queezelle

[queezelle]

The boy’s eyes had always seemed dark— but now they had become quite black. Without wishing it, Kitty found herself staring into them: it was like looking at a clear night sky— all black and cold and infinite, with tiny lights glinting, unreachable and far away… . It was terrible, yet beautiful; she was drawn to it as a child to a window.  (Kitty, on Bartimaeus)

And her eyes were as bright as a bird’s; they shone with the light of what she’d seen.  I regarded her with mingled reverence and compassion.  (Bartimaeus, on Kitty)

At the sound, a fierce exultation suddenly flowered in Kitty.  Far from the fear she should have felt, she knew only defiance and a kind of joy.  Since the first numb shock of Mandrake’s appearance she had been quite calm— calm and curiously revived.  For three long years she had led a solitary, cautious life.  Now, with all its prospects shattered, she knew she could not have endured that life a moment longer.  She wanted action, regardless of the consequence.  Her old recklessness came flooding back to her upon a tide of frustrated rage.

She turned.  Mandrake stood before her— Mandrake, one of the Council.  It was like an answer to her prayers.  (Kitty, on Nathaniel)

Nathaniel was quite calm.  So black was the outlook now that fear had become redundant.  The worst was upon them, death was all but inevitable, yet he faced it without anxiety.  His final conversation with Kitty had lit a fire within him— to Nathaniel it seemed she had burned away all his weaker emotions.  His head still spun with her revelations of Bartimaeus’s past, but it was her own example that inspired him as the crisis approached.  It scarcely mattered that she had pinned her hopes on Ptolemy’s Gate— a mirage, a phantom, a fairy tale that all sensible magicians had long ignored— it was the look in her eyes as she talked of it that fascinated him.  Excitement had shone there, and wonder, and belief— sensations that Nathaniel had almost forgotten.  Now, at the last, she had reminded him, and he was grateful.  He felt cleansed, almost eager for what was to come.  (Nathaniel, on Kitty)

It was like being refreshed and rebuilt and reborn, all at the same time.

And for a moment there I marveled— it was like stepping into a great building— some holy mosque or shrine— and glimpsing its perfection; something airy built of clay.  (Bartimaeus, on Nathaniel)

It was like an electric shock, a surge that threatened to carry him off the floor, to deny gravity altogether— all his weight and weariness fell away.  He burned with life.  With sudden clarity (his mind seemed sharper, newly whetted), he perceived the djinni’s nature— understood its ceaseless urge for movement, change, and transformation.  He sensed how harsh a fate it was for this nature to be forcibly restricted, to be pent up among earthly, solid things.  He glimpsed (only blearily at first) an endless succession of images, memories, imprints, stretching back into a terrible abyss of time. (Nathaniel, on Bartimaeus)

[queezelle]

who do you think is the lucky one?

[queezelle]

Hmmm but really, I can't think of another book besides the bartimaeus series where the heroine being stubborn/angry is portrayed as such a good quality that's vital to the success of the group. A lot of books start out with willful young girls who have to grow out of it to find love eventually. Or the focus is on how that anger/stubbornness makes the heroine too independent to let others care for her & she has to learn to allow others into her life which? Is a valid character arc and corresponds to real struggles many young women have but.....

Kitty Jones just bursts onto the page with all this idealism and anger, and then that's shown to be the correct response to her situation. And the people who end up loving her love her because she's like that!

She never has to make herself less complicated or water herself down to be the protagonist of her own story. And the characters who do want her to tone it down are so clearly in the wrong that it's never a question the narrative asks--should kitty be so stubborn? Should she be angry about her situation? The answer is obviously yes. The whole story validates her experiences and her viewpoints, even as she's growing up & refining those viewpoints. Which!!! Is so so refreshing to read. Young girls need heroines who give them permission to feel anger and to stubbornly search for the truth.

In conclusion I'd die for kitty jones

[queezelle]

If Stroud writes the script … wow!

[queezelle]

GUYS!!!!!?!!!?!??!!!

@fauna96 @erunerwynter

[queezelle]

// I’m officially a dead fangirl. Jonathan Stroud replied to my questions and he mentioned a Bart or Lockwood roleplaying game, but that it was unfortunately too tied up with the rights to the movies.

….

MOVIES.

Movies, I say! Oh lord, will we finally receive a Bartimaeus movie? If we do, I will say my goodbyes right now, even if I have to wait a thousand years more.. Hhhhhhhhh.

[queezelle]

リクエスト：バーティミアスとプトレマイオス

Bartimaeus and Ptolemy

Thank you request this scene, @ptolemyslegacy ! (I lost the link with your account…) And I’m so sorry that I took so long.

[queezelle]

I found a “what bartimaeus trilogy character are you” quiz and I’m praying that it doesn’t have the antagonists in there because it’s too late and I’m too tired for a self-burn of such magnitude

[queezelle]

the fascination with imagining characters who are not likely to be drunk, very very drunk

[queezelle]

So, I just realized that there are only two options for Nathaniel learning about the Birds and the Bees:

He read an anatomy textbook.

He asked Bartimaeus.

Here’s my reasoning: Mr. Underwood wasn’t exactly a father figure to Nathaniel. He was supposed to be, but he never gives any evidence of having a relationship with Nathaniel that extends beyond teaching Nathaniel how to summon spirits. Mrs. Underwood would have eventually done so, but Nathaniel was 12 when she dies and she still seemed to treat him like a little kid. It wouldn’t fall under history or art, so unless there was a health teacher we don’t know about, Nathaniel had to find out from somewhere else. This is pretty much canon in my opinion. Any thoughts?

[queezelle]

A moodboard for Queezle –a djinni and Bartimaeus’ beloved friend.

“An elegant she-leopard was sitting in the middle of the street, staring at me with lime-green eyes. As I watched, she negligently rose, walked a few paces to the side, and sat down again. A gout of burning pitch slammed into the cobblestones she’d have been, leaving a smoldering crater." 

-from The Golem’s Eye, by Jonathan Stroud

[queezelle]

A moodboard for Bartimaeus –a djinni and John Mandrake’s familiar. 

“I am Bartimaeus! I am Sakhr al-Jinni, N'gorso the Mighty, and the Serpent of Silver Plumes! I have rebuilt the walls of Uruk, Karnak, and Prague. I have spoken with Solomon. I have run with the buffalo fathers of the plains. I have watched over Old Zimbabwe till the stones fell and the jackals fed on its people. I am Bartimaeus! I recognize no master. So I charge you in your turn, boy. Who are you to summon me?”

-from The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud

[queezelle]

A moodboard for Faquarl –a djinni and Bartimaeus’ “nemesis”.

“He was sitting far back in his chair with his shoes on the kitchen table, a fat, jovial-looking man with a red face and a meat cleaver in his hand. He was studiously paring his nails with the cleaver, flicking each fragment of nail expertly through the air to land in the fireplace beside him. As he did so he watched me continuously with his dark little eyes.”

–from The Amulet of Samarkand, by Jonathan Stroud

[queezelle]

booksforthoughts BPC | October 2018 | 8. Magical spells

[queezelle]

READ BARTIMAEUS

I’m listening to the Bartimaeus audio books at work this week, and it’s incredibly scary listening to them and comparing them to current politics. I’ve loved this book series my whole life, and known the messages it sends, but today they hit home harder than I can ever remember.

If you want a book that talks about authoritarian regimes, read Bartimaeus

If you want a book that talks about slavery, read Bartimaeus

If you want a book about systemic oppression, read Bartimaeus

If you want a book with a strong female character fighting in a resistance movement against the government, read bartimaeus

If you want a book that shows a white boy coming to terms with his privilege, and his own crimes within society, WITHOUT LETTING HIM OFF THE HOOK, Read Bartimaeus  (it doesn’t make excuses for him, it’s him making excuses and by end of book three he’s like “oh shit i’m a jerk”)

If you want a book with an agender main character, read bartimaeus (although pronouns are he/him, bart clearly states that man or women doesn’t matter. he shape shifts)

If you want a book that confronts and points out slur usage, read Bartimaeus (the word Demon is a slur for spirits, and considered very insulting. Bart consistently points this out to Nathaniel and asks him to stop saying it)

If you want a swash-buckling djinn who is sarcastic/rude to his white boy ™ master, read Bartimaeus.

And seriously, its funny as fuck. This is the book that taught me what footnotes were, and their only uses in the story are to 1) tell hillarious history lessons and 2) insult everyone including the reader.

[queezelle]

i really marvel at strouds writing style bc hes very good at giving just enough detail to give great descriptions without spending too much time on them, it lets a great picture develop naturally and gives you freedom to imagine the world/characters yourself with enough of a base you feel me. his wiritng style is so (clenches fist)

[queezelle]

Does this mean we’re finally getting a movie!??