY must it be ZAK???), but in my head, Pips wins and that's all that matters. Crysta and Pips need to go make lots of faerie babies. Man, someone needs to make Ferngully fanart...cuz seriously, Crysta and Pips: OTP!!!!!!!
And in the spirit of the holiday...I decided I wanted to try something a little different. I contemplated singing a wonderful song for all of you and trying to trick you all into listening to it, but truth be told, I'm not really a good singer. I do it about fifty times a day, but that doesn't mean you should have to hear it. :P
Monologues were no good. I found crap. Nothing fit my mood or the occasion. So then I turned to books. And I found an excellent passage.
Except, it's probably the complete antithesis of Valentine's. But it is not without romanticism.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/5nhuc4 (nope, your eyes are not deceiving you...I really do read it aloud XD)
I'm horribly distracted at the beginning, so I sound like a robot, but whatever. I've had my headset/mic for over a year and this is the first I've really used it (besides to send my mommy a Mother's Day recording when I was overseas XD). If I'm sufficiently amused, I may do this more often. But with more interesting content. Hah.
The Sun Sword (book six of the Sun Sword Series) by Michelle West, read by Leila Winters. SPOILERY. The premise: a great battle was just won against demons by The Ospreys, a band of rough soldiers that technically don't exist anymore. After the dust settles, the commander, Duarte AKalakar discovers his second and his lover, Alexis, mortally wounded.
I am in love with this passage and keep trying to draw the scene where he holds her...but I know I can never do it justice, so I freak myself out and stop. Reading it aloud...doesn't really do it much more justice, but I wanted to see what would happen.
THE TEXT:
Duarte AKalakar knelt in the dirt. He carried sheathed sword, and little else of value. But he held Alexis.
Her breath rattled. Her lips were red, and blood tricked from their corners. Eyes wide, too wide, in the stillness of her face. “We did it,” she told him softly, seeing something beyond him.
He said nothing for a long moment. He could think of nothing to say.
“Make her give us back our colors,” she said, when it became clear that he wouldn’t speak.
“No one makes The Kalakar do anything,” he replied, stroking her hair, her blade thin face.
“This wasn’t really our fight.” She coughed. Wheezing breath, rattling breath, accompanied the shallow rise of her chest. He bent his head over hers, and he kissed her forehead gently. Could not bring himself to kiss her lips.
“The…others?”
“Fiara is dead,” he told her. “And waiting for you in the Halls.”
“Cook?”
“We found him. He’s lost an eye. His temper is still intact.” He paused, then added, “He killed the demon that-“
She coughed again.
He gathered her close, and held her, just held her. Healers were distant; he did not rise to summon one. If one could be found, he would have to be able to fly across the fissure that separated them from the camp.
Fly, he thought, as Valedan had done.
Ser Alfredo stood at a respectful distance, waiting. The Ospreys-those who had survived-guarded him carefully, but they did so with half their hearts; the other half, he knew, were with Alexis.
But only for a moment.
“It was good,” she told him, her eyes now completely wide. “Even in this darkness, it was better than the last time. Go home. Retire.”
He said nothing.
“Duarte?”
“I’m here.”
“I can’t see you.”
“I’m here, Alexis.”
“Good.” She coughed again; last cough. He knew. “Don’t let the carrion eaters get me.”
“Never.”
She was half of his life. He closed his eyes, pressing his face to hers, wanting to kiss her. Afraid that the last thing he would have, if he did, was the memory of the taste of her blood.
END TEXT
And just in case that was too much of a downer for you, theodorusflynn sent me a crap-ton of nerd-boy e-Valentines. This was my absolute favorite (shut up. I don't care if it's been done).
Happy late-ish Valentine's to everyone! May you spend it in good company or with something you truly enjoy doing. :)