Brilliance - Blog Posts

Oh. My. Gods.

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Is it creativity or is it necessity that is the mother of all invention? Either way these things are cool.

Just imagine a world full of beautiful stained glass windows which also generate electricity…

[Oxford Photovoltaics]

do yourself a favor and read “Oh God, Not Again!” by Sarah1281

it is a harry potter fanfic from like 2009, 160k words, 50 chapters

basically, adult Harry accidentally goes back in time and wakes up on his 11th birthday again, but with all his memories of the future intact

(the way he travels back makes no sense whatsoever but it doesn’t really matter)

harry decides upon 3 goals:

fuck up as much shit as possible

make a shitload of money

save some lives or whatever

it is

H I L A R I O U S

his go-to explanation for how he knows what’s going to happen?

he has a psychic scar

(hermione is SO PISSED about this)

(neville’s like “either he’s psychic, or he’s the greatest conman alive”)

everyone just sort of assumes harry’s insane and he doesn’t do much to dispute this

harry also decides to make it his mission in life to LOSE the house cup every year

“snape is my sole ally”

he also goes out of his way to befriend neville, ginny, and luna earlier this time, so they’re part of the gang throughout and it’s great

even draco is a friend!

(kind of)

(when harry’s not spreading a rumor that draco’s the lovechild of narcissa and snape, anyway)

harry’s motivation for everything he does in this story is basically, “oh, this will be hilarious”

either that or, “it’s probably a tax deductible”

because the way lockhart is written in this story is also amazing and harry ends up teaming up with him to merchandise The Boy Who Lived so he can have cash to burn

(so he gets a LOT of shit done via bribes)

it gets to the point where harry is able to convince everyone that he’s not the heir of slytherin…. because if he was, he’d have found a way to make money off of it

and everyone’s like “yeah ok that checks out”

in this timeline, neville’s boggart isn’t snape…. it’s harry as the minister of magic

harry also decides to make sure cedric lives by quizzing him constantly on what to do if he ends up in a graveyard

harry: by the way, that reminds me – cedric. graveyard.

cedric, not even really listening: run like hell.

the sheer magnitude to which harry does not give a fuck in this timeline is truly awe-inspiring

he mouths off to everyone, and i mean everyone. lockhart, snape, the dursleys, malfoy, friggin’ voldemort

everyone is like “what… what the fuck, harry”

(though by the end of first year it’s more like “… *deep sigh* … fine.

snape is so angry

it’s fucking hysterical and just about everyone ends up better off

here’s the link

thank me later

Dorian

First, it’s amazing to me that I still don’t remember the TRUE title of this book. I always refer to it just as Dorian, then remember it’s Dorian Gray--completely forgetting it’s actually “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

I love this book so, so much. Forget the ridiculousness of homophobia in general and in the book, for Oscar Wilde to have written this book, have the visual degree he had, the understanding he had--it baffles and bothers me that people really considered anything else except for the pure genius that he was with this story and concerned themselves with other things. 

First, for the story, the use of the painting and Dorian as a split between him and his soul is amazing. While he begins his journey with a great lack of understanding, it brings about the idea that without consequences many will go astray--while also pointing out that those who choose to put their value in images or status instead of nature and character are going to be missing the truth about people--warned by Sybil, the painting and Bail’s disbelief of the rumours

Secondly, Dorian’s journey over the 18 years that were inspired by Basil’s painting and Lord Henry’s small chat, along with Dorian’s lack of follow thru to stay with Sybil both before and after her death--what concerns me with this is the reflection that that at that point his fate is sealed. While later true, Dorian and the other characters take the easy way out and similarly to my first point go towards the path of least resistance--in more ways than one, regardless of the logic or lack of behind it. 

Finally, and for me, the most awe-striking genius that I continue to be stunned by is the ending where Dorian meets his demise. While I know that our creativity comes from an inspiration within, the ending especially (along with the idea of the painting in general) was so ahead of its time. I am again in awe