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If he wouldn’t have been such a science nerd he could have started a band, you know? He wanted to do something great. He needed to discover a different kind of heavy metal.

“I was required to exchange chimeras of boundless grandeur for realities of little worth.”

Victor would have killed it writing teenage angst diary entries. Or a manifesto.

LOCAL BOY DISCOVERS ALCHEMY HUNDREDS OF YEARS AFTER THE PSEUDOSCIENCE IS DISPROVEN BY FACTUAL EVIDENCE.

Beaufort reminds me a lot of the father from the old Brothers Grimm version of beauty and the beast.

I made it through the Letters!! That was not as dull this time.

“You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been.”

^^ that is an interesting and enlightening passage but I find it funny he’s somehow learned all this about this guy he literally just met. Buddy you are INFATUATED.

“Sometimes I have endeavoured to discover what quality it is which he possesses that elevates him so immeasurably above any other person I ever knew. I believe it to be an intuitive discernment,a quick but neverfailing power of judgment,a penetration into the causes of things, unequalled for clearness and precision;add to this a facility of expression and a voice whose varied intonations are soulsubduing music.”

“Such a man has a double existence: he may suffer misery and be overwhelmed by disappointments, yet when he has retired into himself, he will be like a celestial spirit that has a halo around him, within whose circle no grief or folly ventures.”

Yeesh. This dude is waxing poetic. Methinks he has a case of ye olde hero worship.

“Even broken in spirit as he is, no one can feel more deeply than he does the beauties of nature. The starry sky, the sea, and every sight afforded by these wonderful regions seem still to have the power of elevating his soul from earth.”

“One man's life or death were but a small price to pay for the acquirement of the knowledge which I sought, for the dominion I should acquire and transmit over the elemental foes of our race.”

This very next sentence is where he goes too far into mad ambition, however. You know what? You are a wretched man. LIFE IS BUT A SMALL PRICE TO PAY??? I’m glad Victor metaphorically punches him in the face for this.

“I was easily led by the sympathy which he evinced to use the language of my heart, to give utterance to the burning ardour of my soul and to say, with all the fervour that warmed me, how gladly I would sacrifice my fortune, my existence, my every hope, to the furtherance of my enterprise.”

You know what? Good for him.

“I never saw a more interesting creature: his eyes have generally an expression of wildness, and even madness, but there are moments when, if anyone performs an act of kindness towards him…his whole countenance is lighted up, as it were, with a beam of benevolence and sweetness that I never saw equalled. But he is generally melancholy and despairing…”

Ah. His name is Robert. I shall call him Bob.

R’s lieutenant (whose background we get for some random reason) sounds like a stand up guy. Too bad R is too stuck up to properly value him as a friend.

“Now I am twenty-eight and am in reality more illiterate than many schoolboys of fifteen. It is true that I have thought more and that my daydreams are more extended and magnificent…”

Get a load of this guy! His daydreams are more extended and magnificent than your average educated 15 year old 💅

Ah his name is R. Walton. I shall call him Ron.

“I voluntarily endured cold, famine, thirst, and want of sleep; I often worked harder than the common sailors during the day…”

Ohhhhh my gosh u did all of that? should we tell everyone? Should we throw a party?should we invite bella hadid

“I imagined that I also might obtain a niche in the temple where the names of Homer and Shakespeare are consecrated. You are well acquainted with my failure and how heavily I bore the disappointment.”

This is the kinda guy you punch in the face.

That said, I think Victor is pretty different. Sure he had hubris but he wasn’t quite so…arrogantly stupid about it. At least to my recollection, which may be wrong. In any case it does bring to mind Icarus and his wax wings, you know.

Mr. Letter Man is rather full of himself, is he not? I believe he is suffering from, as they say, delusions of grandeur. From what I recall, I believe we’re supposed to compare this guy to Victor. This guy, in the end, is spared the eternal suffering brought on by his own hubris—unlike Victor.

Hellooooo I am reading this again! This time with friends! I’m in for a decidedly foreboding and depressing time, I’m sure.

EUCATASTROPHE

I AM NOT FREE FROM SURPRISES TIL THE BOOK IS PROPERLY OVER

I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING

THANK YOU JINYEONG FOR NOT BEING DEAD I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU also shoutout to Pet for staying alive. Shoutout to everyone. This has been such a rollercoaster of emotions.

Okay, so I had THOUGHT that and then abandoned the thought because of how the story really prioritized the other interpretation. Which is so freaking cool. But it simply couldn’t have worked out any other way. Of course this was how it was. Insane.

I GUESSED THAT!!!!! THE SECOND SHE NAMEDROPPED THE WORD I GUESSED THAT!!!!! Of course I rather floated away from the theory but I GUESSED THAT!!!!!!! AAAAA HHHHHHHH AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH this is so cool

Ohhhhhhhh. Well that makes sense. I should have known that honestly.