#although getting through all the books if you hate one of the main pov characters is quite the feat

[art-eat3r]

My "hot take" on Piggy and his role in LOTF (more like a rant)

These are all my opinions and interpretations of the book. Feel free to discuss in the comments :-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1) The Metaphor around his character

I personally view Piggy as a metaphor for logical thinkers and intelligence in society . He's the smart and logical one out of the group, well, as smart and logical a preteen boy can be, but he's significantly smarter than the rest. He knows things. Piggy gave Ralph most of the important ideas used throughout the book (Conch; social rule, assemblies; order/community, etc), even if it was in a smart-ass way. He helped Ralph and the others with more analytical and aware tasks in earlier chapters (Keeping track of the Littluns, names, organizing tasks, etc). His ideas and proposals are logical. (I'll come back to this)

2) What's with all the teasing?

Surface-level, he's an overweight kid with asthma and wears glasses. Very easy to tease, especially being the only one physically different in a group of young boys (coming from experience). Metaphorically speaking, I truly believe that Piggy and his constant, public humiliation from (mainly) Jack, who represents the "evil in society" and pure instinct (Ralph POV), reflects on how as a society, people tend to shut down and ignore new, intelligent thoughts and ideas. Now, society and people are constantly evolving, yes, but people hate change and feeling questioned as to what they already belive as true. So, as Piggy is bringing these good and new ideas to the group, he gets teased and shut up because what do his ideas cause? Change and questions.

3) His name

Now, I can't be the only one who is a smidge upset we never get to know Piggy's real name. However, although it would be nice, I do belive Piggy's name has a very...poetic? meaning to it and is significant to the book. Now, he was reluctant at first to tell Ralph, but ended up telling him that kids used to call him Piggy. This makes Ralph laugh and tease (if I remember correctly). This is what he was used to. Now, all he wanted was for Ralph to NOT tell the group that he was called Piggy before the crash. It's an understandable request and not that hard to fulfill. However, what's one of the first things Ralph does? He calls him Piggy AS he's being teased. This makes the humiliation worse for Piggy and the little trust he put in someone on the island was broken.

Now, every Bigun on the island has a real name, an identity, except Piggy. He is the only one without a sliver of his identity before the island. He will forever be remembered by the boys as Piggy. Piggy, a nickname used to taunt and brutalize his self worth and identity.

"Well why didn't he correct the other boys?". As someone who went through bullying because of their physical appearance, these names really take up every ounce of your self-worth and your identity with yourself. Piggy knew himself as the names he was called. What's the point in getting your name out there if it's going to be stomped on and ignored? It would just be another jab at himself, wouldn't it?

4) His death and everything to go along with it

Piggy is the last character to die in LOTF, and his death has immense symbolism and meaning to it. Now, he recommends that Ralph's small tribe of (4) go and get his glasses back. Not a very possible request, if you look at it statistically, but hey! Piggy does the thinking and Ralph does the leading, right?

Fast forward and Ralph is trying to be reasonable. He comes in peace, essentially saying "What the fuck? You could have just asked." Now, who's coaching this speech, reminding of the main reasong they came? Piggy. Of course, things don't go Ralph or Piggy's way and Jalph is having their fight. Samneric (symbolism for battle between moral and evil) are tied up and ignored. Roger is throwing rocks, still not daring to disrupt the taboo that he crated for himself. Everything comes down to Piggy. And what does Piggy do best? State what's on his mind. His intelligence.

"I tell you, I've got the conch! Surprisingly, there was silence now; the tribe were curious to hear what amusing thing he might have to say" (Golding 180).

The tribe is ready to laugh at Piggy's reason. This part of the book is where the conch comes into a big play. It represents social order and reason. It's so well protected throughout the book and having it out in order to reason with "savages" is a ginormous risk. But hey, intelligence has control over the social setting currently, and what's the best way to combat against savages?

(This is getting long so I'm going to sum this up. If you're curious, read pages 180-181 with this idea in mind).

-------------

"High over head, Roger, with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all of his weight on the lever" (Golding 180).

Roger, the character we spent learning as someone who is sadistic but doesn't dare interrupt that once sense of normalcy around Samneric and Ralph as he throws rocks at them, dropped a big ass rock on Piggy's head, reaching his final turning point.

The conch, all social order and structure, is smashed into thousands of peices, never to return again.

Piggy, intelligence, rational thinking and logic, has his skull cracked in half, and dies how he lived. A social mockery. Someone who's only identity is a sick nickname, taunting him for as long as his story his told.

The island has reached a point of no return.

Society and order in the group, gone and washed out into sea, alongside the peace that once was.

#lotf #lotf analysis #lord of the flies #analysis #ops interpretation #lotf spoilers #lotf piggy #piggy lotf #rant #spoilers! #tw - violence #My weird nerd rant #symbolism

[hbyrde36]

Self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 🖤

oh! so fun, thanks anon!

In no particular order because they are all precious to me:

Steve Harrington: Vampire Hunter

Vampire Eddie Munson, Vampire Hunter Steve Harrington, P.I. Robin Buckley, bad-ass gun toting Nancy Wheeler, VAMPIRE DUSTIN!, Stripper Chrissy Cunningham, and so much more.

My ‘steddie as Anita and Jean-Claude from the Anita Blake novels’ fic. I fucking love this thing. It’s SO FUN. The book series it’s pulled from start out in the 90’s (yes I’m old and I read them when they were originally published🙈) and as much as I love the idea of Vampire Hunter Steve having a beeper, I decided to bring things up to present day (along with quite a few other changes to make it my own, and to fit the steddie vibe). It’s weird and a little challenging writing a fic intermingling two different pieces of media, but I love weaving in and combing elements of each universe's lore, while still maintaining the main beats of the story. If nothing else, read this one for the dream sequences!

2. Caught in the Undertow

Post season 4, Canon Divergent – Eddie lives and Vecna has been defeated.

AKA the sad Eddie fic, or, as i used to call it in my head, 'the passively suicidal Eddie fic'. This was my first foray into the ‘giving my own issues to my blorbos’ thing, although it still seems to be in character for them, I think. Don’t worry, I spread it out between both Eddie and Steve, so they’re both a little fucked up. I loved and hated writing every word of this fic. It was so hard sometimes and I made myself cry more than once, but it was incredibly cathartic. This is the fic I go back to and read parts of more than anything else I’ve written.

3. Times Like These

Time loop, Eddie POV

TLT was my first brain worm, my first ever fanfic, and the first thing I’d written period in a very long time. I had no idea what I was doing, but I was so intrigued by the idea and there weren’t many (any?) Eddie POV time loops on ao3 at that point so it was definitely a little bit of a “fine I’ll do it myself” moment. I was just so curious how it would play out if Eddie, the new guy who knew so little about the upside down, who got thrown into the mix and died all within a single week, were to be the one stuck in a loop. What would he think was happening to him? Would he trust the party enough to tell them? What would he do or change to try and fix things? I think I’ve improved quite a bit as a writer since I finished this, just through sheer practice, but I’m still so very proud of my first baby and think about it often.

4. Life is a Game (and True Love is a Trophy)

Canon was just a crazy homebrew D&D game, sort of.

My second brain worm, this fic lived in my head for 8 months before I had written a single word of it. It all started with the idea that, 'what if all of the events from the show had just been a D&D game played by the boys in Mike’s basement?', and then I ran with it from there. It’s a work in progress and we have still have a ways to go (I’m not sure we’re even at the halfway point yet) but I love how it’s turning out. The response from readers, in comments on ao3 and tumblr, to this one has been very kind and encouraging. It makes it SO easy to work on knowing others love it as much as I do.

5. Thank God we didn’t peak in High School

Friends-with-Benefits to Lovers, Modern Au, life after high school au, no upside down

I wrote this series at the last minute for Steddie Week. Last minute, as in I didn’t even start until several days into the event. I’ve never put out so many words so fast. This fic is loosely based on my own marriage’s origin story, although our beginnings were even more dramatic than this (I felt like I had to tone it down to make it believable). This is the first project that made me realize how fun writing from prompts could be! It’s definitely not my best writing, but the story is fun and cute, a little dramatic and angsty, and as always the boys get their happy ending!

#asks #my fics <3 #steddie fanfic #self rec #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve x eddie #steve harrington/eddie munson #steddie #time loops and AUs and trauma - oh my!

[astoryadaykeepsrealityaway]

Book Review: Twisted Love by Ana Huang

When I think of picking up a romance book, I always pray to the book gods that the book will make me swoon. Did ‘Twisted Love’ deliver? Yes, it did! This novel had all the tropes I wanted in a romance novel. Brother’s best friend? Check. Interracial relationship? Yes! Even the ‘I hate everyone but you’ trope? YES, YES, YES! While I can’t say I’ve never read a romance story like this before, there were multiple things that made the book refreshing and quite interesting for a young, romance enthusiast like me.

The book follows our Female Main Character (FMC), Ava Chen, who is quite literally a ball of sunshine. She went through a very traumatic experience in her childhood that made her develop a phobia of water. Her brother, Josh, takes it upon himself to protect Ava at all times but faces a block when he has to go to Costa Rica for medical training. Which leads to our brooding and cold Male Main Character (MMC), Alex Volkov, to somehow be roped into doing the babysitting for Josh, as he’s Josh’s best friend and most trusted buddy. Alex is someone who is most definitely not the guy Ava thinks he is, as he has his own past that has led him to seek revenge as his main goal. However, with him suddenly being in close quarters with Ava, and constantly looking after her, their relationship slowly starts to blur. Although they can’t stand each other at the beginning, due to Ava’s childish and bright personality, Alex’s protective nature doesn’t let him take his eyes off her. After a truce, Ava’s behaviour starts to melt Alex’s icy heart, while he helps her get over her phobia of water. 

The slow burn in the book may seem a little bit frustrating at first, but the explosion of tension makes all the waiting satisfying. Their completely opposite personalities make their dynamic very explosive and fluttering. At first, I was under the impression that Alex was an overbearing and bossy character, and I wasn’t really sure if I wanted him to end up with Ava. But as the story went along, I could understand from his point of view and was absolutely floored when we could see how much he loved Ava. Just like his passionate need for revenge, it translated onto his feelings for Ava (and in bed *wink*), which brought the book to a whole new level. Ava, on the other hand, who seemed very innocent at first, somehow learns to see things from a more realistic POV from Alex. This makes their relationship very cute once they actually start dating, and it amplifies the story.

Another aspect of the book that I liked was Ava’s relationship with her three best friends. The girls met each other when they attending the same university and they ended up being roommates. We’re introduced first to Jules, a redhead who is known for her fiery personality, amazing body and her pretty face, Bridget, a blonde who is quite literally the princess of a kingdom called Eldorra, and Stella, an introverted social media influencer with a passion for fashion. Despite coming from different backgrounds and having different personalities, their friendship has lasted even after their college days. Ava’s friends are her ultimate support system and they are one of the largest factors of Ava and Alex ending up together. Besides, author Ana Huang has mentioned that all the girls will be getting their own book, which makes me so excited to get into! 

All in all, this book was fast-paced and was very a cute and heart-fluttering read, which made me very happy as it fulfilled my romantic heart. Now, I’m very excited about the next book, which is about Bridget! Based on the crumbs we got from this book, I’m quite curious as to how they’re gonna develop her story with Rhys, her bodyguard. A forbidden romance between a princess and her bodyguard? TAKE MY MONEY, ANA HUANG!

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

#booktok #ana huang #twisted series #booklr #bookworm #twisted love #ava chen #alex volkov #jules ambrose #josh chen #bridget von ascheberg #rhys larsen #stella alonso #christian harper

[mejomonster]

Sometimes reddit will hate on anything... I was looking up Three Body Problem themes to see if anyone had written any good articles on its political themes. Ran into a reddit sci fi thread tearing the books to shreds. Calling them badly written. I just?? Do some people not have proper critical reading skills? The answer is probably yes -.-

Valid critiques I saw (though on reddit they got intensified to super negative cause that's how reddit tends to go): 1. Characters exist primarily to move the plot, correct. The author definitely values using characters to tell his story over creating interesting characters for the sake of characters. So calling them cardboard is a fairly valid critique, especially given the characterization is given much less focus than the external plot. However I'd counter... you don't need character focused inner arcs to be good? Obviously? Ray Bradbury wrote characters like this, I loved his stuff. Twilight Zone did, I love that. Also I personally feel Liu writes close character perspective pov, and that adds an intimacy with these characters to make them feel grounded and unique even though they're more like you or me going through world events - human and realistic but not necessarily internally going through huge internal development specifically because of some world event (although his core characters do actually go through some decent internal arcs in my opinion). And I think he's aware of characterization as important, as in The Dark Forest his whole section about writing a novel and making a character who is alive in their own right? So fascinating and very interesting from the perspective of what it means to write. Both to interpret the author Liu and the character who made the written girl Within that arc. The writer man was going through some internal stuff all right... if a reader can't understand that without being explicitly told the guys emotions and fears and evolution then like... damn get better at reading? Please? They complained about poor writing in TBP but then also can't understand the elements of the story that aren't explicitly stated, such as emotional arcs and internal biases and feelings. A lot of the reddit reviewers could understand Ye Wenjie slightly, no doubt because the narrative has her EXPLICITLY say she hates humanity after hundreds of pages of obviously implying her fear and pain from page 1 (which I am guessing they needed that level of intense hammering to understand her?), and then the explicit sci fi ideas portion of the plot. I feel like... a lot of the humans grappling personally and as a species was not noticed by some readers. Also... as stated explicitly in Lius book notes: the books main characters are humanity and trisolaris! So of course humanity as individual characters feels lacking in the story! It's cause the sum of them depicts the main character of HUMANITY going through some shit. But something tells me the reddit reviewers who flamed TBP intensely just... definitely did not interpret the book as "main character humanity." -.-

Another fair critique they hammered to 11: that the sci fi mentioned in it is basic. That is true, a lot of the ideas in it aren't even science fiction theyre just basic science fact or one layer fiction into "What if." For me? That was enjoyable. A very Person of Interest qpproach where it feels like it could happen now in reality, which gave the story a grounded feeling in real political and social reality. Which the political UN elements and Space Force elements complimented. It also felt a bit like The 100 in that science mind blowing ideas isn't the point, the point is contemplating how humanity acts during problems. Which is relevant now to us due to global warming and always was and will be relevant to humanity and the world wide problems we face. So yeah, TBP is not the book to find uniquely mind blowing new ideas to contemplate in science future. But it does utilize some more common science fact and fiction ideas to explore humanity's nature and capacity for healing and hurting. Which is similar to Star Trek, The 100, and Person of Interests way of handling sci fi concepts. So it's a take it or leave it, because fair enough the topics aren't anything new. The only unique thing (maybe) I think this book does is really keep going with science instead of stopping at 1 single idea. But I think many novels do this, and TBP still only focuses on a few related science ideas so it stays relatively small scale in scope of exploration. It's ideas about human society and political response is more broad I think (again why it slightly reminds me of The 100).

Then of course, beyond cardboard characters and boring basic sci fi ideas... some people complained it was badly written. Goddamn... I must have a wildly different taste in writing. I wonder if these reviewers also hate Haruki Murakamis writing style? They'd definitely hate mine to bits! Mine is all biased close character pov and meaning/emptions implied and needing to be figured out oneself through interpreting the biased narrative and figuring out the truth not being directly said. I personally loved the writing style. I see critiques of his characters being somewhat basic, and overall plot structure being not ideal, as quite valid depending on the reader (if you interpret each character individually instead of as the whole "humanity" character the author intended then yeah the characters aren't much as they weren't intended to be, and the plot structure reminds me of webnovels which do wind and meander to degrees structurally lol). But actual style? What the fuck did some sci fi readers want??? Really thick paragraphs??? I have no idea. I have no idea how anyone read the chapter from the point of view of an ant and didn't think that was amazing and beautiful. I don't know how people read Lius use of nature imagery to depict people's emotions and felt the writing had no art to it and was too terse. I can only guess, again, somecpeople just cannot grasp a thing UNLESS it's EXPLICITLY said to them "he was heartbroken" rather than grasping from an imagery like "he looked at the sky turning red as the sun sank beneath the horizon" that oh I don't know maybe the character emotionally IS GOING DOWN TOO. BASIC SKILLS.... basic skills... I think the issue is partly that some reviewers have lacking critical reading and literary analysis skills tbh. I absolutely love Lius writing style. If it wasn't enjoyable and emotionally driven I wouldn't be able to read it lol.

I just. It's so funny to me how wildly different people can interpret stuff.

I fucking loved reading The Three Body problem, highly recommend if you have similar tastes to me. Friends, I'd love to know what yall thought of its artistic quality. Cause dang ToT

#rant #three body problem #lb #three body problem lb #spoiler: i loved reading it so im a bit wow on some of the critiques #its not perfect but like. its quality felt to me quite good #it deserved to be a best seller like it was. its eons better than Twilight in qriting quality #its similar (in my opinion) to reading Murakami #but wirh a more curt plot focus than feeling focus murakami goes for (but the emotionalism still exists in TBP just less focus on it) #andclike... well if u dont like Murakami as a good writer we just aint compatible lol

[where-theres-smoak-2]

The Royals Series Review

So I’ve kind of gotten into this habit of watching random stuff on Netflix and some of it is at least a few years old which is fun because now I am becoming obsessed with shows where the fandom isn’t as active anymore. Anyway I just spent the last couple of days binge watching all 4 seasons of The Royals and here is what I thought of it, warning there are spoilers.

 Boy was this series a wild ride. I mean it was comically absurd at times but in a good way. There were times when it was dark and suspenseful but other times where I was just laughing at how absurdly funny it was. I do think season 1 and 2 were the better seasons although all of the seasons had good things and moments in them. The characters were also great, I even came to love some of the characters I disliked in the first season like Helena and Cyrus. I think all the characters were complex and interesting and their journey’s are mostly well written. But I am going to just talk about the few negative things really quickly. 

I do feel like when Ophelia was written out in the beginning of season 2 her absence did hurt the show a bit. It didn’t make it unwatchable necessarily but her absence was felt. And huge spoilers here but it was felt more than ever after her father was revealed to be the one who killed King Simon. I remember when that reveal came and the resulting death of Ted I just kept wondering about Ophelia because now she had lost both her parents, she must have felt so many emotions, shock at what her father had done, guilt that it was her father that had killed Liam’s, someone who she cared and loved deeply. Grief at losing her father. But we never see any of it we just get told that she had disconnected her phone and social media and moved house. So I just felt kind of unsatisfied and like something was missing. After watching the whole series I did do some research into the show and learnt that the actress left because she wanted to go to college and didn’t have time to do both, which is fair enough, but it was still a shame because I do think it had a jarring effect on the show. I also find out that the show was based on, or inspired by, the book Falling for Hamlet by Michelle Ray which is a modern retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In the book Ophelia is the main character and the story is told from her pov. I think this is part of why Ophelia’s absence is felt so much, because in season 1 it felt like she was the protagonist. Obviously there were many main characters with the royal family and the show was also largely about the royal family, but I also feel like she was like our narrator leading us through the story, we were learning about the world through her. So when she left there was this shift that I do think was noticeable.  Also complete side note but the show being inspired by Hamlet does explain why many of the characters talk to the ‘ghost’ of Simon. As it kept happening when the characters seemed to be under alot of emotional stress I did think they were losing it a bit, now I understand that its that link to Hamlet so it makes a whole lot more sense once you know that. The other negative is most likely just me, but in the beginning of the series I struggled with the fact that it was the UK monarchy, I think that definitely pulled me out of the emersion alot and I would have rathered they be the royal family of a fictional place. But as the seasons went on I did get over it so it wasn’t  a deal breaker. 

The Ships

So every show has those ships you love and those you hate. So here are some of my thoughts on the romantic relationships within the show. I do think the show switched between these relationships a bit too much. Like you think there is something going on between a particular pair and then suddenly out of the blue some other character will show up and its like oh actually this person is like the love of this person’s life and they have a really deep bond, but then that person will suddenly disappear out the plot again. But lets go through the relationships and I’ll hopefully explain that better.

Liam's Love Interests

Ok I really, really brought into the romance between Liam and Ophelia. To me I think it was intended to be the main romance of the series before the actress left. I loved their first meeting and there was something very wholesome and pure about their romance. I thought their scenes were downright adorable but they also had that passion and I think it was all very believable. I think the actors had great chemistry too. It was that classic tale of the ordinary girl who falls for the prince and gets swept up in the whirlwind of Royal life and has to question what she really wants and whether she can take being a part of such a high profile life. The prince also wonders what he wants, does he want to be the King and do his duty to his family or does he want to run away from it all and live a normal life with the girl he loves. But I think the show did a good job of not making it too cheesy. Unfortunately it did feel very unfinished. Especially when you had Liam saying things along the line of  ‘we’ll have our someday.’ When they part. It very much had an air of we are only parting for now but at some point we’ll be together. But that never happens. I don’t know if the show had continued whether they would have eventually brought Ophelia back or not but I do admit I wish that they had brought her back as I don’t think I ever really got over their love story. I think it didn’t help that I never really bought into any of Liam’s other love interests. For me personally I just thought they were lacking. With Willow it felt kind of one sided where Willow definitely had feelings Liam, and whilst for a moment it looked like Liam might have feelings for Willow the show instead suddenly introduces Kathryn as his love interest. Which is what I meant about how they suddenly do switcheroos on you. Because it seemed like they were setting up Willow and Liam but then it was suddenly all about Liam and this girl we had never seen before. When it came to Liam and Kathryn though I do feel like they were trying to recapture the story that Liam and Ophelia had. Its again that ordinary girl who falls for a prince and has to decide if she wants to be part of his world on not. Only with Kathryn they also added in that plot that she was the ex girlfriend of his brother. The other thing is that Kathryn does initially choose Robert over Liam and it very much felt like she only went back to Liam because Robert turned out to be a dick and threw her aside in a very disgusting way that did make me feel bad for Kathryn and made me hate Robert. Don’t get me wrong the relationship between Kathryn and Liam wasn’t terrible, I just didn’t buy into it like I did Liam and Ophelia. I think part of this was again because Ophelia and Liam were presented as being this epic love story and Liam would say these heartfelt very loving things about someday being together, so when Liam starts to say these similar things to Kathryn it, I don’t know, they kind of lose their punch a bit and seem a little more disingenuous because they’ve been said to another girl before, if that makes sense? Also I think part of the problem is I don’t think Kathryn’s character was fleshed out enough. It felt more like she was just there to cause drama between the two brothers and be a love interest for Liam. We don’t really learn much about her as a person. Like with Ophelia we learn things about her past, we learn about her losing her mother, we see her relationship with her father and how he is protective of her and she works through challenges she has with him, we learn that she wants to be a dancer and has a dream of going to new york to audition for a dance school. With Willow too we learn things about her past, like how her mother gave up aristocracy to marry for love, there is the whole social media storyline too and how she comes to work at the palace, we learn about the, I think it was her grandfather, who gave her the music box with the fairytale castle that played Fur Elise. But I don’t feel like we really learn anything about Kathryn outside of her relationship with the brothers. Even her scenes with her family members are centred around her relationship with the princes. We seem to know very little about her life outside of Robert and Liam, unless I am forgetting some information. But yeah when it comes to Liam I definitely liked him the most with Ophelia. 

Eleanor’s Love interests. 

So with Eleanor they also sometimes did that whole sudden switcheroo with the love interests, though it wasn’t quite as bad as with Liam. Obviously her main love interest was Jasper. Here’s the thing with these guys though, their start was so toxic when you think about it, I mean he drugged her then blackmailed her whilst trying to steal from her in some big con he had thought up with his then girlfriend. He even slept with her mother. Yet despite that I couldn’t help but love them together and route for them. I mean I do think it helps that it was hardly the craziest, wackiest thing to happen on this show. I know its a controversial subject but I see this, I think fairly new, opinion that you shouldn’t ship anything that is toxic, like even a little bit toxic, but I don’t agree with that, one because its fiction and so you give more leeway to fictional characters than you would real people but also because I recognise that most of the time these toxic actions are there to create drama which was definitely the case here. So even though they did not have the best start they did grow into a very loving and healthy couple who learnt to be honest and trust each other and that was a fun but also often painful journey to watch. I really did find myself rooting for them and to be honest after Ophelia left, ending Opheliam, I mostly kept watching for Jaspenor. But like I said they also did randomly introduce new love interests for Eleanor as well, namely Beck. I didn’t mind Beck at first I even thought they had good chemistry, I did find his introduction very sudden because it was right when they seemed to still be developing Jasper and Eleanor. Like with Kathryn and Liam I think it was a bit mind twisting because they seem to have very deep feelings for each other but we are meeting this new character well into the relationship so its like playing catch up. But its established that Beck was Eleanor’s first love. I think I started to turn off Beck a bit because whilst he was a good person I do feel like he judged Eleanor in a way that Jasper didn’t when it came to the drugs and alcohol. At times it did feel a bit like Beck wanted to change her. I do think he wanted the best for her but he just didn’t go about it the best way. But I did come to really dislike him when he turned up in I think season 3 when Jasper and Eleanor were together and just started saying Jasper was below him and that kind of attitude of you are common and I am noble so I am better than you. The other kind of love interest was Mandy/Samantha who was Jasper’s girlfriend who he planned the con with in the first place. But she was the literal worse who really used Eleanor. Unlike Jasper she didn’t seem to have any remorse for what she did and it left Eleanor crushed and mistrustful of everyone after. But definitely her best love interest was with Jasper. I just loved that they both grew together and they were two people who I think were really struggling in the beginning of the series but who developed as individuals as well as together as a couple. The whole writing love letters to each other and leaving them in the book was the cutest too. 

Robert, Kathryn and Willow

So with Robert at first I kind of felt bad for everyone involved in the love triangle. I mean Robert seemed to genuinely love Kathryn and he talks about how he only got off that Island because he kept seeing her and that gave him the strength to keep going. He was very convincing. I also felt bad for Kathryn and Liam because they were in this impossible situation where they thought he was dead now he has shown back up and they have mixed feelings because on one hand they are overjoyed he’s alive but on the other hand they feel guilty about having feelings for each other. It did remind me a little bit of the love triangle in Pearl Harbour. That being said Robert really does act like a total dick when he sleeps with and then discards Kathryn, especially as she had chosen him. Also I wasn’t all that thrilled with the whole love triangle thing as bad as I felt for everyone involved at first. Which brings me to Willow. Because of the nature of Robert’s character it is very difficult to figure out if he had genuine feelings for Willow at all. There were times when it did feel genuine and where it seemed like he really did love her but then there were times where I was sure he was just using and playing with her. Maybe some of that was because he seemed to really love Kathryn and seemed genuine with her until he just threw her away to mess with his brother and hurt her. I also didn’t like how he seemed unwillingly to share things with her and this idea of her being seen and not heard. He clearly didn’t want a partnership when it came to the monarchy he wanted her to look pretty and make them look good and kind. But one of the things I really disliked about the kind of love square of Liam, Willow, Kathryn and Robert was how it pitted the two women against each other. Like there are a couple of moments where they have this antagonism and tension between them. Like when Willow confronts Kathryn about showing up at the dinner and then at the tribute to Simon because both events had a connection to Willow and Robert’s engagement and it seemed like Willow felt insecure and threatened by Kathryn. I also felt like Willow judged Kathryn alot for having feelings for both brothers when she herself also at some point had romantic feelings for both brothers. I just didn’t like the pitting of the two women against each other at all. But ultimately we’ll never know if Robert genuinely has feelings for Willow or not because it seemed like Willow was going to help with the dethroning of Robert but then he asked to speak with her and she decided to marry him instead. We don’t know what he said to her that changed her mind or how genuine it was, like I said there were times when it seemed like he had real feelings but the character is so shady its hard to trust him.  

Helena’s Love Interests

So Helena actually has a kind of beautiful yet tragic backstory that involves her falling in love with a stable boy but then giving him up to do her duty by her family and marry the king. I must admit it did make me feel bad for her and a part of me was really rooting for them. But it was complicated because Simon was a nice and genuine man and it was clear that he was hurt by her affair with Alistair. But it also did get to me when Helena told her story to Eleanor and said she would have been happy to marry a man with a pebble as an engagement ring. I think it was kind of sad that they never got their happy ever after, Helena really did screw that one up. But there was another of Helena’s relationships I did really like and that was the one she had with her new Lord Chamberlain Spencer. I think he seemed to really care about her and wanted her to be happy and she did seem happy when he was there, until Robert clearly got rid of him. The other one of note is when she starts sleeping with Prince Sebastian but we later find out he was giving information to Robert. Helena just seemed really unlucky when it came to love and I will admit that as the seasons went on I did hope to see her happy but it just never worked out for her. 

Cyrus and Violet

Cyrus only really has one meaningful and honest relationship and that is with Violet. I did love these two together and I do think that she really helped him grow and change. I think it was obvious that they did love each other, she was really there for him when he had the cancer. It was a new side of Cyrus’ character that we had never seen before. I felt so bad and sad for him when she goes missing. I was so excited that she showed up again in the last episode but it made the cancellation of the show even worse because we’ll never know where she was or why her car was found abandoned with blood in it. 

Character thoughts

Ok so I have talked about the ships and liked and didn’t like so now I figured I would do a quick run down of my thoughts on the characters. 

Ophelia- I loved her when she was on the show and was so disappointed when she left. As I said before I do think it left me unsatisfied that we never really got to see the rest of her story and never got to see her get a happy ever after with Liam. But she was a really sweet and quirky, she often got herself into awkward situations but that just made her endearing, I also think that despite her having a few mishaps like throwing up and falling into flower bushes in front of her princely crush, she had a fire about her. She wasn’t a push over and she stood her ground when the Queen told her to discourage the relationship with her son, she also stood her ground with Cyrus and Gemma. It was nice to see a character that could be both really sweet and dorky, sometimes insecure but who also could stand up for herself.  

Liam- This is another character that I loved. I liked that he started out as just this playboy prince how liked to party and have fun but then as he grows in confidence actually does inspire a nation. He had some darker moments but I think he would have made a truly amazing King because he really did care about his country and people and he wanted to help others. Again its another thing that sucked about the show being cancelled because I’ve just spent the entirety of the show waiting to see Liam as King. I feel like that had to be the natural part of his journey, it really did feel like that was where his journey was heading. So it was disappointing not to get to see him reach the throne and his true potential. 

Eleanor- I think Eleanor had one of the best character arcs on the show. She starts out as the rebellious princess who feels like she has no place in the royal family and who copes with it all by going out and doing drugs and getting herself into the tabloids. But as time goes on you see her grow in confidence and find her place, she becomes someone who is an integral part of the family and she does alot for the monarchy’s image and also helps with alot of charities because she realises the influence she has can really help people, we also watch her go from being very mistrustful of people and pushing them away to being open and honest with them and it was a beautiful journey to watch.    

Jasper- This is another character that had a great arc. I think it complimented Eleanor’s arc really well too. He starts out as a con man and ends up as a knighted hero. He’s also someone who really comes to learn to trust others instead of lone wolfing it. He is the kind of character that you really do come to love and root for because he not only wants to change and overcome his past but he does. 

Helena- So she is one of those characters where there were times I really hated her, mostly when she lied about the twins’ paternity test, I mean that’s a despicable thing to do to your children. But over time she grew and changed and it became obvious that she loved her children and did want what was best for them. I think she was very damaged by her own mother and being forced into marrying Simon instead of the man she loved. Her backstory and the fact that she does change makes her the sympathetic character, even if at times she can be a bit of train wreck. 

Cyrus- I hated Cyrus in the beginning of the show, like really hated him. But I will admit as the series went on I did develop a strange affection for him and he became the character that I loved to hate. I mean he was diabolical at times but I can’t lie that he was also absolutely hilarious whilst being diabolical. There were also moments were he did show true emotion that made me see a softer and more  sympathetic side to him. 

Simon- For the short time we had him I really did like Simon. It was obvious that he really cared about his family and that they were more important to him than anything else. It was their happiness that he wanted and he really did want the best for his country too. I was so sad when he died but I am happy that they kept his memory and spirit alive throughout the rest of the series. 

Robert- This is probably harsh but I liked Robert alot more when he was dead. When he was dead he was this kind of hero, he was the loving brother that his siblings looked up to and the dutiful son that his parents loved. He was the prince that the nation loved. Then they brought him back from the dead and he was a power hungry dick who may or may not have had a hand in his father’s murder, I’m still a bit unclear on that. But he is someone who was willing to put his people at risk to gain power and when he disbanded the parliament he pretty much became a dictator. He seems to have a lot of hubris and a old fashioned way of looking at things, I didn’t like his opinion about how there should only be one voice allowed, the king’s/his. I think Simon was right when he said that Robert would never make a good king.

Ted- I really liked Ted in the start. He seemed to be a decent guy who took his job seriously and loved his daughter. I was so shocked when I found out he was the one who killed Simon. To be honest I do think it could have been better written because I am still a little unclear on what his motive was. I think it was because his wife got killed but I felt like that had happened a while ago so why did he wait as long as he did? But then he also seemed to be becoming a bit unhinged as he kept seeing her ghost everywhere. I think what made it so shocking was that he did seem to care about Liam and was really there for him in the aftermath of Simon’s death. I think that really messed with Liam’s head alot because they did have a good bond so it just added to the betrayal. 

So yeah those are my random thoughts on The Royals. To finish off I would just like to mention some things in particular that I found really embraced the show’s comedic wackiness. I loved the FML running gag, I also really liked how the characters would go ‘this place is so weird’ whenever things got particularly wacky. Speaking of I did really love how wacky it got at times, like it really was bizarre in a good way. A few stand out moments from the top of my head was when Ophelia shot Ashok in the leg with the ceremonial bow, Helena stealing Cyrus’ testicle, Jasper’s dad showing up disguised as the Italian count and then admitting to shooting Jasper to ‘help him get the girl back’. When they put on In the Air Tonight whilst planning their coup and then all stop to do the drum solo. After Liam attacks Beck falling into the throne room full of people and then Robert says they are going to be incredibly British and act like that didn’t just happen, as a Brit I really relate to this and I adopt this practice often. Willow tripping on LSD and running about the Palace pretending to be a ghost and trying to drown Helena in a vat of chocolatey goodness. I definitely enjoyed this series and thought it was a good watch. I do think it was worth the watch even if it does end on a cliff-hanger and very suddenly. Boy I hope there is some good fanfiction I can go read now.              

#the royals #e! the royals #opheliam #liam x ophelia #jaspenor #jasper x eleanor

[ellanainthetardis]

An Arrow to the Moon by Emily X.R. Pan My rating: 2 of 5 stars 2.5 very close to a 3 This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and I was sooo disappointed. First of all, this is marketed as a Romeo and Juliet retelling, let's be really honest here, it's not . Sure, the families hate each other and you can clearly find some wink wink to Romeo & Juliet in there (like "Verona street" or even the scene where they see each other through a fish tank from that 90s movie) but other than that... It's just not. Besides, I think marketing it as a Chinese Romeo and Juliet retelling when The Violent Delights came out not so long ago is a mistake because, unfairly or not, they will be compared and this one will fall short. Still on that topic, the reasons the families hate each other are so... thin and ridiculous that it's not convincing at all. It feels forced just to be able to put a R&J label on it. The most fleshed out characters were without contest the parents, which was refreshing for a YA but even that didn't quite make them convincing enough. It was a lot of telling, recounting their lives and there were so many subplots left in suspension. The two main characters, Luna and Hunter, were so flat it wasn't even funny. They were your typical teenagers in YA, no real personality to speak of, absolutely not phased at all by the fact, you know, there's suddenly magic around... The insta love was bad, their decisions didn't always make sense... The pacing was off all along the book. Sometimes a scene was concluded through 3 different pov in a few chapters, sometimes there were ellipses that lasted weeks and sometimes you went back in time but since the tense didn't change, it was very confusing and left to you to figure out when you were. More than once I had to go back and reread a part because I was confused as to which temporality I was in. The general pace was also very slow. That didn't really bothered me however because it felt like a slow story so it wasn't a problem for me, I thought it fitted the story. The plot was all over the place and I wished the author had pinpointed what story they wanted to tell and told it. There are numerous plot threads that are there but bring nothing to the actual story. (view spoiler)[ the mother's affair is here to bring conflict in Luna's relationship with her parents, clearly and to give the mom some backstory, but it's dropped so fast it gives you whiplash. The subplot of the mob is so puzzling because... it doesn't have any sort of purpose outside of justifying Hunter's family hiding? What was the point of bringing back the Rodney character??? He's supposed to be a tough mob boss but he did nothing during the whole time he was there??? (hide spoiler)] I understood that they chose to set the story in the 90s because of the Taiwan/China storyline and I found all that discourse very interesting, mainly because we are given several different points of view on the issue. I am not very educated on that and it was really interesting, I thought it was well done the way we can see it's not such a clear cut issue. However, you don't get a 90s feel at all throughout the book and sometimes I found myself puzzled by some things and forced to remind myself, ah yes, we're in 91. That aspect wasn't done that well although I guess you can argue it gives an out of time feel to the story, which is the point with fairy tale. I liked learning more about Chinese mythology but the whole supernatural element kept being pushed aside or treated like it was nothing out of the ordinary and for me that was a problem. The characters' reactions weren't believable. I also didn't know the myth this story is based on and it left me a little confused sometimes. The whole book had that feeling though, like it was confused and didn't know what genre it wanted to be. Also that ending... It was underwhelming at most. Everything was neatly resolved in five pages. There was no stake, I wasn't invested enough to get any feelings about it. I felt like the characters didn't really care so why should I? The writing was fine but somehow distant. There was a lot of showing instead of delving into the character's mind or the plot but the style itself was okay. So, basically... I know it's harsh but I think my favorite part about the book is that it will look very pretty on my shelf. View all my reviews

#i read stuff

[battlestarbones]

whenever people post about not liking our boy jimmy holden I just go ahead and assume they haven't read all 8 extant novels. simply don't believe you can read all those books without getting attached to him. he is annoying and a fool and maybe a little problematic and I would die if anything happened to him!!!*

*well, anything fatal. A lot is happening to him all the time.

#the expanse #i dont really mean this literally bc im sure some people still don't like him #although getting through all the books if you hate one of the main pov characters is quite the feat #but im love him and hate that so many people see him as an obstacle to getting to see other storylines #james holden

[cohborikardok]

I read every non-Zahn book with a Thrawn appearance

okay so there are a few books listed on wookieepedia as featuring thrawn, so to be thorough and because i am probably unhealthily obsessed, i bought them all and i read them. so here’s my guide on whether or not these are worth your time:

Galaxy of Fear: The Swarm

thrawn is in this book quite a lot! this one is definitely geared towards children (it reminded me of the magic treehouse books) but it was still pretty fun.

if you enjoy things like thrawn trying to solve a murder, thrawn wandering around in the woods, a force-sensitive little girl sassing thrawn, botanical gardens, and thrawn being mean for no reason i would recommend this book! if you hate bugs i would not recommend this book.

the thrawn characterization in this book is kind of fun honestly. he’s not really like zahn thrawn (his dialogue is WILD) but they also don’t make him completely into the bad guy, which is what i expected them to do for a children’s book. for most of the book he bregrudgingly works with the protagonists.

here’s some quotes i found very funny:

also there’s a typo around the middle of the book where he suddenly becomes “general thrawn” which was pretty amusing.

all in all i would probably give this book like a 7/10, it’s very childish and there are some random things that are never explained, but i enjoyed it and it was only like 120 pages so it was a quick read.

Star Wars Rebel Force: Target

this book technically has thrawn in it. but it has thrawn in it in the same way chewbacca is in revenge of the sith. if you’re only interested in it for thrawn, i’ll save you the time. here’s the only parts that mention him:

the rest of the story mostly focuses on the OT trio and a winter soldier-esque guy named X-7 who “befriends” them. it’s also a children’s novel but this one seemed slightly more mature than The Swarm. X-7 was kinda interesting but honestly after i realized thrawn wasn’t really in it i lost interest. 3/10

Dark Forces: Soldier for the Empire

this book was… not good.

as far as thrawn content goes, there’s not much and his characterization really isn’t great. he doesn’t feel much like thrawn at all and i don’t really understand why they felt the need to make this particular officer him? they really could have made him any imperial captain and it would have worked just as well. here’s his appearances:

there is a stormtrooper-in-training in this named dobbs like thrawn’s tie defenders captain, so there’s that?

also the writing in this book was not enjoyable, it got a little better once the main character was introduced and it stayed with one consistent storyline. but the first chapter in particular it would randomly switch pov’s every few paragraphs, and some of the word choices were bizarre. the story was just kind of meh. i almost gave up three quarters of the way through reading it. 1/10.

Tattooine Ghost

okay finally an adult novel! i thought for most of this book that thrawn was going to essentially be the titled “ghost” because it seemed that it was going to continue to vaguely mention a “new admiral” instead of actually showing him. but then he made an appearance!

because this takes place before heir to the empire and han and leia don’t know thrawn’s name in that book, his name is never mentioned. also in his appearance he’s disguised himself as a stormtrooper for some reason. but chewbacca tries to rip his head off which is fun and then you get a glimpse of his face so it was definitely thrawn. you also hear someone who i suspect is thrawn giving direction to the stormtroopers a few times later.

the plot of this book was pretty fun. basically han and leia go to tatooine to buy a alderaanian painting that has a secret rebel code hidden in it. the chimaera shows up because thrawn also wants the painting (although it appears he doesn’t initially know about the rebel code). the auction decends into chaos, han tries to blow up the painting, and thrawn realizes if there’s rebels trying to destroy the painting it must be more valuable than he thought. kitster, anakin’s friend from TPM rescues the painting from being destroyed and so the rest of the book becomes kind of a race to find kitster.

the most interesting part of this book (besides when thrawn in disguise hits a stormtrooper over the head for being mean to an alien lady for no reason) was leia finding shmi’s diary. the worst part of this book was definitely han’s insistence that leia and him need to have kids, the awful portrayal of the tuskens and the amount of excuses made for anakin murdering them, and the huge amounts of time they spent just wandering around in the desert.

all in all i mostly enjoyed this book, although i think they could have cut out most of the desert scenes and made it a novella. 6/10.

#thrawn #star wars #sw legends #sw #the swarm #galaxy of fear #star wars rebel force #rebel force target #dark forces #soldier for the empire #tatooine ghost #i guess i’m really done now huh

[serpent-of-the-silver-plumes]

would you mind talking more about bart and unreliable narration? I always hear people say unreliable narration but I've never seen any concrete examples from media I actually consume so I'd love your thoughts

Oh absolutely!! I actually wrote a thing about this a while back but then went 'this is not well written' and it got buried in my drafts, so I’m glad to have an excuse to pull that up and rewrite it. (Also sorry, this got really long.)

Basically, at one point I was listening to a podcast (Be the Serpent, ep 4), and they categorize different kinds of unreliable narrators into three types: the narrator who knows they are lying to you, the narrator who is lying to themself (and therefore you), and the narrator who is lying because they are missing some key information. I would argue that the three main pov characters of the Bartimaeus Trilogy each represent a different type of these unreliable narrators.

Going in backwards order, Kitty is the narrator who lies because she is missing some key information, at least until the third book. As a commoner, even one who is part of a resistance movement, her knowledge of magic is extremely limited and biased. Were we to go off of her point of view alone, we would get an inaccurate view of this world and the power dynamics that exist within it: that magicians are somehow special in holding magic and that they have evil demons who work alongside them in shared mischief/hunger for power/whatever.

However, because the books include other points of view, the full impact of that unreliability is not realized.

Similarly, Nathaniel lies to himself, especially in the later books. He ignores how much he personally contributes to upholding a system that depends on the oppression and slavery of other sentient beings, and squashes down the last traces of his moral compass. I don’t think he ever really questions the system of government or if it should be there and work the way it does.

To some extent, we do see through his unreliability as well, because Bartimaeus is around to keep a check on him and tell the reader that no, the magicians and their imperialism are bad, that spirits have very good reason to hate humans, and give us other world building details that contradict what Nathaniel believes.

But some of it is about what is going on inside Nathaniel’s own head, so there is also a lot that can’t be fully seen by an outside perspective that has to be assumed by the reader. Like he will deny the sentimental feelings he has towards Ms. Underwood and the guilt he had over Kitty’s supposed death and the fact that he even remotely cares about Bartimaeus, but actions speak louder than words.

Because both of these characters’ unreliability stem from a lack of understanding, having other perspectives in the book in some ways cancels out their unreliability, and actually ties their unreliability more to their character development than as a plot/narration device. Kitty grows more reliable throughout the series while Nathaniel gets less so until the end. This doesn’t make that unreliability useless though, especially in a series aimed for children. By getting each character’s point of view, we can see where they are coming from and how the knowledge and views they have affect the way they act, but there is also someone else to point out how they are wrong, to make you question how true what each individual says is.

Bartimaeus is entirely different from the first two characters. His narration is told in first person, unlike Nathaniel and Kitty’s third person. He talks directly to the reader and goes off on tangential footnotes that are not necessarily part of the events currently happening in the story. Because of this narration style, he also has the power to lie more directly to the reader than any of the other characters.

Given his life, it is understandable how he has gotten into the habit of lying. Every moment of his existence on Earth is spent under the power of someone else, so he lies in order to protect himself. There are some instances where he lies to his masters in order to escape punishment or to lead them into danger so he can be set free, but he also lies about his feelings because he cannot afford to be emotionally vulnerable.

For the most part, I think it can be assumed that the dialogue and most actions that happen in his pov chapters are told as they are, since much of that lines up with what goes on in the other characters’ perspectives, and also there are at least a few things that show him in a less-than-flattering light that he would probably leave out or change if he could. Instead, the lies he tells are largely about his past and his emotions, often done through exaggeration or omission, and cannot be collaborated by others.

When lying about his past, Bartimaeus frequently exaggerates his prestige and role in history. In Ptolemy’s Gate, Bartimaeus says that he talked to King Solomon about Faquarl’s tendency to brag about his historical importance. Even beyond the obvious irony, in the prequel we see Bartimaeus’s time at Solomon’s court, and while it isn’t technically impossible for him to have talked to Solomon about Faquarl, the timing and circumstances make it extremely unlikely. Although his other stories cannot be proven or disproven with what we know, this instance and his general tendency to brag outrageously makes it very likely that Bartimaeus at the very least embellishes.

However, despite being super showy about his past, Bartimaeus doesn’t actually include much important information. He very rarely talks about his great feats as a thief or assassin or anything else. When he lists his accomplishments, he describes building walls and talking to important historical figures. There’s a post somewhere (if I find it, I’ll link it) that explains this as being a way for Bartimaeus to try to take control of his reputation and therefore his life; by associating with safer jobs, he is less likely to be summoned for very dangerous and morally reprehensible jobs.

He does generally try to portray himself as clever and collected and just generally more cool than he actually is. There’s a moment at the end of the first book where he describes himself as trying to calm Nathaniel who is freaking out, and then the next chapter is from Nathaniel’s pov which describes him as being the calmer one while Bartimaeus is a fly anxiously buzzing around.

I don’t remember the exact line, but in the second book there’s an exchange that goes something like this:

“____” I said calmly.

“Stop your whimpering,” Kitty said.

The way Bartimaeus portrays himself is straight up contradicted by the more factual account of the words and actions of someone else. And presumably there are plenty of other times that we do not see contradictory evidence where Bartimaeus straight up lies about how he is reacting to something.

But one of Bartimaeus’s most unreliable points centers around humans. Throughout the books, he constantly talks about the ways he has killed and would like to kill his masters, if given the opportunity. Nathaniel is an exception, one that Bartimaeus does admit to the reader, but even in the third book when he talks the most about how he would kill Nathaniel or even join a demon rebellion if Faquarl offered right then and there, Bartimaeus does not actually follow through on these threats when he gets the chance. Despite all of his talk about how much he hates humans, Bartimaeus has as much of a positive relationship he can have with as many humans possible, given the circumstances.

A lot of his unreliability centers around Ptolemy, which is what some of Bartimaeus’s biggest lies of omission are about. In the first book, we do get the sense that Bartimaeus has a soft spot for at least some humans. His excuses of saving and looking after Nathaniel in order to avoid Indefinite Confinement, while likely not entirely false, do fall a bit flat. We even get a mention of “a boy I had known once before, someone I had loved.” Although this is not explicitly connected to Ptolemy at this point, mentions of brown skin and the Nile make a pretty obvious connection to Ptolemy, especially as Bartimaeus describes taking on Ptolemy’s form several times later on. There is a less obvious hint too, “I sat on the ground, cross-legged, the way Ptolemy used to do.” Even without knowing much about what kind of relationship Bartimaeus had with Ptolemy, that kind of detail shows ‘a devotion to detail that could only come with genuine affection, or perhaps even love.’

It isn’t until the third book until we learn anything substantial about his relationship with Ptolemy, and even then he doesn’t tell the whole story. The fandom jokes about how Bartimaeus just casually mentions in a foot note that he prefers a lioness form because the manes are annoying, and it’s not until the flashback that you find out that the mane is part of what got Ptolemy killed. And even with the flashbacks, you still never see the time that Ptolemy visited the Other Place.

There are a lot of posts on this site that talk about how Bartimaeus absolutely was idealizing Ptolemy, and how there’s some evidence that he isn’t the perfectly sweet never-did-anything-wrong innocent child that Bartimaeus describes him as (notably that part where he was vaguely annoyed that people kept coming to him to ask for help and interrupted his research). Not that Ptolemy secretly sucks or anything, but it’s really easy to let nostalgia skip over the less dramatic details of Ptolemy being an actual human being with flaws.

In summary, I would argue that all of the trilogy protagonists are unreliable narrators to varying extents, and Jonathan Stroud is a genius for how he manages to make it all work.

#bartimaeus #nathaniel #ptolemy #kitty jones #my post #kitty #unreliable narrator

[caffeinatedseri]

Dazai and No Longer Human’s Yozo

It’s no secret that BSD’s Dazai draws heavily from his real life counterpart, especially from his semi-autobiographical work: No Longer Human. To preface, No Longer Human is written from the perspective of the main character Yozo, with the book itself being a documentation of Yozo’s notebooks (essentially his journals) throughout his life. 

As you progress through the novel, it becomes increasingly clear that Yozo lives an extremely two-sided life; his foolish personality acts as a facade to others in attempts to hide the darker nature within him. 

Dazai shares that obvious similarity with Yozo, but Dazai is characterized in a somewhat vague and mysterious way that leaves a lot of his inner thoughts up to interpretation and inferences. Thus, I’ll be going through some of my favorite quotes from No Longer Human and analyzing Dazai’s character through his similarities to Yozo.

(For the sake of readability, excerpts from No Longer Human will be in pictures, and quotes from the light novel will be in regular block quotes).

Dazai and Yozo’s Participation in Clownery

To start off, Dazai noticeably participates in the same “clowning” as Yozo, which in particular stands out with PM Dazai.

““How did your leg get hurt?” I pointed to the bandages, thinking that it must be the result of some violent fight. “I was reading a book titled ‘How to Prevent Accidental Injuries’ while walking when I accidentally fell into a ditch.” I wasn’t expecting such an abnormal response.” — LN 2, Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era (Oda’s POV)

This is pretty standard Dazai behavior, but the interesting part is how Yozo specifically used the word “deceiving.” If we were to assume Yozo’s true thoughts are Dazai’s as well, then it would imply that Dazai feels as if he’s manipulating people with his absurd claims (such as the above). However, in actuality, his clownish behaviors sound more like a joke, or some type of self-deflection, rather than an attempt to manipulate people. (Yozo also states that he would often incriminate himself by overexaggerating certain things, but I don’t think Dazai does that).

The second statement Yozo makes implies that he doesn’t care about ethics, morality, or the supposed “right way” of living life that’s described as “righteousness.”

Yozo’s statement on “righteousness” parallels Dazai’s in Dark Era, but Dazai’s statement carries a slightly different sentiment. Rather than being indifferent to the likes of morality, Dazai says that he’s “hated” by the concept of morality. 

I’ll be speculating a bit here → It’s heavily implied that Dazai had some sort of dark past that led him to joining the mafia, since he was already suicidal prior to doing so. This suggests that something affected his life so drastically to the point where he could no longer trust in such things as “righteousness,” because righteousness has wronged him in the past.

First, Yozo expresses his fear of people discovering his true nature under the mask of clownery, which would then lead to them pestering him for further inquiry. However, his real fear is that people would mistake his true nature as another part of his typical clownery.

More so than before, this attitude reminds me more of Dazai in the agency, rather than him in the mafia. Even though Dazai danced around darker topics in his conversations with Oda, he was still able to talk about them without much conflict. However, in the agency, Dazai doesn’t talk much about himself or any of his personal issues at all. 

Although this scene has comedic overtones, it’s interesting to see that no one would help Dazai if he was actually dying. Still, it could be argued that the other agency members knew it was just Dazai’s regular antics. (or that Dazai wouldn’t die in the first place). 

This scenario repeats itself another time when Dazai gets kidnapped by the mafia, and the other agency members kind of just brush it aside. As much as they may trust Dazai to take care of himself (which I’m sure he can do), it’s worrying that the other members may not be open to Dazai’s possible attempts at reaching out for help, if he were ever to make one. 

In LN 4, 55 Minutes, Atsushi addresses this issue by asking Dazai why he wants to kill himself, but the answer is left open-ended, with Atsushi himself not remembering the answer (or if Dazai even did answer). You could interpret Dazai’s change from his time in the PM as an improvement of his mental state — which I have no doubt that has happened — but Dazai needs to face his issues head-on if he truly wanted to reconcile with his past.

“Perhaps someone should persistently tie Dazai up, open the lid over his chest and stuff the head of a vacuum cleaner in. They have to let Dazai, who should be screaming in pain and resisting, settle down. Following which, the difficult things in his heart must all be dragged out under the sun and stepped on mercilessly.“ — LN 2, Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era

Oda, the man who understood Dazai more than anyone else could at the time, even specifically stated that the pain in Dazai’s heart must be forcefully dragged out, because he knew that this would ultimately be the most beneficial for Dazai’s sanity.

Throughout No Longer Human, Yozo is often misunderstood by others, or other people simply don’t care about him.

When Dazai goes to visit Oda’s grave in Dead Apple, Atsushi finds him and assumes that he’s visiting the grave of someone important to him, as an act of respect or remembrance, something of the sort. However, Dazai makes the automatic assumption that his “clownish words of deceit” (as stated by Yozo) will always be prioritized over the truth, which is why he chooses to brush off his actions as a joke. 

Although I made the point earlier that the agency members don’t give Dazai opportunities to open up about himself, Atsushi is notably different, similarly to Oda, because he’s able to take Dazai seriously and persist even through his antics. 

Atsushi takes Dazai’s act of visiting a grave seriously, even when Dazai plays it off, because he knows Dazai is a person just like anyone else. This understanding between them leads to Dazai telling Atsushi about Oda, thereby allowing Dazai to divulge a crucial part of his past.

Dazai and Yozo’s Friendships

Similarly to Yozo, Dazai’s attempt at “disentangling” himself from these relationships only serves to wear him out in the end. However, they also slightly differ in a way: Yozo is unable to form any friendships for his whole life, but Dazai had Oda. I would argue that Oda was Dazai’s only friend, mostly because of this quote:

“Odasaku understood him far beyond what Dazai had ever thought. He had already reached close to his heart, the place near the center of his heart. Before this, Dazai had never noticed there was someone who understood him so well. For the first time in his life, Dazai wanted to know something from the depths of his heart.” — LN 2, “Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era”

Oda was special to Dazai because Oda was able to understand him — maybe even more than Dazai could understand himself — which is why Oda is the only person that Dazai asks for advice from. 

However, Dazai does the same thing as Yozo when he “plays the clown” as a form of self-protection from such valuable friendships. (which is probably preventing him from becoming closer to the rest of the agency).

“Things that we don’t want to lose will definitely be lost. Now that it has come to this, I have no more feelings anymore. Things worth pursuing will always disappear the moment before you get them. Nothing is worth prolonging a painful life to pursue.” — LN 2, “Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era”

Interestingly enough, Dazai says this when Ango is revealed to be a spy — before Oda dies. If Dazai was in this state of distress from Ango’s betrayal, you could only imagine how devastating Oda’s death was. 

Dazai speaks as if he’s speaking from experience, which suggests that he’s faced a similar loss in the past. Despite this implied experience, he still became friends with Oda (and Ango to an extent), fully knowing that it would only bring him pain in the end. Dazai's statement here acts more as a front that makes him sound cold and detached from the situation, only to hide how he truly feels about losing one of his only friends. 

To give some context to this passage, Yozo’s partner, Yoshiko, had been sexually assaulted by a coworker, of which Yozo attributes the cause to her overly trusting nature. Thus, this leads to Yozo’s belief that trustfulness is inherently wrong or creates weakness.

Dazai’s hesitance to form friendships most likely stems from this same inability to trust others like Yozo, but Dazai does trust a few people, namely Chuuya, Oda, and Atsushi.

With Chuuya, there’s a different type of trust between him and Dazai. Their impeccable trust is obviously a key factor in their partnership as SKK, but there’s a certain limit with this trust. They certainly trust each other in battle, but I’d argue that this trust doesn’t extend to their personal business. 

As of now, we don’t know a lot about how SKK interacted with each other during their time in the mafia (which could change with the new LN), but I doubt PM Dazai would feel comfortable with confiding in Chuuya with anything because they (kind of) hated each other. The level of trust required for a friendship would involve a mutual understanding between two people, but Chuuya and Dazai haven’t necessarily shown us that they were able to do that.

Dazai essentially broke his trust with Chuuya by leaving the mafia on a whim, but he also intentionally antagonized himself to try to make Chuuya hate him.

This scene also has comedic overtones, but it suggests something a bit sadder about Dazai. There are possibly two motivations as to why Dazai chose to do this: (or a mix of the two)

1. Dazai didn’t want Chuuya to be incriminated as his accomplice when he became an enemy of the mafia.

2. Dazai wanted to push Chuuya away because Oda — Dazai’s most trusted friend — had just died. As a form of self-protection, Dazai broke whatever semblance of friendship he shared with Chuuya in order to prevent the same pain that came with Oda’s death. 

It’s also important to consider that trust is a 2-way street; both parties have to have the same level of trust in each other. Just like Yozo, if Dazai is unable to trust anyone, then he may have cut Chuuya off to protect him (since Chuuya may have trusted Dazai more than Dazai was able to reciprocate).

In contrast, Oda and Dazai have a level of unspoken trust that basically motivates Dazai to change his entire life. 

“Odasaku’s eyes radiate with conviction. The words are clearly said with some sort of strong basis. Is it past experience? Or perhaps someone’s suggestion? — He is trying to show Dazai the path he once walked. Dazai understands this. Dazai can trust it.“ — LN 2, “Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era”

Returning to Yozo’s question — “Is trustfulness a sin?” — Dazai answers it by showing us the strength of trust in this moment. Trust insinuates blind faith in another person, the willingness to believe someone else without logical reasoning, which makes it all the more important when PM Dazai — the genius prodigy who operates on a solely logical basis — is able to trust Oda and change his path in life. 

Atsushi is most likely the one that Dazai trusts the most in the agency, due to the aforementioned issues with the other members. However, it seems more like a budding trust that’s growing to become like Oda and Dazai, but it still requires Dazai to take that step forward to further their trust. 

Dazai and Yozo’s View of the World

In this scene, Yozo had made a decision for immediate gratification, but that choice caused him insufferable pain afterwards — supporting his belief that the world was a “place of bottomless horror.”

This parallels two of Dazai’s statements: one from Dark Era and one from Dead Apple.

“Please, take me with you. Wake me up from this rotten world of a dream. Come on, come on, come on!” — LN 2, “Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era”

(Dazai wasn’t talking about himself here, but the allusion sets up a situation where he can talk about himself indirectly — I talk about it more in my other post here)

We don’t really get a reason for why Dazai is suicidal, but from this we can infer that it’s something more complex than he makes it out to be — something like an issue deeply rooted within the world, with no easy solution. 

One could guess that this was the result of an unfortunate decision (like Yozo), or the realization that the world was simply a terrible place (possibly because no one cared for him as a kid and he had Mori as a “parental” figure instead).

Yozo expresses his lack of understanding in the compassion of human nature, but Dazai (as we know) seems to understand other people perfectly, as least enough to manipulate them.

However, this forms somewhat of a paradox: Dazai understands people so well to the point that he can’t understand them.

Dazai understands every flawed aspect of a human being — the tendency to manipulate, lie, kill, etc. — most likely because of his past as a young child. “Human beings never did teach” him the hopeful aspect of human nature  — the ability to love and cherish others.

Shibusawa in Dead Apple reflects this mindset, but take note of what Dazai says: “You wouldn’t be saying that if you actually had friends” — clearly a reflection of Dazai’s personal experience, by knowing how important friends are.

Yozo’s deathly fear of society tames itself when he comes to the realization that society is really just made up of a bunch of individuals working for their individual benefit, so he has no reason to fear society as a whole.

I don’t believe Dazai has this same fear of society, but he does reflect this individualistic mindset in the way he acts. Often enough, Dazai doesn’t tell anyone about his plans and would rather manipulate people into following such plans, even when it would be easier to cooperate. He always takes care of conflicts by himself, and by his standard.

Yozo’s fear of society possibly manifested into Dazai’s ostracization from society. More speculation here, but → My guess is that Dazai was alienated not only as a genius isolated for his intelligence, but also for his ability. There seems to be some division between regular society and ability-users’ society, but I can see Dazai being rejected by both because he’s the antithesis to all abilities. 

Regular society would either shun him like other users or attempt to exploit him for their personal gain (possibly for his intelligence AND his ability), or ability-users would see him as a threat and/or menace to their safety.

When Yozo considers a double suicide with his partner, he comes to this unsure conclusion of whether or not he actually wants to go through with it.

This reflects what Oda believes about Dazai:

“I thought you and Dazai were very similar, unable to see the value of your life, hoping for death, hence jumping into a world of violence and fighting. But that’s not the case. That guy is just a child who’s too smart. Just a crying child who’s been left alone in the darkness, a world of nothingness far emptier than the world we can see.“ — LN 2, “Osamu Dazai and the Dark Era”

At the end of the story, Gide and Oda are different from Dazai because they face an inevitable hopelessness. However, Dazai has a small spark of hope to live on that persists beyond the other two. 

This is represented in Dazai’s own statement to Oda, when Oda is set on walking to his death: “Go and rely on something, hope for something good to happen next, that something will definitely happen.” 

If anything, this sounds more like a plea to himself than to Oda, but it establishes an important point: hope is built upon the assumption that the future will treat your present desires well. Vice versa, hopelessness is built upon the expectation that the future will neglect your present desires.

It’s a bit wordy, so I’ll elaborate on. Right after Dazai says this line, they proceed to talk about their desires → Dazai wants to find a reason to live, so he joined the mafia; Oda wanted to become a novelist, so he didn’t kill anyone. 

Now, the difference between hope and hopelessness:

Oda feels hopeless because he expects that his present desire (to become a novelist) won’t be fulfilled in the future. By losing the one qualification that he felt he had to follow (not killing anyone), he no longer believes that he can become a novelist.

Dazai has hope because he assumes that his present desire (to find a reason to live) will be fulfilled in the future. He doesn’t know that for sure, but he persists onwards regardless of having full assurance or not. 

Dazai’s hope and trust in Oda brings him to where he is in the present, and takes him one step closer towards discovering his reason to live. 

#bsd #bungou stray dogs #bsd meta #bsd analysis #bsd dazai #dazai analysis #no longer human #bsd oda #surprisingly more oda than i expected #very ramble-y i apologize in advance

[storiesundercandlelight]

I Know You - Rafe Adler x Reader - Part One

So this idea kind of came to me randomly, it doesn't follow the story of Uncharted 4/the lives of the characters/specifics but the general story of treasure etc is the same! I changed a lot to make it easier to write a shorter story so...please don't hate me for changing it/pushing parts of the game closer together!

Reader descriptions: I don't describe anything about the reader look wise obviously but I have written this in a female readers POV!

Warnings: None for this chapter!

You walked behind Nate and Sam, following their footsteps as you all moved through the jungle path. The heavily tree covered path helped against the brightness of the sun but did little to keep you from the humid heat. You found yourself regularly swatting away bugs and wiping your brow as you moved forward.

Nate was convinced you were close to your destination, that Libertalia, the famous pirate utopia was just around the next bend. It bloody better be, you thought as you swatted away another bug.

"Nate! Please tell me we're almost there!" Sam cried, chopping away at branches blocking their path.

"Yes, we're almost there I'm sure of it!! Hopefully we'll make it there before Rafe" You tripped a little at the mention of Rafe, you'd been trying hard not to think about encountering them again. God why did Rafe have to do this? Why did he have to break away from you all and go against you? You just kept letting the memories between you flash up as you walked.

_____________________________________________________________

You walked quicker, hoping you weren't going to be late. The campus here was bigger than you thought and your archaeology class was the other side of the building to where you lived in your apartment.

The hallway was quiet as you counted the numbers of the classroom doors before finally landing at the door you needed, taking a breath before you entered. Thankfully your professor wasn't there yet, other students chatting.

"You were almost late" You turned to see Rafe, his cocky smile tugging into place as he looked at you.

"Almost being the key word there" You smiled and grabbed the seat beside him, thankful that no one had snatched it up first. You and Rafe had been friends since the first day of your classes, but you knew other girls wanted to get his attention. You hated admitting it at first but you loved that he only ever gave his attention to you.

"Mmmhmm, yeah you keep on using your almost excuse, what held you up anyway?"

"I woke up late" Rafe snorted a laugh at your reply, turning his full attention to you.

"Give in, it'll be easier on all of us. You know I'm relentless" You sighed and turned to him.

"I was reading"

"For the assingment?"

"Yes" You didn't meet Rafe's eyes, turning away quickly you stayed still as he moved closer to you.

"Liar" He whispered in your ear, you gave him your best side eye in response. "Come on what trashy novel do you have tucked under your bed? You know I'll find it either way. Oh! Let me guess, kind of Indiana Jones-y, but with an oh so steamy encounter between the main characters in some dusty ruin" You rolled your eyes but couldn't hold back you smile, damn him!

"Your wrong....this one is set in Egypt, their steamy encounter took place is a very plush tent near a tomb" Rafe's laugh was infectious, his head falling into his hands as he tried to stop himself from laughing.

"Okay okay whatever" He said between giggles. "Just let me know when you're ready to put those books down and get some real action hmm?" Your professor walked into the lecture hall, grabbing everyone's attention and thankfully pulling Rafe away from noticing you blush.

_____________________________________________________________

You hated thinking of those memories now, knowing you were both on opposite sides, fighting against each other.

"There it is" You came to a halt, almost crashing into Sam as all three of you stared at the scene before you. Libertalia.

The pirate town was in ruins, old building covered in foliage. But the pure sight of it took your breath away. To imagine this place, full of pirates, bustling life, songs and laughter, loot and gambling. Your heart felt full.

"Alright let's get to the treasury" It's higher up towards the mountain.

It took almost two hours of walking, climbing, searching until you finally saw the treasury. Pulling yourself up onto the roof of a crumbling but stable building you took a moment to look at your goal. Was this where the treasure has been all this time?

Nate and Sam were climbing up behind you, you turned ready to continue before stopping. You could hear people talking. All three of you crouched down quickly, your hands automatically going for your gun.

"These fucking guys" Sam whispered. "Well, here we go"

You jumped down from the roof onto a ledge, working your way around half broken walls, stacks of warped barrels, anything to avoid Nadine's and Rafe's men.

"We can get inside without them seeing" Nate whispered.

"They've set up camp!" Sam said back. "We won't be safe camping here too, and the sun's almost down" He was right, the sun was setting fast. You could see the camp they were setting up in the main courtyard of the treasury building, the men moving debris from battles fought many years ago so that they could put up tents.

Your eyes caught movement near the back, towards the entrance. A tent was being put up right near the doors. Rafe stood by as two men secured what you guessed was hit tent, slightly further away from everyone else's.

"Rafe's there" You whispered, your stomach was doing flips knowing that not only was he there, but once again you were face to face on different teams. This whole adventure had felt wrong, always running into them and fighting with the man you knew deep down you loved.

"Alright, we can climb in higher up, set up our own camp in that part of the building there, they won't bother looking there, it isn't the main entrance. Hopefully its just a run down set of rooms"

You'd all agreed, although Sam complained the whole way up to the floor Nate pointed out. He was right though, the space was perfect, hidden, dry, warm anyway from the weather and if you leant near to a broken wall you could see Rafe's camp.

It didn't take long for Sam and Nate to fall asleep, the two brothers sprawled on the ground, packs behind their heads as pillows. But you couldn't sleep, not when Rafe was this close, you charted a way down to his tent, planning which route you would take to avoid the men on watch. It was risky but you knew Rafe wouldn't be sharing a tent and his tent was far enough from the rest that you'd be able to talk to him, maybe convince him that he didn't need to fight against you. Maybe if you could get close he would... be the old Rafe.

Taking a deep breath you got up as silently as possible and made your way down. Thoughts of what you would say to Rafe raced through your mind. Would he want to see you? Would he just take you and use you as bait? No, you refused to believe that, he'd told you once how he felt, that can't have just vanished. The memory of that night was still so clear to you.

_____________________________________________________________

"Okay okay, so Chinese?" Rafe dropped down onto your couch, looking at you impatiently.

"Fine" You smiled, knowing that if you changed your mind again Rafe may just cry from hunger.

"Finally!" Rafe pulled out his phone to order as you looked over your notes. You had to admit, you worked well as a team. Your assignments already finished and onto the proofing stage. "The horror...it won't be here for 40 minutes"

You turned to Rafe who had flopped back dramatically against the back of the couch. "Poor baby, to think you have to wait 40 minutes for someone else to cook you food"

"Don't mock me, my hunger is very real" He leant back up, pushing himself nearer to you on the couch and leaning over to look at the notes himself. You should be used to Rafe being this close to you, he was always close. Most people assumed you were a couple because of how close you were and how much time you spent together. But you couldn't stop the blush and heat that ran through you whenever he moved close. You looked over his face, his brows tilted down as he focused on the words, his hair usually neatly slicked back had rogue hairs falling down over his forehead.

God he was attractive. Your eyes went lower, to his arms, his muscles poking out from his t-shirt that really left nothing to the imagination.

"Admiring my fashion choices?" You jumped and your eyes snapped back up to Rafe who was looking at you, a smirk plastered on his face.

"No! I was...I..."

"You...?" He was so close, if you moved your head forward just a little your noses would brush against each other. You could smell his cologne, a musky woody scent that you loved. He didn't move away, his eyes flicking from yours to you lips.

He moved too quickly for you to think, suddenly his lips were on yours, pushing gently. You didn't need to think twice before reacting a melting into the kiss, your hands coming up to touch his neck, pulling him closer. His arms moved around you, a hand resting on your side as he moved into you, pushing you against the arm of the couch. There was no where for you to move and you were so okay with that.

The kiss grew hotter, more needy, hands were everywhere, pulling and pushing. Your fingers ran through his hair, messing it up even more. A faint moan escaped his lips when you tugged it slightly. You both pulled apart, but still close, Rafe rested his forehead against yours as you both caught your breath a little.

Rafe smiled and huffed out a laugh. "I've wanted to do that for so long"

"You have?"

"I thought I'd made my feelings pretty obvious" He quickly kissed you again. "You have completely ruined me, I don't think I'll ever be able to love anyone else"

_____________________________________________________________

You were still caught up in old memories by the time your feet lightly touched the ground behind Rafe's tent. You stayed in the shadows listening, wanting to make sure he was alone. A few moments passed before you decided it was safe and made your way to the flaps, they were tied closed but you made quick and silent work of undoing just enough of them to squeeze in.

The tent was dark, you had to wait for your eyes to adjust fully before moving and looking around. The tent was simple, Rafe's belongings piled in one corner, an empty cot in the other. Empty.

You stood still, heart racing as you realized the cot was empty. You tried to move but suddenly a hand wrapped around your mouth, your legs knock from under you. Your back hit the ground with a thud and you felt a knife pressed against you. Rafe leaned over you.

#rafe adler #rafe adler x reader #uncharted 4 #uncharted fanfiction #uncharted fanfic #uc4

[haec-est-fides]

Omg thanks for listening to my random ramblings I am feeling so validated right now. To answer your tags I have only watched bits and pieces of Rome, mostly Octavian stuff. I enjoy watching /the/ Machiavellian paragon, I may actually sit down and watch it all one day. I am not going to lie, my main interest in ToA lies with the Olympian dynamics, although from what I've seen I will have to adjust some pre existing headcanons based off what I've read especially the Hermes bit at the end of ToN, which is so disappointing from what we've read about Mr. "cant give up on family" (yes I am a bit of an Hermes apologist. Was he a terrible father to Luke? Yes absolutely by mortal standards but he did care and he has bound by fate and you cant change fate without making things worse and he doesnt seem to have a problem with the unclaimed living in his cabin unlike idk Hera would probably so as far as Olympians go he is not the worse. Not good but not the worse and damn is he an intersting character to think about.) Also something I noticed while reading through your blog is Nero said souls escape all the time from the Underworld? Which is super stupid. What kind of leaky ship is Hades, who so far has been portrayed as one of the most responsible and serious gods running down there. And it directly contradicts all of the myths that show how hard and impossible it is to escape- I just really hate that detail it feels like Rick makes all of these throwaway lines and doesnt think about how it affects the canon at large. The closest thing I can think of to justify this is Melinoe from the sword of hades story where she is supposed to take souls who didnt receive proper burial rites and terrify mortals on the surface in myth but that is not what it sounded like. Octavian is the hero of his own story and it is so tragic like from his pov he is totally in the right. Some random amnesiac son of Neptune rolles up to town and is elected praetor over you a vet in a respected position entirely devoted to the camp after one week where he mostly wasnt even in camp and showing no administrative skills and he wasnt even leader of the quest that was Frank. And then he brings a literal warship of your historical enemies, who attack your city and then dip. Yeah, he is totally justified in declaring war. And then he dies and is hailed as the hero he thought of himself in life. Rick I am begging for some depth to Octavian to show how he is an anti hero or well intentioned extremist. The manipulated by gaea angle later on was lazy and if anything makes him more sympathetic rather than him doing it all of his own will and most likely revisionist by Apollo. I also noticed how you dont seem to like the seven and nico and reyna could you expand on that? Is it the carte blanche on killing? Because I never really thought about it but, Michael Yew was Percy's fault huh? I dont remember if he ever told them to evacuate the bridge before he brought it down, which would muddy the waters, but either way it was a reckless disregard of lives, especially his for all intents and purposes subordinates as he is basically the commander of this army. I understand that these are middle grade books, which is why I try not to hold all of these thoughts against Rick too much but I cant help but think of what ifs. Especially since he brings these topics up and then brushes them under the rug, like the demigods on the Andromeda. They are fighting a war, and there will be casualties, demigod on demigod killings. Obviously he is not going to delve into the ethics of child soldiers killing each other directly but he still brings it up. And the whole Bryce thing went well beyond self defense. And yeah I get that this whole series requires serious suspense of disbelief, but that is easier with the Mist/deliberately hiding from mortals. But three immortal roman emperors with the largest company ever and fingers in every mortal pie have been able to hide for centuries? I didnt realize I had this many thoughts on the series huh. Sorry for the word vomit.

Sorry for taking longer to get back to this ask than the last ones!

I cannot recommend HBO's Rome enough. I've watched it so many times! While it does of course have its issues, it's really fun in a political intrigue way imo. I think I keep going back to it because Octavian / Augustus "wins" in the end, the show being focused on the establishment of the empire, and that's not an ending I see a lot in media?

Riordan definitely wrote a lot of "throwaway" lines without thinking about the consequences for the broader world he was creating. Octavian is sort of that same concept -- a throwaway line -- but a whole character, seeing how little he was explored and, more, how little his role in the world seemed to affect anything else.

Hm, I suppose I don't like the Seven, Nico, Reyna, etc. But honestly? It's almost wholly personal, and I will admit that. I definitely respect them as people, for what they've accomplished and been through, but,,,I doubt I'd get along with them, largely because they don't seem to even try to understand Octavian / the Roman viewpoint. Even the "Romans" -- Reyna, Jason, Frank, Hazel -- are explicitly juxtaposed with traditional Romanness at large, and that's written as a "good" thing. I probably actively dislike Nico the most, as well as Michael Kahale, because of the roles they played in Octavian's death. Nico plays a big protagonist role in ToA too, so,,,I consider him my enemy on narrative grounds.

Regarding the way death is so,,,casual? Not addressed very well, if at all? Yeah, it's sometimes hard to swallow. The Andromeda explosion and Octavian's death are great examples, but it comes up in ToA as well and makes me angry every time.

#filodox! #asks #fun fact! michael yew was like my favorite character in the original series :( #apollo cabin ftw #but yeah when he died i definitely blamed percy #percy and i have never gotten along tbh #bad start bad middle bad finish good riddance #wait how many octavian fans / self identifying camp jupiter kids use the word machiavellian / are also machiavelli fans? 👀

[lilydalexf]

Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Audrey Roget

Audrey Roget has 10 fics at Gossamer, with some different ones at AO3, fanfiction.net, and her website. You might know her from her very good fics or as part of Musea, a collective that all wrote fic and posted X-Files fic recs. I’ve recced some of my favorites of her stories here before, including Three Times Dana Scully Didn’t Go to San Diego for Christmas and The Shirt. Big thanks to Audrey for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)? A little, yes. Not so much by folks who were around in those days. I sometimes go hunting for beloved stories from the early years, both those I read and loved, and those I never got around to. I am always delighted to hear that later generations of fans have stumbled across my stuff, especially since I haven’t posted anything new in a number of years. It’s fantastic that both years-long fans and new ones are out there continuing to rec fic from all eras, and to maintain archives for fans yet-to-be born. What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience? What did you take away from it? What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general? It may sound corny, but the main thing I think of, and the thing that has ultimately been most valuable and lasting, has been the friendships. The feeling of having found a tribe – not just of TXF fans, but of other people who could be as enthusiastically engaged as I was (if not more so) with fictional stories and characters – was mind-blowing. Since I was a kid, I had often mulled over the books/movies/TV I loved and speculated internally about what happened off the page or off-screen, or created new stories for characters in my head. But, except for an elementary school phase where I and my two BFFs regularly played Charlie’s Angels, I hadn’t engaged in that kind of gleeful immersion in a fictional world with others until TXF fandom. My involvement in fandom followed pretty quickly from getting hooked on the show, so for me, it’s all one big ball of experiences. Even as my interest in/involvement in fandom has waxed and waned over the years, I’ve been lucky to remain friends with wonderful people who I originally connected with as fellow fans.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)? What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

My initial entrée to the fandom was through fanfiction. I didn’t get interested in the show until mid-season 5. Around the same time, I read an article in a zine called Might (co-founded by Dave Eggers) about this thing called fanfiction that people would write and publish online. At first I thought it was satire or a joke – the fic cited involved Wilma Flintstone and a polished sabre tooth, as I recall – but then realized this was an actual thing. So I figured that a show then at the peak of pop culture must have fanfiction, and I went looking. Early on, I scrolled atxc on a daily basis and downloaded stories. But I didn’t engage in discussions about the show on Usenet, since I only knew how to access it with my Earthlink email client, and I didn’t want to post using my real name.

Later, I set up a pseud address with Yahoo and subscribed to a couple of email fanfic/discussion lists, and stayed subscribed to those for years. There was also a period in there somewhere – of maybe only a year or so, when I think about it – when I’d often nerd out into the wee hours with other fans via IM chat groups. That was around the time the small writers’ collective Musea was founded, and we were active for several years after the show’s initial run. In the early aughts, I followed many authors to LiveJournal and eventually set up my own account and stayed involved in fandom that way, until it mostly dispersed as well. What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show? In a word: Chemistry. I had casually watched a couple of episodes during the first four seasons, but I’m not a huge sci-fi/horror fan at heart, and the story lines didn’t immediately grab me. But I happened to tune into The Red and the Black in 1998, and BOOM. For the first time, the intense layers of emotion and attraction between Mulder and Scully really struck me – and then of course, upon further viewing, I realized it was unmissable, an essential element in the fabric of the show. As a wise woman once said, a switch had been flicked. Mulder and Scully’s magnetism was like nothing I’d ever seen, and though I eventually came to appreciate the storytelling, humor, production values, and other components that made the series so successful, watching those characters interact has always been what kept me coming back. Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files? I was part of a list-serv discussion group for The West Wing for a while, which was a fun melding of character and plot analysis with political discussion. Later, I got into the House, MD fandom, again mostly as a fanfic reader/writer. I was finding that other fandoms, unlike TXF, were more dispersed, the networks of people structured more loosely, if at all. There were fanfic and discussion communities on LiveJournal, and fanfiction.net was the other main hub for posting and reading, but if there was anything centralized like Gossamer, Ephemeral, or the Haven, I never found it. Within all those fan communities, as in TXF, there were partisans for various characters and pairings, and flame wars erupted over plot developments that outraged this faction or that. One main difference was that those other shows had larger, ensemble casts and more varied subplots. So on one hand, there was more opportunity to explore back stories and multiple perspectives. In House MD in particular, there were several entrenched rival shipper camps, which were about equally grounded in canon, rather than TXF’s central ship. I was less into TWW fic, but my impression was that readers were less militant about their pairing preferences than TXF or House fans. Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

I was deeply fascinated by Greg House for several years. (And the love-hate chemistry between him and Lisa Cuddy was a strong draw for me.) House MD came early in a wave of TV shows centered on anti-heroes, and Hugh Laurie brought amazing complexity and thoughtfulness to the character.

Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (The Americans) are a lethal pair of antiheroes. The inherent moral conflict of a sympathetic narrative from their POVs, and the global political conflict they embody was TV catnip for me. The internal struggles at the hearts of those characters were so exquisitely written and performed, they completely fascinate me.

The West Wing felt so much like a show created specifically for me. I’m especially fond of story arcs and scenes that centered on CJ Cregg, Charlie Young, and Josh Lyman. Though I loved Martin Sheen’s human portrayal of Jed Bartlet, the fact that he was the President always made him a little untouchable in my mind. But CJ, Charlie, and Josh were basically hard-working functionaries who were ambitious and idealistic and funny and flawed, and they spoke to me. What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom? Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully? Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I do continue to think about Mulder and Scully and watch episodes somewhat often. I’ll sometimes run a favorite episode as background when I want something comforting on. I read TXF fic pretty regularly, which can inspire me to go back and watch a particular episode or story arc I haven’t thought about in years. Just recently, I started listening to The X-Files Diaries podcast (@XFDPodcast, @admiralty-xfd), and that’s a fun dive into the characters, and how other fans react to and interpret episodes.

Every once in a while, a TV show or movie – and more particularly, the characters – will grab my attention and make me curious about how fanfic writers have interpreted the original material. Random example, I saw Singin’ in the Rain for the first time in a theatre a couple of years ago, and the chemistry of the three leads sent me to AO3 as soon as I got home. I also loved the first season of Mercy Street and found some well-done stories in that fandom. I usually peruse the Yuletide gifts every year and have been amazed by the sheer variety, creativity and cheekiness of the output. There are a bunch of other shows I’ve followed faithfully, and sought out fanfic – Broadchurch, The Killing, Agents of SHIELD, Elementary, The Good Wife. Although I’ve found some well-written stuff in those fandoms, I’ve rarely gotten the same charge from them as reading TXF fic. Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

syntax6 (@syntax6) – Universal Invariants/Laws of Motion. I’d also shout out to syn’s Hunter fics, too – well worth reading even for those who have never seen or particularly loved the show itself.

JET – I re-read Small Lives Awake every year around Thanksgiving time. Other annual holiday re-reads: Revely’s The Dreaming Sea and Jordan’s Through the Fire (both set at Halloween).

Amal Nahurriyeh’s Casey universe – the rare post-col fic that felt hopeful, made extra intriguing by a kick-ass original character. [Lilydale note: the series starts with Machines of Freedom and has lots of additional fics and snippets.]

Prufrock’s Love – Finding Rokovoko was genuinely terrifying and tender.

melforbes (@melforbes) – Seaglass Blue is a recent favorite, lyrical and bittersweet.

These are just a few (apologies to those that didn’t come to mind immediately). Fortunately for readers, there’s an astonishing number of authors who have written in TXF fandom whom you can depend on for a good yarn, insightful character study, and/or ingenious “fixes” where 1013 went awry.

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Probably the two set in my own (former) backyard of Southern California: Enivrez-vous and Ravenous. I’d first read the Baudelaire poem that was the source of the former’s title back in university days, so I was tickled to be able to use a few lines as an epigraph. Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online? It’s not out of the realm possibility. I’d meant for “Three Times Dana Scully Didn’t Go to San Diego for Christmas” to be followed up with “And One Time She Did.” In fact, the idea for that never-finished story was what inspired “Three Times” in the first place. I have a couple of scenes sketched out and – unusually for me – even know exactly how to end it. Every year, November rolls around, and I think I should finish and post it…maybe in 2021?

Where do you get ideas for stories? Sometimes it’s from my environment. “Enivrez-vous” and “Ravenous” describe places that I’m fond of, that made me want to place Mulder and Scully there. “What Not to Wear” has that element too – I set it in Memphis as a tribute to a great trip there with a sister Musean. But WNTW was also inspired by a kink challenge in a years-ago LiveJournal thread, so sometimes ideas come from fandom discussions or even other fanfics. In the House MD fandom, a fic by another writer made me want to continue the story, and the author kindly allowed an authorized sequel. What's the story behind your pen name? I wanted my pseudonym to sound like it could be a real person’s name – or at least, maybe like a romance writer’s pen name – rather than an online handle. I also wanted to use a slightly obscure fictional character, to amuse anyone in the know. I had long had a bit of an obsession with Whit Stillman’s 1990s film trilogy, which started with Metropolitan; the 3rd installment, Last Days of Disco, came out the same year I started down the TXF rabbit hole: 1998. The central heroine of Metropolitan – who is mentioned in or makes a cameo in the other two – is Audrey Rouget, a lover of Austen and, eventually, a book editor. I altered the spelling of the last name as a nod to every writer’s companion, Roget’s Thesaurus. Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions? I have a few close friends – from outside TXF fandom – who know that I’ve written fanfic. I don’t know if they know my pseud; if they do, or if they’ve ready any of the fic, they haven’t said so to me. They are fannish sorts themselves, but not really TXF fans. A smattering of other friends and family members know or could intuit that I’ve been a fangrl on some level for years. My boss, whom I’ve known for about 3 years, recently mentioned off-handedly that she was really obsessed with TXF “back in the day,” and I am DYING to know if she got involved in fandom, but don’t think I’ll ever work up the courage to ask.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now? Most of the X-Files stuff continues to be generously and steadfastly archived by Forte at The Basement Office. The House MD stories and some TXF things are at fanfiction.net; same for AO3. If ever post anything new, it will probably go to TBO and AO3. I really ought to get it all together in one place, one of these days…

(Posted by Lilydale on April 6, 2021)

#old school x #xfiles fanfic #xf fanfic #xf fanfic author interviews #audrey roget

[awriterpretendingtowrite]

Welcome to the Blog

Commissions - Ko-Fi - AO3 - Discord - Linktree

The name's Moss, she/her, and I write fanfiction here on hellsite.com. All my long fics are on AO3, all my shorter stuff is here, although it does overlap quite a bit.

Commissions: My fanfiction commissions are OPEN!!! Thank you all for your patience with them being closed, and I am excited to be back in business!

Ko-Fi: consider buying me a coffee. I'm currently working toward restocking my art supplies with the money donated.

Discord: occasional memes, updates, and Q&As. Pretty chill server. I take suggestions on there as well as here on Tumblr.

Complete List of AO3 Fics Here (descriptions below the cut):

Current Fic: The Genderfluid Gryffindor (previously titled “Genderfluid at Hogwarts”)

Completed Fics: "Thus Conscience Doth Make Cowards of Us All" (4.2k, OFMD fic), The Stowaway (21.9k, Mando fic), The Clan (52.6k, sequel to The Stowaway)

Character Letters/Letters from a Character: To Be With You Always (500 words, The Arcana fic)

One Shots: Dean's Confession (pictures here) (1k, Destiel fic), The Stowaway/The Clan One Shots (6.8k in total, occasionally uploading new ones)

I think that's about it! Thanks for sticking around I guess :)

Descriptions:

The Genderfluid Gryffindor: Harry Potter fic (obviously). First Person POV from the adopted child of Remus and Sirius. I started at The Philosopher's Stone and I’m making my way through the books, but I'm making it just so gay. JKR would probably die if she saw it tbh. I upload a chapter once a month (or so), and each chapter is between 3-5k words. I'm following the canon plotline and characterizations pretty closely (at least, at the beginning), but it's basically one big "What-If" scenario where I dropped a ton gayness and a genderfluid kiddo who was raised by Sirius and Remus into the Harry Potter universe. Yes, I fully intend on writing all seven years... this fic is going to be long.

"Thus Conscience Doth Make Cowards of Us All": Our Flag Means Death fic. Third Person POV. Based around the time of 1x09/1x10, in which Ed recites Shakespeare (badly), Izzy Hands is tricked because he's an idiot, and the crew plans to get Stede back before Ed goes off the deep end. Canon-typical shenanigans ensue.

The Stowaway: Mandalorian fic. Second Person (Y/N) POV. You are a stowaway (what a surprise) on Moff Gideon's shuttle when Luke Skywalker comes and takes The Child from Mando. You become a stowaway (how many times can I use that word before you get sick of it?) on Mando's ship and over the course of your journey across the galaxy, you become friends... but of course it's a slow burn romance too ;)

The Clan: The sequel to The Stowaway. It's way longer than The Stowaway because each chapter has like twice as many words. And there's more chapters. I also ended up pretty much speed-running the sequels in my writing towards the end so if you like the sequels, you're in luck. If you don't like the sequels, you're also in luck, since I basically rewrote them. Also, if you like found family you'll probably like this one.

Dean's Confession: Supernatural fic. Third Person POV. I got real sad about Destiel one night and wondered what would have happened if Dean had written out his feelings for Cas after 15x18. I learned Dean's handwriting for y'all so say thank you and go check it out. Anyhow, just a short fic that I wrote at like midnight because I was sad about two fictional men.

The Stowaway Series One Shots: Mandalorian fic. First Person POV. Gave the main character of the original fics a name and put it in first person (I'll let you in on a secret; I hate second person POV. Did I write a 73k word fic in second person? Yes! Did I hate it the whole time? Pretty much!). There's some one shots that didn't fit the flow of the original fic but still happened behind the scenes, and there's some scenes that did get included in the original but I wanted to write from a different character's POV. No, I don't have a consistent uploading schedule for these. Yes, I do take suggestions for one-shots on my Discord.

To Be With You Always: The Arcana (visual novel) fic. A heartfelt love letter from Nadia to the Apprentice (gender-neutral). Short and sweet.

#writers #fanfic writers #writers on tumblr #writers corner #discord #discord chat #masterlist #mandalorian masterlist #star wars masterlist #harry potter masterlist #supernatural masterlist #the arcana masterlist #fanfiction masterlist #the mandalorian #star wars #harry potter #the arcana #mandalorian fanfic #star wars fanfiction #harry potter fandom #the arcana fanfic #commissions #writing commissions #fanfiction commissions #writing commissions open #fanfiction commissions open #ofmd fanfiction #ofmd masterlist #our flag means death fanfiction

[kiriti-savyasachin]

Formal writerblr introduction!

Hi!

This is the revival of a defunct writerblr, formerly under the url @ambidextrousarcher​, which is my main blog right now. Before I proceed into my usual long rambles about my WIP’s (which is kind of the point of this blog), let me introduce myself first.

Personal info: I go by Nila. I’m a 23 year old Indian medical student. Writing is both a hobby and a catharsis for me, channeling out my emotions, both positive and negative. I am also an avid reader, who tends to get lost in research more often than not, and an amateur singer.

[Image ID: A white, square piece of paper in the center of a black background, a golden satin ribbon rippling across it at top-left, a pen with a black matte body and a golden cap, capped at the behind, with the golden nib visible, leaning slanted at bottom-left of the paper. In the middle of the white paper square, the words ‘Writerblr Intro’ are written in marine blue, flowing, script. End ID]

Writing Background: I started writing in earnest when I was 8, for a short story competition. My first story was a sci-fi story about cloning, which was one of the winning pieces of the competition in question.

At 13, I started work on a historical novel about the Russian Revolution, which I discontinued when I realized the inadequacy of my research. Unfortunately, that novel is still in its research phase.

At 18, I started to work on my most beloved mythological WIP, Antraatman, which is still in the process of being written.

My WIP’s

Note: Most of these works are based on the Mahabharata, Indian mythical history, and the interpretations of the characters I write about are mine alone. Every reader is requested to respect the same. In case of disagreements, polite discussions are always welcome, although I request each of you to refrain from abuse, bullying, anon hate and thinly veiled blame games, due to such disagreements. In return, I can promise you that in spite of any such issues, I will be polite and not malign you in public, either.

That said, here we are with the first and foremost of my works:

1.      Antraatman: My first proper novel-length piece of writing, Antraatman is a first-person retelling of the main story of the Mahabharata through the eyes of one of its main protagonists and a hero in his own right, Arjun. It is currently at Draupadi (another of the three main protagonists) Swayamvara.

*Swayamvara/Swayamvar- Self-choice ceremony aka a ceremony where a bride chooses her groom.

It is written in first person PoV, the prologue in Pritha’s (Arjun’s mother’s) point of view, and the rest of the book in Arjun’s own.

2.     A King’s Fortune: Based on the AU idea of ‘What if Arjun, the third-born Pandava, was instead the first-born?’, it is a work that tracks the butterfly effects of the switching of order of birth between Yudhisthir, Arjun’s eldest brother, and Arjun himself, written in third person PoV. First chapter is available on Ao3. See below for the link.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25716493

3.     Vith Vithi Cha: Sanskrit for ‘Lost and Found’, this work explores the possibility of Arjun managing to save his son from an untimely death in the Kurukshetra war (the major war in the Mahabharata), written in first person alternating PoV. See below for the link.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25971619

4.     Child of Prophecy: A work which ventures rather strictly into fanfiction territory, this is one of my fond universes, where the world of Harry Potter and the Mahabharata, two of my favourite literary works in terms of worlds, are fused with each other. In other words, the characters of the Mahabharata are in the world of Harry Potter, creating entirely new story possibilities. Here, too, the focal character, as in all the works discussed above, is Arjun, and the story, bar a short prologue written in his mother’s first person PoV, is his first person PoV. See below for the link.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25996552

I’ll make proper introduction posts of all these works soon!

Thank you for giving your time to my works. You can reach me at my main blog, @ambidextrousarcher​.

#writeblr #writeblr intro #writerblr #writer on the block #wip intros #mythology #mahabharata #arjuna #arjun

[eloquentgifs]

DWJ Reading Project. Part II

As I said here, my 2021 resolution is gonna be READING EVERY DIANA WYNNE JONES BOOK I CAN FIND, and due to my love of making lists and taking notes, I’ve decided keeping track of this reading project here in this post, which I’ll keep updated as I make progress. It’s mostly for my own pleasure, but maybe it helps someone who wants to give it a try to this amazing writer and doesn’t know where to start.

Part I (1970 - 1976 & The Dalemark Quartet)

Part III (1984 - 1992 & Land of Ingary Series)

- The Chrestomanci Series (DWJ’s suggested reading order): · Charmed Life (1977): I couldn’t fully enjoy it because the main premise of the story is the codependency Cat has with his AWFUL sister, and how her abuse shapes everything on his life. He has such a low self esteem and needs so much a hug, it just breaks my heart every page. In any case, the worldbuilding, the magic system and the general vibe are just amazing. If it keeps like this, I totally understand why so many people love this series

· The Lives of Christopher Chant (1988): Ok, this is the good shit. I don’t even know how to describe it in few words. Let’s say that there’s also a kid being abused by his relatives, and there were parts where I wanted to throw the book against the wall, but Christopher is such a fascinating character to read about that you just can’t stop. And this universe, OMFG. Also, is the Asheth thing some kind of homage to The Tombs of Atuan?

· Conrad’s Fate (2005): I’ve binge-watched Downton Abbey a few months ago, so finding out this book is basically DA with magic was just a delight. Christopher and his new BFF Conrad arrive to this big ass manor to work as lackeys, while both having secret agendas of their own. There’s everything one would expect and more: Rich Family Drama, Upstairs/Downstaris antics, crime solving, forbidden loves, scifi-ish reality bugs, and of course abusive relatives (at this point, if I were DWJ’s uncle I'd think she was trying to tell me something). I read it in a day and a half. The only negative thing I can say is that I missed Christopher POV of things. 

· Witch Week (1982): This is about a bunch of pupils and teachers in a deppresing boarding school. Everyone is a little bit of an asshole at some point, but it's understandable because this world must be the worst in Series 12. Not only they keep burning witches in modern times, but witches aren’t even a minority, so you can imagine the amount of hypocrisy. It’s interesting how the witch thing can be considered a metaphor for lgtb kids: everyone is scared of being called a witch because they’ll get bullied (and maybe arrested and burnt), but every time a character find out they’re in fact a witch, they just feel confident and happy because they’ve found themselves, so they can’t even hide it. Also, there are more secret witches around than they would expect.

· The Magicians of Caprona (1980): Two families of famous spell-makers keep hating each other through generations, to the point they put Caprona, the city-state where they live, in danger. Sometimes the Italian stereotypes were too much and took me out of the story, but not gonna lie, I really loved the opera spells, the large families living all together in a big house and being loving and supportive with each other, and BENVENUTO.

· The Pinhoe Egg (2006): This one is also about confronted families of magic users, but this time they’re in the villages near to Chrestomanci Castle, and no one really knows there’s a feud because their spells are based on herbs and plants, not in singing opera on the streets. Cat comes back and shares the spotlight with Marianne Pinhoe, and as always I would love more Christopher Chant, but I can´t really complain.

·  Mixed Magics (2000): Four short stories settled in the Chrestomanci Universe, more or less linked to the main characters. My favourite is the third one, Carol Oneir’s Hundredth Dream, mostly because the idea of a kid selling her dreams as stories is brilliant, but also because I loved that little moment where Christopher reviews Carol’s dreams and everything he says is the kind of critique that Diana always received on her books.

- The Homeward Bounders (1981): There are some misterious powerful people who seem to be addicted to Age of Empires, but they play it using actual worlds and actual people. When someone from these worlds find this out, they got exiled and doomed to jump from world to world, only able to stop when they manage to get back to their original world.  The first act remind me a little of those stories from Arabian Nights where the main character keeps arriving to weird islands and getting into the most bizarre troubles but always manages to survive. Due to life circunstances I couldn't focus 100% on the reading, but I did enjoy the characters, mostly Helen, and Jamie eventually grew on me too. I must confess I got kinda lost with the final explanation about the game and the nature of this multiverse and what it's Real and how Hope acts literally as an anchor that keeps the system going (although I find the notion really interesting as an allegory, and once again a really cool message for kids: hope can be your prison)

- The Time of the Ghost (1981): Ok, this one was a dark trip. I can’t really say that much because everything is a spoiler. Let’s say it’s about an amnesic ghost who’s drawn to their family, and there’s a lot of sadness, pagan blood rituals (one chapter in particular has A LOT OF BLOOD for my taste), abusive relationships, and a little bit of the theme in the previous book: the negative side of hope that makes us cling to things in an unhealthy way. Also, I’ve read this book is kinda autobiographical, and it explains so much about the way DWJ used to depict families in her books, it’s heartbreaking. It has its moments of fun and sweet melancholy tho. It’s never 100% depressing with Diana. I think that’s what make it feel so realistic.

#Diana Wynne Jones #Reading EVERYTHING #2021 Resolution #DWJ Reading Project #Chrestomanci #Charmed Life #The lives of Christopher Chant #Conrad's Fate #Witch Week #The Magicians of Caprona #The Pinhoe Egg #Mixed Magics #The Homeward Bounders #The time of the Ghost