#you know that whole thing with the mannequin ringmaster lady who steals people's skins? | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cthulhu-with-a-fez · 2 years ago

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yoooo I remember reading varjak paw as a kid. I honestly don't remember much about it other than his like spinning(?) cat fighting technique (???)

HE SUPER DID HAVE THAT, god, slow time moving circles shadow walking has been stuck in my head literally since elementary school, the VIBES of that whole book were absolutely impeccable

i remember being scared shitless by the Gentleman's pair of black not!cats and just absolutely hit by a truck about the

"I Am Very Well Thank You Please"

'stuffed toys' reveal, the ILLUSTRATIONS just. WHOO. OKAY. i feel absolutely zero compunctions putting this one up there on the "short stories you read that alter your brain chemistry" shelf tbqh

apparently there was a second one, which i didn't know about until i tripped over it at a library book sale and you bet your ass it came home with me, i still haven't read it yet but like. [long string of eyes emojis]

#varjak paw #so like for those of you who did NOT have the experience of picking this book up at a scholastic book fair and getting their shit rocked #it was basically the gritty urban horror-fantasy counterpoint to the warrior cats books #you know the Stranger from the magnus archives? the patron fear-entity of dnd mimics and the uncanny valley et al?#you know that whole thing with the mannequin ringmaster lady who steals people's skins?#y e a h #that uh. features heavily. h e a v i l y. young me was NOT braced.#let me once again stress i bought this at a SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL #but!!! one of the other cool things?#the main character dreams about his great-great-ancestor jalal all the way back in ancient mesopotamia #and jalal teaches him like. cat jutsus #which are all 'normal cat things' just amped up to 11 #and there was this whole thing with the illustrations in the real world being this STARK black and white but the illustrations in the dream #were all this gentle sepia sorta color #up until varjak achieves mastery of the skills jalal is teaching him #and only then do we see true black in the dream-illustrations #it was such an atmospheric book and i will die on the hill that it was good and also criminally underrated #answered asks by cwaf

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