Marian Seldes, referring to Anne Sexton in "Anne Sexton: A Biography"
Wrath: One day you’ll call me Death. For now Wrath will do.
Emilia: Wrath will do what
— Nietzsche
WHEN I FOLLOW YOU, I WANT TO INTERACT. I don’t follow for follow, I follow you because I’m interested in your character and want to write with you. sometimes, even when you follow me, I’m too shy to approach, or I’m just not really sure HOW. please; if I’m following you, shoot me a message. go ahead and RANDOMLY JUMP IN MY INBOX. Something – just know that if I follow you, I WANT to interact with you!!
DESTINED: The sender recognizes the receiver from a dream, a past life, or a vision.
there was something unsettling in the woman’s gaze … too sharp, too knowing, like she was seeing through skin and sinew to something older. emilia didn’t flinch under it, but she felt it all the same. that quiet pull in her chest. like something long buried had just opened its eyes.
❝ you’re looking at me like you’ve seen a ɢʜᴏsᴛ, ❞
she said softly, the corner of her mouth lifting, not quite a smile. her voice was calm, but edged in a subtle tension, like a wire pulled tight. she stepped a little closer, the candlelight catching in her eyes—brown and warm, but watchful. searching. ❝ or maybe just someone you thought you’d already lost. ❞ a pause, and then, gently —curiously : ❝ do i feel familiar to you? ❞ she didn’t ask with disbelief. she wasn’t mocking. if anything … she almost wanted to hear the answer. because deep in her bones, where memories had no names and time had no shape, emilia felt it too — the echo of something once lived. or dreamed. or promised.
Mad, really mad, a stranger to herself and others, oblivious to the world, […] around her neck a necklace of curses and tears.
— Simin Behbahani, A Cup of Sin: Selected Poems, transl by Farzaneh Milani and Kaveh Safa, (1999)
Yennefer of Vengerberg in The Witcher - Bottled Appetites
[ standing over a body ] " oops. "
the silence in the room was thick, clinging like smoke after a spell gone wrong. emilia stood a few feet away from the body, arms crossed, gaze fixed on the slowly spreading pool of blood with an expression that wasn’t quite surprise. she’d seen worse. she’d caused worse. but that didn’t mean she approved of this. not by a long shot.
yelena stood nearby, a smear of something dark on her cheek, chin lifted like she was daring the world to flinch first. ❝ oops, ❞ she said. emilia blinked once. ❝ oops, ❞ she echoed, voice flat. ❝ that’s what you’re going with? ❞ she took a few slow steps forward, her boots silent against the tile. the scent of blood mixed with gunpowder and bad decisions. she didn’t crouch, didn’t touch the body — just looked down at it with the weariness of someone who had cleaned up too many messes that didn’t need to happen in the first place. ❝ you could’ve walked away, ❞ she said. ❝ you could’ve handled it with a threat, or a promise, or even just silence. instead … ❞ she gestured loosely to the body with one hand. ❝ now there’s a corpse in the hallway and we both get to deal with the fallout. ❞ yelena didn’t say anything. she didn’t have to. emilia could read her like a spellbook left out in the rain — a little warped, but still legible. she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, more tired than angry. ❝ i know what it’s like to be angry. i know what it feels like when the world treats you like a mistake. but if you let that anger decide for you, you’re just doing their work for them. ❞ her voice softened, but the edge remained. ❝ you want a place at the table? fine. but you don’t get there by being reckless. you get there by surviving. ❞ emilia looked at her, really looked at her — at the hard line of her jaw, the heat behind her eyes, the tension in her hands. ❝ you’re not stupid, yelena. sᴏ ᴅᴏɴ'ᴛ ᴀᴄᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ. ❞ then, after a beat, she turned toward the door. ❝ come on, ❞ she said over her shoulder. ❝ we need to move the body before someone sees. and next time? try not to make me regret standing beside you. ❞
apron on. a swirl of olive oil. the aroma of garlic. candlelit evening in. plump, red tomatoes. sea salt pasta water on boil. fusilli in. basil from the plant. jazz tunes on. creating in the kitchen is such a dream.
love note to my mutuals ﹕ I'm trying to get to know you all, so if you're interested in an ❪ ɪɴ ᴄʜᴀʀᴀᴄᴛᴇʀ ❫ DM, please give this post a ♡ and I will be in touch !