#of chrestomanci fans

[eldritchscholar]

We've all Lived, Laughed, and Loved with Gandalf Big Naturals, but even lembas bread cannot keep a man fed forever. There are a wealth of orbs out there yet unpondered, and so with an eye to the future I humbly submit: Christopher Chant Big Naturals. Or, to use the formal address... Breastomanci

[spiritintheinkwell]

My favorite horrible children from Witch Week.

It was a really long time since my last reread of this book, and maaaannn... returning to it after coming out is a totally different experience.

[griseldagimpel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Chronicles of Chrestomanci - Diana Wynne Jones Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Mordecai Roberts | Tacroy, Original Female Character(s) Additional Tags: Winter Solstice, Smuggling, Double Agents, Canon Typical Tacroy's Life Being Terrible, Missing Scene, Mention of past relationships Summary:

The story of how Tacroy came to be arrested, as seen from his perspective.

Set during Chapter 16 of The Lives of Christopher Chant.

[chief-cook-and-librarian]

Chrestomanci fans, we got Witch Week! Look at these children they're so grumpy and I love them

[quordleona03]

Enchanter without equal

On meeting celebrities where you don't expect them - I met Diana Wynne Jones at a friend's party.

It wasn't so much that she was at the party - fandom is fandom is fandom, writers are also fans and fans are also writers -

it was that we were both in the kitchen, both nursing glasses of red wine, both staring at a man with very white legs in black leather jeans with lacings just separated far enough that a distinct line of white showed all the way up his leg. He was standing sideways on to both of us, talking enthusiastically to a fourth person, and as we both became aware we were both staring, Diana lifted her wine-glass and made as if she were about to pour it down the white line on his leg, without actually doing so.

Our eyes met. I said, charmed "I was just thinking of that!" And she said "Irresistible!" - but resisted. And we had a lovely chat about leather trousers and kilts and men who do and do not have the legs for them, and I didn't actually realise til someone else told me that I had been lost in conversation with Diana Wynne Jones, who wrote The Homeward Bounders and Power of Three and The Spellcoats and Chrestomanci and other books that had furnished my mind.

Diana Wynne Jones 16th August 1934-26th March 2011

[andiatas]

One of my goals for 2024 is to get more people involved in Fandom. I love the communities here on Tumblr & there are so many great & clever people on here who carry so much knowledge. However, that knowledge can & should be shared - at least in my opinion - & an easy way to do that is to get involved on Fandom & their wikis.

Now, I promise, it's not intimidating - if you can create & edit a Tumblr post, you can edit articles & pages on a wiki. Here, you can find an easy step-by-step guide on how to get started with contributing, but you can also message me & maybe I can help guide you through any question marks.

For this first post, I want to highlight some wikis dedicated to children's literature that need some help & love from their fans:

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - the pages linked here need to be expanded, so if you know something, don't be shy :)

Amelia's Notebooks - the pages linked here need to be expanded

The Blackwell Pages - all pages need to be expanded on

Bone - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Boxcar Children - links need to be added to these pages

Children of the Lamp - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Charlie Bone/The Children of the Red King - all pages need to be expanded on

The Chrestomanci Series - links need to be added to these pages

Emily of New Moon - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Endling - links need to be added to these pages

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The Green Ember - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Howl's Moving Castle - all pages need to be expanded on

Jumanji - links need to be added to these pages

Little House on the Prairie - add links from IMDb, TV.com & TV Guide to each episode's page, plus the complete cast & crew for each episode

The Magic Thief - all pages need to be expanded on

The Magic Tree House - links need to be added to these pages

The Magisterium - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Night Speakers - the pages linked here need to be expanded

Ruby Redfort - the pages linked here need to be expanded

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The School for Good and Evil - links need to be added to these pages

Septimus Heap - the pages linked here need to be expanded

The Sisters 8 - all pages need to be expanded on

The Three Investigators - links need to be added to these pages

Tom Sawyer/Huckleberry Finn - all pages need to be expanded on

The Underland Cyclopedia - the pages linked here need to be expanded

The Unwanteds Series - links need to be added to these pages

Warhorse - all pages need to be expanded on

Wonder - pages for the cast and crew of the Wonder film need to be added

Zathura - all pages need to be expanded on

Now, this is quite an extensive list, but if your favourite book or series isn't mentioned here, I suggest checking out the literature page, the book club or go to this page & simply search for your favourite book/series/author.

To repeat what I said at the beginning of this post, there is a step-by-step guide on how to start contributing, but don't be shy to message me if you have any questions :)

[geode-crystal]

Writeblr Interview tag game!

Wooo thanks for the tag @tildeathiwillwrite this looks like fun!

Open tag for anybody else who wants to answer these :)

Short stories, novels, or poems?

Yes, yes, and yes lol.

I tend to write novel-length things purely because I just... keep going XD I usually get more ideas than a short story allows. I do need to work on keeping things to the point sometimes!

But I have written short stories and one-shots (mostly as responses to promts) and I am very technically a published poet, since a few of my poems were published in a collection thanks to a writing competition back in high school .

What genre do you prefer reading?

Fantasy, full stop. I also love books that play on fairy tales and folklore.

Are you a planner or a write as I go kind of person?

I usually like to have a general idea of where I'm going, and figure the rest out along the way. Sometimes I make full outlines when projects get Really Big.

What music do you listen to while writing?

I either put on one of my incredibly random playlists or go to youtube and look for "relaxing [insert video game here] music." Pokemon soundtracks are actually really nice to write to.

Favorite books/movies?

Soooo many lol.

I'm a big fan of Disney and Pixar movies (as one of my previous posts made pretty obvious lol), particularly the Disney renaissance. Adore The Princess Bride. Love Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Love Studio Ghibli movies, personal favorite being Castle in the Sky. Of course, we have the classic Muppet Treasure Island as well. And I love every version of Scott Pilgrim out there, the movie, Netflix anime, and graphic novels are all amazing.

And for books... oh my gods there are too many to list here, but shout outs to Catherynne M. Valente's Fairyland series, the Chrestomanci books by Diana Wynne Jones (as well as Howl's Moving Castle), Raybearer and Redemptor by Jordan Ifueko, and the Hero's Guide series by Christopher Healy. Percy Jackson, too.

A lot of my favorite whump moments come from the good old Deltora Quest series by Emily Rhodda and The Mage of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen.

Any current WIPs?

So many. Too many. I need to escape lol.

Do you like incorporating actual people you know into your writing?

I've based a few characters off of people I know before. Mostly my close friends. One of whom I write with a lot, so we've used each other as inspiration several times lol.

Are you kill happy with your characters?

No no no no no, not at all lolol. It's exactly the opposite. I have so much difficulty permanently killing off characters, to the point that my first novel-length project way back in my first year of high school ended with the villain getting polymorphed into a fish instead of dying. XD

I only do permadeath when it is absolutely necessary for the story. But... well, to quote The Return of Jafar: "You'd be surprised what you could live through."

Coffee or Tea while writing?

Don't usually drink or snack while writing.

Slow or fast writer?

Completely depends on the project, but I would say fairly slow. Especially compared to my writing buddy they're an absolute speed demon lol

If you were in a fantasy world, what would you be?

Depends on the fantasy world, really. Definitely some kind of musician and/or storyteller, like a troubador or something. Maybe some kind of minor nobility, with all the "fun" I've had with the burden of expectations. I would love to have some kind of magic, especially if it's music-based. So..... basically a bard!

I'd also be very likely to be something not fully human, be that an elf or fairy or mermaid... or even a changeling.

Most fav book cliche:

There's a long list! But I really like Found Family stuff, and any time magic comes with A Price.

Least favorite cliche:

Characters getting pointlessly killed off just for the sake of Extra Drama.

Favorite scene to write?

Hurt/comfort, both ends! I especially love anything with added Guilt for one or all parties!

Reason for writing?

To paraphrase Brian David Gilbert: stories come to me in my dreams like a prophet receiving visions from an angry god.

I write because I'm always coming up with different ideas. I write because I was basically designed to study and create stories. Even if I don't physically write anything down, I will always find a way to tell some kind of story, be it just piecing together ideas in my head or through singing Broadway-style songs or even just attempting to draw a character. I write because it's just what I do!

[randomingoftherandomness]

What are your favorite books?

Ooo… this one’s a toughie.

Off the top of my head, I am a big fan of the Lacey Flint series by Sharon J. Bolton (her books are just an auto buy for me when I see them in the bookstore), but my favourite books of all time are the Chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones. I have been collecting them since I was 10 and I’ve reread every single book in my collection numerous times through the years and it is because of these books that sparked my desire to write. I still feel like the world lost something wonderful when Diana Wynne Jones passed. They hold a very special place in my heart.

On that vein, I think I own every edition of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman out there. So.

For this sake I also have to say the very controversial statement of Ghibli fucking ruined Howl’s Moving Castle. HOW DO YOU FUCK OVER SOMETHING SO PERFECT AS IS. That’s one of my most precious books and that story DID NOT NEED ANY CHANGING OR “FIXING” MIYAZAKI FUCKING RETIRE ALREADY. SOPHIE HATTER WAS PERFECT AS IS. fucking ruined a good character is what they’d done. It is because of this that I have never and will never watch a Ghibli project idc if this makes me sound insane.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is something I read when I was 19 and I can remember just setting it down when I finished and I stared at my bedroom wall for a good hour just trying to process.

Another book that was an unexpected pleasure is The Memory Painter by Gwendolyn Womack. Til this day I cannot listen to Florence and The Machine’s Queen of Peace without thinking about how I had it on repeat while I was reading this book.

I have two quotes from Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman tattooed on me and frankly speaking, I think I left my heart somewhere in Northern Italy in the 80s.

There’s also something magically poignant and bittersweet about Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr, and the point in my life when I read them. I think these books shaped a part of how I viewed certain things about the world.

As for graphic novels, my heart will always belong to Batman’s Court of Owls run. That was an experience and one day I’ll pluck up enough courage to own the omnibus that I’ve been eyeing since I was in Uni.

In terms of web novels, I’m big on Married to a Salted Fish Thrice (cried like a baby and I honestly have been haunted by the experience; 10/10 recommend), Loneliness (also cried; the smut was very good 👍🏼), Special Fondness (my heart twisted so good), After I Married the Disabled Tyrant (bear with me I know the title is a bit tetchy but it’s good! I promise!)

Can’t have a list of Recs without Lord Seventh, Golden Stage, Sha Po Lang, 2Ha, and SVSSS. There’s a reason why people love these.

There’s probably a lot more that I haven’t mentioned haha

[crestomancer-art]

Sorry for the weird question, but is your username inspired by the chrestomanci series by Diana Wynne Jones?

Hello! Lol yes you are spot-on! 😄 I'm not very good at coming up with usernames, but i've been a fan of Diana Wynne Jones' writing since i was a kid so this came to mind back when i was making this account 💕

[grecoromanyaoi]

I WAS SUCH A CHRESTOMANCI FAN AS A KID which ones were your favourite books in the series? mine are the obvious choices, Charmed Life and Lives of Christopher Chant :0 they were so good

YEAH THOSE and tbf they only translated charmed life + christopher chant + witch week and not the others cjsosiekodkddkd

[carriesthewind]

Please read Howl's Moving Castle! And then if you like that, read other books by Diana Wynne Jones because they are all wonderful (note: all books are children's and ya, some targeted older, some younger):

If you want an epic sci-fi/fantasy tale that simultaneous takes place across multiple planets and realities, but also, mostly, one extremely liminal hotel: try Deep Secret

If you want to sob for days: try Dogsbody

If you want to read a twisting mobius strip of a plot: try Archer's Goon

If you want a fun children's story that is also contains some really interesting ideas about time travel: try A Tale of Time City

If you want to read a delightful story of magic, revenge, trauma, and responsibility that is incredibly, meticulously, perfectly constructed despite the fact that I once tried to physically plot it out and couldn't, even in three dimensions, because everything is happening in multiple times, multiple places, and everyone is multiple people: try Hexwood (this one is my favorite)

If you want to read a delightful, fun series about British wizards and world-hopping: try the Chrestomanci series

If you're more interested in word-building: try the Dalemark Quartet

If you are intrigued by the premise: what if traditional fantasy narratives are all taking place in the same world, as specialized tours, with the characters being citizens forced to act their parts pursuant to an exploitative contract: try Dark Lord of Derkholm (this is my second favorite)

If you're a big fan of 70's and 80's fantasy and want something without a plot to dip into when you feel like a laugh: try The Tough Guide to Fantasyland

Okay no I need to talk about the book version of Howl's Moving Castle. I love the movie but the book has such a different vibe and you, yes you, should read it.

Movie Howl is a soulful and quiet. Book Howl is a drama queen and Causing Problems and has a long string of jilted exes and couldn't shut up if you paid him.

Sophie and Howl drive each other up the wall at the beginning and it's really funny. Sophie and Howl are (despite themselves) very much in love by the end and they still drive each other up the wall and it's even funnier.

In the movie, Howl has been ordered by the king to participate in The War, and Howl is avoiding it because he is a brave conscientious objector. In the book, Howl has been ordered by the king to rescue his lost brother from the Witch of the Wastes, and Howl is avoiding it by any means necessary because he is a cowardly weasel who wants to stay as far from the Witch as possible.

In the movie, the Witch cursed Sophie because she was jealous about Howl speaking to Sophie for five minutes. In the book, the Witch cursed Sophie because Sophie had been doing surprisingly powerful magic for years without knowing it and it was actually starting to cut into the Witch's plans. (Sophie does not discover any of this until nearly the end of the book, but the reader can start to pick it up much earlier and the way Sophie's magic works is pretty darn cool.)

In the movie, there's a rumor that Howl eats the hearts of maidens, but this is implied to be nothing but nasty fearmongering. In the book, there's a rumor that Howl eats the hearts of maidens because Howl started the rumor so people would stop asking him to do wizard junk all the time.

The book lightly parodies a couple of tropes from Western fairy tales. In particular Sophie has internalized that, as the eldest of three sisters, her "destiny" is to fail so that her younger sisters will look cooler when they succeed, which is why she's so resigned to the hat shop at the beginning. (Sidebar: Sophie's sisters come up much more in the book and they're great.) There's also a really funny bit where Sophie attempts to operate a pair of seven-league boots.

In the movie, the fourth and final location that the magic door connects to is some sort of black void / mindscape / time portal dealy. In the book the fourth location is Wales, in the UK, on Earth, so that Howl can visit his family, because from Howl's perspective this is an isekai story.

[spiritintheinkwell]

Charmed Life doodle

[griseldagimpel]

Yuletide Nominations

I'm nominating The Magnus Protocol (Sam, Celia, Nigel, Bonzo), Camp Here and There (Sydney, Elijah, Jed, Marisol), Piranesi (Matthew, James, 16, the Other), and The Chronicles of Chrestomanci (Tacroy, Rosalie, Christopher, and Millie).

[windsroad]

Chrestomanci will see a mistreated young magic user, ask “is anyone going to tell them they are talented and valuable and teach them how to use their gifts” and then not wait for an answer

[ironicpeaches]

OP as a fellow Diana Wynne Jones fan I love this post, I just want to add a few:

The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, my personal favourite book series, which features a nine-lived enchanter who keeps getting summoned in his dressing gown (and once naked) to solve magical mishaps across the multiple dimensions. Each story is goofy, delightful and heart warming/wrenching. You'll get stories like evil murderous girls who steal magic, boys who can't stop dying because of his dreams, and a mysterious... Egg?

Chrestomanci is great! (But don't say his name or he'll show up!)

It has the added bonus of concepts explicitly being stolen by the writer of Harry Potter, because they're that good, and in my opinion Chrestomanci is a far better series. There are six of these (and a bonus book of short stories) so buckle up!!

The Homeward Bounders- which is about children who at seemingly random points jump to another world, and hope one day they will be able to return home. (This book made me cry, as did Dogsbody, so be warned.)

And for those who still loved Howl's Moving Castle- there are two more books in that series! Castle in the Air and House of Many Ways may not feature the Howl bunch as main characters but they're fantastically fun books with that same whimsical voice she is known for.

Anyway, as OP said, check out her books!! They're so wonderful. She is my favourite children's book author, and while I have my battered old copy of Howl's Moving Castle, she has more to offer!!

I've seen increasing buzz around here about Howl's Moving Castle (book). I think you all deserve to know that all of Diana Wynne Jones's books are filled with characters and plots that are absolutely as delightful and unhinged as that one.

Some Actual Plots include:

Dogsbody - The star Sirius is accused of murder and sentenced to exile on Earth in the body of a dog until he finds a magical item called a Zoi. He's adopted by a young Irish girl living with her abusive and neglectful English relatives. He has to balance his desire to find the Zoi with needing to be a Good Dog for the girl who takes care of him. Also the Wild Hunt is there. Hexwood - A girl finds a magical wood behind her house where she meets a wizard who thinks he's a convict of the intergalactic government, a boy created by the man to destroy said government, and a robot found in a junk heap. The magic wood is actually an alternate reality being generated by an AI who has a grudge to settle with the head of said government. The book is about abuse, PTSD, and trauma. The Dark Lord of Derkholm - Magical world is being destroyed by a company using it as an isekai amusement park for people from another dimension. Bio-wizard is appointed Dark Lord for the year, and he and his family (four of whom are bioengineered griffins) have to find a way to survive the season while everything is going wrong. Deep Secret - Interdimensional detective/diplomat/wizard needs to find a replacement for his deceased mentor. He does so at a fantasy convention, while trying to keep an interdimensional empire from collapsing into civil war after the emperor is assassinated along with all of his heirs.

She's an absolute master at weaving fantasy elements into the mundane world and writing from the PoV of kids. Her books are funny, clever, and full of delightful characters. I'm begging you all to check them out.

[randomingoftherandomness]

okay yes thank you - I dearly loved Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle book for so many years. Ff course I don't consider interpretations in a new medium to take away from the original at all, but I really am not a fan of the Ghibli Howl's Moving Castle. So much of the interesting and subtle magic that made the book so good, was totally lost. This being said, I WOULD like to see Ghibli take a crack at the Enchanted Forest Chronicles, because I think it would be charming.

There's a huge subsect of people who are hardcore about that Gibli trash fire who would hunt folks like us down for even breathing a smidge of negativity about it.

They butchered Sophie and twisted what made the book so very special and unique into something that it totally was not. Yeah, sure, I loved how we got to have an animated Calcifer (possibly the only thing I liked about that dung heap) but that's where the buck stopped for me. God, the salt I have been nursing for the last 19 years about Ghibli's Howl's Moving Castle could probably rival the Dead Sea.

From what I've heard, Diana Wynne Jones' estate has kiboshed any further adaptations of her books because of what Ghibli did. IDK. I may be wrong. Ask Uncle Neil because he would know best.

In any case, the thought of them trying to downplay the darkness, the neglect that Christopher was party to, what Gwendolen did to her brother for power, or even the manipulation over Tacroy, gives me the willies. I'll be happy to never have a Chrestomanci adaptation just so that I don't have to see a studio butcher the books I've loved for over 20 years now.

In general, I do think I'm not Ghibli's target audience and I'm ok with that haha... They really turned me off any of the works from their studios with Howl's Moving Castle alone, and this is not a flex but I've never sat down properly to watch any of their works even if I know what's what.

No one who did that to Sophie Hatter gets to leave the pile of bad in my books.