So I turned myself to face me
First and foremost, happy late birthday to lejlkwiet . <3 You deserved a good one, Chelle.
Secondly, here are my responses to the meme for Alms and Katie.
For gossamerrain , who requested Justin, Neil and Ulysses. (I am fail at writing Neil. I need to get a copy of DPS to watch. It's been aaaaaages and ages.)
Justin was in the library. This, of course, would come as no surprise to anyone who knew Justin. If he wasn't working, touring the City's gardens, or spending time with Shilo, he was generally in the vast library, in a corner that he had claimed well over a year ago, bent over a poetry book. Which poetry book was beyond his control. He had mastered the art of finding the sought-after genre in the City's ever-shifting library, but summoning the right author was beyond his abilities. It had been Ginsberg the other night. Justin hated Ginsberg.
Tonight was Tennyson's night. As such, Justin was hunched over the aged leather tome, scrutinizing the lines of "Ulysses" through his reading glasses. The words didn't move him, but Tennyson was nothing if not a step above Ginsberg.
"Justin!"
Unusual. Very few people approached Justin--a fact that he attributed to years spent perfecting the art of being invisible--and even fewer hailed him with that kind of enthusiasm. He pocketed his reading glasses and glanced up to see Neil. Todd, much to Justin's surprise, wasn't with him.
"Neil," he replied flatly. "What are you doing here?"
Smiling, Neil sat next to the other boy and glanced over at the book's open pages. "What on earth could I be doing in a library, I wonder? ...What're you reading?"
"Nothing."
Neil arched an eyebrow, amused by Justin's taciturn response. He didn't take it personally. As far as he knew, Justin was short with everyone. "It doesn't look like nothing." He leaned over, adding, "Tennyson? I wouldn't have guessed you were a fan."
"I'm not," Justin said, handing the book over so Neil could get a decent look at what he had been reading.
"Why not? This poem is one of my favorites."
Judging by his expression, Justin either didn't believe him or questioned his taste. Neil chose to elaborate. "I can relate to it, at least. This part... listen to this:
'How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things...'"
Justin gave Neil a long, slow look that the other boy couldn't quite interpret. "It complements your philosophy."
"Carpe diem." Neil grinned impishly. "But it's more than that. It's a call to life even when there isn't much left of it. Every moment is important and it's a waste to sit around and act dead before you're completely there." He regretted the words as soon as they were said. Neil tended to overlook Justin's jealousy regarding the recent return of his life until he had already said something unfortunate.
Much to Neil's surprise, however, Justin had no bitter remark. He only fiddled with his reading glasses and mumbled, "The moments here don't matter."
"They do so."
"They don't. Some of us will remember the city, but others--everyone who's still alive--will forget when they leave."
"But we'll remember," Neil insisted. "Even if we can't make memories for other people, we can make memories for ourselves. We can keep living and making more to remember."
"Assuming our minds will be intact when we're truly dead."
Neil stifled a sigh. When Justin was determined to be unhappy--which, granted, was most of the time--he was unreasonable. "We'll just have to take that chance. I'd rather risk it than regret not living while I could if there's something beyond all of this."
Justin had no immediate reply. Neil took this as an opportunity to read his other favorite part, his voice loud and clear as if he was reading from a script:
"...you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods."
The response was immediate. "We're not old."
"You know that's not the point," Neil sighed, although he was still in relatively good humor. "'Some work of noble note, may yet be done.' I think that's true."
"May be done. Not will be done. There's no certainty in that statement."
"Nothing noble will get done if you act like that." Neil closed the book and set it aside. "We've been given second chances at life, Justin. No, we can't escape death, but that's no reason to push this chance away. There are still things to do... things to experience. Poems to read. Life isn't over yet."
Justin opened his mouth as if to say something, but snapped it shut and turned his stare to the library's wooden floor.
Neil assumed that this was an opportunity to continue. "Shouldn't we shine in use, even if we won't be here forever? I'm going to. I'm going to shine--do everything I didn't do at home. I'm going to read and act and... and harass you and Todd until you both write something, and I don't even know what else. There are still things to be done... more than anyone could do in one life, and here we are with extra time. It's not too late to start living, not for either of us."
He paused, looking expectantly at Justin. Not looking up from the floor, Justin quietly said, "''T is not too late to seek a newer world.'"
Neil grinned. "And you said you didn't like Tennyson."
Justin glanced at Neil, very nearly smiling back. "I don't, but some of his advice is sound."
And a drawing for esotaria , who CHEATED and requested Sophie, my "psychic" muse, and music. It's not really cheating! Sophie's one of the three lead characters in something Katie's working on right now, and the psychic muse may or may not make an appearance in a story somewhere. KATIE. I'm sorry about the crappy execution! A-and it was funny in my head.
Which means it's probably ONLY funny in my head. Oh well!
Thirdly... oh, enough of that. Since I'm cutting and linking and all, I may as well dump all the icons I've made in the last week or so here, too. I made some for Lulubell, too, but those aren't that impressive. XD Actually, some of these aren't that exciting. Just color fixing. Ffff.
"Labyrinth" Icons
Felicia Day (WITH A LIGHTSABER, OMG) Icons
"The Guild" Icons
(If any of the Guild icons amuse you, please check the show out! You can watch all three seasons for free here and, should you like what you see, you should buy the seasons on DVD--they're relatively inexpensive!--to support the project. :3 Do it for Felicia!)
There was a lot more to type about--thoughts and more cat rescue drama and the like--but I'm tired now and I have to get up at a normal human time tomorrow to get my third set of shots. I do hope I get a different nurse than the one I had the last two times. She was nice enough, but she was very... enthusiastic. I think she may have some anger issues to work out.
And before I forget: I'm going to be TOTALLY GONE from Sunday night to sometime Friday. Mom, Brother, Grandma, and I are driving to St. Louis. Which is an eight hour ride. We'll be enjoying various... I don't even know. I'm going to die. But I'm not bringing Dave (the laptop) along for fear of theft or heat damage. Maybe I'll, like... write poetry. Or something. I don't even know. And after vacation, it's time to get Daizy retested to see if she fought off the FeL virus. The five kittens we were fostering can be tested then too, so cross your fingers for clean tests all around!
Take care, friends. I wish you all the best. <3
Secondly, here are my responses to the meme for Alms and Katie.
For gossamerrain , who requested Justin, Neil and Ulysses. (I am fail at writing Neil. I need to get a copy of DPS to watch. It's been aaaaaages and ages.)
Justin was in the library. This, of course, would come as no surprise to anyone who knew Justin. If he wasn't working, touring the City's gardens, or spending time with Shilo, he was generally in the vast library, in a corner that he had claimed well over a year ago, bent over a poetry book. Which poetry book was beyond his control. He had mastered the art of finding the sought-after genre in the City's ever-shifting library, but summoning the right author was beyond his abilities. It had been Ginsberg the other night. Justin hated Ginsberg.
Tonight was Tennyson's night. As such, Justin was hunched over the aged leather tome, scrutinizing the lines of "Ulysses" through his reading glasses. The words didn't move him, but Tennyson was nothing if not a step above Ginsberg.
"Justin!"
Unusual. Very few people approached Justin--a fact that he attributed to years spent perfecting the art of being invisible--and even fewer hailed him with that kind of enthusiasm. He pocketed his reading glasses and glanced up to see Neil. Todd, much to Justin's surprise, wasn't with him.
"Neil," he replied flatly. "What are you doing here?"
Smiling, Neil sat next to the other boy and glanced over at the book's open pages. "What on earth could I be doing in a library, I wonder? ...What're you reading?"
"Nothing."
Neil arched an eyebrow, amused by Justin's taciturn response. He didn't take it personally. As far as he knew, Justin was short with everyone. "It doesn't look like nothing." He leaned over, adding, "Tennyson? I wouldn't have guessed you were a fan."
"I'm not," Justin said, handing the book over so Neil could get a decent look at what he had been reading.
"Why not? This poem is one of my favorites."
Judging by his expression, Justin either didn't believe him or questioned his taste. Neil chose to elaborate. "I can relate to it, at least. This part... listen to this:
'How dull it is to pause, to make an end,
To rust unburnish'd, not to shine in use!
As tho' to breathe were life! Life piled on life
Were all too little, and of one to me
Little remains: but every hour is saved
From that eternal silence, something more,
A bringer of new things...'"
Justin gave Neil a long, slow look that the other boy couldn't quite interpret. "It complements your philosophy."
"Carpe diem." Neil grinned impishly. "But it's more than that. It's a call to life even when there isn't much left of it. Every moment is important and it's a waste to sit around and act dead before you're completely there." He regretted the words as soon as they were said. Neil tended to overlook Justin's jealousy regarding the recent return of his life until he had already said something unfortunate.
Much to Neil's surprise, however, Justin had no bitter remark. He only fiddled with his reading glasses and mumbled, "The moments here don't matter."
"They do so."
"They don't. Some of us will remember the city, but others--everyone who's still alive--will forget when they leave."
"But we'll remember," Neil insisted. "Even if we can't make memories for other people, we can make memories for ourselves. We can keep living and making more to remember."
"Assuming our minds will be intact when we're truly dead."
Neil stifled a sigh. When Justin was determined to be unhappy--which, granted, was most of the time--he was unreasonable. "We'll just have to take that chance. I'd rather risk it than regret not living while I could if there's something beyond all of this."
Justin had no immediate reply. Neil took this as an opportunity to read his other favorite part, his voice loud and clear as if he was reading from a script:
"...you and I are old;
Old age hath yet his honour and his toil;
Death closes all: but something ere the end,
Some work of noble note, may yet be done,
Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods."
The response was immediate. "We're not old."
"You know that's not the point," Neil sighed, although he was still in relatively good humor. "'Some work of noble note, may yet be done.' I think that's true."
"May be done. Not will be done. There's no certainty in that statement."
"Nothing noble will get done if you act like that." Neil closed the book and set it aside. "We've been given second chances at life, Justin. No, we can't escape death, but that's no reason to push this chance away. There are still things to do... things to experience. Poems to read. Life isn't over yet."
Justin opened his mouth as if to say something, but snapped it shut and turned his stare to the library's wooden floor.
Neil assumed that this was an opportunity to continue. "Shouldn't we shine in use, even if we won't be here forever? I'm going to. I'm going to shine--do everything I didn't do at home. I'm going to read and act and... and harass you and Todd until you both write something, and I don't even know what else. There are still things to be done... more than anyone could do in one life, and here we are with extra time. It's not too late to start living, not for either of us."
He paused, looking expectantly at Justin. Not looking up from the floor, Justin quietly said, "''T is not too late to seek a newer world.'"
Neil grinned. "And you said you didn't like Tennyson."
Justin glanced at Neil, very nearly smiling back. "I don't, but some of his advice is sound."
And a drawing for esotaria , who CHEATED and requested Sophie, my "psychic" muse, and music. It's not really cheating! Sophie's one of the three lead characters in something Katie's working on right now, and the psychic muse may or may not make an appearance in a story somewhere. KATIE. I'm sorry about the crappy execution! A-and it was funny in my head.
Which means it's probably ONLY funny in my head. Oh well!
Thirdly... oh, enough of that. Since I'm cutting and linking and all, I may as well dump all the icons I've made in the last week or so here, too. I made some for Lulubell, too, but those aren't that impressive. XD Actually, some of these aren't that exciting. Just color fixing. Ffff.
"Labyrinth" Icons
Felicia Day (WITH A LIGHTSABER, OMG) Icons
"The Guild" Icons
(If any of the Guild icons amuse you, please check the show out! You can watch all three seasons for free here and, should you like what you see, you should buy the seasons on DVD--they're relatively inexpensive!--to support the project. :3 Do it for Felicia!)
There was a lot more to type about--thoughts and more cat rescue drama and the like--but I'm tired now and I have to get up at a normal human time tomorrow to get my third set of shots. I do hope I get a different nurse than the one I had the last two times. She was nice enough, but she was very... enthusiastic. I think she may have some anger issues to work out.
And before I forget: I'm going to be TOTALLY GONE from Sunday night to sometime Friday. Mom, Brother, Grandma, and I are driving to St. Louis. Which is an eight hour ride. We'll be enjoying various... I don't even know. I'm going to die. But I'm not bringing Dave (the laptop) along for fear of theft or heat damage. Maybe I'll, like... write poetry. Or something. I don't even know. And after vacation, it's time to get Daizy retested to see if she fought off the FeL virus. The five kittens we were fostering can be tested then too, so cross your fingers for clean tests all around!
Take care, friends. I wish you all the best. <3