hi I’m not going to shut up about this because it’s maybe the easiest thing I’ve ever written in my life
okay i won’t reblog the unreliable narrator poll AGAIN (although i am tempted) but i just have to share that it is very funny to me that the replies in tags are either “who the fuck is this” vs “HOW THE FUCK IS EUGENIDES NOT SWEEPING THIS BY ONE MILLION POINTS,” because that is, i feel obliged to point out, the exact emotional experience suffered by every single person who reads The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (1996) plus any or all subsequent books, so it is fitting in a way that Gen himself would appreciate, even though it’s also regrettable proof that people haven’t read those books and should, if only to learn why nobody can actually explain why he is the only proper winner of any and every unreliable narrator contest because it requires spoiling the whole of six impeccably plotted, gloriously complex, marvelously written books, that also, it should be noted, feature one of the best romances in all of fantasy literature and not just because it starts with a dismemberment
Relius: You want to know about triangles? I’ll write to a friend about that.
The magus: What’s this?? A bratty boy to impart knowledge to?? I AM READY.
this child has so many flamboyant and nerdy uncles, love that for himmmm
No one but the king could have provided the box, but the king was rarely along for more than a few moments a day and never, to my knowledge, alone with Relius.
Okay, so,
1. Gen is still visiting Relius at night?
2. Does only the guard know?
3. Or does not even the guard know anymore?
I very much want to know exactly what Kamet and Relius were writing back and forth about. Like, I have guesses, but I want to know.
Kamet to Pheris: You’re a nosy kid and I approve.
the first poetry section, with “The Invitation,” the sappiness and intimacy of that verse, copied BY HAND by you-know-who, and the pages were old. YEARS. YEARSSSSSSSSSS. And
“Yes. Someone loves me very much, even with all my faults.”
I cannot.
Once again, the function of Pheris as narrator is fascinating because through him we get Relius’s lectures (paired with Pheris’s later, more thorough professional understanding) of the history of Attolia and the larger peninsula, history that Gen either didn’t or couldn’t give.
I don’t think I fully understand why Relius threatened to beat Pheris with a stick.
my precious little nerd Pheris is geeking out over null and it makes me emotional?? because “a symbol that represented nothing increased every number it sat beside.” With null, nothing became everything just like himmmmmm
Absolutely delighted that Relius is exactly as harsh and condescending of a tutor as the magus.
idk there’s just something so nice about knowing that Gen continues sparring with his guard even while Costis is away
There were sporadic celebrations for days and then, as if the city had taken a deep breath and let all its worries go, people went back to their ordinary lives for the first time in years without the imminent threat of war.
this sure hits different in TYOOL 2023
Melheret took his formal leave from the Attolian court three days later and may well have spent that entire time preparing his exit speech. It was a work of art. The king, listening to it, leaned forward, elbows on his knees, wholly attentive to the Mede’s every word, taking note of the mannered and precise language, the formal words of goodwill layered over with equally stylized insults, the genial good humor that did not hide his contempt.
I love many things about this. Two up top:
1. The image of Melheret giving a masterclass in shade and Gen, always appreciative of another master, being like 👁👁📝
2. But also knowing that when Gen really, truly is paying attention, he looks like he’s asleep. This is a show.
I really like the chronology of Pheris threatening Xikander into silence followed by the “accident” at Hemsha.
Pheris and Gen both get a little triumph, as a treat.
I saw that @meganwhalenturner enjoyed the blackout poetry someone made of another author's work, so naturally I had to try my hand at a passage from one of her books.
(thanks to the discord server for helping me choose a passage, this is what I get for complaining that it's hard to chop up beautiful prose).
It’s beautiful.
ETA: Does it have a title. I think it needs a title. I suggest: 🤐
not “✋”?
The Mime Order Character Groupings
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS!
If you have not already read the first two Bone season books by Samantha Shannon, back up and content yourself with this Venn diagram for the first book (The Bone Season) for below there be spoilers.
If, however, you have read the action-packed thrillfest that is The Mime Order, and want to see how all the shifting alliances and dubious allegiances piece together, jump below the Read More for a full Venn diagram and a character list.
Whether they be mime-lord, mollisher, Ranthen, or Scion stooge, you’ll have the world of The Mime Order at your fingertips. And with The Song Rising coming out on March 7th, you can consider yourself armed and ready to face Paige’s toughest fight yet.
Came across these again today and felt like bragging.
I made those.
The character lists? The descriptions? The Venn diagrams? Me.
I personally choose to read Relius being conspicuously absent from his apartment during the second visit as a trap to see what items Pheris gravitates toward, and I think the text supports that.
“How old are you?” he asked.
YEAH MEGAN HOW OLD??????