Maria

“There's a difference between really loving someone and loving the idea of her.”
― Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl

“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”
― Stephen King, 11/22/63

“[A dark side] is all a shadow is—and though you might be prejudiced against the dark, you ought to remember that that’s where stars live, and the moon and raccoons and owls and fireflies and mushrooms and cats and enchantments and a rather lot of good, necessary things. Thieving, too, and conspiracies, sneaking, secrets, and desire so strong you might faint dead away with the punch of it. But your light side isn’t a perfectly pretty picture, either, I promise you. You couldn’t dream without the dark. You couldn’t rest. You couldn’t even meet a lover on the balcony by moonlight. And what would the world be without that? You need your dark side, because without it, you’re half gone.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

“Death is not a checkmate…it is more like a carnival trick. You cannot win, no matter how you move your Queen.”
― Catherynne M. Valente, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making