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~The Priory of the Orange Tree~
Hello, sorry it took me so long to make this! I'm pretty behind on CB stuff rn... but anyways! Priory of the Orange Tree!! Yayy!! :DD
***WARNING: SPOILERS TO COME***
First things first Ig, favorite characters? Little worldbuilding details? Quotes? Other things I'm too tired to think of rn bc it's 10:28 and I'm tired (I already said this didn't I) but I'm trying to do this tonight anyways bc it's the last day before midterms start and things Officially Get Busy and eek I'm so excited for this!! :DD? (question mark bc this was originally a question before I went on tangents btw) Any complaints/questions/observations? Did you want to talk about something specific? (I'll post my answers later)
btw you don't have to read all the rest of this post (except maybe the very end paragraph) if you don't want to/are too busy, don't ask why I'm including it all anyway :/
It took me sooo ridiculously longgg to finish Priory and I must confess, the only reason I got to doing so before the library due date (well, the renewed due date) is because of my dance concerts. And before you ask, yes, I do find it necessary to tell you all the following paragraphs, because [totally make-sensy reason here]. Did I mention I'm tired? Haha usually night times are my productive times but idk
Basically I joined a dance group at school and so we had two performances in November + one dress rehearsal which was literally us running through the whole performance 2 times (also in November). There are 20 acts/dances in total. So the whole dress rehearsal took 4 hours, with performances being like 2 hours. I'm only in 1 dance that lasts for a few minutes + final bows that lasts for a few minutes + blech social life that lasts for hopefully not my whole life which means like 1-3+ hours of mostly uninterrupted reading time down in the (oh-my-super-so-awesome-the-kind-you-only-read-about-in-books) basement under the stage!! x3!! Which means finishing Priory before having to disappoint librarians! Yayy!! :D
The only downside was that I was finishing the book up so basically a lot of people were dying (well, I mean I thought they had died, which is almost the same thing in the moment) and big dramatic sad stuff was happening and Igrain Crest was getting her head chopped off as really loud bouncy happy peppy music was being blasted over the speakers bc why did so many of the dances have bouncy happy peppy music again?!??? I'm trying to mourn some of my favorite characters almost-dying here! Hello! But oh well it's fine I'm used to it :)
Also I was sitting on the floor next to a trash can (I wonder if this has something to do with my blech social life? :) ) so once someone dumped their trash on me... which I'm fine with it's my fault choosing to sit where I sat but it's kinda like, NOOO!!! EADDDD!!! WHYYYY?!????? Oh hey there's suddenly a candy wrapper on me. BUT EADDDD!!! :)
As you can see, I was pretty devastated when I thought Ead had died cuz she's like my favorite character... I literally burst into tears on multiple occasions and literally no one noticed, everyone around me just kept on doing their makeup and stuff like EAD DIDN'T JUST GET SHOT WITH A POISON DART BY HER OWN SISTER!! BETRAYED! NO! XD Not to mention everything else...
I was still devastated when they call came that it was my turn to go up on stage and perform for the audience so like my whole performance my body's doing the movements but my mind's just EADDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!! Almost messed up cuz I was so distracted XD
anyways sorry enough rambling about myself, Priory! Yay! :D
(also I thought I'd put the thread on BaB because I'm gonna be absent for like 2 weeks soon + if you're gonna be busy; currently I think BaB is kinda sorta the most inactive place here so it's less likely to get pushed to the bottom if one of us is too busy to respond; I'm fine with moving it too though if you want (though sorry admins if so cuz extra work...)
submitted by Celine@Hex :D, age Nayimathun, The Haithwood
(December 14, 2023 - 2:19 am)
(December 14, 2023 - 2:19 am)
I did not respond to this last night like I was going to and got 7 hours of sleep instead! Yay! And all for you, aren't you pleased? All your lecturing finally got somewhere haha :) yes I will make more of an effort to not fail school and not stress out my parents and get enough sleep and how? By the sheer power of will (actually I just didn't have as much hw so I decided might as well go to sleep instead of doing other maybe-productive-but-not-really-necessary stuff)!
yes it's 10 right now but that doesn't count cuz I'm sleeping in late tomorrow cuz, huh, it's the weekend... all over again?? Which reminds me, Happy Groundhog's Day (have you seen that movie?)!!
but AHEM I think that we have been semi-ignoring a very serious part of this conversation about sleep which is are YOU getting enough sleep? Because, uh, to quote this really smart person you should probably listen to that you may know named Hex (but also sometimes Jeff) because GOOD ADVICE,: "Sleep! Sleep is good!"
yes. Yes, sums it up perfectly. :)
But wait what Blåhajs!! Blåhajs are so cute!! And wow all these articles on them are so fascinating... :DD I actually don't have one but I DO have this really cool... I don't even know what it is. Just think: a big shark that's- wait let's see if I can find what it's called... huh so ok. It's either a "shark-onesie-blanket-sleeping-bag" or... a "Shark Blanket Hoodie, Wearable Shark Blanket, Shark Sleeping Bag, Soft Cozy Warm Flannel Hoodie, Shark Blanket Onesie"! I copy and pasted that btw
But it's super cool!! Especially when I put it on then lay down on the floor and flop around on the kitchen floor I look like a shark XD (my parents: *confusion*)
yess cassowaries!! So proud of you for knowing them without looking up haha. :) I once attended a class on them (and also one on spiders, one on bees, one on capybaras, one on Dole, one on wampus cats, one on Quetzacoatl, one on stymphalian birds, one on poison dart frogs, one on lyrebirds, one on blue coueas, one on...) and they're so sorta scary sorta cool!! And viscachas yes had to look them up too but so worth it :)
wow. Once you can rickroll someone with a graphing calculator, that's how you know the world has officially gone crazy. :)
Hmm, I've checked out some of Part Time Dragon's stuff! It's honestly not as much my vibe, but I do like it! Not as depressing, as you said, and pretty wholesome :) I love that one where the persons drawing all these dragons and werewolves and the other person comes up and is like, but what about long graceful ears?, and the first person's like YESS WE NEED SOME KOBOLDS!! also that one that's like how do you make friends as an adult?, and the middle is great and it just ends like BODYBUILDING!! And that one where both dragon and human walk into the glass haha. There were more I liked I can't remember rn though, you probably don't get the ones I'm referencing but thank you for introducing me to this too! I LOVEE the name (part-time dragons!!) btw!!
And y'know what it's 11:00 right now so I'm gonna go to sleep :) I'll post the rest later
(this proactiveness will prob only last like till tomorrow and then it's back to the same old but ah well might as well get the most out of it while it lasts!)
(February 3, 2024 - 2:15 am)
Ok hello again! Yes, I do play soccer!! And huh, I did not somehow already know that you play! We actually have a game overmorrow (is that how you use it?? In any case, thanks @overmorrow (formerly fallen)! Fun word! :) ) - our last game of the season! I play defense - usually one of the backs, but I can play center too. What position do you play?
(ack I love soccer but I've been playing horribly recently and I don't even know why... I let two balls in that I totally should've stopped what's happening ahh?? :) ) How long have you been playing soccer? Do you play any other sports? I've been playing soccer and basketball since I was like 4, but I'm considerably better at soccer... and, it's interesting, because the same with my brother (soccer and bball since like 4), except he's considerably better at basketball (and we both quit the other sport, though I do still like to shoot around sometimes). I play tennis, and like to play ping pong if that counts :)
*channels my mom* No! Don't stress! Have fun on the weekend! Relax! But yeah idk how you would do any of that... ok unhelpful mom-speech done :)
Hmm yeah ok (about reading the 1st York book but not being hooked enough for the others). I kinda had to read it bc I was in a(n epic) book battles thing for school and while we weren't required to read all the books on the list, I totally had to. No regrets! :) But yeah if it isn't for you, that's fine :) But yes the covers are super cool!! Honestly, the 1st one scared me a bit, but like all that detail and how the words YORK also fit in and stuff is awesome!!
...Ender... raises pigs. Oh. Um. Ok. I only read the 1st one bc - as you may remember, my dad is also a major bookworm (his favorites: Anne McCaffrey (the Dragonriders of Pern), Piers Anthony (Xanth - this is the one I told you about a few months ago with all those puns), C.S. Lewis (Narnia), uh wait so many others that I can't recall I'll have to go look at all his books again (oh, and he got Fahrenheit 451 signed by Ray Bradbury in person when he was younger!! And he lent it to me!! And then... I... uh, lost it. So. :/)... t's super awesome reading his books though cuz lots of them are from when he was super young and so they have yellowed pages (once when I was reading... was it The Horse and His Boy??, the cover fell off) and sometimes they have his annotations from when he was younger and he takes such good care of his books (versus me... who is horrible at taking care of my books... and taking care of his books too, it seems... oh and idk also where my grandpa's super cool also old version of Shakespeare but in English AND Mandarin is either (ik, it's truly horrible... I'm currently not borrowing awesome books from people anymore cuz then I lose them)). Uh, what was I saying? Oh yeah! I read only Ender's Game bc we read it as a family and my dad deemed the other ones too mature for us (this was like.. 2 years ago?). I should go ask him about reading the others now too (though he said some of them aren't as good and stuff). Honestly, Ender raising pigs piques my interest. I love pigs. :)
Hmm ok I'll make sure to keep an eye out for that line (that makes your teacher cry). And yeahh *waves goodbye to all my reading drive and free time as you said* I can already tell this is going to be... well, yeah. This is why I cannot start Le Miz even though Silver's rants on it sounds awesome (though I did take a look at it in the library and no way I love those chapter titles!!!)!! But I read during lunchtime actually (yes Ik what happened to socializing? but oh well) so hopefully will have enough time?
"HAUFE is the sound of a tired baby dragon who just ran a marathon and is now curled up in a little ball on their small hoard of gold-covered chocolate coins for a nap :) don't disturb them" - Hex
aww <3 I think that baby dragon also has my heart somewhere in all those gold-covered chocolate coins
Ooh yes!!! I saw some quotes from Unsong over on the book quotes thread, and it sounds awesome!!!!! No, I am not religious, and would very much love to read that book... after I finish um wait what's due at the library? Tooth and Claw... House in the Cerulean... Grace of Wild Things... Way of Kings... Our Stories Our Voices... uh.. *checks pile* oh and They Both Die at the End, so uh..
{czdyv} has got to be the sound of a disgruntled car when it's been out in the sun for too long and is now sizzling like an egg on the 1000 degree pavement :)
(February 3, 2024 - 1:04 pm)
Sorry 3rd comment in a row but thank you so much Hex because yesterday I went to go look at my dad's book collection to look for recommendations for you (which, btw, I forgot if I've already asked, but have you ever read The Golden Compass or anything by Phil Pullman? Or even The Tree of Ecrof was an ok read (can't remember too much except I got nightmares but still liked it haha, same with His Dark Materials), that's the one that's "by Kobe Bryant" but really Ivy Claire wrote it) because he's the huge fantasy/scifi/puns nerd and what I found so many books in his collection I've been meaning to read but haven't really had time to get my hands on and HERE THEY ARE! :D
this is all from memory btw so sorry if there are any mistakes that's why it's not like a misprint on the books or anything (at least I don't think there is...)
- American Born Chinese (I actually knew we had this one, but forgot I had wanted to read it so um) by Gene Luen Yang
- The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
- The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
- Norby the Robot (but there are multiple books in the series; idk if this is the one we read together or if there are more I didn't see) by Isaac Asimov and maybe Janet Asimov too?
- lots of other Ender books by Orson Scott Card
- Faun and Games: A Xanth Novel (and maybe other Xanth novels there too) by Piers Anthony
- lots of books by Anne McCaffrey ofc
- and huh that's interesting we have another version of Voyage of the Dawn-Treader and The Magician's Nephew I think it was (ughh I've so gotta reread Narnia!! But also A Darker Shade of Magic is due at the library too!! Celine!! What's happening??!!) by C.S. Lewis
- we also have Earthsea by Ursula K LeGuin(?) - we read it as a family but I think we lost steam by the second book? I don't know why. I think there was some cool worldbuilding in there too?? Ik Ursula K LeGuin's like a legend so idk.
- Charlie and the Glass Elevator (ik people say it's not as good but I still want to read it) by Roald Dahl
- and now, if we're still sticking with the Charlie theme, the golden ticket....: Fahrenheit 451!!!! :DDD turns out it was just hidden amongst all those books the whole time :p
so yeah anyways thanks (I'm not entirely certain why I'm thanking you but this also wouldn't've (ooh, two apostrophes? I'm fairly certain you can do that???) been possible without you so... just take it? :) )
btw, idk if you got my comment about:
"Did you know that in Mandarin, the phrase for ppl soaking in hot springs is "pao tang" (or something like that, can't quite remember - oh wait yup google translate agrees, except when you put "pao tang" in it says "taking a bath", which is even funnier)? Translation: making soup! :)
(you can see why this is my favorite language, even if I weren't biased)"
(February 4, 2024 - 11:34 am)
Nice! Sleep very very good we love sleep do lots of it yay :D happy late Groundhog Day. I've never seen the movie, but I know the basic plot.
yup, totally ignoring my own advice, 168% a hypocrite, etc, etc! I may or may not have gotten like four hours of sleep last night because I was reading... totally worth it, although I was kind of tired and slightly insane today. I'll sleep once I finish typing this—but it's only midnight so it should be okay.
yeah I love Blahajs :D they're one of the most famous trans icons I think but they're also just pretty cute and squishy haha I don't have one but my friend has a few. Your shark-blanket-hoodie-thing looks pretty epic too
yeah the part time dragons aren't my favorite all time but they're pretty entertaining in moderation. I remember most of the ones you're referencing
Celine?? posting at a sane hour of the day?? are you feeling alright—
center back or center mid usually but I legitimately play everything—center forward and actually any forward and sometimes outside back and I rotate goalie too because my club team doesn't have a dedicated one so it's basically just whoever doesn't run away shrieking from the ball, so unfortunately me :(
I've been playing since I was pretty young, both club and school [high school season is crazyy] and I hurt my hamstring two weeks ago then played like three games on it and made it a lot worse and now I have to not play for a bit and it's killing me I'm going insane from not being able to productively procrastinate and get outside as much ahhhhh (it's not that bad of an injury, but I have a horrible habit of getting semi-injured and then not taking care of myself lol)
I used to play basketball, volleyball, swim, play tennis, and probably another thingy or two I've forgotten...
okayyyy well Ender doesn't technically raise pigs but he kinda befriends a sentient pig-like species I can't remember the name of and then ~cool sci-fi species culture discrepancies~ and death and interesting plot details... maybe my description was a bit misleading haha. I started Dragonflight once but couldn't make it all the way through for whatever reason; I've been meaning to read Xanth ever since you mentioned it; I really need to read Fahrenheit 451; I... actually kind of hated Narnia? ik that's an unpopular opinion but I really never got into it? and the plot felt shallow and I couldn't relate to the characters and idk it was a long time ago but I only ever read the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and the Magician's Apprentice, but still...
Les Mis! ohh that one's gonna take you a while... honestly don't hate me for saying this but I'd recommend an abridged version—it gets the same plot and while you don't have the very long Paris sewer system tangent (lowkey the best part lol) it's still a good book! although ofcccc if you have time read the whole thing but I wouldn't put it at the top of your list, there are better books... and if you want something equally long [that Silver will approve of lol], may I suggest LoTR?
started The Golden Compass once many years ago in an age lost to the mists of time and never finished... I feel like this is a common pattern with the books I'm telling you about XD I swear I usually finish things. I don't remember why I didn't like it though
I've read American Born Chinese [good, if you like this I'd recommend Boxers & Saints], The Hunt for Red October [hard for me to get into for some reason but not bad], Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [too ridiculous for me, I've read them all but seriously wow this could at least pretend to have a plot XD], various Ender's Game books, Narnia [...lol], Earthsea [but it's been many years and I barely remember it. Geb, right?], and Charlie and his assorted candy-themed adventures! I've never read Norby the Robot, Xanth, much Anne McCaffrey, or Fahrenheit 451.
yeah, I saw your comment :) pretty interesting! sorry for never responding lol I probably forgot and I'm terrible at keeping up with stuff like that...
as for your thingy with Marie Lu, I've only ever read two of her books and that was maybe a year and a half ago but just general author questions? like what made you choose your profession, etc. for something more specific, I think she used to be a video game developer, and at least one of her main characters [Emika Chen from Warcross] is a hacker-esque kinda person, so maybe ask if parts of her identity are represented in her characters and how she chooses which aspects to include for each one? that sounds seriously so cool though meeting authors is always amazing. my friend's dad is going to an AI-related summit with Eliezer Yudkowsky and it sounds so cool!!
okk sleep time :D
(February 6, 2024 - 3:31 am)
Hi sorry popping in super quickly before I gtg, Ik I'm just saying a lot of books that you've already tried and aren't for you haha, but do you know The Mapmakers Trilogy and/or What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions? I might've mentioned them before, idk :)
btw, you can't say my math teacher isn't awesome (hopefully this is ok to post @admins? It isn't my own work, but it's a picture of my homework where my math teacher always prints little math jokes on the back that are fun :) )
(February 8, 2024 - 11:39 pm)
My dad comes back home from work. First thing he says?: Hey! Did you know diarrhea is hereditary? Yeah, it runs in your jeans... :D glad this is all back up again!
..sorry. More recommendations. Once you get me going... well, tell me if I should stop. :) might've already mentioned him but anything by Jason Shiga is absolute GENIUS he combines all this crazy science stuff I can't even begin to understand with awesome stories and some of his books are... uh, think video game in book form. Meanwhile especially infuriates me. I've been trying to read it for over 2 YEARS now!! I even cheated!! And I STILL can't solve the combination lock to get to the last level!! Leviathan I finished in 1 day and was especially fun to read/"play", so. And then the Demon books aren't interacting but are mind-blowing and creepy and crazy and I love it even though it's sorta bloody. These are all comics btw.
yep. Say hello again to my long posts! :D How've you been?
(March 7, 2024 - 10:59 pm)
yay! long post time :D thank you for the pun!! I suppose your dad is just a jean-ius...
I've read Leviathan and Meanwhile I think?? I've definitely read Leviathan but I can't remember if I've read Meanwhile or not—was that the one about the ice cream and time machine? It was really cool and mind-bending and ahhh but I can't remember if I ever solved it. (probably not haha) I'll definitely check out the Demon books! thanks for the recommendations, more are always appreciated :)
honestly I haven't been doing great recently but you probably don't want to hear about it lol. how are you doing?
which brings me to my own book recs! Have you ever heard of the Ship of Theseus by V. M. Straka? Otherwise kind of known as S. by Doug Dorst and J.J. Abrams? It's the wackiest, most confusingly interestingly amazingly crazily genius book I've ever [started to] read! It's basically this book called the Ship of Theseus by V. M. Straka that's been written in like footnotes by two people having a conversation in the margins—but little supplementary papers/notes/photographs are slipped into the pages and if you carefully read the story and the margin interactions it spells out an even greater mystery. Like a puzzle hunt book! I don't want to spoil anything and frankly I never got far but it's 100% worth checking out, it's amazing.
Also, The Jenkins Comics are something I just discovered today and they're hilarious, also look those up!!
(March 8, 2024 - 2:35 am)
XD
and now I'm wondering if the word "genius" is in any way related to "gene"... oh! Interesting! Genius origin: "late Middle English: from Latin, ‘attendant spirit present from one's birth, innate ability or inclination’, from the root of gignere ‘beget’. The original sense ‘spirit attendant on a person’ gave rise to a sense ‘a person's characteristic disposition’ (late 16th century), which led to a sense ‘a person's natural ability’, and finally ‘exceptional natural ability’ (mid 17th century)."
ok but all etymology aside, yay! Responses:
- (in response to: Meanwhile by Jason Shiga) yep! Meanwhile is the ice cream/time machine one! And yess that is exactly it!! For if you read demon, irdk if it's the same guy (MC) or not? Or, y'know, if it's the same guy but not with the same experiences/timeline or whatever, or... ok yeah. But yeah!
- (in response to: "honestly, I haven't been doing great recently, but you probably don't want to hear about it lol. how are you doing?") honestly, I do want to hear about it, because I'm nosy like that (haha yeah but it's true) and you're an amazing person (also true!) and if you want to share anything, I'm always here to listen (I mean, you have to listen to my long-winded rants, it's only fair :) )! But ofc, it's your decision! Good luck with... well, life, I guess?, and sending lots of love and hope you're getting enough sleep and not being too busy bc um do I need to give you the million and one lectures I get every day from my mom and my grandparents on those topics <333 Um, as for me, I'm... well, I'm... doing pretty well haha. You prob saw I said on random thoughts/things but while the CB was down I finally worked up some courage to text my "crush" (quotes 'cause it's weird) even though she's the one who made me give her my number in the first place... so, yeah, it's good. :)
- (in response to: The Ship of Theseus) NO WAY THAT IS JUST LIKE WHA- :DD ack I love it so much. And margins!! The margins, for once in the spotlight I love margins so much I love notes in the margins Ik it's weird to say I love them but I do I wrote a poem in my midterm margins about notes in the margins bc why not and there's a BOOK?!??? *squeals like a pig* and ALSO you made me go down a rabbit hole on the thought exercise the ship of Theseus... ahh I love it so much! I've already wasted a whole period of lunch thinking about it :)
- (in response to: the Jenkins comics) haha these are great!! I especially love the Groundhog Day one and the yoda working one - and the pigeonhole principle which I had to look up then check the comments to understand - if you know those... I must say, I don't think I'm smart/knowledgeable enough to understand most of them, but yes!! Actually, yesterday, I was looking up Mary River Turtles because ever since Darkvine mentioned them one fateful day (I srsly was so going to write "one faithful day" but then at the last second I was like, wait that doesn't make sense) I've had this routine of just randomly/occasionally looking them up because their little moss hats and stuff are so ridiculous they always make me smile and I stumbled upon a little comic square about them, from a place called underdone comics if you know of it? Anyways, looked that up, and ahhh I love these comics so muchhh they're punny and about nature (either: fun facts about animals! or: save the environment!) and funny and make me go down so many rabbit holes and Internet searches!! I literally had a dream about the banana slug one last night. And whatt octopuses don't have tentacles how did I never know thattt (or maybe I just forgot). Which, btw!, do you know the plural of octopus? :)
...that was long. Ok! But anyways! In other news, I've been singing 1 songs on repeat for all my family and friends these past few days, so why not spread the joy on here too? :D
introducing...
the best Taylor Swift song ever...
AKA, the only Taylor Swift I know all the words to...
AKA I think it can still be classified as a Taylor Swift song...
I just can't believe (bum bum bu-DUM)
What Britain did to me (bum bum bu-BUM!)
Made an act of tea-ea (mm-hmm)
Made an act of tea-ea (mm-hmm)
The East India Company (bum bum bu-DUM)
Granted a monopoly (bum bum bu-BUM)
In seven seven three-ee (mm-hmm)
Seven seven three-ee (mm-hmm)
They just keep tax-ing
Never think of ask-ing,
Colonies of Bos-ton,
Let's protest, saying it's gotta be our right (BUM BUM)
And we're going on a boat, boat, boat, boat, boattt
Better grab a coat, coat, coat, coat, coattt
We're just gonna dump, dump, dump, dump, dumpp,
DUMP IT OFF! DUMP IT OFF!
It's the middle of the night, (k)night, (jedi k)night, (chess k)night, (good)night (moon)
And we're fighting for our right, right, right, right, right
Yeah, we're just gonna dump, dump, dump, dump, dump
DUMP IT OFF! DUMP IT OFF! (woah-oh-oh)
DUMP IT OFF! DUMP IT OFF! (woah-oh-oh)
DUMP IT OFF! DUMP IT OFF! (woah-oh-oh)
DUMP IT OFF! DUMP IT OFF! (woah-oh-oh-ohh)
*please click here for more parodies of popular songs about American history :D*
(March 11, 2024 - 1:16 am)
will respond to everything else later! :)
(March 11, 2024 - 1:18 am)
Sorry I'll respond... um, sometime
(March 18, 2024 - 4:17 pm)
ah no worries about not responding, I'll just respond to what you last said and you can decide to respond to my comment before this too or just ignore it :)
I love etymology lol have you read The Etymologicon? It's such a good book—it's so interesting! It's basically this dude who starts with the etymology of a specific word then kind of rambles for a whole book tying the end of one chapter to the beginning of the next and at the end he loops it back around to the first word. I learned some really cool stuff in it... the things I remember most is that 'pool' like billiards the game came from the French word for chicken ['poule'] because it was based off a game where people threw things [I think stones?] at a hen and whoever hit the chicken got it as a prize—although I forget exactly how that became billiards. [then he went into a digression about gene pools and carpools and a bunch of other stuff lol]
the other etymology fact I remember is nerdy and a bit a-spec but 'mating' with someone originally just meant sharing your food, or 'meat' with them [where meat just meant food of any kind, not just animal products]. Your 'companion' was someone who you shared bread with—from Latin 'panis.' SO ESSENTIALLY love is a myth and it's all just garlic bread after all :0 if that conclusion makes no sense to you I'm [kind of] sorry :)
[in response to you asking how I'm doing] I... don't think the main stuff would be the best sort of thing to discuss on the CB, and the rest is just I'm tired and stressed and have too much going on... thanks for asking/caring/etc tho!! seriously it means a lot thank you <3 don't worry too much it's okay
ohhhh sleep yes riiiight—
ah your crush!! Congrats on that working out a little bit! I've definitely seen some of your poetry and ramblings around :) how's that going?
...I also sometimes look up Mary River Turtles and blow-dried cows because they're both amazingly hilarious and sometimes the stupidest things make me happy :D like there are so many things that make me strangely happy—lasagna noodles!! and one-star book reviews because book nerds are so funny when they write scathing essays on some poor book!! [idk maybe that's kind of a mean thing to enjoy] and the office store and tiny office supplies because ahh it's so satisfying... and those inflatable thingies outside car dealerships?? and duct tape—and wind and rain—
what about you? strange/trivial things that make you happy?
yep I know the plural of octopus is octopuses :) I've forgotten exactly why though—something about when a word is adopted into the English language the suffix also has to be anglicized, and the i plural form is also Latin while 'octopus' itself comes from Greek or something...?
...I listened to the song... and made my friend listen to it... we both agreed it was amazing... I found another one that was a parody of "Blank Space" about the Space Race that was also pretty good—thanks for sharing that :)
have you heard of the buttered cat paradox? it's basically that cats are supposed to always land on their feet, and buttered toast is supposed to always land buttered-side down... so what would happen if you strapped a piece of buttered toast to the back of a cat?
(March 20, 2024 - 1:31 am)
Was gonna respond yesterday night... got sidetracked by snakes in hats.*
then was looking at quokka pictures until 2am.
then suddenly realized I was tired. :/
(March 24, 2024 - 9:30 pm)
Ok will just jump into business here cuz ack how is it 11:02 already I thought it was just 10 (10:58, Celine!! You've gotta read the rest of it too!! Huge difference!) and tomorrow I wanted to get up early to read Way of Kings... YES BUSINESS K BYE
- first off, I've only just been really getting into The Way of Kings; somehow I suddenly had more time to sit down and read it (ok, only because I was procrastinating homework, but it... still counts. I think. Right?) this past week, and I actually kinda love it?? Like, first off the worldbuilding is just like woah I do NOT have the words I mean just like wow- but also the characters are so developed I feel like, and personally the writing really draws me in. I mean, there was that one scene in the second part that was super tense and I was literally out of my seat screaming "NO!" "NO!!" "APPEAR!, COME ON!, JU-" (for context, idk if you remember but it was when that chasmfiend (what a cool name eek!) was rampaging through the camps and um I forgot his name starts with a D, but he's the current Alethi king's (arghh so annoying=the Alethi king) uncle, and Galivar's brother...? Well, he was summoning his shardblade to fight the beast, and idk it was like "is he gonna make it in time?" "is he gonna die?" so I was like... idk, mentally urging the shardblade to appear in time...? Haha yeah idk what was the point of that explanation again? :) ). Ok but also I love the little quotes and excerpts at the beginning of some of the chapters, and the elaborate designs inside the book (like, framing the chapters and such), and Shallan's sketches of the skyeels and ack that grid of the Shattered Plains (which, the Shattered Plains are such a cool setting to find yourself in!! And the whole thing of bridges! I wonder how it formed...?) and WHAT is happening with Syl and ooh I really feel like there is SOMETHING there about the highstorm something IMPORTANT there MUST BE and I have no idea if you even understand half of what I'm saying haha but yes I am totally in geek out mode right now (as in: I have like zero expertise in worldbuilding stuff, but ACK SO COOL) and I admit it took me a little to figure out how the story worked (wait so that's a prelude, not the first chapter? Wait so that's the prologue, not the first chapter? Wait so that's the first chapter but apparently not the main character bc wait did he just die?!?? In the first chapter?? Oh ok. Wait there isn't a main character? Wait so now we're skipping through time and skipping through people and ohh all the words underneath each part are the names of the people whose perspectives are being shown in that part!) but so worth it!
ohh long post already. Yeah you don't have to read that if you don't want to, I sure didn't retreat to check for mistakes/coherency :) um. Basically Way of Kings = ack so cool. Thanks. :)
- I have not read The Etymologicon but *gasp* I need to I read a few pages of the preview and yeah I see that part you were talking about first off (Ik I used this phrase in the above paragraph already but oh well oops) that's horrible NO CHICKENS but seriously this is awesome!!! :DDDD and woah I never knew that "gentle" came from "gentleman"; I always assumed that the "gentleman" was from "gentle"! Like, this is something that I have liked to actively think about since like forever (when I was little and saw the sign on the bathroom - "gentlemen": *my mind was like* but then why are women called "ladies" on the other bathroom door? Women are gentle too, right? What's a "lady" anyway? Is it a verb? WHY IS "LADY" SO MUCH SHORTER THAN "GENTLEMAN" (looking back, that seemed to bother me more than it should've XD). Wait so all men are gentle? The whole thing's been lurking in my mind ever since) so this was like super cool to find out!!!!
also that mating thing is AWESOME I think you said that once on Random Thoughts/Things before? Yess we live in a garlic-bread world >:) ____|\ <--- supposed to be garlic bread. Please do not judge. I am tired.
- (about stress and sleep) ofc! <33 I would say take care of yourself but... idk how helpful that would be haha. So just maybe remember to take some time off if you're too stressed out and unstress (wait- destress?) and... okay fine, just generally take care of yourself. :p look up pictures of blow-dried cows (fLuFfY~) and Mary River Turtles and snakes in hats (SNEK) and laugh and... uhh... yeah I should probably stop now I'm horrible at this stuff haha :) but yup! Would stress balls/fidget toys help at all?
yeahh but, again, gl with everything, and we're always here for whatever you need! <3
- (about crushes) thank you! It's going fine; I'm scared to give a concrete answer haha. I'll try not to dump another rant on you, but yeah she's amazing and besides that sometimes it feels like she's the only one keeping me from getting totally alienated in my friend group at school and always going out of her way to say hi and joke around with me so <3 (and not in a pity-way either, which I feel like there's a bit of that for me at school. Just in a "we're friends" way.) honestly, I'm really just happy to have her as a friend rn, don't really want anything to change haha. Oh and have I mentioned she's AMAZING at soccer. :0
- (about the little things that make you happy) yess love all of those you mentioned!! I also love um almost quite literally everything haha... just some things: emoticons; that CB emoji that says like "foot-in-mouth" or smth?? I mean, who came up with that emoji? Priceless!; all the 50+ (I think...) ways to say "nonsense"; quarters; oh I wrote an email to my friends and what I meant to say was "happy incredible kids day! You're all incredible kids!" except what I ended up saying was "happy incredible kids day! You're all inedible kids!"; ... I love that I can hear the clock in my room tick-tocking time, usually it fades into the background noise but if you just listen for it, it's always there. So soothing and lovely for some reason. <3
oh, and I love words. Words words words. I misuse them, I overuse them, I'm pretty sure words fear me :D
- (about octopus = octopuses) yup, exactly! But when I hear this I think octo-pusses. So suddenly they're octopus cats...
ahh wait is that it well ok but I just realized 12:16 how bye-
(March 25, 2024 - 2:17 am)
A few days ago I watched Knock Knock Knockin' on Hooty's door and forgot to say: first of all (wait didn't I use that 2 times in the last post-) the owl beast is actually sooo cute... and first of all (since I seem to have developed quite a liking to that phrase, why not go all the way? For old time's (yesterday's) sake (wait why is time old again? Can time GET old??)).
I'm currently watching Yesterday's Lie (well, not currently; I stopped in the middle and am making mac and cheese for myself :D) and... there's something way too innocent/tragic/pathos-being-used-which-is-especially-powerful-against-Luz about Vee/#5? Which makes me quite suspicious of her (them?)... but at the same time ah they seem so genuine and sweet and I just wanna love them!! Ofc, they could also be a victim who's betraying Luz bc she has no choice or smth...
I can't really imagine just giving up their place with Camila though... really way too good to be true...
mini-(for-me)-rant (note: this rant is mostly for me, you don't have to read it :) ):
it turns out a side-effect of self-isolation is that ppl leave you out of the "friend group" (still not entirely comfy with that phrase but everyone at this new school loves to use it... and Ig at my old school too...?). Bc just today person 1 and person 2 (see? I don't even call them friends. Why should they call me a friend) were talking and they were like:
person1: I feel like our whole friend group is in the same English class except for me and (person)
person2: yeahh, ikr? (or smth)
person1: yeahh
*silence*
*me reading silently next to them*
person1: oh wait, I think (Celine) is in the same class as me...
person2: oh yeah.
person1: I think... (for context I sat next to this person for 3 quarters...)
Which is like duh what else are they gonna do, right? I mean, if you don't interact with ppl, why would they keep being/acting like your friend? Friends are mutual!! Totally my fault, so it shouldn't hurt as much as it does... right?? :/ And I make excuses that I don't interact with them bc all they talk about is makeup - which I'm not interested in btw - but really, if I really tried... I could totally talk to them. So why don't I??? Bleh.
I only do it if I make goals. So Ig tomorrow I will talk to (person: huge harry potter nerd) about HPMoR (stillllll reading. Seriously. I'm getting through The Way of Kings way faster than this. So good though!!) if you're fine with me using your recommendations to make friends (keep friends?? Be a friend? Be friendly?) lol... and if by any chance you're not bc ahaha that sounded sorta sad when I typed it out, I suppose it'd actually be better for me to not have an easy grab... there must be something else I can say??
(March 26, 2024 - 7:40 pm)
it's definitely not past 2 am. nooooope!! this is such a bad idea ahh I need to wake up at a normal time tomorrow too... whyyyy do I do this
snakes in hats? please explain—
I'm glad you're enjoying Way of Kings! It definitely seems like something you'd like :D Who's your favorite character so far? I like Teft, Rock, and Lopen, although Hoid is also pretty cool. (I'm not sure how many of those people you've met so far, but just saying their names shouldn't spoil anything...?) also yes all the artwork/worldbuilding is amazing!
...and why is 'men' the plural of 'man' and 'women' the plural of 'woman,' but the plural of 'human' isn't 'humen'? but yep I've definitely mentioned my garlic bread epiffany before, but it's sufficiently amazing that I'm not sorry for telling you twice :)
uMmMmMMm yep taking care of myself definitely doing that— but thanks for advice :D I will try to be better at taking breaks and asking for help and stuff [and SLEEPING ONCE I FINISH THIS]
I don't mind you dumping a rant on me! I'd love to hear about your crush/love life if you want to share, honestly!! she sounds pretty great
well I certainly hope they're inedible kids... XD
I've watched the entire Owl House! Honestly, the plot isn't my favorite but the characters are so sweet and wholesome and before it gets into the super plot-heavy episodes it's amazing :D unrelated, but I've also recently started watching Phineas and Ferb and it brings me so much joy—I aspire to be like Dr. Doofenshmirtz haha have you ever seen any of it?
aw :( that sounds frustrating. [the friend thing, for reference] I've definitely been in similar isolating situations, and it sucks. the way people just forget about you?? horrible. [my old "friend" group used to forget about me during games of hide-and-seek... that was kinda funny in hindsight but not fun in the moment. I've found better people now though, thankfully] I also get not really wanting to talk to people because they have such shallow interests or don't like the same things as you. It's not your fault for not loving to interact with them, I wouldn't blame yourself. Being an introvert/socially anxious isn't necessarily something you can control, so don't beat yourself up about it. There are people for you out there somewhere, you just have to find them [and I still feel horribly guilty about being really socially awkward or quiet around some of my friends sometimes like when I'm having a bad day, but I know they don't hold it against me]. everyone on the CB [liiiiike meeee] is also here for you!
also yes ahem 100% use HPMOR to make friendships!? that's not a sad plan at all! good luck :) if you want me to try to help you think of things to say to people, I can attempt that as well lol
I'm kinda curious, what kind of music do you listen to? favorite genres/artists/etc?
argh I need to stop failing CAPTCHAs that's like the fifth time today [and yesterday it took me three tries to complete one of those 'click all the squares with cars' one...] I swear I must be a robot—
(March 29, 2024 - 4:34 am)