#HE LOVED BARTIMAEUS SO MUCH ACTUALLY

[nadiajustbe]

Hey guys have you ever cried over a corrupt politician sacrificing his career, his ambition, his politucal future, his acquaintances, his country and a person his was crushing over for years — all for the dying frog on the floor, it both being the closest person he ever had in his life and the only part of himself he has not yet buried under idealistic rubble?

Because I have.

[nathaniel-underwood-is-an-intj]

Literally just finished Notorious Scarlett and Browne

In that hyper stage where I just have to share my thoughts so excuse the ramble. (Spoilers!)

Sneaky Bartimaeus reference? Very reminiscent of Nat and Kitty's parting. I love how It's easy to find similarities between Storud's stories and characters without it feeling too repetitious.

The revelation about Thomas didn't surprise me- I'd read the summary for the third book but before that I felt it was kinda obvious she was like the reverse of Lockwood. But her middle name being Josephine absolutely did surprise me (unless I missed it being mentioned before?) but omg does the name suit her!! Made me realise we don't know what Jo and Ettie's surname is which I'd like to know!

Lighthearted moments I liked:

But also I was so confident Albert was my favourite character (love all of Stroud's psychologically messed up male protagonists anyway so it wasn't exactly a competition) but then in came Mallory omg - a more fucked up version of Albert that has absolutely no qualms about killing people?? Sign me tf up baby I love him so much! I said Nat has Catholic guilt vibes but oh boy Mallory is the BLUEPRINT for catholic guilt 🤌🏼🤌🏼

Maybe an unpopular opinion? But he definitely deserved better! I want to see him developed more as character and see more of his personality shine through rather than just be a vague threat from Stonemoor. I found his self assurance and egotistical nature really interesting considering years of child abuse - we kind of see it with Nathaniel but it's mostly an act and bravado whereas that does seem to just be what Mallory is like.

I'm loving the found family vibe as well - it was nice to see Jo and Ettie have stayed with Scarlett and Albert and the addition of Sal Qin at the end is really sweet. And I just think Mallory would fit in perfectly with the found family trope. None of them are really great people so he fits in so well 😭 I know I'm deluding myself thinking two people with the same power and background could be given equal space in the book so Mallory's end is probably final. But it was a little more vague so maybe? 🥹 What do we think does anyone else want him back? Also I know mentions of an adaptations are out there and I can't get the image how the last chapter would look on screen: Albert and Scarlett discussing the fight, thinking about the future joking about how Mallory is under several buildings and the future looks so bright. And then post credits we just see him come crawling out the revine. Or is that too cliche? But a small dose of cliche is healthy in a western vibe book right?

Mallory goading Albert before their fight was actually really cute as well; he was 🤏🏼 this close to being a mentor to Albert like an annoying af big brother or something 😭 I can picture him flirting with Scarlett as well purely to be irritating.

And I understand Albert being upset about Mallory killing the watchman - Albert does feel bad about hurting people even in self defense and it contrasts to Mallory not caring at all, but I was surprised that it was such a strong catalyst for his rage? Mallory kind of inadvertently helped them by getting rid of someone who could sound the alarm.

I just really love Mallory's pursuit of perfection leading to his own self hatred and I feel like it could be explored more with him as a character. Nathaniel gradually became more fearful of uncleanliness and disorder as he lost control of his life but it's cool to see the concept of a character viewing themself as impure and being filled with self hatred because of that (again gimmie those catholic guilt vibes all day long.)

I also like how he hasn't got the fear of his power that Albert has; Albert fears himself Mallory hates himself instead. But he also hates 'normal' people too which is really interesting, he just seems so lonely that's why I want him to join the little ragtag group 😭

Dr Calloway's death felt very justified but Mallory's (potential?) death just felt hollow because he's exciting and doesn't feel like his story was filled out enough. But then again we don't have any information about Calloway- not even a first name. The effect it gives is of a faceless entity of an institution. Even the description of her wearing glasses gives the impression of dehumanising her- If anyone knows anything about the Stanford Prison Experiment that's the impression she leaves. And that lack of knowledge about her is fulfilling in a way. No real personality shines through because she's been dehumanised. But Mallory is different - we see little glimpses of his personality, he's less of a faceless entity.

And even when Albert is trying to convince him to join them (whether this was supposed to be a trick or genuine I wasn't sure- Albert is kind enough to have been genuine but also I don't know if he'd want to risk Joe, Ettie and Scarlett) his reaction shows the cracks in his confident swagger. He's furious when Albert suggests society hates him, even though he's stated it himself many times and says he's accepted that fact. It kinda gave me the impression he's just trying to convince himself he's okay with being an outcast an completely alone but hearing it from someone else reminds him of the trauma of having it pointed out by Drs in Stonemoor and the defence mechanisms start to kick in.

And during his fight with Albert we see him have a real connection with someone- he and Albert share strange moments bordering on bonding with each other. I think it's a connection they both need because no on else has such similar shared experiences. I don't even want a redemption arc for him- he's irredeemable in the same way Scarlett and Albert are which is why he fits in with them so much!

Anyway what do people think? Do you think Mallory will return? Do you want him to? I'm so excited for the last book to come out and so scared I'll be disappointed 🥲

Aside from Mallory; the will they won't they of Scarlett and Albert is stressing me out! I can't decide if they're even meant to be shipped or not. It doesn't help that Albert's age is left really vague - Scarlett makes him sound quite young in comparison to her but Albert says she's hardly older than him so idk. I know Stroud tends to keep these things vague on purpose but this seems more so than usual which makes me think I'm crazy when they have adorable moments together.

I kind of get the impression Albert has a sort of crush on Scarlett but she views him as a little brother. How does everyone else see them?

[alex-lif]

Its like my first post here and im already have something controversial to say

I need to summon Bartseq and Howl's moving castle fandoms

How about Bartimaeus trilogy and Castle in the air (moving castle) crossover

Soldier and Abdullah's mission but it's kinda loser magician/rude jinni dynamic

Me and chat literally jump from one trilogy to another ten times a day so crossover was only a matter of time

(don't expect me to have structure or something, it's just an draft of idea, and i don't even know english that much)

Abdullah, an apprentice of magician, first time summoned someone more powerful than foliot. He needs help with search of Flower-of-night, and he think sm stole her, like many other girls in town

But this jinnie don't seem to be helpful.

Demon named Justin do everything but help

First he was summoned he wasn't scary, creep, or any word that you imagined when hear ab demons, nah

Jinn looks like a soldier in an old-fashioned gray uniform, his eyes glowing an inhuman blue. Not only did he light up the room with a green ghostly glow, he still looked as if he had just been pulled out of the field.

Abdullah was rather confused than scared, and then, spirit, in a form of man, begin to talk in this throbbing, polyphonic voice.

He's bragging about how many wars he won, how many battlefield he go through and how much well-known generals he spoke to.

And i think he don't want to anyone call him by his name bc "on the war we don't have names until we dead. Only titles, I'm just a Soldier."

(if you even care, author of idea described it like

WHAT DOES A KID NEED FROM THE SPIRIT OF WAR...U NEED ME TO FIND YOUR LOVER? AM I LIKE CUPID TO YOU, OR WHAT? LOOK CAREFULLY: BEFORE YOU, THE HERO OF COUNTLESS WARS!!!! INVINCIBLE MILITARY POWER!!!!! I HAVE WENT THROUGH SO MANY FIELDS OF BATTLE THAT YOU HAVE NEVER DREAMED SO MANY DREAMS IN YOUR LIFE AND WILL NEVER DREAM, SAY YOUR TRUE ORDER, I KNOW THAT YOU HAVE SOMETHING BETTER FOR ME )

He talks too much, Abdullah thinks. And little bit even thankfull for that bc last day were wild, he needs a minute to breathe and calm down. So he listens demons comments on everything

On his stupid order, bc he clearly doesn't expect some child summon him to find a girl. He expect another war. Even asked who we fight against this time. All his life he was called only for such tasks. he emphasized that battles were his specialty, and he would not accept any other assignment (actually i think poor man needs to learn how to live outside of war but it's just me)

An place. He looks out of window and goes "dammit don't tell me it's Ingary. Ugh, I've hated this place since the war against Strangia" or something

"yes, oh most rustless out off jinns, it's actually Kingsbury" Abdullah answer. Soldier only made a annoying noise with tongue and decided don't try to scare a boy with illusions of screams or image of running against him monsters

***

Now im gonna throw up takes without explanation

- Justin Soldier being like the worst servant in the world. Abdullah pissed, bc he often can't force him to do simple tasks. Physical punishment didn't help because 1) Abdullah almost never really do ant, but often threatens 2) Jinn don't care

So. Boy should find damn food for Jamal's angry dog himself, ashamed of how his demon unable do such a order. (Soldier bring a wrong meat for pet on purpose. He'd like to watch how boy run from him.)

- yea. In most of cases it's Soldier decide what they need to do. Not his master.

- he always tries to lead a guy astray from saving the love of his life, distractin him like maybe sometimes point on some girl

"look, such a beautiful mistress out there, see? Much closer than that your stolen princess huh, maybe try a shot?"

- ALSO. almost forgot. Justin favourite form it's that form of this random old fashioned strangian soldier (that Abdullah asked him to change bc it's capital city you know noone wants to see someone like that here. He don't care.) and black blue-eyed cat. Always one of this two looks. Yes, in this version Abdullah still have annoying cat that always sits on his shoulder. It's now just his jinn.

- Abdullah has much less professionalism and he don't have a library in his head like Nat did. Actually, by magician standards he like kinda below average. Although, surprisingly, he has one of the most powerful magicians as mentor.

- we decided. Princeses are opposition. Flower-in - night just run away from her violent and crazy mentor to girls to plan throwing a government. They all kinds of girls from magician and commoners family's, some of them are listed as missing (or as stolen. Stolen girls from all the town you know, like princesses), some are here in secret from their families, god they even have policeman on their side

- you have three take to guess who's Abdullah's mentor.

Yes. It's a damn Ben Suliman. He's one of ministers. We just don't decide minister of what he is.

(all the credits to @jutenium for this precious idea)

So. What do you think, folk.

We have more drama, i can make part 2

Bc we NEED to talk about Hatter sisters here

[sator-the-wanderer]

May I offer a book rec? I've been wondering for a while now if you'd get a kick out of The Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud - based on all the other fandoms I've seen you post about over the years, it might be up your alley?

Enjoyed HP? YA modern fantasy book series that actually really holds up when you read it as an adult featuring an iconic trio containing a morally grey black haired protag who makes questionable life choices, a non-magician girl with beef with the local government, and an immortal djinni with great narration style. Stroud isn't ears deep in twitter discourse, so there's also that.

Enjoyed Discworld/Good Omens? Loads of amazing footnotes, jokes, wordplay, excellent humour that will be followed by a quote that will knock you into next Tuesday, and fun history stuff alongside commentary on slavery, how much the British empire sucks, the evils of capitalism, love, devotion, grief and humanity.

Enjoyed HP Lovecraft? Millennia old spirits from another dimension bound into servitude by magicians, capable of great power and devouring people and each other. One has tentacles and also really likes knives. The protag djinni has eaten people multiple times. There's at least one spooky eldritch horror in each book, even if in one case he's kinda trapped inside a skeleton.

Like wordplay? Puns? Unreliable narrators? Magic and murder mysteries? Awesome action scenes? Traumatic backstories? Suspiciously goth Egyptians? That one kid who died ages ago but who haunts the narrative like a ghost? Endings that will devastate you? Corruption arcs turning redemption arcs? Then boy howdy do I have three books and a prequel for you!

(start with the trilogy, though, is my recommendation.)

Don't know how to obtain the books? I have all 4 in pdf format and am more than happy to share.

If you don't feel up for it, no biggie. If it turns out not for you, perfectly fine! I just thought I'd throw it your way in case you end up enjoying it ::3

YOu know, I actually have it in my reading list since last year and one of my buddies has a 13cm-tall book with the whole tetralogy! I guess it's time to read it

Thank you for the rec and also for the donation! You're always the kindest 🥺🖤

[fauna-a]

I Haunted

The house was new, bright new, pretty, clean; the grass in the front garden was perfectly cut, swaying gently in the breeze.

No one could have said that some years ago a terrible fire had destroyed the house and killed the people living there, and David Sullivan hoped that no one remembered it, too. Or, at least, he hoped that the magician who had taken the appointment didn’t.

It was the first time David worked on his own, without his supervisor and he didn’t actually think he’d sell the property: all he wanted was to make a good impression and not mucking it up.

The buyer was a little late, David realized. He started to walk circles around the front door that was, of course, freshly painted.

Maybe someone had survived that fire. David was young and he was still at school when it had happened, but he remembered his father reading the Times and commenting the news. Yes, yes, a boy had survived… The apprentice? There was something other, something a little grim about it, but David couldn’t recall; he didn’t even remember the name of the magician who had lived there.

But he did remember the name of the magician that was supposed to be there now, and he wasn’t. He was very late.

Well, he couldn’t exactly go and complain, David knew it; he liked his job, thank you very much, but a call at least! A note!

He sighed: well, maybe the magician had come important work to do; maybe he wasn’t really interested in the house. Pity: David thought it was lovely, especially the little garden on the back. The fire had not destroyed it completely and some apple trees had survived: in spring it would be lovely, having all the white blossoms around. In the centre of the garden there was a statue, too, some Victorian magician with his stern face covered in moss. David liked that too, but if the buyer didn’t, it could have been removed. It was old, after all: it could have been easily replaced, maybe with some fountains that were so fashionable that year.

David sighed again: it seemed like his supervisor wouldn’t buy him lunch, like she had promised if his first solo house tour would have gone well.

 Nathaniel sat in his car, still. The house was nothing like he remembered, but, after all, the fire had been brutal. He could see the estate agent moving around, huffing, checking his watch.

Nathaniel didn’t know what the hell he was doing, first of all because he already had a house. But he had seen the announcement on the paper and he couldn’t resist to take an appointment. Except that now he couldn’t even get out of the car.

After all, he didn’t have to buy it! He just wanted to see it and… and what? The boy who had lived there was gone as was Mrs Underwood. Unexpectedly, Bartimaeus’s sober face, last time he had seen it some months ago, popped in his mind. Bartimaeus too had said that the boy Nathaniel was gone, well, almost gone, whatever that meant.

It was true. It had to be true: he was John Mandrake, youngest minister of all times. And he had better places to be than outside what remained of a house that was once his residence.

He gave a curt order; after a few seconds, the road was empty.

[lawful-evil-novelist]

15 Questions-OC Edition

Tagged again by @eli-writes-sometimes, and since I did Aydın, I figure I should also do Valentine, my other lead.

Are you named after anyone?

Oh, yes, actually, the first king of Tir’oloth, Valentinus, it was much more common when I was younger to be named after royalty, very in-vogue for dark elven nobles.

When was the last time you cried?

That’s not really your business, now is it?  I have cried in times of tragedy, but much like my Narcissa, I prefer to express such emotions privately.

Do you have kids?

Quite a few, shall I list them for you?  Andromeda, Cybele, Bartimaeus, Dionysus, Septimus, Vesper, Isidora, Renata…They’re all delights, I could go on. (Author’s Note: He has a lot of kids, he’s also 300)

Do you use sarcasm?

I am firmly of the opinion that if you don’t use sarcasm you have little skill with words, and even less with using them.

What's the first thing you notice about people?

Their reflexes, socially and physically.  Recognizing reflexes are the first step in determining someone’s weaknesses.

What's your eye color?

Well, the eye I still have is green.  My left eye used to be green, hence the moss agate replacement.

Scary movies or happy endings?

I’ll have you know Narcissa tells the best ghost stories.  There were nights when Andromeda and Cybele wouldn’t leave my side because their mother scared them so, and Vesper would be huddled right alongside them so certain he wasn’t scared.

Any special talents?

I would call my charms my greatest gift, and I’m sure my wives and husband would agree.  They put up with me, after all.

Where were you born?

Tir’oloth, one of the many elven kingdoms that has fallen to the Janurian Empire, for all that’s worth.  The region is now called the Alektian Webs.

What are your hobbies?

I have a fondness for card games, and chess, and I fence quite well though Ursa does often call me a peacock.  Savaş has lent a song to accompany my violin many a time as well.  He has quite the voice.

Have you any pets?

Gem dragons are exceptionally small dragons–only the size of a cat, see–with impressive psionic abilities.  Jupiter, here, is of the emerald variety, very clever creatures, not quite the level of their larger kin but very fascinating pets–and familiars.  They also make for wonderful pickpockets, when trained right.

What sports do you play/have played?

Nobles of my culture are not quite expected to play sports as much as train in combat arts.  I’ve fenced since I was a boy, and have quite the aim with a bow and dagger.

How tall are you?

Not so tall, but average for my kind,  I stand at five and a half feet.

Favorite subject in school?

I had a fondness for classes on enchantment and illusion magic during my schooling.

Dream job?

Why, I have it.  I find there is no greater calling for me than an expensive sword for hire.

And I’m gonna pass over tags to @thespacelizard because I love their characters

[laurelnose]

I’m remembering why I never actually read most of the Discworld novels ... I have read SOME of Discworld, but not very much of it. as a child I read The Wee Free Men (charming, I love Tiffany), part of Eric (as a ten-year-old fan of Bartimaeus I was enticed by the description of demon deals and then thoroughly put off by Rincewind), and one of the city books, I don’t remember which one, possibly Feet of Clay, I’ll remember when I reread it probably. which is like juuuust barely enough Discworld to mostly grok the references. but I didn’t read any others. I got them all off Humblebundle for a steal recently and thought I’d try again, since I’ve been on a bit of a comfort read kick these last few months. I gave Colour of Magic a try to see if I still hate Rincewind, I read Guards! Guards!, I’m almost done with Men at Arms and...

they are just Okay. they’re Fine. one might even go so far as to say Good, insofar as I do think they’re very clever and fun and obviously earned their positions as classics of the genre (having thoroughly supplanted most of the earlier material that created the substrate that makes them funny), but I just don’t enjoy them that much. I don’t really want to read forty of them. the City Watch books particularly are very charming pieces of worldbuilding, a gem of a city to wander around in, I like Carrot, I like Vetinari, I like Vimes, but they are excruciating as mysteries. you figure it out around 100 pages in and then go, “god damn, you schmucks are going to take 200 more pages to get anywhere on this case??” and sort of slog onwards with the hope that at least maybe you’ll learn some more about Ankh-Morpork. and Rincewind is indeed still completely intolerable.

people do say Pratchett got better as he went on, and that tracks with how much more I remember liking Wee Free Men (#30) than the rest of these. i will probably finish out the City Watch series and also the rest of the Tiff books. and then if I am not any more enamored I will call it a Fair Shake and give up

i’ve got Men at Arms open on Clara and Raven Stratagem open on my phone, which is a great combo to make a guy constantly pick up the wrong ebook device and go “what the fuck is HAPPENING”

[nadiajustbe]

Post-PG AU where everyone survives (including Faquarl), but Nat still gets hospitalised because he got the whole Glass Palace falling on him and Kitty still suffers from the trip to the Other Place, so her and Bart take usual visits to the hospital merely everyday (Bart says it's because Kitty still needs assistance with her walking but he also just wants to watch If Nat wouldn't die from the runny nose or something, human are quite fragille, your know). Except one day Kitty and Nathaniel unitedly agree Bartimaeus has been on Earth for a bit too long (and Nat cannot elaborate, he was the one too keep him here for the 2+ years and he KNOWS it was the worst thing he's ever done in this situation) so they have to let him go for a while.

Bartimaeus does not want to leave his baldy injured humans unattended (he doesn't put it this way but no one cares), so he ask...Faquarl. And oh, this is the biggest nightmare ever, but, hey. Why not¹. He goes like "Listen, you have just kinda made a spirit revolution, almost destroyed London (I agree this is a rathole, but you were supposed to give it a dignity, as every great jinnie including myself), almost killed my friend a really good acquaintance of mine, almost murdered my master and me in my most glorious self (this one hurt, by the way). So, If maybe I can ask you by a little flavour, after which I won't give you anything at all and absolutely nothing would change, except maybe I will hate you one point one percent less. Deal?

And, before Faquarl can disagree, he starts unpacking the whole list of stuff he'll supposed to do for the next two weeks.

"Look after John sleeping normally, because he's a pain in the ass and he will not, be free to tell Kitty puch him with a stick If nedeed, maybe cook them something normal (maybe eggs) (mankind has been going progressively worse when it comes to food and I know you know that, the hospital food is particularly made of plastic.) Also John wouldn't drink coffee unless there's absolutely zero sugar in it, what a sensitive child, do not allow him to drink coffee under any circumstances. He knows damn well the doctors forbade him from doing so. Kitty should not walk more than two hours a day (and a walk from a hospital to her apartment is already about half an hour), she's also supposed to have some kind of support for standing as well, she will say she's able to manage everything alone and as much as I tend to believe her, no. No she's not, unless it would lead her to the position of the unfortunate idiot for the rest of her life. Johh, on the other side is not supposed to walk at all no matter what he thinks of himself and...no I don't love humans at all, what made you think so????"

(¹There was a lot of reasons "why not", actually, but I'm afraid If I start listing them all humans will ban me from existence for beating every possible word count).

[bblueraven-and-fandoms14]

I will say rn, that

In Ptolomey's gate the one scene that ACTUALLY makes me cry is, strangely, not Nathanial's death. I mean it DOES make me cry but not much, and not really. The one that does (and it has, twice, in the last 5 days) is the scene where he goes and re-meets with Ms. Lutyens. I Don't know but that scene is so painfully heart wrenching to me, my heart hurts for this boy. It HURTS.

I think it's the fact she is the one thing he has that is solely from his childhood, the one person left who he feels had and could love him/like him to some degree. And then he goes to thank her for it, and to see her again and FEEL SOMETHING that isn't connected to the mess and bullshittery that is his current life, and she rejects him. She DOES. She tells him "I never had anything to do with YOU. Not with John Mandrake" and it's the realization that she doesn't accept him anymore, she doesn't LIKE HIM (love him) anymore. And that no one in the world does.

That fucking last line from her when he tries to explain once again: "I wanted to say that I know you were trying to save me and-"

'"Yeah" she said. "And I'm sorry I didn't. Good-bye, Mr. Mandrake"'

FUCK. FUCK.

Anyways I am perpetually sad and I too am sorry Ms. Lutyens couldn't be there to save him. Because he needs it, to the very last moment. And kitty half did but they barely had that connection, she was a recent relationship. And Bartimaeus could have but their relationship is too complicated and he is his Slave and he can't be there all the time and he, frankly, doesn't care enough when he is around to put much effort in it because the resentment still burns, even if Bartimaeus somewhat likes/loves him and so there was no one.

AHHHH I'm making myself depressed over Nathaniel again FUCK. Goodbye lol.

[nathaniel-underwood-is-an-intj]

Bartimaeus AU but it's Matilda

So I watched Matilda because I couldn't get the idea of Ms Lutyens = Miss Honey out of my mind; and I think Nathaniel deserves a happy ending with a cottagecore lesbian coded mother, but it actually works surprisingly well??

• Instead of Matilda Wordwood it's Nathaniel Underwood.

• Instead of telekinesis Nathaniel summons Bartimaeus to cause trouble.

• "Sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty" -*summons a demon in his bedroom*

• Lavender would probably be Kitty.

• Nathaniel and Ms Lutyens bond over art rather than books but he still reads way above his age and is a very intelligent kid.

• "Arthur Underwood lived in a very nice neighborhood, in a very nice house, but he wasn't a very nice person"

• "Underwood was so wrapped up in his own silly life he barely realised he had a son, had he paid any attention to him at all, he'd have realised he was a rather extraordinary child"

• "The happiest part of the story is that Nathaniel and Ms Lutyens each got what they had always wanted; a loving family."

• "Nathaniel discovered to his great surprise that life could be fun, and he decided to have as much of it as possible- after all he was a very smart kid"

• Instead of Magnus (Miss honey's dad) it's Martha Underwood as Ms Lutyens' mother who died.

• Simon Lovelace instead of Trunchbull, who is Ms Lutyens' Uncle or cousin/brother because they're quite similar in age.

• Lovelace is paranoid about being found out as the murderer of Mrs Underwood.

• Nathaniel uses Bartimaeus to get Ms Lutyens' home back and scare Lovelace away.

• And Arthur Underwood signing the adoption papers over to Ms Lutyens at the end because absolutely everyone needs that to heal their soul.

[too-antigonish]

Thanks for tagging me @hurricane-eva @librawritesstuff @fanficrocks !

Last song: So just this morning a friend sent me this amazing video of the Berlin Philharmonic playing the finale to Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra. Seriously, if you have *just three minutes* take the time to watch it. The piece is amazing, the performance is mind-blowingly good, and the musicians are obviously having a blast. 

Favorite color: All of them? No? Well, I kind of go on jags with color combos—like forest green with plum for a while. Right now it's kind of a rust color with indigo blue.

Last book:

Nonfiction: The Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece by Eric Siblin. The six cello suites have an exalted almost quasi-sacred status in the cello repertoire that is hard to explain to even other musicians. This is a book about the pieces themselves, the man who composed them, and the Catalan cellist who both rediscovered and championed them.

Fiction: The Notorious Scarlett and Browne: Book 2 by Jonathan Stroud. Quite good. I don't love this series as much as Bartimaeus or my beloved Lockwood but it's still very, very good and it's fun to see Stroud stretching and trying some new things here.

Last movie: Living, a 2022 film starring Bill Nighy with a screenplay by Kazuo Ishiguro. Basically a 1953 London civil servant with an unimaginably dreary life finds out he's dying and…finally starts to live. It was good. Not great, but definitely good.

Last show: The Silo S2:E5 I didn't know if they'd be able to make season 2 work, but it's a winner so far. And it has Harriet Walters.

Sweet/spicy/savoury: Don't make me choose. OK, sweet.

Relationship status: Married—rather miraculously.

Last thing I googled:

Um, "Kálfalækjarbók" because of work.

Last thing I personally googled: "2000iu vitamin d" because winter in Wisconsin is no joke.

Last actually interesting thing I googled: "banana phone" because the person I am married to has spent years torturing me with this ridiculous ongoing joke that involves grabbing a banana and pretending it's a phone and now I've been told that they make an *actual* banana phone and he will pay at last.

Current obsession: Well obviously all things Endeavour and Shaun Evans. Music of all kinds, always—listening to it and playing it (cello). Embroidery and needle-felting and other extremely fiddly ways of making things.

Looking forward to: A certain television show called Betrayal. Getting my cello back from the luthier with a new bridge and a bass bar crack repaired. The loaner instrument I'm playing is lovely but she's not mine. A second year on the new migraine medication that has allowed me to basically interact with the world again for the first time in years.

Tagging (only if you wish to play - no pressure): Many of my usual suspects have all been tagged/played...but if you are interested and have time... @morsesnotes @gaytobymeres @sandfordsmostwanted @shuilian @beatricecawood

Thank you for tagging me @dragonslover98 ❤️

Last song: Hmmm. Been on a mostly instrumental music phase of late, so would have to say the saccharine seasonal songs I cannot escape at this time of year!

Favorite color: Peacock blue; but dusty rose and deep purple are close seconds.

Last book: The Clockmaker's Daughter by Kate Morton (physical book); Dead Beside the Thames by Stephanie Laurens (e-book) - looking at this, I seem to have an Australian novelists thing going 😊

Last movie: Lost Ladies (aka Laapataa Ladies), an Indian comedy which yet manages to provide a scathing but hopeful commentary on socially relevant issues.

Last show: S4 of Hope Street (and now I know I won't watch any more of it)

Sweet/spicy/savoury: Spicy and savoury

Relationship status: Complicated

Last thing I googled: Daylight lamp for SAD

Current obsession: The Morseverse in general, classic Christie shows (David Suchet as Poirot and Joan Hickson as Miss Marple), Granada TV Sherlock Holmes (Jeremy Brett version)

Looking forward to: A few days with extended family over Christmas, and then time to myself to decompress after that

Tagging (only if you wish to play - no pressure):

@too-antigonish @oeuvrinarydurian @librawritesstuff @jessieren @season-77

[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.

[buffintruder]

thanks for tagging me @arofili for this writer ask meme!

how many works do you have on AO3?

73 (wtf when did that happen)

what’s your total AO3 word count?

531,796

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they?

ao3 lists 50, but some of these overlap, like me tagging something both “les mis all media types” and “les mis victor hugo”. so probably around 36?

The top fandoms are Les Mis, Fullmetal Alchemist, Bartimaeus, and The Adventure Zone

what are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Reunion --the Untamed from Lan Sizhui’s pov

Angus McDonald and the Case of the Soul Stealer --taz fic sort of modern with magic au (also my first long fic and probably the fic with the most plot, i am very proud of it)

Wanting to Be Wanted -- fma fic, 5 times Greed didn’t realize he cared about people and 1 time he did

what if the real steel samurai fandom was the friends we made along the way -- ace attorney characters in the steel samurai fandom from an outside pov (i only started posting this a bit over 2 months ago, so i’m kind of impressed)

Better Than Nothing -- Magnus Chase, Alex Fierro has gender feelings and receives a gift (this fic is really the one where i have zero idea why it is as popular as it is)

do you respond to comments, why or why not?

yeah! I like it when authors respond to my comments, so I try to at least say “thanks!” If someone leaves a more detailed comment, it’s fun being able to respond to the things they say and talk about any sort of ‘behind the scenes’ writing things

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

I’m honestly not sure? I think even my angstiest fics have at least somewhat hopeful endings. There’s probably 5 or so I could choose from, but most of them were written a long time ago, I’m going to say Sing Tomorrow’s Song because even though the ending isn’t too angsty compared to the rest of the fic, it is about Grantaire being seduced by the personification of Death as a semi-metaphor for him dealing with depression, so it’s not exactly cheery

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

Yes! I love crossovers, though I don’t write them as much as I read them. Probably the weirdest two fandoms to crossover was Les Mis and the Beka Cooper series because me and my cowriter just sort of stuck France in the middle of the Tortall universe and didn’t question it

have you ever received hate on a fic?

A couple times, but the only one I remember was when someone didn’t like me writing Enjolras as a trans man

do you write smut? if so what kind?

Hah nope I’ll read it but as of right now I’m aroace enough that I’m barely comfortable with writing kissing

have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t believe so

have you ever had a fic translated?

One of my first fics was translated into Russian on ffn, Tricksters Running. (It’s sort of a weird character study on the Doctor from Doctor Who and Gabriel from Supernatural, and despite me writing it at the age of 14 it’s not terrible? younger me was better at poetic writing than current me)

have you ever co-written a fic before?

yeah, with @arofili !

what’s your all time favorite ship?

Uhhh this is hard. The ship that took up my brain for the longest time is Enjolras/Grantaire, and currently my favorite ship is Phoenix Wright/Edgeworth

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Well there’s a Lucifer au of fma that i wrote like 70k words of and hyped up to all my friends but never started posting and honestly at this point I don’t think I ever will.

For things that I started posting, A Home Beyond the What Ifs about Eponine/Cosette in Japan. I do like it, and I have a couple scenes of the next chapter written out, but I also have no motivation to actually work on it

what are your writing strengths?

Honestly? No clue, but not plot. Dialogue maybe?

what are your writing weaknesses?

Probably plot. I can sometimes come up with one, but most of my fics are just a series of loosely interconnected interactions it feels like

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Generally I don’t with a few exceptions.

If the pov character doesn’t understand what is being said, I’ll sometimes write that bit of dialogue out in whatever other language it is in to sort of add to the experience (since I assume most readers would not be able to understand it either, and those who do will be delighted)

If the language is Japanese and characters mostly speak English, I also have the dialogue be in Japanese sometimes since that is the language I actually know well enough to be reasonably confident in writing it. I would not write a full conversation in Japanese or anything, but if they’re switching between two languages then I’ll write it out in the languages it’s supposed to be in (for other languages I would usually just say “xxx” they said in y language, or italicize it if they switch between two languages enough).

Lastly, if the fic is about language then I might also do that because that’s sort of the whole point of the fic (which mostly overlaps with at least one of the above, but I have a fic in my drafts where 2 sentences don’t fit the above exceptions, so i figured i’d include this)

what was the first fandom you wrote for?

Technically it was a Les Mis/Beka Cooper crossover. The first fic I posted that I wrote all by myself was a Supernatural/Doctor Who crossover. Which honestly sums up my interests as a 13-14yo pretty well I feel

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

...this is so hard

I’m going to say Truth, In the Eye of the Beholder (40k study on sharing a body from the pov of Ling Yao) because I genuinely had so much fun working on it, and I’m extremely proud of how it turned out. Definitely one if the fics I put more effort into than normal, and wrangling character arcs into place was hard, but I think it was worth the effort

I tag @micamicster @shadowy-dumbo-octopus @aromantic-enjolras @queerfandommiscellany, if you want to!

[queezleofprague]

This is a blanket ask/plea/permission to infodump about you Bartimaeus headcanons and thoughts and whatever you want as much as you can. The tag is so quiet and there's so little new content. I hunger, Mx Kepler. I THIRST.

First, this ask gave me some very nice gender euphoria, so thank you for that/gen.

And you’re right, there is not enough content for this fandom, so have some headcanons.

Kitty

She/they Kitty because yes

She’s aroace

After the ending of the trilogy, they traveled the world for three years before deciding to stay in Prague

She became friends with Jakob again and the two of them hang out together a lot

The two of them usually meet up for coffee in the morning

Kitty became a writer and they write both original fiction and memoirs

She picked up Nathaniel’s habit of doodling in the margins of papers and it always makes her a little sad

She loved bugs as a kid, but they freak her out a little now

They end up in a qpr with Piper

She gets a ton of freckles in the summer

They get sunburned very easily

Her lines fade a bit as time passes, but her hair stays gray

At first, they dyed their hair brown like it usually was, but then they decided to have a little fun and started dyeing their hair different colors

Now, her hair usually three-quarters brown and the last quarter is dyed bright red

Nathaniel

He’s lithromantic

He cannot cook. Like, at all.

He absorbs the habits and mannerisms of people around him and he’s picked up a lot of nervous quirks that way

He has a hard time falling asleep in unfamiliar places and it took him weeks to get used to his room in Whitwell’s house

But he pretended everything was fine so as not to show weakness

He used to doodle all the time, but Underwood forced him to stop

He started doing it again pre-TGE as a way to cope with stress of a new job and master and a heck ton of responsibility

Whitwell wasn’t a fan and yelled at him over it, so he stopped again

By PG, he’s started doodling again as a middle finger to Underwood and Whitwell mainly, but it also does help him relax

He always has very warm hands for some reason

He wears eyeshadow

He‘s not good at balancing on anything

He often wakes up early to just sit and enjoy how quiet and peaceful it is

Ptolemy

He likes looking for cool weird stuff and giving it to people

“Hey Rekhyt I found this pretty rock and I thought you would like it so here you go.”

He has horrible short-term memory for to-do lists, where he put things, stuff like that

But he can perfectly recite entire passages from books

He cannot draw

After his journey to The Other Place, he dictated his notes to Bartimaeus because it was easier than writing them out, especially when he first got back and could barely move

His handwriting is super messy

He remembers things mostly by association and tends to think in clusters rather than in a straight line

He usually stays up really late reading and then sleeps in really late the next morning

He’s clumsy af, and Bartimaeus teases him relentlessly about it

Asmira

She’s an ace lesbian

She’s really good at sewing

She loves music

As a kid, she was always humming or tapping a rhythm with her fingers or singing under her breath

But she was told to break those habits because they could compromise her in a combat situation

She did, mostly, but the finger-tapping still shows up sometimes when she’s really stressed

She never saw Bartimaeus again after RoS, but Bartimaeus did see her while on a mission to Sheba

She starts keeping a journal post-RoS because she wants to sit down and think more. She has more patience now and wants to spend more time putting her thoughts into words.

She did end up traveling to protect the frankincense traders, and she did that for a while

It made her happy in a way nothing else ever really had

Like she was finally where she was supposed to be in her life

Bartimaeus

Neopronoun user Bartimaeus rights

He is canonically genderfluid, so it’s actually not much of a stretch

Ey likes a lot of different pronouns, but eir main ones are he/him, ey/em, ae/aer, and re/rem

Ae cannot steer anything, and Queezle always teases aer about it

Re likes having something to do with rer hands, and as a result, knows how to do a lot of simple crafts and is super good at it

He’s particularly good at making bracelets out of whatever he can find

Ey’s decent at drawing, but ey doesn’t do it often

Ae loves flying, especially over open spaces

Post-trilogy, re gets summoned to Egypt by Kitty and the two of them spend a lot of time exploring together and healing from the events of the trilogy

His Sheban diplomat disguise idea in PG when he and the other djinn were sneaking into the Ambassador Hotel was a subtle tribute to Asmira

Not many spirits know about Bartimaeus’s connection to Ptolemy

Faquarl found out on accident when it came up in an argument they were having

Ey told Queezle about Ptolemy when she asked about his preferred form, but she doesn’t know all the details

Ae is usually extremely touch-averse but small gestures of affection mean a lot to aer coming from someone ae trusts

Queezle

Her preferred form is a leopard

Most of her other forms include some leopard features. Her usual human form has leopard eyes.

She has the coldest hands ever no matter what form she’s in

She loves to sneak up behind Bartimaeus and stick her ice-cold hands on his back. Bartimaeus does not love this.

She loves fire. She doesn’t usually use it to fight, though, she just likes being around it.

When she’s bored, she likes to just sit and play with fire

I really want to draw that now

She’s not a fan of flying. It makes her feel like she has less control of where she can go.

She has the best laugh

There’s an au in my head where she doesn’t die in TGE, and is instead able to make her way to her master to be dismissed after being attacked by the golem

In this au, she and Bartimaeus eventually meet up when Kitty summons Bart in Egypt two years post-PG

[origami10]

K, N, P and U for the fandom ask game? ^^

K - What character has your favorite development arc/the best development arc?

Oh my gosh, that’s a very hard question… Hm actually you know what, I might be misremembering this because of an alternate ending fanfiction that I take as canon, but the main character of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, ‘John Mandrake’. I need to reread it but I remember it being great. Artemis Fowl, similarly.

N - Name three things you wish you saw more or in your main fandom (or a fandom of choice).

For Ajin, 1. more fans (lol) 2. more Shinya content maybe? 3. more crack and shitposts

P - Invent a random AU for any fandom (we always need more ideas).

Uhhhh… Ajin zoo/zookeeper AU

U - Three favorite characters from three different fandoms, and why they’re your favorites.

Noragami- Kazuma (I just love him so much and can’t pinpoint why), Bishamon (goals, seriously), uh, Hiyori I guess? Don’t make me pick a third :D

Blue Exorcist- Shima (was gonna put him down for the character arc because I find it so funny), Shura (also goals), Kuro (has two tails)

Code Geass- Lloyd (funny voice and manner), Suzaku (he’s just cool), it used to be Jeremiah but again also a toss-up between like, Cornelia, Gino (omg I remembered his name), uh, Euphemia, I just love Clamp’s character designs

That was fun, thanks! :D

[im-the-punk-who]

Hey, I was wondering if you have a book rec

!!

Okay so in full disclosure, I have a really hard time reading books. My brain sometime around six years ago just decided that wasn't its style anymore, so I don't read a TON. A lot of these aren’t going to be recent releases. However, here are a bunch of books I would absolutely recommend checking out! I tried to include a variety of genres but I have uh.....five bookshelves in my apartment so if you're looking for more of a certain genre let me know!

Theatre:

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead - Tom Stoppard

Waiting for Godot - Samuel Beckett

These are my two favorite plays - they're both absurdist, humorous, and have some fun things to say. They’re both by old white guys but like....I love both Tom Stoppard and Samuel Beckett DEEPLY and they have all of my love and respect.

Non-Fiction/Educational:

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria by Beverly Daniel Tatum - this is considered a 'classic' on the psychology of racism, and was particularly helpful for me as a white person in arming myself against 'reverse racism' thoughts and in dissembling my own prejudices. This is mostly a rec for other white folks, but Tatum also addresses 'having the courage to sit at the black table' as a way of claiming your own identity outside of the stereotypes the dominant society expects of you.

Daring Greatly by Brene Brown - Okay listen I just really REALLY love Brene Brown, she is a therapist most famous for her TED talk about Vulnerability and this is just...listen I really like to read this book when I am sad and feel like shit because it makes me feel strong. I reread this book at least once a year.

Imagined Communities by Benendict Anderson - This is an absolutely fascinating read on the rise of nationalism. It’s a bit dry and wordy, but the ideas and use of history as propaganda, spinning the story of a nation to pit it against or on the same side as other nations, and the ways in which these tactics shaped cultural history is just!!!! Amazing.

Gay New York by George Chauncey - This is just one of the most informative and interesting reads of queer history in New York that I’ve ever come across. It’s one of the ‘must reads’ of queer history and has so many interesting tidbits that I have to recommend it. It’s a bit old(published in 1994) but I still find it relevant and interesting to read.

Personal Fiction/Autobiographical Fiction

White Girls by Hilton Als - I went to a reading of this book when it first came out. It was so much fun and so eye-opening for me as a baby queer in NYC that I bought the book there. I wanna be really clear that Als does not pull punches and a lot of people don’t quite like it, but I love Als’ style of writing. The stories and essays in this book are amazing and funny and heartbreaking and informative of queer experience - particularly black queer experience - that I always feel like...honored? to experience through writing? This is one of those ‘you’re gonna suffer but you’re gonna be happy about it’ reads - it can be hard to face because of how very hard the pills are to swallow but like....gosh I just love this book and it’s interesting and hilarious and great.

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins  - this is my tin hat favorite. It hits....ugh. This is one of those books that came out and like every government agency freaked the fuck out over it. It’s an interesting look into the quote-unquote dark underbelly of capitalism; how and why countries manipulate each other through economic policies. Super interesting read with a nice style of prose.

The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs Okay so full disclosure I have not finished reading this, but I’m far enough through to rec it. This book chronicles the author’s attempt to read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica from front to back, and it is just as kooky and hilarious as it sounds. I am very incredibly and deeply offended this author stole both my schtick and my initials, thereby preventing me from doing this exact thing. I read through the phone book in its entirety when I was three. I had it in me. Anyway, this is basically the author just listing weird interesting facts he’s read about and connecting them to his daily life, but it’s a fun read, and you learn a lot of totally useless facts, which is absolutely my jam.

When Skatboards Will Be Free by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh - HI I LOVE THIS BOOK. I’ve read it maybe three times over. It’s so fun and interesting. You may notice that a lot of the books I rec are very absurdist in their humor, and this is no exception. This book is full of the dry wit and just weird goddamn shit you could only expect from the child of a revolution that never came. You want to read a book about someone who Went Through Shit? Read this book. It’s funny and heartbreaking and just. AHHHH. Seriously I cannot recommend this enough.

Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosch - FIGHT ME ON THIS. I love this book.....so much. Yes it’s technically a comic book but the stories are so INTERESTING and hilarious and full of exactly the dry absurdist humor I eat the fuck up. Also! Allie Brosch recently released a sequel of sorts called Solutions and Other Problems that I recommend without even reading it.

Poetry

Pansy by Andrea Gibson - IF YOU ARE NOT READING THE POETRY OF ANDREA GIBSON WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING WITH YOUR LIFE. I cried seven times reading this book. There are only like 14 poems. Please please read this to break your own queer heart :)

Bloodsport by Yves Olade - This is a tiny book full of absolutely devastating poetry. Most of it has to do with the grief of relationships, but like....gosh I love all of Olade’s stuff. (Also!! This is available as a pay-what-you-wish pdf!!)

Bright Dead Things by Ada Limón - This book focuses a lot on the author’s experiences of loss, and knowing that loss is going to happen. I’m completely devastated every time I read this.

Science Fiction/Fantasy

The Bartimeaus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud - So what if I am a dumb millennial I love this series. It’s another dry and deadpan humor, with weird additions and Stroud’s use of footnotes to absolutely crack me the fuck up means I gotta rec this. I just gotta. Four(I think?) books following the deeply unlikeable Nathaniel and his Djinn Bartimaeus, who just wants to eat humans and have a deeply enjoyable enemies to lovers plotline with his arch rival.

The Magic's Price Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey - Okay I know I’ve recced this before. I will rec it again. This was the very first series I ever read that featured a gay protagonist and I was. Devastated? Reformed? I latched onto Vanyel Ashkevron and I am never letting this depressed emo boy go. Try me, I bite. Seriously, this book was released in the 80s and yet it is still relevant, I still cry - god i LOVE this series SO MUCH. And, MERCEDES LACKEY actually invented unbury your gays, sorry I make the rule on that one. :) Also there are magic talking horses??????? Seriously please read this series I love it so much.

Fire Bringer & The Sight by David Clement-Davies - This is another series that was absolutely formative in my baby lexicon. These are books about magical animals and their inner societal workings and both books address the ideas of good, evil, darkness, compassion and good will, and destiny. I am obsessed with these books, they are some of the most interesting of the genre I’ve read, and so incredibly intricately written. LOVE these books.

Vampire Earth Series by E. E. Knight - The Witcher before it was cool. Sort of but like...there are schools of Cat, Bear, etc and it has COOL VAMPIRES I LOVE THSI SERIES. Basically, earth has been taken over by a race of alien ‘Vampires’ and follows a human involved in the resistance. The writing in this series is...wow. It’s so intricate and interesting and involved. I own the whole series because I love it so much, including the after-series hardback novels. I’m so messy and I love it.

Kindred by Octavia Butler - You know how people are like ‘YOU SHOULD READ OCTAVIA BUTLER!!’ ? You should absolutely do that. This novel is mindblowing and interesting and the pace and narrative are so so so interesting. Heartbreaking, god, horrific. Butler is an amazing writer and this novel, while my personal favorite, is not by any means the only of her books I would recommend. STORIES. STORIES!!!!!!!

Fiction

The Ballad of Barnabas Pierkiel: A Novel by Magdalena Zyzak - This book is so fucking good. It’s imaginative, funny, intelligent....it’s honestly one of the best fiction novels I’ve ever read. Again, dry, absurdist humor, this book sort of reminds me of Terry Pratchett’s style of writing.

The Call of the Wild by Jack London - This is a classic, a true classic. The social commentary of this book is so so good, London’s style flows and, personally, as a dog and animal expert, the anthropomorphisation of Buck and his fellow animals is just so well done. I love this book, it’s quite an easy read, and I reread it at least once a year.

Rolling the R's by R. Zamora Linmark - Okay. Okay okay!!!!!! I gotta take a deep breath about this one. This book is. Yuh. This is a bit younger leaning than the other fictions, focusing almost entirely on high school level characters, however the experiences and commentary is just so so good. Focusing on a diverse group of characters growing up in Hawaii in the 1970′s, this book addresses the intersectionalities of gender, sexuality, race, immigration, education, and how we define who we are. I’m obsessed.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles - A heartbreaking novel about war, innocence, adolescence, and how we hide from our truths. It’s...so good, this book hurts me a LOT okay. The prose is phenomenal, the story is poignant, and it feels like I’m ripping my own heart out with a fishhook every time I finish it.

The Toss of a Lemon by Padma Viswanathan - This is one of those books I half recommend because it’s so good, and half because of the deep wealth of knowledge it presents the reader. The author’s use of her own culture is just....goddddddddd. Intricate and interesting and so delicately included in the narrative that you can feel the love the author has for it. It’s a long read and it took me almost a month to get through reading every day, but god. It’s so soft and amazingly written I both wanted to read it all at once and take my time with it. This is another one that deals with the duality of humanity and how we connect with one another. Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!

P.S. Your Cat Is Dead by James Kirkwood Jr. - I love this book I love this book I LOVE THIS BOOK. It’s fucking hilarious, entertaining, I literally laughed out loud at every single chapter. Hilarious and poignant and surprisingly deep, this book literally follows the journey of a man in which literally everything that could go wrong does. It’s fucking hilarious.

I hope that helped and gave you some new books!!! <3