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nathaniel-underwood-is-an-intj · 11 months ago

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Looong rant about chapter 16 Ptolemy's Gate and how being passive can add to the cycle of ab*se.

oof so I just read when Nat goes to see Ms Lutyens and I can't help but be absolutely furious at her??

I know that's maybe a little bit unfair given she's frightened of him as a magician and is obviously angry when she finds out the department he's responsible for, but honestly it kinda brings up the problem with inadvertent bystanders to child ab*se in my mind.

And I'm definitely not blaming her solely for who Nat becomes but it makes me think of all those people in huge child ab*se cases who give interviews to press about all the things they noticed that were wrong but they just...never do anything?

She stood up for him against Lovelace, and when Nat thanked her- "I wanted to say that I know you were trying to save me, and-"

''Yes, and I'm sorry I didn't" Like girl be for real did you really think that alone would undo the years of indoctrination and abuse he's already suffered and prevent years worth of the same in the years to come? And she won't take responsibility - "My job is with children, not the adults they become" and again while it seems harsh to blame her for who Nat becomes, it's so much easier to pass the blame to people who are more directly responsible rather than acknowledging you also play a part.

I think it hurts so much more because it's her specifically- Nat goes to her in sheer desperation, it almost seems like a goodbye- he wants to thank her, tries to set her up in a job that will pay well and struggles to communicate he's trying to help. At this point he thinks Bartimaeus has been summoned by another magician and his birth name will be revealed. He's sure he's about to die and if not he'll be stood on trial and lose everything.

He goes to her because she represents the peaceful moments from his childhood when he got away from his master. He's scared and feeling lost and really it's call for help; but he doesn't ask for anything he just wants to make her feel proud of him- he's looking for that validation that he's been chasing since childhood.

And that shows he still does have that little bit of childhood innocence in him; he thinks she will be proud, thinks she'll see him as the same little boy in the garden gazing up at his teacher in adoration. He can't quite grasp why she's separated the man stood before her from that little boy. Because in that moment the child inside Nathaniel is seeking comfort AND THAT'S WHY it makes me so angry. She's completely given up on him when he's at his lowest ebb, because she doesn't want to be associated with the magician he's become. As if it isn't a massive step in the right direction that he saught her out in the first place- what other magican would bother? I wonder if that's why she reacted so strongly to seeing him again? Before that moment she could go about her life wondering if /pretending her attempt to protect him was enough, and now she realises it wasn't, of course it wasn't, and the image she had of Nathaniel's childhood innocence is completely ruined in her mind.

Or was her contempt for him even grater than Nat realised? She was naturally disgusted by the rhetoric he'd started to repeat from a young age, and gently tried to correct him although she was clearly angry- was she just resigned to the fact that there is little else she could do to change his future? I always thought- couldn't she have looked for him? The Underwood house fire was in the papers and they mentioned the apprentice was being searched for. Did she ever worry about him? Surely something must have been in the papers since- an announcement of new ministers, ANYTHING! Look at how much research Kitty did to find out about Bartimaeus and Ptolemy. I just don't think Rosanna Lutyens cared enough, realistically Nathaniel wasn't hard to find- but he was no longer her responsibility so she could turn a blind eye.

And sadly it's not just her- I know everyone loves Martha Underwood including Nat; but I think her submissiveness to her husband has a negative effect on Nathaniel as well. In AOS when Nat is locked in his room for ages after setting the mites loose, and is forbidden to have any contact with anyone and she won't talk with him. I know she's been told by Mr. Underwood she can't, but it still boils my blood. She's an adult and going along with ignoring Nathaniel because her husband told her to...I can't even begin to imagine the psychological damage that would do to a 10 year old child. (It could be argued she's frightened of the consequences if her husband finds out she's disobeyed him which is fair, he could always be watching through magic- but this is Arthur Underwood we're talking about. He's lazy, oblivious and weak I doubt he'd expend all that energy each day to check up on her.)

And It's even more painful that Nathaniel is often described as fiercely loyal to her and I think to Ms Lutyens as well- he doesn't expect to be treated well by Arthur Underwood but he loved Mrs Underwood and Ms Lutyens so much he started to view them through a rose-coloured lense. He never feels betrayed by either of them, even though they absolutely let him down, because the pedestal he's put them on is too high AND THAT ABSOLUTELY DESTROYS ME.

Would things with Nathaniel have been any different if Mrs Underwood hadn't died? I don't really think so. Do you think she'd see Nathaniel's temper at 14 years old and be reminded of Arthur Underwood? He was awful, absolutely awful to Nat and to her; but he was under so much stress in an underfunded departement, where pressure was being put on him by superiors to accomplish far more than they knew him to be capable of, and he took it out on the easiest target. Nathaniel ends up in exactly the same place and he starts to take it out on the only person around him- Bartimaeus. Would he snap at Mrs Underwood all the time if she were still there? Because he's learnt that behaviour from his father figure, and subconsciously learnt from his mother figure that she'll put up with it. He learnt from the woman he loved so deeply, that if you don't resist, people will walk all over you. So you have to maintain control even if it ends up hurting people you care about because no one will step in to stop the suffering no matter how much you love them, no matter how much you want them too.

It's easy to blame Arthur Underwood and Simon Lovelace and the magicians that actively hurt Nathaniel but I just feel like it's a bit disingenuous not to acknowledge the role of those doing passive harm. It's really mean to say it but even Bartimaeus plays a role- he knows Nat is clinging on to him because he can't 'bring himself to break this last connection' (to his childhood) but instead of bringing it up properly he 'taunts' Nathaniel- a boy who has been taunted for his weakness by his master for years. And even in AOS when Nathaniel tells Bartimaeus he was beaten for the mites incident Bart just kinda shrugs it off. Like I get it, why should Bartimaeus do anything, he's suffered way worse due to the system so he doesn't owe Nat anything right? But from Nat's point of view this is the first and only time he's mentioned to anyone what has happened to him and nothing changes. It's like another lesson learnt: telling someone about it doesn't help. Another nail in the coffin.

And I like all these characters, I feel bad for them. They're all victims of the system, I think the chapter with Ms Lutyens is just the straw that broke the camel's back for me. All of those little opportunities that are insignificant to the narrative over all; the commoners have it worse, Nathaniel is in a privileged position in society, exerting control over others. He's very morally grey, crossing over into objectively bad person territory but I love him with my whole heart and all of those insignificant moments would have been massive to him whether he was conscious of it or not.

And it goes all the way back to the beginning with Nat's parents giving him up to the magicians at 5 years old. I can't get the image of that little boy sat crying all alone in the government building. And he's not going somewhere safer, or somewhere he'll be happier and more loved. Giving your child over to a total stranger, oh he'll be totally fine won't he? He'll grow up to be a magician and far richer than you'll ever be, he'll be happy and comfortable and be grateful he got to grow up in luxury. There's no way a stranger you've never met, who the majority of society is terrified of would ever hurt a vulnerable little kid right? And if they do? Well you aren't responsible anymore, how could you know? What could you possibly do against the magician taking care of him?

Every little thing is another grain of sand tipping the scale. Did anyone else have to analyse An Inspector Calls in school? It feels like that to me- those BIG moments and all the little moments in between that add onto the pile.

And it goes on to cause problems in wider society too- ab*se is so normalised to the magicians, they casually ask Underwood if he hits Nathaniel like it's nothing. Because to them it is nothing, they've all grown up in the same circumstances and are repeating what they've learnt as children. I can't help but feel a little sorry for them all, especially when they aren't looked at through the black and white lense of 'argh these people are the evil arseholes look at how they treat everyone around them, screw these guys.' When we see those little glimpses of humanity like Simon's anxiety with the amulet; looking to his master and father figure Schyler for reassurance, and what's sad is that Nat is "reminded...of his own master's cold impatience" It's clear Simon looks up to his master, wants to make him proud and loves him. But it seems like Schyler has just trained Simon up so he can get power through him later on. I love the little hints of similarities between Simon and Nathaniel; the anxious mannerisms like fiddling with his hair that Nathaniel starts to develop, the way their master's talk to them. Even though they're actively working against each other in AOS and Simon is placed firmly in the baddies category and Nat in the goodies category at this point in the series; these things always hinted to me they had similar childhoods, how was Simon treated? When he had the imp beat Nat into unconsciousness, was it because he'd had the same punishment used against him? Did he know the magicians in the room would do nothing to stop him because no one stopped it from happening to him? Did he ever have a teacher stand up for him only for it to change nothing in the end because all the negative influences were so much stronger? Is the reason he loves Schyler like a dad because he's almost developed Stockholm syndrome? It looks like love because he's never known anything else.

And Arthur Underwood- who doesn't think his upbringing, and being taken away from his family ever did him any harm- doesn't realise the harm done is that he doesn't even know another way of raising Nathaniel, because he was never shown another way. His childhood may also have been filled with people who hurt him and the people that didn't do enough to intervene.

There are so many psychology studies that show children copy everything they see the adults in their life doing. Nathaniel copies the magicians behaviour towards spirits and on a subconscious level I think he copies all the submissive people in his life. How many times does he end up upset and frustrated with the fact he seems to be going nowhere and how many times does he just hope things will be different rather than taking postive action.

I dislike the actions the magicians end up taking but I also find them fascinating to analyse. I tend to prefer villains in media because they're usually slightly more complex individuals and I love to think about how they ended up that way. They can all be seen as victims of their circumstances in a way, despite all the power and privilege they have had terrible and traumatic childhoods, and if the commoners had no valuable worldy possessions at least they had a sense of togetherness; of love and understanding and selflessness. I wonder if the magicians hated them at least partly because of that. Because out in the sea of faces of the commoners talking about nothing important, doing nothing great and noble- could be the parents that abandoned them. And when your life is on the line daily because of working with spirits, and your colleagues want to stab you in the back, sometimes not being responsible for anything important looks good. But you can't leave your life as a magician, it would be too difficult; you have nowhere to go, no real friends, no one who really loves you. So it's better to stay and be a submissive bystander in your own life because it's so much easier.

Doing nothing is doing something- being passive can be just as harmful.

#Oh boy if I was in Nat's life I'd've packed him into a box and shipped him off to therapy long ago #Listen I'm not a magician apologist per se....#But I do find playing devil's advocate for well -written baddies fun #And I am Nathaniells defence lawyer #I will not hear a word said against him #Just stressing that I do in fact like Mrs Underwood and Ms Lutyens I just wish they were a little stronger in sticking up for Nat #and I do hate mr Underwood #Simon lovelace tho.... I quite like him he can have a little space in the therapy box #I have a softspot for him because of the mannerisms that compare him to Nat okay???#Is it obvious I studied psychology at school 😅#Or that I am a huge Nat kinnie😅😅#Please don't hate me for this take #If anyone takes anything from this please let it be children copy everything they see you do including when you do nothing #This is quite tangential #bartseq #bartimaeus sequence #bartimaeus trilogy #bartimaeus #nathaniel underwood #liveblogging

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cafeleningrad · 27 days ago

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Okay, so since I sank into "Made in Abyss again" (emotional distress crying from Iumiyui's fate is great is a great method to come down emotionally from exam prep - totally safe, 10/10 ideal coping strategy), and nodding frevorously along this masterpiece of a post, I've some unsorted thoughts:

The only marginal difference between the Ganja group and Orth's cave raiding economy is how Orth made the suicide mission profitable. Where the Ganja group followed a religiously aligned settlement promise, Orth is a fully structured arms-race-profit-mining-system. From all we can gather, the indigenous culture we encountered along with the Ganja group had to deal with aggressive exploration groups before the Ganja group, and has vanished by the time we follow Riko's story. It has been replaced with the customs of Orth. While the Abyss, it's relics, corpses in praying position ranging in millennia of ages, the story behind them is one of the fascination drives, all findings are treated less as object of scientific discovery but generating financial profit by getting sold. The Abyss has turned from promised land of glory and home, to promised land to be exploited for profit for outside forces.

Orth and the cave raiding explorations are just an extension of arms dealing race around which Orth created an entire culture of celebrating endangerment, piles of missing or dead bodies, and indoctrinating children into not wanting to know anything but the world but exploring the Abyss. The larger narration tells us that the Abyss is just a small island of a bigger world. Yet the Abyss itself becomes the subject of bottomless fascination for all Orth orphans who aren't taught about anything about the world beyond the Abyss, or cultured outside the town of Orth.

And the cave raiding culture needs orphans. No parents will miss them. A lot of illegal cave raidings are going on too, meaning there're countless children left behind by people who aren't even registered as inhabitants of Orth. It needs children who earn their shelter and food by excavating relics of the first layer for financial profit. It needs children like Nat who became an orphan, lost his older sister, who can't imagine earning his income and future to help other orphans in any other way but becoming a Moon/Purple whistle. Nat will by necessity try to become a Moon Whistle because he can't gain neither money nor authority in any other way. Except for arguably Mio the audience yet has to encounter an adult who's respected without cave riding qualifications.

The only upwards mobility is going downwards with a high risk of one's own life.

It's a social structure rewarding financial and capital gain above anything and is in constant struggle to maintain humanity within an enviroment so hostile to human life. Jirou, despite having been her apprentice, doesn't have a good testimony of Lyza's character and behavior. Ozen can only value people in physical strength but otherwise has the maturity and possessiveness of a silking child, Srajo's Hail Hex is basically an amalgamation of people who Srajo can utilize for their powers because were else can they go? Well, Bondrewd is the embodiment of "unethical science" and peak child abuse perpetrator mentality - and also a convicted criminal before he came to Orth. Anywhere else the Whiste Whistles would be terribly misadapted interacting with other people. But in the Abyss? The Abyss is a place so hostile to human life, the majority of successful cave riders have to give up some part of their humanity to delve and resurface. But given how financially valuable they're retrieving relics like the Silent Bell, any collectable trinkets which are sold way above their value to the outside, these people are rewarded with status and a blank check for anything they do. What makes them successful cave raiders lies in their self-interest, amalgamation of different forms of power, and self interest, gets rewarded. As long as they create profit, the authorities don't mind. By all means, the Umbra Hands choose to be part of Bondrewed's illegal human experimentation crew voluntarily, and even if they are untouched by the Zoaholic-influence when moving around others layers like Remayo or Gallice, they choose orders by their own volition. The priestress' squad, and the other White Whistles might not like, and even have the force to go against Bondrewed (especially Ozen and the Hail Hex) but they don't. If three kids can figure out how Bondrewed remains alive within a night, trained adult cave raiders should do with low effort. Still Bondrewd is accepted as necessary evil, friction only appears when interests collide.

Iruburu's economy recalls the surface issue so well because it point blank turns the individual into a monetized object. That's exactly what happens in the layers above, and on the surface. The cave raiding system needs children to blindly perpetuate the Orth practice. Their desires are sometimes so simple their wishes manifest more clearly, and more direct than adult wishes. Hence why Bondrewed chooses orphans for his experiments. Partly because none else cares for them, partly because he can manipulate them into adoring his so they will take upon the 6th layer's curse for him. Since he uses orphans, Bondrewed can use their desire for belonging and love easily because it's so single-minded and so straight-forward.

Children are highly valuable in the Abyss due to them being easily manipulated for the gain of others. Either in perpetuating Orth's economy business, or for channeling the Abyss' forces through children.

The desires of children might be more single-minded but the story showcases really well, how desire in the first place is created in lacking by dehumanizing them. The orphans in Orth have to provide child labour without profiting, no matter how good the excavations findings are. They desire exploration, satisfying their curiosity because they're denied the security of home and care as granted certainty. The fact that Wakyuzan used two cradles of desire on Irumiyui was not only out of him wanting to accelerate Irumiyu's transformation but because Irumiyui's desire was already not as simple as "a child's desire is not as corrupted". In fact Irumiyu's desire is corrupted by the logic that she as a girl only has a future and value in her community if she submits to reproduction ceaselessly. (As Irumiyui stated, her birth mother is highly valued because she bore many children.) By her infertility, Irumiyui becomes devalued as a person, her security, community, shelter, and love are taken away from her. So the logic is become mother, then you'll have a home. Meaning, at the risk of loosing her home once more, the creeping death of the Ganja group, the indoctrinated formula was to become a mother first, and only the second Cradle of Desire turned her into a home, and most likely because she wanted to keep Vueko close to her. Where motherhood between Vueko and Irumiyui was an experience of care and unconditional love - the first time they both experienced such a connection with anyone else - the moment that feeling was turned into a need churning out a desperate desire, the joys of motherhood become grotesque exploitation. Irumiyui's children look so grotqesque, more akin to a hermit rat than an actual living creature because Irumiyui's understanding of reproduction is so infantile, more tied to her desire to matter and being loved, than actually desiring being a mother, less so really desiring to have children. (In that sense Vueko's grief over the daughter she lost to the scheming of others parallels Lyza still-birthing Riko due to the stress of retrieving the Silent Bell. Authority and financial greed costing Lyza's husband and child.) Either for colonial or capitalist-mining desire, very human needs get corrupted within the Abyss, especially by those with selfish gain. Vueko's and Irumiyui's connection is highlighting the issue how actually they should've never entered the Abyss because what they searched for, a home, care love, being valued by another person, does not lay in abstract promises but in actual people with them. Same goes for Mitty and Nanachi who were promised the wonder of the Abyss but actually long for experiencing life together. In the Abyss, greed easily deforms genuine connection.

Bondrwed's test subjects are orphaned children with no future so they easily respond to patience, shelter, food, and kindness. Here in lies a simple yet perfidious strategy in Bondrwed's abuse: Create a need first so that desire needs to be born. On the other hand, isn't he acting in any way different than Orth?

Riko does present an interesting case as a child White Whistle because she enters the Abyss also with a not so simple desire for belonging. No matter how dangerous, scary, and horrific the Abyss is, Riko will mostly feel at home that never ceases to amaze her. Already in her introduction her eager search for rare relics is motivated by trying to climb ranks down up as quick as possible, not because she intends financial gain. (Her logic goes from a) man that's rare and worth a lot so b) these high profits qualify me as a red whistle because c) I want to explore more). Her simple fascination isn't actually that simple because naivety in cave raiding stems from the propaganda taught to the orphans how glorious it is to die during a cave raid. Again, social capital in Orth is sourced from deep raids, so Riko's desire to be told she can take a rest, her curiosity and knowledge of the Abyss met with praise not punishment, her being admired, and not belittled takes the shape of being a successful cave raider (her hallucination in the 3rd layer). Her fascination with the White Whistles is linked to her curiosity but it's also connected with her fascination for Lyza, in imagining a connection to the mother she barely knew. (Like, the imagined scene of Lyza leaving behind the Unheard Bell for her child creates a Madonna like image in Riko's imagination whereas in Ozen's memory of Riko's stillbirth Lyza is deeply depressed, surrounded by bleak light, then crying non stop while pushing the Curse-Warding Box to the surface, leaving Torka's corpse behind. The imagined desire is much more romantic than the actual reality.) Through Ozen's psychological torment in sniding how Riko is just predestined to return to the Abyss without any will of her own, the horror of meeting but quickly, violently loosing Prushka, hearing from Vueko how high the cost of getting one's desire granted within the Abyss is, everything that shaped Riko's desire before, the cult around the White Whitles, realizing how dangerous the Abyss actually i - all that that gets dismantled, and what's left is Riko's honest desire to explore as fascinating, unexplored world. In fact, Riko matures by leaving behind all the initially indoctrinated impulses to explore the Abyss without Riko loosing any of her optimism and kindness. Like, Seeking help from Nanachi, making the cave raid a group effort rather than her personal accomplishment for her receiving glory and admiration, becoming more careful because Riko realizes that Reg has physical as well as emotional limits, not trusting White Whistles, applying her knowledge of the Abyss more to the reality of danger. In fact, Riko becomes more caring, her exploration group more fortified against potential danger because Riko becomes more prudent, attentive, and caring.

With Riko's rosy vision clearing during her journey, stripping bare her actual desire, Riko seeking out the Abyss is almost morbid yet fundamentally different than other White Whistles: Whereas Bondrewd is an absolute egoist he fashioned his White Whistle out of himself, no ethical stake too high for satisfying his curiosity and need for power, Ozen understanding a person's worth only in their physical prowess. The Abyss becomes their playground for their own self-affirmation. Where the majority Ganja squad might have genuinely desired a fresh start from their old demons, the Abyss should fulfill their dreams for new life whereas Wakyuzan still manipulated people even in the most dire situation to make his prophecies becomes true instead of a failed mission.

But Riko wishes less and less things for herself but for others. In fact, it might be Lyza's most redeeming quality that she likely wished for Riko living outside a destiny at the bottom of the Abyss. Still, Riko and Reg might be the only people returning "home". And along the way, Riko takes people along with her not by promising riches but an experience of community and exploration. It might sound to romanticizing although Riko's rather.... "beholding" the Abyss, not seeing it as treasure trove for glory, fame, and profit anymore. Her carrying Prushka with her is her tribute to a friend who was as fascinated with the wonders of the Abyss as her, not because Riko ever wanted a White Whistle after she learned the inhuman price for them. After the destruction of Iruburu Faputa is free of her destiny, free to enjoy company and friendship. Riko rather becomes a carrier of wishes, desiring less so herself. (Hence why Wakyuzan speculates on utilizing Riko as second Iruburu carrier.)

Last but not least Riko's relation to Reg develops in curious ways because Reg turns from object that could easily blast away Riko's obstacles more to a friend. Reg most likely was build to be the ultimate utility tool for the Abyss. Still, even upon meeting Faputa it becomes clear that is personality is rather shy, friendly, and cautious. A lot of things others ask him to do, fighting that is more than often, it goes against his actual personality. Not only Ozen beating him down, Nanachi needs him to mercy-kill Mitty, Faputa wants him to either destroy with her or at least step aside for Iruburu's destruction, or Reg has to fight against Faputa while his prowess sinks with every layer.

Riko begins with curiosity getting the better of her and other people's boundaries (and Tsukushi working in his questionable proclivities...), she does like Reg but often pushes him around to do stuff, or is much more deliberate in him figuring out the fighting. (Hence why she takes on her own adventure against his warnings in the 3rd layer.) Only gradually getting worries about his well-being, becoming actually aware of her mortality after almost loosing her arm, does Riko take more care of Reg's feelings as well, rather runs, waits, and hide than challenging which would primarily endanger Reg. Meaning, her relationship with Reg showcases how Riko unlearns utilizing people for her cave raiding gains. Nanachi's story already opens her eyes to the reality behind the legends of the White Whistles. Upon Bondrwed's experimentation of Reg, and then Prushka getting discarded as yet another cartridge in spite of Prushka's sincere love for her father, does Riko realize how cave raiding itself, rather than the Abyss itself, dehumanizes people. Owning a White Whistle seemed so aspirational, but now it's a price Riko wouldn't have liked to pay at all. She would've rather counted on Bondrewd's help for entering the 6th layer than sacrificing anyone.

In that sense, meeting White Whistle Srajo will become an interesting chapter on the issue how people become tools within the Abyss, how to balance cooporation and exploitation. Srajo's Hail Hex consists of Juuso's whom Srajo uses as well as robust, organized cave raiding team as well as weapons when needed. The thing is... Juuso's either get killed, shunned, or they're somewhat safe in groups like with Srajo's where they need to be useful to go on cave rides.

If the effect and call upon Juuso's is indistinguishable from using Reg as 1st grade relic... where is the line in denying a person their dignity beyond their exploitable skillset?

And so the macro seeps into the micro in which every person becomes an interchangeable but useful cog in a system that's just designed to churn out profit.

#Made in Abyss #Lewis rambling #cw reproductive rights issue #gosh Made in Abyss is a full shopping list of trigger warnings summarized by a three word title

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book--brackets · 6 months ago

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Summaries under the cut

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham and Mary R. Walsh

Nathaniel Bowditch grew up in a sailor’s world—Salem in the early days, when tall-masted ships from foreign ports crowded the wharves. But Nat didn’t promise to have the makings of a sailor; he was too physically small. Nat may have been slight of build, but no one guessed that he had the persistence and determination to master sea navigation in the days when men sailed only by “log, lead, and lookout.” Nat’s long hours of study and observation, collected in his famous work, The American Practical Navigator (also known as the “Sailors’ Bible”), stunned the sailing community and made him a New England hero.

Un Lun Dun by China Mieville

What is Un Lun Dun? It is London through the looking glass, an urban Wonderland of strange delights where all the lost and broken things of London end up . . . and some of its lost and broken people, too–including Brokkenbroll, boss of the broken umbrellas; Obaday Fing, a tailor whose head is an enormous pin-cushion, and an empty milk carton called Curdle. Un Lun Dun is a place where words are alive, a jungle lurks behind the door of an ordinary house, carnivorous giraffes stalk the streets, and a dark cloud dreams of burning the world. It is a city awaiting its hero, whose coming was prophesied long ago, set down for all time in the pages of a talking book.

When twelve-year-old Zanna and her friend Deeba find a secret entrance leading out of London and into this strange city, it seems that the ancient prophecy is coming true at last. But then things begin to go shockingly wrong.

Malory Towers by Enid Blyton

Darrell Rivers begins her happy life at Malory Towers two terms later than the other girls, but she soon makes firm friends with Sally, the steady one, and the adoring Mary Lou.

The Littles by John Peterson

The Littles live in the walls of the Biggs' house. But when the Biggs go on vacation a messy family comes to stay, the trouble begins. Mice! Cats! How much can one small family take? Will Tom and Lucy, the littlest Littles of all, be able to save the day?

The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas

In a city that runs on a dwindling supply of magic, a young boy is drawn into a life of wizardry and adventure. Conn should have dropped dead the day he picked Nevery's pocket and touched the wizard's locus magicalicus, a stone used to focus magic and work spells. But for some reason he did not. Nevery finds that interesting, and he takes Conn as his apprentice on the provision that the boy find a locus stone of his own. But Conn has little time to search for his stone between wizard lessons and helping Nevery discover who or what is stealing the city of Wellmet's magic.

100 Cupboards by N. D. Wilson

Twelve-year-old Henry York is going to sleep one night when he hears a bump on the attic wall above his head. It's an unfamiliar house—Henry is staying with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins—so he tries to ignore it. But the next night he wakes up with bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall, and one of them is slowly turning...

Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers doors—ninety-nine cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room—with a man strolling back and forth! Henry and his cousin Henrietta soon understand that these are not just cupboards. They are, in fact, portals to other worlds.

Dear Dumb Diary by Jim Benton

Read the hilarious, candid, (and sometimes not-so-nice,) diaries of Jamie Kelly, who promises that everything in her diary is true...or at least as true as it needs to be.

School was okay today. Actually, it was better than okay. Angeline got her long, beautiful hair tangled in one of the jillion things she has dangling from her backpack, and the school nurse -- who is now one of my main heroes -- took a pair of scissors and snipped two feet of silky blond hair from the left side of her head, so now Angeline only looks like The Prettiest Girl in the World if you're standing on her right. (Although personally, I think she would look better if I was standing on her neck.)

The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald

The best con man in the Midwest is only ten years old. Tom, a.k.a., the Great Brain, is a silver-tongued genius with a knack for turning a profit. When the Jenkins boys get lost in Skeleton Cave, the Great Brain saves the day. Whether it's saving the kids at school, or helping out Peg-leg Andy, or Basil, the new kid at school, the Great Brain always manages to come out on top—and line his pockets in the process.

Mumintrullen by Tove Jansson

En av Tove Janssons mest älskade berättelser, Det osynliga barnet, kommer nu som bilderbok. En kall höstkväll dyker Too-ticki upp i muminhuset i sällskap av ett barn, en osynlig flicka! Hon har blivit osynlig för att någon varit mycket elak mot henne. Mumintrollen låter flickan flytta in och den hösten får både hon och familjen lära sig om respekt, vänlighet, och vikten av att ibland bli riktigt arg.Tove Janssons älskade "Det osynliga barnet" är anpassad för bilderboksformatet av författaren Cecilia Davidsson och illustrerad av Filippa Widlund. Boken är en del i Bonnier Carlsens satsning på att ta fram nya bilderböcker om Mumintrollen för nästa generation Muminälskare. I text och bild knyter boken an till Tove Janssons klassiska berättelse och förmedlar dess säregna magi och klokskaper.

Derkholm by Diana Wynne Jones

A humorous fantasy from Diana Wynne Jones. In a world next door to ours, the tourist industry is devastating the population by its desire to experience all the fantasy clichés - Dark Lords, impoverished villages, dragons etc.

The Head of the University resolves to shut the tours down; the only problem being the ruthless tour-master - and his all-powerful demons. To save them all, the incompetent wizard Derk is appointed as Dark Lord in the hope that he will ruin the tours, and sure enough proceeds to fail at everything due to his general uselessness. But can failing at everything lead to a win this time?

#best childhood book #poll #carry on mr. bowditch #un lun dun #malory towers #the littles #the magic thief #100 cupboards #dear dumb diary #the great brain #mumintrullen #derkholm

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annabelle-creart · 2 months ago

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My Transformers Continuity Masterpost

I need to put this in order

Transformers: Missing days

Sipnosis: Optimus Prime and Megatron started the war time ago, that's what humans know about, but sometimes, there's more than meets the eye. Missing Days is about all those stories and shenanigans the Transformers had to live before, during and after the war, this includes Autobots, Decepticons, Rescue Bots, Terrans, neutrals and all the others that had put their lives into winning something they were destined to lose...

This Tag is basically a way to put everything that is not or doesn't ONLY includes Life of Rescue Bots

Inspiration: Continuity Soup, but mostly Aligned, Bayverse and Earthspark

Tags: TF Missing Days

Transformers: More than a Disguise

Sipnosis: when Nat and Carlos, two kids, discover by accident that the vehicles of their parents are actually hidden transformers, they must find a way to keep the secret while protecting these new visitors. Meanwhile Toño, a bus-driver, also has to deal with the fact a big transformer now replaces his bus. Dealing with everyday matters is hard when you're a transformer taking care of people and the mafia finds out

Inspiration: continuity soup. Aligned, Bayverse and Earthspark. Nonetheless the characters are OCs and this developes at 2006 on the fictional city of Bahia Clara, Colombia

Tags: TF More than a Disguise

Life Of Rescue Bots Au

Sipnosis: A Four-team on patrol back on Cybertron has to put in stasis to save their lives, unfortunately, they found themselves vorns later on a new planet, where now Cybertronians are used as hunters machines by humans. Heatwave, Boulder, Chase and Blades must hide on an advanced technological island from the world, learning about both the good and bad side of humanity while they rediscover old family-bonds and accept the lost of others

Inspiration: Aligned and Earthspark. It has a bit of Bayverse but only hints of other situations that happen outside the island

Tags:

Life of Rescue Bots Au

Main Tag

A separated fic that talks about the Team's misfortunes at taking care of the new cadets: Blurr, Salvage and Sissi, as they learn of their mistakes and of themselves

The Perks of Parenthood (LoRB fic)

The best and the worst moments, the times and the deals, and overall, the love between Boulder and Heatwave, from the beginning to the end

The Worst and the Best years of our Lives (LoRB)

Au's

(My favorites and most important)

Outlier Au

Sipnosis: Things at Cybertron seems to be normal, but they aren't. A single thing can change the entire story. Almost 50% of Transformers at Cybertron are Outliers, bots with unexplainable powers, which can be a blessing or a curse, which is the constant deal Heatwave, Boulder, Chase and Blades have to live, four bots that were destined to be a team but were separated by life itself, never meeting as team. This is the story of how one tiny aspect changed their entire lives and doomed their presents

Inspiration: X-men, IDW and Aligned continuity

Tags

Tf outlier

Main tag

The Other Side of your Spark

Fic tag about how Chase and Knock Out met and became conjuxes

Adventure bots Au

Sipnosis: A simple life at a tiny town near the sea becomes a whole ride adventure when Boulder and Graham, two apprentices of dark magic, ask Graham's family for help to search for a magical stone at a distant mountain, that can be just a legend, or their salvation

Inspiration: vaporpunk, aligned and western

Tags: Adventure Bots Au

The 13 Primes Au

Sipnosis: 13 Primes. 13 Sparks. War and love were the pilars of this family, until Death stuck like a dagger and stayed. Vorns later, this family of heroes, of gods, finally has the right and the opportunity to heal those old wounds, hoping the pain of betrayel doesn't end with what they left

Inspiration: IDW, Earthspark and Aligned

Tags: The 13 Primes Au

The Multiversal Storm

Sipnosis: Things happens! A wrong calculated portal, a bad space bridge, a sympathetic multidimensional protector, whatever it is, some bots are not from this universe and MUST go back to their homes!

Inspiration: All my Au's and other things

Tags: The Multiversal Storm

#masterpost #transformers #maccadam #rescue bots #tf #tf rescue bots #tfrb #tfrobotsindisguise #tfp #tf au #life of rescue bots au #tf missing days #tf more than a disguise

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ashen-crest · 19 days ago

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Happy STS! How good are your characters at "adulting"? Ie. Cleaning the house, grocery shopping, paying bills, working out, etc.

Some are better at adulting than I am 😭

Honestly, most of them are pretty decent at it.

S-Tier Adults (they have their shit together): Cal, Sherry, Grim

A-Tier Adults (they like...mostly have it together): Ambrose, Dawn

B-Tier Adults (they get by ok): Eli, Emry, Banneker, Sage, Riley

C-Tier Adults (they're...figuring it out): Nat, Zuri, Luka (the new apprentices on Rosemond Street!)

F-Tier Adults (they don't know what they're doing): Aspen, which is hilarious because they're older than everyone else on this list by at least 40 years

#sts #storyteller saturday

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everrainrp · 6 months ago

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Major Festivals

[Written by Mod Vessel and Mod Nat]

GENERAL FESTIVAL INFORMATION

There are four major and solidified festivals, as of right now, held seasonally throughout the clans. They are hosted by a clan on their territory/in their camp, each one rotating who will host the next festival. Typically this is decided by the leaders of each clan.

Festivals, while a recent development within the clans, have become something that all cats get excited for. They were originally started between Shoreshimmer and Skyreach, in an effort to make the new clan feel welcome when it was first founded. The other three clans ended up eventually joining in as well, whether that be because they also wanted to participate in the festivities or to show off their strength. Now, they're a time of respite and relaxation for the target participants.

The main four festivals are held on these days, and tend to focus on these ranks:

Autumnal Equinox

Festival of Youth

A day just for the apprentices as they start their transitions into adulthood.

Winter Solstice

Festival of Warmth

A celebration of all Hearthkeepers do to take care of the clans!

Vernal Equinox

Festival of Cycles

A time for the kits to be celebrated and loved, and to nurture the hope for their futures.

Summer Solstice

Festival of Stories

An event focused on the elders of the clans, for them to tell stories and to celebrate all the life they've lived and have yet to live.

Below, you will find more information regarding each of the mentioned festivals, how they're celebrated and activities that may accompany them!

AUTUMNAL EQUINOX (FESTIVAL OF YOUTH)

About

The Autumnal Equinox Festival, also called the Festival of Youth interchangeably, is a celebration of harvest before the territories begin to rest before winter. It is also a celebration for the apprentices of the clans, as they begin their transitional period of life. It's a day just for them to relax, play, and enjoy their fleeting days of youth.

Apprentices are very important to the clans, they care for the elders, they help run errands, and they are also exploring their options for their future. It's important to nurture this curiosity in apprentices, to thank them for the hard work they're doing to learn the clan's values and caring for the clan in the ways they can. Their futures will shape the clans as they know it, giving them their own special festival is a celebration of the clan's shared futures.

There are several different activities that are decided by the host clan's higher-ups. Though these may differ, there are at most five different events chosen for the day:

- Catching the most of a particular common prey species.

- Collecting the prettiest autumn leaf.

- Tracking other cats (usually, a high rank from each clan will hide and the apprentices must find them).

- A sparring tournament.

- Climbing the highest on a chosen tree

- Racing; both running and swimming

- Crafting competitions (apprentices prepare their exhibit beforehand; it is judged at the festival; these are judged by anonymously by the best crafters in the clans).

- Finding a rare (but available in the area) herb.

- Stone throwing.

- A relay race (three to four apprentices of the same clan chosen).

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WINTER SOLSTICE (FESTIVAL OF WARMTH)

About

Winter Solstice, otherwise known as the Festival of Warmth, is for the Hearthkeepers. This festival brings the Clans together to keep warm, and it is not unusual at all to see cats from all different Clans huddled together. The Hearthkeeper's duties to the clans are celebrated on this day. They keep the clan warm, have helped to raise new generations of cats, the most vulnerable of the ones that reside in the clans.

Hearthkeepers are the fire of the clan, yet they simultaneously are the ones who tend it, who nurture it and help it to grow. Their blaze keeps the clan warm and safe, allows for those who live alongside their warmth to grow and be nurtured into something magnificent.

The activities on this day, shared in each other's warmth are as follows:

- The Hearthkeepers are named and honored for any deeds they have done (including kits they’ve helped raise to apprenticeship) and cheered for.

- Hearthkeepers tell stories of myths of old, and cats share tongues around a big fire.

- Cats also can act as plays arranged by the Hearthkeepers of these myths, complete with the occasional ‘costume’ to portray different animals. (There is particular attention focused on myths about the Hearthkeepers and their great deeds.)

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VERNAL EQUINOX (FESTIVAL OF CYCLES)

About

The Festival of Cycles is a time of rebirth for the territories, and is about the time where most cats decide to start families, if they so choose. Also known as the Vernal Equinox Festival, this time is a celebration for the young lives of the clan- the kits. As the frost of winter melts away and brings life back to the plants, and slumbering animals wake up, kits are born into the world to begin the cycle of seasons anew.

Kits of the clans must be protected, their youth and energy are not yet tainted by hardships. Cats who treat kits poorly simply because of their age are oftentimes looked down upon- kits are still young, still learning. To take that away from them simply because they made a mistake or cried over something small reflects poorly on the cats who have experienced a lot more life than the kits have. So, kits get to have a special day to live their youth, and are celebrated because of that.

Kit activities tend to be organized by the Heartkeepers of the clans, as well as kit games being played by all; the activities the Hearthkeepers tend to choose are:

- Kits of all the Clans have their names announced at the beginning, and the parent(s) usually also say the meaning behind the prefix

- Stonethrow.

- Mossball.

- Hopscotch.

- Badger rides.

- Hide and seek.

- A scavenger hunt.

- Introducing the kits of the Clans to each other, to strengthen the bonds of the new generation.

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SUMMER SOLSTICE (FESTIVAL OF STORIES)

About

The Summer Solstice Festival is the warmest and longest day of the year, so it only fits that this be the day for elders to be celebrated. Otherwise called the Festival of Stories, this is a day for the elders of the clan to be honored. They lead the Clans for the day, telling stories from their youth and being cared for by the leaders and younger members of the clan. This festival tends to be a lot more relaxed than the others.

Elders of the clan have lived a lot of life. It's important that it be respected, that their advice be listened to. Though they know the younger cats may still opt to learn things the hard way, elders care for their clanmates and will be there for a listening ear if something goes wrong. They still need to be respected and cared for. Their service to the Clan is over, and they can spend their days relaxing in the shade. Even if they retired early due to their own decisions, they still deserve a space in the clan. The clan wouldn't be the same without them there, and younger cats learn to understand this sentiment as time goes on. So they pull ticks from pelts, help them clean where they can't reach, and bring them prey from the pile; these cats are still worth caring for and should be allowed to live the rest of their lives in comfort. While some young cats may find this festival boring, they are quickly quieted by the reminder that one day they too will get to order the leader(s) around during this time!

It is ultimately, with these words, that this festival was made; "No cat needs to contribute to the clan to be worth something- all they need to do is exist."

Activities for this festival include:

- A reversal of roles- the leader(s) and other High Ranks deferring to the elders for advice, as well as fetching them prey and grooming their pelts.

- The elders of the Clans leading their Clanmates and announcing their arrival, with the leader(s) following behind.

- Elders reminiscing on their lives and giving advice to the young cats.

- The dead of the clans are also remembered during this festival, as a reminder of who couldn't be there.

#clan. all #gen. info #gen. festivals #lore #wcrp #ever rain wcrp

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drunkenlionwrites · 2 years ago

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Hehe hi! I'm new to your blog but I like your writing a whole lot already! (I saw your post about sending in HSR stuff and was so excited!)

I was wondering about a little something (even just hcs) for Sampo with a fem!reader who's basically like Natasha's little sister and works in the clinic too 💕 fluff and spice is always nice 💕

Keep up the excellent writing!

-Ally

Hi Ally! Thanks so much for the request, and so sorry for taking a long time to complete it, I've been writing less frequently as of late. Thanks for your kind words and hope you like these headcanons I came up with. 💖💖 Sampo x fem!reader who works at Natasha's clinic Warnings: none, fluff, mostly sfw, g/n reader, no pronouns, no specific body parts mentioned

You’ve been with Natasha since she’s managed to open her clinic, with some age difference, Nat basically treated you like younger sister. It was nice to have someone looking out for you in the Underworld, so you did your best to help her with anything you could, basically becoming her apprentice as well.

When a weird self-confident but a tad smarmy guy showed up in the Underworld and assisted Natasha with providing some medicine from Overworld as well as some info and intel about what has been happening in Belobog, you didn’t pay a lot of attention to him.

It’s not until he started openly flirting with you, bringing small trinkets with him when coming to clinic to trade with Natasha. “To my precious customer’s precious person, free of charge” he’d say, offering you few flowers growing only in the Overworld, some intricate sweets you’ve never tasted, notebooks, postcards with Belobog views with some cheesy one-liners written inside them.

It all looked fairly innocent, and you didn’t seem interested, always making fun of Sampo’s manner of speech and antics, so Natasha could only roll her eyes at his antics and brush everything off, with you giggling on the backside.

You haven’t even noticed how Sampo’s visits became more and more frequent, him coming to hang out in the hospital even when Natasha was out just to chat you up. He’s been nothing but gallant and polite with you, even if a bit obnoxious, so you had no reason to reject his offers to walk you home when you ran errands, to just entertain him with an idle talk when he barged into clinic saying he’s terribly bored.

With Natasha and Seele always doting on you and nagging you about Sampo’s shady ways, you decided to keep your friendship low-key and offered him to meet somewhere outside clinic, to which Sampo wholeheartedly agreed with the biggest grin you’ve seen on his face.

You didn’t know it at the time, but that was how you basically went on a first date with him and how your more intimate relationship kick-started.

Even though it has been interesting to listen to Sampo’s overexaggerated stories about his adventures and heists, it has been even more nice when his tongue was busy with something (or rather someone) other than talking.

Kissing in the dark alleyways, giggling, and hiding in the clinic’s storage room, basically devouring each other and desperately grinding your bodies, while making sure Natasha or clinic’s patients cannot hear you, hiding from angry Seele who’s been chasing Sampo to chastise him for something he has done again, constantly patching up his wounds – it all became a part of your everyday routine.

You started enjoying the mischievous side of him a lot more, coming to terms with a bit shady persona he has and the ‘businesses’ he seemed to have a never-ending amount of. Though, observing his actions closely, you’ve noticed that he’s never been outright cruel or backstabbing to people, or so you wanted to think to satisfy your goody-two-shoes persona. Sometimes you still nagged him over the things he’s done that seemed too much for your standards, so Sampo begrudgingly agreed with you time and time again to repair the damage he's done to some people.

Natasha’s been fuming when she returned home one day a bit earlier and saw Sampo in your bedroom, him managing to say only “Wooops” with a shrug of his shoulders. She’s never expected this outcome, especially with Sampo’s lessened visits and flirting with you at the clinic lately. So, you two ended up sitting in the living room and receiving a ‘parent talk’ from her.

Sampo’s almost weaseled his way from under Natasha’s scrutiny, but it was mostly due to your assurance that you’re an adult person responsible for your own actions and you’ve got everything under control.

Once busted, the rumors spread around the Underworld, you’ve started receiving all kinds of comments about your relationship, earning only exasperated groans from you. Though, you’ve been happy that you don’t need to hide anymore. Well…unless Sampo has been chased by Seele again, or hiding from some of the café’s patrons to whom he owed something, or haven’t finished Oleg’s errand in a long time…

But you like it, you love your boyfriend and how the things are never simple and boring with him. And, despite him being a total menace he has not stopped showing his love and appreciation for you for a single moment, always being sure to shower you with gifts and attention whenever he got back from his heists.

#hsr headcanons #hsr x reader #hsr x you #hsr sampo #sampo x you #sampo x reader #sampo headcanons #honkai star rail x you #hsr imagines #star rail x reader #honkai x reader

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