#Jonathan Ben Mordecai

[doyouknowthisjewishcharacter]

Do you know this Jewish character?

[a-crack-in-the-universe]

I just finished reading Death in the Arena by Caroline Laurence, and I almost cried at how Ursula and Jonathan bonded and Ursula decided to become Jonathan’s apprentice and help him be happy again. They essentially adopted each other and I think that’s really sweet. :’)

[roman-mysteries]

Ranking Roman Mysteries books from least favourite to favourite- Part 2

Once again, this is just a matter of personal taste and I’d love to hear about other people’s favourite books. 

8. The Sirens of Surrentum I am genuinely quite surprised by how much I like this book. Arguably you could swap it and the Assassins of Rome around on this list, it changes depending on my mood, but I’ve read this one the most so I’ve put it above. It’s a really mature story told from the point of view of very young characters, and I like how it touches on how actual messed up relationships were back then, from how young everyone was, to issues of consent and servitude. The Villa Limona is a beautiful setting for this honestly creepy (creepy like ick) plot- and I’m so glad it ends with Flavia finally seeing Felix for the spider he is. I can fully understand why it didn’t get an adaptation for the show.

7. The Slave-Girl from Jerusalem Absolutely the best mystery out of any of the books in my opinion- maybe because it is a murder mystery. The character development happening in tandem with the mystery is excellent, and getting to learn how Ancient Roman law worked is a treat. Morbid as it is, I love the part where the kids each write their wills. Jonathan’s prophetic dreams have a huge part to play here and the tension they add is next level. Ends so sadly, even if it is tackling a sadly realistic part of Ancient life. Also the foreword is hilarious. Not the last book I read but the last book I bought, so I haven’t read it as much, and I’m glad I get to rectify that now that I do have it.

6. The Colossus of Rhodes Bear with me because the Lupus bias is real. That being said, what a great book. High seas adventure, chasing slave traders, more tragedy for Lupus. The introduction of Floppy! I like the closed environment of the ship- gives the kids a lot to do together. Establishes excellent continuity for the world. All in all, just a really great read.

5. The Gladiators from Capua Top five here we go! Starting off with an absolutely intense one. Seriously, contender for one of the darkest books in a series littered with them. The depiction of the games is brutal and yet never fails to capture what made them so appealing for the Roman people. The Colosseum as a backdrop for finding Jonathan helps keep everything tense and exciting. I really appreciate how much I learn from these books while never feeling like I’m being forced to study. The only sad thing is because it comes straight after Enemies of Jupiter, it’s often where I burn out in a re-read because I forced myself to read Enemies and then lost steam. Stellar book though- sad the TV show had to change it so much (even though I get why)

4. The Secrets of Vesuvius Pliny is here and he has got some bullshit science with him! Book two and Lawrence is already excited to mess around with real life historical figures. I love how much the volcano takes a back seat until it erupts, but because we’re reading in modern times with the benefit of hindsight, its presence is always felt. The mystery here is a little...clumsy, but it doesn’t need to be anything special when you’ve got Vesuvius to deal with. That being said, the Vulcan story is nothing bad but it does bring the book down just a smidge for me. Still, there’s something so charming about the first few books when the kids are still learning to gel together. Ends a little weirdly (abruptly?) but I can’t help but love it. 

3. The Thieves of Ostia  Here’s where it all started- though kid me had no idea this book existed because I’d seen the TV show first. Fully understand why they didn’t go for it, but wish they did because it is just so much fun to see these characters meeting each other. Lawrence does an amazing job setting her story in this Ancient world and creating relatable and likeable characters to live inside it. The mystery is great, I love reading it with hindsight and noticing all the clues. The hot summer setting is artfully described and I can picture it so clearly. A perfect introduction for a really good series. 

2. The Dolphins of Laurentum Look, I nearly made this my top book because the Lupus bias is so real. It’s also the first book I ever read when I noticed it in my primary school library and went ‘hey isn’t that the show I watch on Rollarcoaster?’ Bias aside, this is such a great fucking book. Continues to deal with the repercussions of Vesuvius in a really clever way, brings back Pliny!!!!!!!!!! Even if it’s just his nephew, but he’s great. Treasure diving- beautiful villa- extreme Lupus backstory!!!!! Literally the only thing that stopped it from taking the top spot is the Miriam/Aristo/Pliny/Gaius whole thing. Sadly, I think it takes away from a story that should mostly be about Lupus, his past, and then Flavia and her father and their troubles. I don’t hate the parts but sometimes they just break up moments of the story in weird ways. Like, Lupus nearly drowned but we just gotta wait a bit to watch Pliny and Aristo duke it out. 

1. The Pirates of Pompeii The more I think about it, the more I realise the top spot could only ever go to this book. I don’t even know where to begin with how much I love it. When I was overseas in 2012 and just realising I could actually buy Roman Mysteries there, I mostly bought books that I hadn’t read yet- like the last two and then Sirens and Charioteers and such. Yet I bought this one even though I’d got it from the library and read it a bunch, because it is so, so good and I couldn’t stand to go another day without having constant access to it. The story is amazing, the setting is fantastic, the new characters add excellent stakes and drama. Nubia, oh my god Nubia in this story gets to shine. And the little Lupus paragraph at the end breaks my heart every time. Just 100/10 book, writing this makes me want to go and re-read it right now. My absolute favourite

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[oh2e]

I love using phrases that describe something perfectly to me but explain literally nothing to anyone else. Examples include “stop being such a Jonathan”, and “he’s the Gavin of the group” and “it’s a bit of a trans Dean scenario here”.

[least-sexy-man-competition]

INTRODUCING OUR CONTESTANTS...

Steve Carlsberg (Welcome to Night Vale)   

Emperor Belos (The Owl House)   

The Onceler (Lorax)   

Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars)   

Pikaman (Tumblr)   

Warren the Eagle (Don't Hug Me I'm Scared)   

Lord Hater (Wander over Yonder)   

Harry Du Bois (Disco Elysium)   

Bill Hawks (Professor Layton)   

Springtrap (Five Nights at Freddy's)   

Walter White (Breaking Bad)   

Cronus Ampora (Homestuck)   

Jerry (Undertale)   

Reigen Arataka (Mob Psycho 100)   

Dr. N. Brio (Crash Bandicoot)   

Elias Bouchard (The Magnus Archives)   

Doofenshmirtz (Phineas & Ferb)   

Kavinsky (The Raven Cycle)   

Dennis Reynolds (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia)   

Lord Farquaad (Shrek)   

Lemongrab (Adventure Time)   

Bill Cipher (Gravity Falls)   

Thaddeus "Rusty" Venture (Venture Brothers)   

Shin Tsumiki (Your Turn to Die)   

Zim (Invader Zim)   

L Lawliet (Death Note)   

Flint Paper (Sam & Max)   

BoJack Horseman (BoJack Horseman)   

Connecticut Clark (Connecticut)   

Fassad (Mother 3)   

Baldi (Baldi's Basics)  

Tony Stark (MCU)

Wallace (Wallace & Gromit)

Spamton G. Spamton (Deltarune)

Logan Roy (Succession)

Grima Wormtongue (Lord of the Rings)

Crux (The Locked Tomb)

Jonathan Sims (The Magnus Archives)

Five Pebble (Rain World)

Tingle (Legend of Zelda)

The Grinch (The Grinch)

Benrey (Half-Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware)

Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)

Neighbor (Hello Neighbor)

Tighten (Megamind)

Scout / Jeremy (Team Fortress 2)

Santa Claus (Christmas)

Sans (Undertale)

Ben Chang (Community)

Olaf (Frozen)

Jurgen Leitner (The Magnus Archives)

Pierre (Stardew Valley)

Jesus Christ (The Bible)

Randy Jade (Dialtown)

Count Olaf (A Series of Unfortunate Events)

Trip (Facade)

William Murderface (Metalocalypse)

Syndrome (The Incredibles)

Martin Kratt (The Wild Kratts/Zooboomafoo)

Oswald Mandus (Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs)

Naven Nuknuk (Epithet Erased)

Wario (Mario)

Mordecai (Regular Show)

Glenn Quagmire (Family Guy)

Voting will begin as soon as I have a proper image for the bracket :}

(im probably going to end up making my own at this point LOL)

[gentle-giant-swag]

HELLO EVERYONE! I SHALL NOW REVEAL THE BRAKCETS

First up

Wait

MOST FUCKABLE GENTLE GIANT

The A bracket (finished)

Battle 1-16

(most submissions in form 1 and most submissions in form b)

Starts Friday the 9th of June. 5pm CET. The brackets will be posted between the 9-10th of June.

Side A, 9th of June. 5pm to 8pm cet

Raphael Hamato (rise of the TMNT) vs Totoro (my neighbor Totoro)

Heavy (team fortress 2) vs Big Friendly Giant (BFG)

King Dedede (Kirby) vs Scorpia (She-ra)

Bismuth (Steven universe) vs Susan Murphy (monsters vs aliens)

Fezzik (the princess bride) vs Dick Gumshoe (ace attorney)

Master Chief (halo) vs Bumblebee (bumblebee)

Big Macintosh (my little pony: friendship is magic) vs Massimo Marcovaldo (Luca)

The titan (the owl house) vs Tyson (Percy Jackson)

Side B, 10th of June, 5pm to 8pm CET

Ivan Bruel (miraculous ladybug) vs Asahi Azumane (haikyuu)

Takeo Goda (ore monogatari) vs Caduceus Clay (critical role)

Milly Thompson (tri-gun) vs Sandy (Lego monkie kid)

Jaguar D. Saul vs Jean Bart (one piece)

Komamura (bleach) vs William Ellis (identity v)

Beelzebub (obey me) vs Kazanari Genjuurou (symphogear)

Senri (plus anima) vs Murakumo (rune factory 5)

Holly (super lesbian animal rpg) vs Brutus Feels (Kane and feels)

The B bracket (finished)

Battles 17-32

Characters who have returned from the spring bracket and from fandoms I’ve personally interacted with. So the spring bracket but we blacklisted big man

Date: Tuesday 13/6 to Wednesday 14/6, between 5pm to 8pm CET

Side A (Tuesday)

The iron giant vs Baymax (big hero 6)

Gonta gokuhara (danganronpa) vs Jonathan Joestar (JoJo’s bizarre adventure)

Dj (total drama) vs Yasutora “Chad” Sado (bleach

Muriel (the arcana) vs Jasmine (total drama)

Subject Delta (bioshock) vs aaarrrgghh (trollhunters)

Klaus Von Reinherz (kekkai sensen) vs Asterios (fate grand order)

Hunk (Voltron) vs Gooliope Jellington (monster high)

Dragonite (Pokémon) vs Asgore Dreemurr (undertale)

Side B (Wednesday)

Alphonse Elric vs Major Lewis Armstrong (full metal alchemist)

Urbosa (legend of Zelda) vs Glamrock Freddy (five nights at Freddy’s)

Milla Vodello vs Helmut Fullbear (psychonauts)

Dedue Molinaro vs Raphael Kirsten (fire emblem: three houses)

Winston vs B.O.B (overwatch)

Kanji Tatsumi (persona) vs Common Wubbox (my singing monsters)

Mordecai vs Muarim (fire emblem: gay rights path of radiance/radiant dawn)

Minsc & Boo (baldur’s gate) vs Big the cat (sonic the hedgehog)

C BRACKET (ongoing)

Battles 33-48

Those who fell in between the A and the D bracket. So this one has some pretty chaotic matchups

Date: Sunday the 18th to Monday the 19th, 5pm to 8pm cet

A bracket: Sunday

Nicholas St North (rise of the guardians) vs Grear Danes (irl)

Falkor the good luck dragon (the never ending story) vs Susan Strong (adventure time)

Grandpa Max (Ben 10) vs Cerberus (Greek mythology)

Kiryu Kazuma (yakuza) vs Dr Joshua Strongbear Sweet (Atlantis)

Fatgum (my hero academia) vs Takashi Morinozuka (ouran highschool host club)

Will Powers (ace attorney) vs Luther (Detroit: become human)

The Tick (the tick 1994) vs Evan Buck Buckley (911 on fox)

Riki Nendou (saiki k) vs Hearts Boxcars (homestuck)

Side B (Monday)

Shirahoshi vs Tony Tony Chopper (one piece)

Jetfire/skyfire (transformers) vs Indus Tarbella (epithet erased)

Sisyphus (hades) Vs Grog Strongjaw (critical role)

Hugo the abominable snowman (looney tunes) vs Aone Takanobu (Haikyuu)

Android 16 (dragon ball) vs Tiny (ever after high)

Wrecker (Star Wars: the bad batch) vs K (virtues last reward)

Goldlewis Dickinson vs Potemkin (guilty gear)

Yasha Nydoorin (critical role) vs Lily Bowen (fall out)

D BRACKET

Battles 49-64

Aka the one where the contestants sadly got the least amount of votes)

Date: Thursday 22/6th to Friday 23/6th 5pm to 8pm CET

Side A: Thursday

lain chu (dragon hunters) vs Panda (tekken)

Isaroth (genshin impact) vs Bizarro (DC red hood and the outlaws)

Jienji (Inuyasha) vs Jackie Wells (cyberpunk 2077)

Looks to the moon (rain world) vs Jogu (naruto)

Bane Perez (identify V) vs Zinnia (super lesbian animal rpg)

Vulkanon (rune factory 4) vs Argus (Greek mythology)

Mountain (ark knights) vs Taiga Saejima (yakuza)

Abbi (Omori) vs Gorem (bakugan)

SIDE B: Friday

Junko (storm hawks) vs Hajin (monstress)

Gylph (super lesbian animal RPG) vs Bongchun (Bongchun bride)

Fitz Fellow (detective grimoire) vs Bubbles (questionable content)

Dubo (omega strikers) vs Bob the titan (Percy Jackson)

Otto the giant water dog (wondla) vs Kurita Ryoukan (Eyeshield 21)

Mele the Horizons Roar (ishura) vs Gentle Bear (dog island)

The Selfish Giant vs Banjo Lilywhile (the hogfather)

Livio the double fang (trigun) vs Hank McCoy (x-men)

I will make propaganda master posts and if you want to add, just use the ask box or dm me with propaganda for one of the characters who’s going to participate. But that’s all!

May the best gentle giant WIN!

SECOND CHANCE BATTLES FOR ROUND 1

27/6, apricot bracket

Battle 1

Battle 2

Battle 3

Battle 4

29/2, shavedown of the apricot bracket

The battle

1/7, blueberry bracket

Battle 1

Battle 2

Battle 3

Battle 4

3/7, shavedown

The battle

4/7, citron bracket

Battle 1

Battle 2

Battle 3

Battle 4

5/7, shavedown

7/7, durian bracket

Battle 1

Battle 2

Battle 3

Battle 4

8/7, shavedown

The (un)official GGSmod messed up someone’s name post

The crime list

Ask game

[pussinbootsandbountyhunter]

Meet Poppy Maellard

She’s the daughter of Pops and the adopted daughter of Mordecai.

After Pops sacrificed his life to save the universe and his friends, he was able to give something to his father Mr Maellard a granddaughter that reminds him of Pops. Once the Park returned to Earth, the baby girl magically appeared with a poppy in her hand and she was already being welcomed by Mr Maellard but decided to hand her over to Mordecai when she reached out to him. She already spoke her very first words ‘Bluey’ as she was meant to call Mordecai ‘daddy’ or ‘papa’ that made him smiled and decided to adopt her as his own.

She was already show how much resemblance she had in Pops as she spot a pink planet, enjoying lollipops and chasing butterflies before she had the love of art and books that she can write her own story and draw pictures with her adopted dad Mordecai. She is also very good at looking after her siblings that Mordecai and Margaret are back together years later and proud of her being their babysitter, despite her young age and her child curiosity she has. She would bring great imagination to her friends and always find a way to find adventure without the adults knowing.

Full name: Poppy Jennifer Maellard

Age: 25 years old

Parents: Pops (father)

Mordecai (adopted father)

Margaret (adopted mother)

Jonathan (adopted younger brother, 21)

Octavia (adopted younger sister, 18)

Zack (adopted younger brother, 16)

Best Friends: her three adopted siblings

Roxy and Elsa (Rigby and Eileen’s daughters)

Lizzie, Jackie, Frank, David, Lucy and Muscle Boy Jr (Muscle Man and Starla’s children)

Susan, Bill and Will (Thomas and CJ’s children)

Johnny, Bobby, Lilly and Benson JR (Benson and Pam’s children)

Fact: She had a similar powers as Pops had and also can travel in different universe where she also made friends with Justin, Sam and Ben who’s the also the children of Benson and Pam ( @br333 )

My very first regular show oc

@camilitamaellard and @tr85n and @carlycmarathecat @imadisneyfan and @mirabel393 and @linn-smile

Please like and reblog this so everyone could see this

[cannondisabledcharacters]

Today’s disabled character of the day is Jonathan ben Mordecai from Roman Mysteries, who has asthma

Requested by Anon

[Image Description: Photo of a young Eli Machover playing Jonathan. He is wearing a white shirt with a leather strap necklace. He appears to be inside a building. He is looking towards the upper right corner of the screen.]

[263adder]

The sky was blue rim to rim, a vast bowl filled with sunlight and the joyful cries of wheeling swifts. She lifted her face to the sun and let its golden warmth caress her and she asked Apollo to protect the ship and all those who sailed in it, especially its young owner.

When she opened her eyes again, the ship was just a notch on the horizon.

The Colossus of Rhodes, Caroline Lawrence (2005)

[toshitophchan]

Hey were any of you guys fans of Roman Mysteries???? The kick-ass book series that totally helped me get into ancient Rome and Greek. The one with a great TV adaptation. That series is the good shit, seriously. It deserves so much love and attention

[semper-legens]

54. Roman Mysteries: Thieves of Ostia, by Caroline Lawrence

Owned: Yes Page count: 190 My summary: In Ancient Rome, young Flavia Gemina is on the tail of a mystery. With her new found friends - ex-slave girl Nubia, Jonathan the asthmatic Jewish boy, and Lupus the mute beggar - she’s trying to work out who is killing her town’s dogs, and why? My rating: 4/5

So that murder in Ancient Rome book I read a bit ago sparked something in my brain, and I decided to return to one of the oldest book series I remember loving - Roman Mysteries. This is a 8-12 book series focusing on the lives of four kids in Ancient...Ostia (it’s near Rome), which like a fair amount of kids’ book series gets darker and more mature as it progresses, though never outside of the 8-12 target audience. I love these books and characters, and I’m gonna read literally all of them, and you’re coming along for the ride. You know, because that’s the premise of this blog.

(Also, trigger warning for discussion of slavery. Yes, in a kids’ book.)

Out main character is Flavia Gemina, the everywoman of the series. She’s a middle-class (well, the Roman equivalent) girl who is super into mysteries and solving them, and has a naturally inquisitive nature...as well as a bossy superiority. We’re introduced to her neighbour, Jonathan ben Mordecai, a Jewish/Christian kid (he’s Christian, but it’s 79 CE so that’s closer to Judaism than modern Christianity) with a depressive attitude, an outsider to Roman society. With money she gets from finding some jewellry after solving where her dad’s signet ring went, she buys an enslaved girl named Nubia, because she’s about Flavia’s age and she felt sorry for her. Nubia is quiet and sensitive, and doesn’t speak Latin well. Rounding out the cast is Lupus, a mute beggar-boy who is cheeky and streetwise, and a little younger than the others. I like how balanced the cast is - only Flavia is a Roman citizen, the rest are all some kind of outcast or misfit in Roman society, all minorities, and that brings a balance of viewpoints and opinions to the series as it progresses.

One thing I like in this series is how it handles historical accuracy. Sure, Lawrence can’t exactly be explicit about all the worst parts of Ancient Rome in a series for 8-12 year olds, but she’s not ignoring them either. Flavia’s dad mentions how Nubia is most likely going to be bought to be a wife, with the obvious sexual assault connotations to an older reader. Flavia’s family keeps slaves and doesn’t see anything wrong with that - Flavia only pities Nubia because of her age, she doesn’t want to free the two slaves her father owns. Lupus is basically abandoned and it’s treated as a fact of life. Jonathan and his family face bigotry for their religion. The characters have reasonably period-typical attitudes, and Lawrence seems not to want to whitewash history, just round off some of its edges so the series isn’t R-rated. Or, you know, whatever the book equivalent of that is.

The mystery itself is reasonably simple, as things go - who’s killing dogs in Ostia? It’s really just a device to set up this world and these characters, which is perfectly fine for a book one. It’s still engaging enough, moreso for actual kids who won’t be able to pick up on the foreshadowing as easily as I, an adult, can. It’s also a solvable mystery, which is neat; there aren’t any clues known to the characters but hidden from the audience, so a young reader totally can figure out what’s going on before Flavia realises. I always appreciate that in a story.

Next up, ghosts and ghouls across history, and humans’ attempts to summon them.

[theteaisaddictive]

E, G, and L for the fandom asks! :>

thanks freddie!

E - Have you added anything cracky/hilarious to your fandom? If so, what?

well, the belle from batb 2017 is a lesbian post is both cracky and deadly serious, although i’m not sure how much traction i could ever say it got :D

G - Have you ever had an OTP? If so, do you remember your first one? Who was in it?

i ship plenty of things, but i think my otp is probably belle and the beast, specifically from the 1991 film. my very first otp was probably flavia/jonathan from the roman mysteries series (well honestly it’s jonathan/happiness because my boy went through so much goddamn trauma in that series and he is still missing a nephew because caroline lawrence wanted to write a spin-off and never did, this haunts me, please just let jonathan ben mordecai be happy ms lawrence he’s lost enough family members as it is)

L - Say something genuinely nice about a character who isn’t one of your faves. (Characters you’re neutral about are fair game, as are characters you merely dislike. Characters that you absolutely loathe with the fire of ten thousand suns are exempt, as there is no point in giving yourself an aneurysm over a character that you hate.)

st. john rivers genuinely loves and cares for his sisters

[roman-mysteries]

Ranking Roman Mysteries books from least favourite to favourite- Part 1

Obviously this is a completely subjective list based on my own experiences with the books, and I would love to hear if anyone thinks differently

17. The Scribes from Alexandria  This is the last book from the series I read (I was twenty-one) because as a kid I would just read whatever I could get from the library/what I bought in London when we went overseas in 2012, and while I like to think maybe just being so much older means I didn’t experience it at the age I should have, I just couldn’t get behind this book. I hate the separation plot, and the two characters who accompany the children do nothing for me. I thought the thing between them was leading up to something interesting, but in the end it just fell flat on its face. The little chapter/paragraph cliff hangers feel all the more pronounced here and I started to get bored with them. I don’t think I’ll read this one again outside of a whole series re-read

16. The Enemies of Jupiter I do feel really mean about this one because it is a really good book and it has an amazing backdrop for the plot, but I have never been able to enjoy misunderstanding/liar reveal plots, and it’s just all over this story. Whenever I sit down to do a big read through of the series I always force myself to get through this and then burn out straight after. Sorry Jonathan, you sure are going through it in this book but unfortunately so am I. I keep reading it though in the hopes of changing my mind. 

15. The Beggar of Volubilis I think the thing about this book for me is just how forgettable it is. It kickstarts the big final like, adventure for the kids but I really struggle even now to recollect anything. It just feels sort of convoluted, which I never thought would be something I could say about Roman Mysteries. It takes a while for the plot to get rolling, said plot is kind of silly, and then it just de-escalates in a very flat way. I also don’t really enjoy any of the final four, so this being the one that starts it all makes me feel meh. Another one I won’t re-read outside of when I do the whole series.

14. The Prophet from Ephesus There is a trend here, lol. Final four don’t do it for me. This one ranks slightly higher I think just because there is a higher sense of stakes that makes the book much more readable- until those stakes kinda fall on their face. Just gets really confusing every time the kids separate and go off to do weird things. I think that’s the biggest problem for me with the final four. The kids are never together and the strongest part of the books for me was always their bond. Also I do not vibe at all with the Lupus and everyone else becoming Christians part of the story. And how the baby isn’t the right baby? Another weird de-escalation. Wins points for some great Jonathan character development though. 

13. The Man from Pomegranate Street We reach the end of the last four books on this list with the last book from the series. This is a tense, gripping read which I do enjoy a lot, but it just doesn’t have the legs to push itself higher on this list. A lot of awful things happen to the characters that I wish could be addressed just a little bit more, and I am a biased Lupus fan who wanted more for him to do. Absolutely hilarious though how historical fanfiction-y this book is and I love it for that. Really goes for the ‘we can never go home’ vibe. 

12. The Twelve Tasks of Flavia Gemina This isn’t the halfway point of the list but it is a separation point because we are now into the books that I will re-read regardless of if I am doing a whole series recount or not. Love putting this in spot twelve, lol. I think as a kid I wasn’t inclined to like this story because I’d never read the book, and only seen the TV show episode which is fun, but doesn’t do the book justice. There is a great character arc for Flavia here, though I do wish it could have been retained a little more in later books. She does a lot of learning and reflecting that sometimes doesn’t feel like it sticks. That being said, she is a kid and one of the best parts of Roman Mysteries is how Lawrence lets the kids be kids. They bicker, they fight, they have character flaws that betray their age. In a time where people were supposed to grow up a lot faster, Flavia and the others get to be young and stupid sometimes, which especially shows in Flavia and Nubia’s relationship, and I appreciate that. The ending is tragically sad, and I do wish the TV show had gone for it. 

11. The Fugitive from Corinth This is another one of Lawrence’s ‘actually the thing they were setting out to solve the whole time was not that thing after all’ but I think it’s done really well here, because some of the characters actually get to solve it as the mystery plays out, rather than it just being a big reveal at the end. This whole book feels like one large chase scene with dips and dives in the tension to give you time to catch your breath. Nubia shines here, and I really enjoy her and Jonathan talking some sense into Flavia at various parts. Getting to explore Ancient Greece is also a huge win. Is a little lower down the list because I actually do get exhausted reading this book- so much happens. 

10. The Charioteer of Delphi This is one of my favourite actual mysteries in the whole series and I love how it takes up pretty much all of the book. The backdrop of chariot racing is fun and exhilarating and also incredibly sad as well. I love the Nubia story line going on here, and everyone else also gets a chance to show off their skills which is great. Nubia and Scopas/Scorpus have a great dynamic and I appreciate Lawrence writing him as Autistic, even if I personally think sometimes she doesn’t quite get it right. I love it when historical fiction includes things that didn’t have a name in their time, because things don’t just not exist because they couldn’t be explained. Also any story with Sisyphus is a win I love him. We’re really into the section of the list where it’s so hard to rank these books because I love them all. 

9. The Assassins of Rome I consider this to be one of two big Jonathan plot heavy books, the other of course being Enemies of Jupiter, and this is obviously my favourite of the two. I really appreciate the time taken to flesh out Jonathan’s world and the pain he feels. Everything set up in the book lands here, from the main plot to the little moments we have going along as the kids set out to find Jonathan. Just a really, really good story. This is another one of the books that really hits home that these are just kids, who make mistakes and who fight but who ultimately have forged a strong relationship that allows them to go through almost anything together.  That’s it for part one, I’ll do part two later today!

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[oh2e]

I love when characters act like a Jonathan and I go “oh stop being such a Jonathan” and then realise that the character is in fact actually called Jonathan.

(Acting like a Jonathan is when a character takes all the blame onto themself and goes off to act as a bit of a loner hero in a suicide mission in order to ‘save’ everyone else as if their suffering wouldn’t also hurt everyone else.)