“Come on, it's almost midnight. Let's go watch them cut the cake.”

“Never give us what we really want. Cut the dream into pieces and scatter them like ashes. Dole out the empty promises. Package our aspirations and sell them to us, cheaply made enough to fall apart.”

“Dess shook her head. "Before he walked off, Rex said for you to wait. He said it's totally important you don't touch Angie until he comes back. and he said that if you were a pain about it, I get to hit you with that." She pointed to where the darkling had flung Flabbergasted Supernumerary Mathematician, its tip blackened by ichor and fire. "So, go ahead.”

“Reality had no gears, and you never knew what surprises would come spinning out of its chaos.”

“it's not called the Rusty Ruins because some guy called Rusty found them.”

“...that was what kept the world interesting...reality had no gears, and you never knew what surprises would come spinning out of its chaos.”

“Around the outskirts of the city, cut off from town by the black oval of the river, everything was in darkness. Everyone ugly was in bed by now.”