#the little bookroom

[inkylizard]

When I was small, a family friend gave me a copy of The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon, and it became one of those companion-books, comfort books, that I returned to and re-read over and over. Some stories stood out to me more than others and some I never really got; that’s the way sometimes, and sometimes those stories wait in the back of our minds until we’ve ‘lived our way into the answers’, or at least into a different perspective; until we’re ready for them. So that’s how I came back to the memory of this story last night, processing the after effects of christmas dinner with family who love me but seem unable or unwilling to grapple with my gender identity; half asleep, like the ground dropping out beneath me; they destroyed it because it didn’t have a name...

I read half of On The Way To Language for my BFA thesis, so I know that Language is the House of Being, and I know what that means when I say it (and yes, I also know that Heidegger was an antisemite, a coward at best and a full-on nazi at worst, I know all of that and his work has still had value for me; you can re-read your harry potter books, you just can’t buy new copies, y’know? anywho). I had to take the long, painstaking way around to understanding that it’s almost impossible to recognise, realise, conceptualise a Thing without a Word. Which is how come I couldn’t know, until I was in my early thirties, that I’m nonbinary, genderqueer, demisexual, &c. I didn’t know it was a thing. I didn’t know the words. And I think about that a lot. We destroy the possibilities of those things that we cannot name. The Wise Men say it cannot be. I’m not here tryna say that E.F. wrote this story as a trans/nonbinary allegory. I very much doubt it. But it’s there all the same. More things in heaven and earth than dreamt in your philosophy, you arbiters of possibility, you deciders of lot. We are emergent, not fixed. We’ll name ourselves if we have to. We’ll find the people who will speak those names with love. And your power will fade. And it won’t matter that you couldn’t believe.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THE FLOWER WITHOUT A NAME

One day a Cottager's child, whose name was Christie, went into the meadows beyond her Mother's garden and picked a flower.  This happened long ago, yet not so long ago as all that; that is to say, it did not happen today, nor did it happen on the first day of all, but on some day in between.

Christie was delighted with her flower, for it was very beautiful, and she came running to find her Mother, who was watering the pinks in the round bed.

'Mother,' cried Christie, 'look at my pretty flower I've found!'

Her Mother was never too busy to look when Christie asked her to, so she put down her jug of water and took the flower in her hand.

'There's a pretty flower now!' she said.

'Yes, Mother, isn't it?' said Christie.  'What is its name?'

'Why,' said her Mother, 'it is a--it is a----  Dear me, to think I don't know its name!  You must ask Father.'

Christie ran to the Cottager, who was mending the fence, and she held up her flower.  'What is its name, Father?' she asked.

'Let me see now,' said the Cottager, laying down his hammer.  He looked at the flower for a minute or two, and then he scratched his head. 'Well, well!' said he.  'I've forgotten its name, if ever I knew it. But give it to me, for I'm to see my Lord's Keeper about some mole-traps, and maybe he'll know, being woodwise.'

When Christie's Father had had his talk with the Keeper, he showed him the flower.  'What's the name of this here?' asked the Cottager.

The Keeper looked at it, and sniffed at it, and thought a bit.  But at the end of his thinking he said, 'I never saw its like before, in wood or field or marsh or hedge.  I don't know its name.  However, I'm just about going up to the Manor, so I'll take it along and ask my Lord's Clerk, for he's a clever young man, and has to wear spectacles along of reading so many books.'

Now my Lord's Clerk had studied most things, and flowers not the least of them.  He had indeed in his Lord's library all the books about flowers that ever were written.  So when the Keeper sought him out and said, 'I've a flower here I'd like to know the name of,' the Clerk answered, 'Show it to me, and I'll tell you its name.'

But when he set eyes on it he knew he had spoken too soon.

'That's a queer thing!' said my Lord's Clerk.  'For I know the names of all the flowers in the world, by both their court and country names, yet I don't know the name of this one.  Leave it with me, and I'll see if I can find out.'

The Keeper left the flower with the Clerk, and the Clerk pressed it and dried it, and spent a whole year trying to find out something about it. He put the question to the wisest scholars in the kingdom, and the matter spread abroad till wise men in lands over the sea were all puzzling their wits about the name of the flower.  But in the end they could not find one for it.

So after a twelvemonth the Clerk came to the Keeper and said, 'That flower you brought me has no name at all.'

'What flower's that?' asked the Keeper, who had forgotten all about it. The Clerk reminded him of it, and said:

'The wisest men in the world have but one opinion, and it is this.  We know that Adam gave names to all the flowers created, and as this flower has remained unnamed since the days of Eden, it is doubtless one which was forgotten at the Creation, and the Lord has only just remembered to make it.  But as it was never named by Adam, it has no name now; therefore, the wise men have destroyed it--for how can anything be without a name?'

'I'm sure I couldn't say,' said the Keeper.  'I expect you're right.' And the next time he met the Cottager he said, 'That there flower of yours hadn't any name at all.'

'What flower?' said the Cottager, who had a short memory.  The Keeper reminded him of the flower, adding that the wise men had destroyed it.

'Well, no harm's done,' said the Cottager; and that night at supper he said to his little daughter:

'Seemingly your flower had no name of its own after all.'

'But where _is_ my flower?' asked Christie.

'The wise men destroyed it,' said the Cottager.  No more was said, and from that day no one except Christie remembered that such a flower had ever been.

But all her life, and when she was quite an old woman, Christie would sometimes say to herself and others:

'When I was a child I found such a pretty flower.'

And when they asked her what flower it was, she smiled and answered, 'Only our Lord could tell you; it hadn't got a name.'

[jostoys]

The Little Bookroom

I am working on a new doll set-up, which I am very excited about, but in the meantime I wanted to share a favorite book from my childhood.

Most of my favorites will be familiar to ( and beloved by) many of you: Little Women, Secret Garden, A Little Princess, Anne of Green Gables, The Borrowers……But one of my very favorites, The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon, may be less known, even though it won the Carnegie Medal in 1955. This is a lovely collection of stories, especially one called “San Fairy Ann”, which is about a doll (surprise, surprise!) and probably had much to do with my enduring love of dolls. Close second is a story called “And I Dance Mine Own Child”. Just thinking about this one causes me to tear up a bit, so….

Anyway, I do recommend that you read this book if you have not already. ( There may be aspects that are no longer considered politically correct-just keep in mind that it was written in 1955.)

Please let me know if you have read this or plan to, and please share your favorite stories. I will be reading it once again very soon!

[billlaotian]

[arcimboldisworld]

E. B. White - Here is New York.

E. B. White - Here is New York. #thelittlebookroom #essay #literatur #lesen #lesejahr2024 #buch #NewYork

Für alle New York – Fans und solche, die es werden wollen oder einfach für Menschen, die Freude an einem schönen Essay haben, sei E. B. Whites wunderbarer Text “Here is New York” ans Herz gelegt. Der New Yorker schrieb “the wittiest essay, and one of the most perceptive, ever done on the city” – dem ist nichts hinzuzufügen…. Continue reading E. B. White – Here is New York.

[winterrrnight]

KEZ!!! I just thought of an amazing idea😭, you know how Ward lended Rafe, Cameron industries…what about before Rafe married reader, she always dreamed of having (the pictures), a majestic bookroom filled w books. So!! Before getting married she would always talk abt Rafe building anything similar for her, and since we all know Rafe is OBSESSED w wife, he already started rough drafts to make sure wife got everything she wanted, what Rafe vowed to her 🥹

IM GOING CRAZY IM GOING CRAZY IM GOING BATSHIT CRAZYYYYY abby I'm kissing your brain rn so hard 🥹🥹🫶🏼🫶🏼

part of this little universe <3

rafe has always known about his wife's obsession for books and her dream of having a book room, all of it decorated with aesthetics that she loves with all her heart (like literally anything!! whatever aesthetic the reader loves) and filled with so many books, like basically she wants her own little home library. 🥹

and rafe practically vowed the day she told him about her dreams that he will give it to her.

so the drafts were started, the ideas were thought, the sketches were made, and he was so determined to give her what she wants.

so, I believe that after their wedding when his wife gets to see their new house for the first time that rafe has been having built since the day he decided he's going to marry her and wants her in his life forever, the first room she's taken to is the bookroom!!!!

and its decorated exactly like how she used to tell him.

she wasn't even sure he would remember, but she is so in awe when she sees how much attention he paid to the details, how everything is just exactly the way she would describe to him.

she just didn't know rafe would be so lost in her words when she used to be telling him about her dreams of owning something like that, and how he loved that dreamy look in her eyes that she gets each time she talks about something she's extremely passionate about.

and to see her dreams come to literal life, you all best believe she has to pinch herself to convince her mind it is real!!!!

and then rafe shows her around, showing her everything he got built in the room and she's just so in awe with the way he practically bought heaven to existence for her.

after they start living there rafe knows that there's a good chance she's almost always in that room, reading something she loves so so much.

and after she's done reading whatever book it was that kept her so intrigued she would share her crazy theories on the book and rafe would listen to her no matter what!! cause he loves her!! with her whole heart!! he'll bring her the entire solar system if she asks for it!!

her face again has that dreamy look he so so so SO loves, and he gets lost in it. lost in her soft expression, her voice, her gaze... and its like he's falling in love all over again.

goodness he's so so whipped for her, he's never letting her go for real. she's her goddess always and forever 💘

tagging my baes @runningfrom2am & @chenslucy who i know will eat this up!!!!

(share any of your husband!rafe thoughts and headcanons and/or your other drew/rafe/zach thoughts! sfw only <3)

[ship-of-skitties]

thinking abt dunkelfelger myne au. more under the cut, i'd appreciate your thpoughts

ok so. first off. as is, just copy-pasted, myne would not survive dunkelfelger as a commoner. she'd die very quickly. so, how do we fix this?

commoners in dunkelfelger kill feybeasts, right? so it'd make sense if they had feystones. this gives myne a small mana sink - and assuming merchant apprenticeship still happens - gold dust which could be incorporated into products.

but how do we get to the part we want, the royal academy? well first we have to get through becoming a noble. ferdinand isn't here, nor does she discover the temple bookroom (because i say so).

i saw something in a fic recently and im stealing the idea for this. at some set time of year, nobles can make requests of aub dunkelfelger - if they are able to beat another person making a request/one of the the archduke family in ditter (presumably a dueling, 1v1 form?), they get their request granted (it's the ditter duchy. you should expect this).

myne hears about it offhand and her train of thought goes "nobles have books. people make requests to the aub. if i beat someone in whatever 'ditter' is, i can read books!" and thus her Rampage begins

how does she get in the castle to do this? mixtures of unethical and possibly forever harmful substances in little projectiles she shoots with a slingshot! invading the royal castle? attacking a noble? what's that?

no-one calls for aid with rott or anything else because... i mean that's a toddler. that's a baby. what could a baby do with a slingshot? turns out lots and lots and lots and lots

so she eventually gets to the room where it's happening (100% comically struggles with the door until she opens it with something stretchy like elastic) and the nobles are like. Hey What The Fuck. Why Is The Door Open. And Why Is There A Fucking Toddler

AND THEN this little fuckin child. this small pillbug of a human being. uses this meeting usually used as an excuse to play ditter and get power. To Ask The Aub To Give Her A Book

like. who's gonna fight a child. so they're just sitting there in stunned silent until the aub asks whose kid this is. and ofc none of them answer (note as im typing this: it feels like im writing a comedy skit.)

myne then insists on fighting for it. and bc no-one else wants to fight A Fucking Toddler aub dunkelfelger agrees to do some dueling ditter

the aub's like Christ I Need To Go Really Easy On This Kid. I'll Just Walk Over And Tap Her And She'll Fall Unconscious. so they go to the field! and as soon as it starts he starts getting pelted by not only Horrible Fucking Skin Irritants and Chopped Onions 2.0, but by gold dust from small feystones (pocket sand 2) so he's just rolling around on the floor blinded by all these Horrible Little Curses Of Mortal Men and soon he's just. Unconscious.

and they ask her What The Hell she did to the aub. the answer is I Poisoned Him. With Plants. And Threw Dust In His Eyes

she did incapacitate the aub, so she won the bargain, and i cannot think of anything past this point

[chloe-spade]

Twisted Fairytales + Others : Fanfic Archive

This is an archive of all of the fanfics that are based on both Disney and Barbie Movies and everything in between!

The Little Leeches

Status: Finished

Floyd was always interested in the Land above, despite being a merman. What happens if he and his twin brother went above to learn more about the humans?

Ships: Floyd x Riddle, Trey x Jade, Idia x Azul

Chapters:

Act One: The Land Above

Act One: Part of that World

Act One: Heartbreak

Act Two: Poor Unfortunate Souls

Act Two: Introductions

Act Two: A Day in Town

Act Three: Love Blossoms

Act Three: Love Can be Broken

Act Three: Love can be Healed

Epilogue: Love Prevails

✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨

The Glass Slipper

Status: Finished

Cater Diamond's life took an unexpected turn when his father married a women who turned out to be a vindictive women and her two daughters. Now he's lives as their servant, trying to keep positive underneath it all. What if he caught the attention of a certain prince?

Ships: Malleus x Cater

Chapters:

Prologue: The Beginning

Act One: A Meeting to Remember

Act One: Sweet, Sweet Nightgale

Act Two: The Prince is Giving a Ball!

Act Two: A Lovely Night

Epilogue: A Lovely End

🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️

A Rose Sword

Status: Work in Progress

After being cursed on their christening, two brothers are separated for their protection. After 17 years of being hidden, they have to learn about their origins, and survive the dreadful sleeping curse

Prologue:The Beginning

Act One: Stories of a Blue Sword

Act One: Stories of a Pink Rose

Act One: The Darkness

Act Two: The Day Only Just Begin

Act Two: A Welcome Feeling

Act Two: Once Upon a Dream

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

Thorned Love

Status: Finished

Vil is known as an outsider with a pretty face, and eldest son to a crazy inventor. He knows that, but chooses to be a bookroom regardless, but when his father got captured by a fearsome beast, Vil willingly took his place instead. Can anyone learn to befriend a beast?

Ships: Vil x Leona, Trey x Jade

Chapters:

Prologue: That Funny Boy, That Vil

Act One: Captured

Act One: Be Our Guest

Act Two: Something There

Act Two: Take as Old as Time

Epilogue: The Rose Bloomed

☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️☀️

Tangled Up

Status: Unfinished

After so many years, Silver finally found an escape out of the tower and into the real world outside. What adventures await him?

Ships: Silver x Ruggie

Prologue

Act One: When Will My Life Begin?

Act One: Finally Free

Act Two: I had a dream.. about you

🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎🍎

Sour Apple

Status: Unfinished

After Prince Epel was deemed the fairest of them all, Evil Queen Lorelei is now desperate to claim back her title.

Ships: Epel x Jack

Prologue: The Apple has gone Sour

Act One: Whistle While You Work

Act One: Someday

🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚🦚

The Island Prince

Status: Unfinished

A young boy has lived on an island for so many years and now has the chance to go to outside of the island, but is Sil ready?

Prologue:Here on my Island

Act One: Brand New Shore

💗💙💗💙💗💙💗💙💗💙💗💙💗💙

Prince and the Pauper

Status: Unfinished

Two remarkable boys were born in the same day but born to very different circumstances. They have never met but fate has decided they should

Prologue: I'll be Free

Act One: A Taste of Freedom

🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰🩰

12 Dancing Princes

Status: Unfinished

12 different brothers come together when a evil tutor came by to take over their land by poisoning their father, King Lilia

Ships: Vil x Leona, Cater x Malleus, Idia x Azul, Amir(OC) x Jamil

Prologue: Meet the Brothers

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

A New Love Story

Status: Unfinished

Idia is the Prince of the Underworld and Son of Hades and Persephone. He one day meets an alluring and cunning nymph he found himself falling in love with.

Ships: Idia x Azul

✨✨✨✨More to Be Added!✨✨✨✨

Prologue

❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️❄️

A Frozen Heart

Status: Unfinished

After an internal winter caused by his older brother, Silver sets himself on a journey to find an end of the winter and get his brother back

Ships:Silver x Ruggie, Malleus x Cater

Prologue: Beware of Frozen Heart

[mcagrimm-blog]

revisiting childhood

I’m doing an informal project of reading books I read as a kid. So far I’ve read

-- Linnets and Valerians by Elizabeth Goudge (really good)

--some of Anderson’s Fairy Tales (a little creepy and disturbing)

--Eleanor Farjeon’s The LIttle Bookroom (more fairy tales but not as C and D)

--Daddy Longlegs, by Jean Webster: good writing, but has a questionable plot point - that is, wealthy orphanage trustee anonymously sends one of the orphans to college, and then later on they fall in love and get married. Hmmm...

Currrently reading The Silver Chair, which is about midway through the Narnia series. It was the first one I read, when I was around 10, and still my favorite. Highly recommend for its scruffy and somewhat recalcitrant protagonists, Jill and Eustace, and for the gloomy and philosophical Puddleglum who accompanies them on their quest to find the Lost Prince. Here’s a great Puddleglum quote, a speech he makes to the villain of the story, the evil queen: 

“Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things–trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones. Suppose this black pit of a kingdom of yours is the only world. Well, it strikes me as a pretty poor one. And that’s a funny thing, when you come to think of it. We’re just babies making up a game, if you’re right. But four babies playing a game can make a play-world which licks your real world hollow.”

Which is on the one hand like Plato’s allegory of the cave, and on the other hand a sort of manifesto for fiction writers, yes? 

https://smile.amazon.com/Silver-Chair-Chronicles-Narnia-Book-ebook/dp/B004DNWQ34/ref=sr_1_1?crid=J88EI2JXNNQH&keywords=the+silver+chair+by+c.s.+lewis&qid=1675191985&sprefix=the+silver+chair%2Caps%2C134&sr=8-1

#rereading #narnia #Puddleglum #childrensbooks

[a-chlolix-blog]

And here is the second one, love ya and hope you enjoy reading this.

Name: Yoshimura Zaria 

Nationality: Japanese  Date of birth: 14/3 (Pisces) 

Age: 18  Height: 1m60  Weight:50kg  Hair color and style: Saphire - Asian Balayage  Eye color: Blue  Complexion and skin tone: light, fair skin but sensitive  Character’s body build: Mesomorph 

Character back story:  

   + she was born with a rare genetic condition that affects her vision (achromatopsia) but she used her experiences to create arts and painting that are unique and compelling. 

  Identifying marks: scar behind her ear  Facial features: Doll eyes, small jawline   Hand features: smooth, fair and skinny  Scent: Lavender mixed with little pumpkin pie  Mannerisms or gestures:  

+ Has a sing-song speech pattern 

+ Ends sentences with question marks 

+ Humming when enjoying something 

+ Tilting head in thought 

+ Hair tossing 

+ Licking the lips when nervous 

+ Sticking out the tongue while thinking 

+ Biting the bottom lip 

+ Sideways glance 

+ Prolonged eye contact in conversation 

+ Frequently gazes off into space 

+ Has a thousand-yard stare 

+ Arms crossed over chest 

+ Tracing scars without thinking 

+ Covering mouth with a hand when smiling/ laughign 

+ Rubbing the tips of fingers together 

+ Crossing legs when sitting 

+ Pacing back and forth in a room 

+ Sitting, legs apart 

+ Bouncing leg up and down in a chair 

+ Checking watch repeatedly 

+ Twirling a pencil at a desk 

+ Playing with a Rubic Cube when bored 

+ Twisting the rings on fingers 

+ Hands habitually on coat lapels 

Strongest personality traits: intuitive, faithful, calculating, selfish.  Weakest personality traits: honest, adventurous, sociable.  Needs of the character: Open more to other and talk more. Stop overthinking and talk your problem out.  Ambitions: Be an amazing artist without any issues in the way  Sibling’s names and descriptions: no siblings  Favorite sayings: “Someone is jealous again”  Interests and hobbies: Draw, paint, read a book/ newspaper, pick flower.  Favorite foods: Seafood 

Dislike food: Fried food.  Favorite colors: Any color that relaxes you, mostly blue or forest green.  Pets: Cat (Yellow Tabby Munchkin)  Education: Third year of highschool  Future plans: Stay at the school for few more years to use the art studio  Possessions this character values most: sun-moon couple ring  What drives your character: 

-  Even you’re disable or not, you can still do anything, everything if you put your passion into it. That’s why Zaria can create art even if the world surround is only black and white. 

How does your character handle conflict: Calm and collected, let the opponent down and then work out the problem  What is standing in your character’s way: Heroes - Villains  What is their favorite room and why: Bedroom or Bookroom – It’s relaxing and peaceful  Favorite sport(s): Swimming – Ice skating  How does your character feel about love: Lust and Obsess  What is your character’s philosophy on life: The world isn’t only spinning around you, it’s spin around everyone else. Each person has their own unique, they just needed to find out themselves  What your character’s family life is like: No information – currently dating Lynn. 

------ 

Short synopsis, 

Zaria is the vice president of the Fortuna Academy student council; she, Lynn and Jolie assisted each other in school work and study program. She’s a quiet and elegant girl who use word instead of action, sometimes she can be met wearing vintage or classic clothing style. Her elegance and short or words attracts both male and female, most of the times young boy approached her and asked out for a dated but only received a nonchalant declined. 

  She’s slightly based on Michiru Kaioh from Sailor Moon 

Yet another interesting character, I will see what I can do!

[justsoohi]

Playing Cards - They Stand Shoulder to Shoulder 3

Hiiro: Good evening, Pardon me for intruding! I'm Amagi hiiro!

Tomoya: Whah?! That's scared me. You could've at least knocked.

Mayoi: S-Sorry to bother you... I'm Ayase Mayoi....

Tomoya: No, isn't Ayase-senpai a resident of this room? You can come in ....Ah well, you can sit down if you want.

Let's get straight to the point. As you contacted me, you wanted to know more about "Wonderland", right?

Hiiro: Umu, that's right. When we thought about what ALKALOID could do now

I remembered what Mashiro-kun was talking about in the classroom in the evening... We also wanted to perform at a live show called "Wonderland".

Tomoya: Okay, I did a lot of research for the application, and I'll tell you whatever I can♪

Mayoi: ...."Wonderland" is a live performance inspired by "Alice in Wonderland," right?

Tomoya: That's right, With the motif of "Alice in Wonderland," multiple "units" participate in a large-scale joint live

But since the units are based on the characters in Alice in Wonderland, there is a limit to the number of "units" that can participate.

Hiiro: characters..., Besides Alice, I wonder if it will be the Cheshire Cat, the Hatter, and the Queen of Hearts.

Mayoi: ......? Hiiro-san, didn’t you say you've only read the beginning of the book?

Before I knew it, you've become familiar with Alice's story.

Hiiro: I thought I shouldn't be ignorant about the performance I wanted to appear in, so I rushed into the bookroom and read through "Alice in Wonderland"♪

Tomoya: I went to the library at first, too. In the end, I bought the book myself so that I could read the original at hand at any time.

... And well. As Amagi said, the characters who stand out are narrowed down.

Tomoya: In order to perform, first you apply for the slot of your choice. After that, they go through a screening process to determine if you can perform or not.

We can't miss out on a role where we can make the most of our "cuteness," which is our selling point! So we definitely want to be in the role of our choice!

....So, we "Ra*bits" have applied for the "White Rabbit" slot.

Mayoi: I see... Even if you have as much enthusiasm as Mashiro-san, it's not a live where you want to go and perform easily....

Hiiro: But it's not a live you're guaranteed to miss.

Hiiro: It's hard to get credit for the "SS" if you keep repeating yourself in the regular shows.

On the other hand, it would take time to plan from scratch, and even if we did, I don't know if we would be able to produce something on the same scale as [Feather Touch]...

That's why we should perform at the big live concerts that have already been decided.

Tomoya: Y-Yeah. I don't really understand what's going on, but I'm a little surprised that Amagi thought about it more carefully than I had imagined.

I'll be at the upcoming "Ra*bits" big live, and I want to make it a success, so I understand how you feel.

Hiiro: Umu, good luck to both of us!

So, what steps should I take to appear in "Wonderland" ?

Tomoya: I think the first step would be to get the materials from Anzu-san, or I'm sure you can get the rest from the office right away.

Read the live overview carefully, fill out the required information on the form, and then go to the office to get a recommendation...

You have to write a self-promotional piece, so there is a lot of work to do. The application deadline is approaching, so you'd better hurry!

Hiiro: Thank you. It is really helpful to know more about it in details! ....I respect you Mashiro-kun.

Tomoya: Suddenly!? I didn't do that much you know~?

Hiiro: No, that's great. You collect information on your own to find out if there is a live show where your "Unit" can appear and then act.

As someone in the position of leader, you are fulfilling your duties and responsibilities for the sake of your "Unit"

Tomoya: The way you're saying it makes it kind of a big deal...

But, I'm doing my best. So I'm glad to hear you say so.

Hiiro: I need to learn from you

Tomoya: Haha. I'm sure there are plenty of better role models out there than me, right?

For that matter, Amagi's roommate Hinata, has been a leader since he was a first year. Wouldn't it be good to hear what he has to say?

Hiiro: Yup♪

First, I'll try contacting Anzu-san and the people at the office... I'll do my best to finish the application as soon as possible.

Isn't it right, Mayoi-senpai♪?

Mayoi: ...Yes. I will do my best to help you as much as I can.

Tomoya: You're really motivated~. But I'm sure Anzu-san and the people at the office will help you! I'm rooting for you, too.

Come to think of it, in what slot did "ALKALOID" apply for?

I don't know what to say to support you, but if the slot you hope for is the same as us, it'll be pretty awkward...

Hiiro: Fufu, don't worry. I think that "Ra*bits" is suitable for the slot of "White Rabbit"

And like Ra*bits, ALKALOID is also going to hope for a role based on the characteristics of "Unit"♪

Next

[isfjmel-phleg]

September 2022 Books

The Ghosts by Antonia Barber

The "ghosts" in question are time travelers! I enjoyed this one.

The Trolley Car Family by Eleanor Clymer

A charming example of the "family lives in an unconventional dwelling which is described in loving detail" genre.

The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon

Collection of short stories. Inventive but didn't really strike a chord with me, not sure why.

Grace Harlowe's Freshman Year at High School by Jessie Graham Flower

This is a reprinted edition of a novel from the 1910s. I picked it up at a library booksale because Edwardian YA literature! Read it around the same time as Mike and Psmith for purposes of comparison.

And it made me really appreciate what a brilliant story M&P was compared to other school stories of its day. Because this book...well, I found the introduction, which established historical context, to be interesting. The actual story, not so much. Plotlines are predictable and overly dramatic, and the characterization is shallow. All the good characters are embodiments of Admirable Traits and all the antagonists are Utterly Horrid and the narrative makes sure you know it.

There's a scene where the main cast of high schoolers is preparing to meet a young man raised in England, and they expect a stereotype--and get it.

They had pictured him as a sort of dandy, with needle-toed patent leather shoes and a coat cut in at the waist and padded over the shoulders.

Even David had voiced a few thoughts on the subject of Tom Gray.

"I'll bet he's an English dude," he said. For Mrs. Gray's nephew had spent most of his life in England. "He'll probably carry a cane and wear a monocle."

They were not surprised, therefore, when a young man entered the room who bore out somewhat the picture they had conjured. He was tall and slender, very dapper and rather ladylike in his bearing. His alert, dark eyes were set too close together, and his face had a narrow, sinister look that made them all feel uncomfortable. He spoke with a decided English accent, in a light, flippant voice which sent a quiver of dislike up and down David's spine, and made Reddy Brooks give his right arm a vigorous twirl as if he would have liked to pitch something at the young man's head.

Does this description seem familiar? Sounds a lot like Psmith (down to the eyes "set too close together"!), but notice the absolute disdain with which the narrative treats these traits. He's "ladylike," and of course the Manly, Red-Blooded American Boys are disgusted by him.

As the conversation proceeds, there is some mocking of his accent, the boys call him "asinine dandy" and "Miss Nancy" behind his back, and his aunt struggles to hold back "tears of disappointment" at his distaste for America. The boys question him about sports, he confesse he "do[es]n't like outdoor games at all" and prefers "afternoon tea [...] and bridge," and while the other boys barely conceal their disgust, the aunt pointedly mentions that all of them are athletes! When he takes out his monocle, she scolds him: "[D]on't wear that thing here. It's not the custom in this town or in this country, for that matter. If you are nearsighted, buy yourself a pair of spectacles."

Anyway, it turns out this guy is an imposter, and when the real nephew turns up, we are assured that he is "broad-shouldered, well-built" with "a sunburned, wholesome face" and "carried no cane; neither were his shoes pointed at the toes, and there wasn't a tinge of English in his accent except that his enunciation was unusually good." He openly professes his American patriotism and is of course outdoorsy--but, lest you worry, "there was nothing of the gypsy in him. He was full of energy and ambition and infused such a wholesome vigor into whatever he did [...]" The only acceptable boy/young man, after all, is one who fits a rigid mold of exaggerated masculinity, which apparently is something that American males have the upper hand in.

Cf. Mike and Psmith, in which Psmith fits the description of the English dandy and has a complicated relationship with sports, but the narrative never insults him for it or questions his masculinity. If Flower had written Wodehouse's book, Mike and Adair would have been constantly held up as Good Examples, while Psmith would have been An Object Of Disgust with no redeeming qualities.

Anyway, interesting rhetoric, but not really worth one's while as a story.

A Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains by Francesca Gibbons (reread)

Reread because the next book in the series is coming out soon.

The Boyhood of Grace Jones by Jane Langton

For context: published in the 1970s.

Grace, bless her heart, is a tomboy with a bad case of internalized misogyny. What she needs is to learn how to live in the world as her own unconventional self without having to hate femininity/herself for being female.

...the solution to this is not for her to suddenly be okay with femininity after receiving the attentions of an adult male teacher she now has a crush on. But that's what happens in this book. I was not impressed.

The Secret Detectives by Ella Risbridger

What if Mary Lennox made friends and had adventures on the ship from India to England when she stumbles into a juvenile version of an Agatha Christie novel? I didn't know I needed that question answered, but I did, and this book was delightful. Maybe not always historically spot-on, but not enough to be jarring like some other middle-grade historical fiction.

A Lemon and a Star by E. C. Spykman

I didn't really get this one. It's in the slice-of-turn-of-the-century-family-life genre, but not all of the family was endearing. The older brother, quite frankly, was terrible, and allowed to be, and I didn't care for that and couldn't connect with the story as a whole.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart (reread)

Reread as something suitable for before-bed reading when I don't have the brain capacity for something new.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Dashed if I understand all the technical sci-fi stuff, but I love the highly relatable Murderbot! Will be reading the rest of the series in October.

Mystery of the Haunted Pool by Phyllis A. Whitney

I really liked this one! Not only an interesting mystery but interesting characterization. I'm planning to read more of Whitney at some point.

Mike and Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse (reread)

Reread for Psmith Pseptember.

In their own section, all the comics!

Tagging @brown-little-robin so you'll see this when you get back, because I know you'll want to know what I thought.

In order of encounter:

The Flash: Book Four by Mark Waid

Read this one to get further background on the events leading up to Bart's going to live to Max. Mostly interesting for insight into Wally's character (ESTP 7w8 maybe?) and the perception of Bart as opposed to Impulse's portrayal (which I've discussed elsewhere).

Impulse #13-89 (plus some extras) by Mark Waid, William Messner-Loebs, and Todd Dezago

Regrettably had to leave numerous threads dangling but quite enjoyable! I've talked about this in more detail elsewhere.

Young Justice: Books One-Six by Peter David

I really enjoyed the character dynamics in this, especially as the series progressed. Lots of humor but some really heartbreaking moments too. The ending could have tied things up a bit better (what exactly happens to everyone?), but the redemption of poor Secret was very satisfying.

Superman Volume 2: Trials of the Super Son, Super Sons: Volumes 1-3, Super Sons of Tomorrow, Adventures of the Super Sons: Volumes 1-2, and Challenge of the Super Sons by Peter J. Tomasi

These boys are the cutest thing. Jon is a sweet, good-hearted kid who is Doing His Best, and Damian is a holy terror, and they drive each other crazy but somewhere along the way they become best friends, and it's delightful to watch the relationship play out. The differences in their family lives are interesting too. I didn't love all the storylines (why would you bring back (older alternate versions of) the core four of Young Justice and not utilize their very distinct personalities?), but the boys' dynamic makes this series quite fun.

Batman and Son and The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul by Grant Morrison et al.

So then I figured I might as well start from the beginning with Damian. Yikes.

The Resurrection storyline crosses over with Tim's and Dick's solo series, which gives us some interesting, more character-focused angles, including Dick trying to talk a desperate, recently bereaved Tim out of collecting Lazarus Pit water to use on his dead parents and friends. While fighting him, of course.

Also read various issues of various comics that tie into the Batman R.I.P. storyline and its aftermath, specifically dealing with Damian's role, and I'm not going to bother listing them all here because who has time for that.

[nyrbclassics]

NYRB Fall Preview 2020: NYRB Kids

Last up in our fall preview are two classics from our Children’s Collection, newly reissued as paperbacks in our NYRB Kids series.

Mary Chase, Loretta Mason Potts (September)

Ten-year-old Colin Mason is convinced he’s the smartest, best, and oldest kid in his family. Then, much to his horror, he discovers he’s not the eldest at all: he has a glum and gangly older sister, Loretta Mason Potts. Soon, Colin is secretly following Loretta down a hidden tunnel that leads from a bedroom closet to a whole other world—where she is mysteriously beloved by all, no matter how rude she is.

Eleanor Farjeon, The Little Bookroom (October)

This selection of twenty-seven favorite stories selected by Eleanor Farjeon herself are heartwarming and delightful. Inside you’ll find powerful—and sometimes exceedingly silly—monarchs, and commoners who are every bit their match; musicians and dancers who live for art rather than earthly reward; and a goldfish who wants to marry the moon.

[jostoys]

A postscript about The Little Bookroom: As I mentioned in a previous post, my favorite story in this book was “San Fairy Ann”. The story is about a French doll named Celestine who is lost by a child when her family is fleeing their chateau during World War I. She is found by a British soldier , who names her San Fairy Ann and takes her home to his daughter. He tells his daughter that she is named San Fairy Ann because she is a fairy, an explanation that made sense to me as a child. But I recently realized that this name is a homophone of “Ca ne fait rien”, a French idiom meaning “ it doesn’t matter” (literally “that makes nothing”). British soldiers stationed in France interpreted this phrase as “ San Fairy Ann”, and maintained the original meaning when using it. My understanding is that this phrase is still used in England, sometimes with variations, and in fact is the name of a song recorded by Paul McCartney.

[bitofbookishness]

Thanks @studylikegeller​ for these quizzy questions!

MARCH Week 1 What is your favorite quote from the book you are currently reading so far?

Too many to choose from in the Wordsworth Selected Poems I am reading, but I will put this one that I will happily not heed, as I am shortly going to go back to reading: “Up! up! my friend, and clear your looks, / Why all this toil and trouble? / Up! up! my friend, and quit your books, /  Or surely you’ll grow double.” (From the poem “The Tables Turned”)

If you could live in a book, which book would you choose?

The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon - specifically the actual little bookroom she describes in her introduction!

Week 2 What are you currently reading? Would you recommend this book to a friend?

Anne Bartlett, Knitting. Yes, I would recommend this to a friend.

Do you prefer paperback or hardcover? Why?

As long as it has the words on the pages, I don’t mind what form the book comes in!

Week 3 What are you currently reading? How do you feel reading this book?

Georgia Blain, Between a Wolf and a Dog. Quite depressing. And, in the way of grown up “literature” not even a nice cathartic ending to make one cry. Hmph.

Do you lend your books to your friends?

Yes, I do! And I love to!

Week 4 What are you currently reading? Do you like the book cover?

Wai Chim, The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling. I love the cover, it’s so bright and evocative!

Do you use bookmarks?

Yes, and I have too too many of them need more of them!

Week 5 What is your favorite book cover ever?

Again, it’s very hard to choose! In case you’re interested, there are many gorgeous variations of this cover here!

Do you take notes while reading?

Sometimes, it depends what I’m reading. And if I think I’ll have to do a lot of working framing the notes - an unfortunate side-effect of academic/literary studies training!

[mserkelly-blog]

Located in Carlton North and opened in 1960, it is known as the world’s oldest children’s bookshop, designed to tick the boxes for avid readers and those just beginning. To highlight the importance of reading aloud, the shop holds free storytime every Thursday and Friday for 2-5 year olds and a bookclub is hosted every Friday after school for primary school students. The Little Bookroom is a fantastic resource for teachers as the staff are knowledgeable of their stock and passionate to help children grow into skillful readers. Through holding regular events and a rich newsletter, the benefits of this bookshop are there waiting to be utilised for those of interest. As for teachers, they have categories for ‘Indigenous books’, ‘Rainbow families’, ‘Radical Kindness’, ‘Great Girls’. With these options to sort through it allows for a teacher to decide the learning intention and select the relevant category.

Resource link: https://www.littlebookroom.com.au/

[amphoraeus]

What I have not often shown here is Alaric’s bookroom. 

I talk about it but don’t really show it which surprises me because I really like this room. It was the first one I decorated in The Rookery and sort of gave me the springboard for ideas on how I wanted this house’s atmosphere and look to become. 

Anyway, included in this room (shown in the last pic) is the last remnants from Alaric’s old life in the middle ages as a feudal lord before he became an immortal mage. That banner is the symbol of his house. However, after the Black Death swept through his lands and killed off his parents, little sister and most of the people in his demesne, his obsession with bringing his family back led him to abandoning it all. He would have had the rank of Baron if he stayed on his lands instead of seeking ways to overcome death. 

All of the books you see littered throughout the house is my way of showing off how much Alaric has researched through the centuries. His sons often come and stay at his and Aurelia’s house when they need to do some research on vampires and other supernatural creatures for their hunting. The multitude of plants would be Aurelia’s (forceful) addition to this room for decoration purposes. The house would be nothing but books and dark austerity without the faerie influence throughout it :)