With all the brouhaha surrounding Avast and their data gathering fiasco, I’ve decided to stop my subscription for AVG* Android, and switched over to Sophos Intercept Xinstead.
I don’t use many of AVG’s premium features anyways, and Sophos Intercept X is totally free; I can’t even find a way to “upgrade” it to a premium version.
I have a confession to make. The first time I read The Queen of Attolia, I didn’t know what a philanderer was, but I recognized the first part of the word ‘philan’ from the word ‘philanthropy’ so when Therespides catches Eddis sneaking to Gen’s library, I wasn’t sure what the scandalous part was. I just thought he’d assume Eddis was being charitable or something.
You’re adorable.
To be fair, you’re actually not too far off. The literal Greek is…
Philanderer- a man who loves.
Philanthropist- someone who loves man(kind).
The root “philo” means to love, and is found in many words. Fun fact, the roots for philosophy are philo and sophos. So, you’re literally saying, love of wisdom or I ❤️ Sophos.
anyway i finished a conspiracy of kings last night and woke up thinking about sophos visiting nomenus in his cell after imprisoning him because he ‘wanted to have a very clear idea of what he had done to him’ vs eugenides in the king of attolia visiting relius in the hospital after convicting him of treason and pardoning him against the will of everyone else in court and keeping him company and telling him stories while he recovered… thinking of eugenides being taken to visit eddsian soldiers who had lost limbs in the war and going outside to throw up vs sophos opening the box to find the second gun, knowing he would have to kill someone, and putting his head down on the table to cry… thinking of both gen and sophos being disgusted at how easy it was to kill when they first had to do so… like it’s not necessarily that they never wanted to be kings, because they both chose the throne in their own way even if their choices were limited, but neither of them ever wanted to be fighters or hurt other people, and you can’t rule a kingdom without doing harm… but it’s really the way that even as they feel forced to do things that go against their very nature, they both make a point to see with their own eyes the suffering they’ve caused… they don’t look away even as they disgust themselves with the things they do in the name of being king….. im not well
Queen’s Thief Appreciation, Day 4: Conspiracy of Kings – books/characters as things my friends and I have said
The fact that Sophos used force in the end despite being the so-called bunny of the series is simultaneously devastating and funny, especially since we’re used to sneaky sneaky politics and scheming from Gen. (Not that Sophos wasn’t veritably sneaky in his own right.) It was completely unexpected and yet right!
Queen’s Thief Appreciation, Day 1: The Thief – in my saga of QT books/characters as things my friends and I have said.
I wanted to participate in qtappreciationweek this year, but didn’t have the time to create any serious, meaningful pieces that would properly honor and embody my all-encompassing love for these books, so I’ve come up with the happy medium of… memery.
I’ve come to the conclusion that my silly contribution to this fun celebration isn’t totally out of place, because it does encapsulate one of the reasons I was first drawn into the series: the humor. My gods, the humor. From the moment Gen splayed his body by the side of the road, content to endure his new life as a landmark, I was enraptured. I adore Gen’s unbridled, raw snark in The Thief.
“The king’s attendant on duty that day was Ion, standing patiently in a corner. He cleared his throat politely and said, ‘His Majesty’s wardrobe is a gift from My King.’ ”
Part 2/2 of the one-two punch that is every scene written by miss Megan Whalen Turner… the Window scene, in this case. I just LOVE tonal shifts, and she writes hers so flawlessly – subtle yet striking. I love it and I want to hug Pheris and I am so happy that now he has several parents now who love him. Also, I’m endlessly in love with the depictions of this scene by Emily and Sheb and you should DEFINITELY check them out
So I’ve been working on THIS monstrosity: one of my favorite scenes of Return of the Thief, it had me and my sisters in fits. It includes so many wonderful things – best bros sophos & gen committing minor acts of harassment to show affection, eugenides pulling a very thiefly parkour move, the attendants being Shook, the royal four having fun, attolia laughing (my heart!!), a striking tonal change at the end, and of course, the reference to Dite’s infamous catchy tune sung loudly & proudly by its main object of ridicule.
Sophos, stop giving the magus more grey hair. The poor man needs a break. But yay! Finally drew Sophos <3! Gang’s complete now.
Also, I didn’t remember what a peashooter was, so I looked it up on the internet. Lo and behold, Sophos is arming himself against Zombies.
Day 16 - wild & Day 28 - ride
THE king of Attolia was passing through his city, on his way to the port to greet ambassadors newly arrived from distant parts of the world. The king was a newcomer and a foreigner, king only by virtue of a political marriage to the queen of Attolia and still unfamiliar to most Attolians. They massed along the Sacred Way to see him for themselves, as well as to cheer their queen, who rode beside him in the open coach. One member of the crowd, a young man with a broken nose, a lip twisted by scar tissue, and dirty clothes that combined to suggest a person of violent and criminal habits, had a particular need to get close. He was in the company of an older man, unscarred, but no less shabby, who boosted him up the side of a stone street marker that labeled the intersection of the Sacred Way and one of the larger cross streets.
It’s got all your basic moving parts: Gen and Irene heading up to the crenellations,
Phresine loving on baby Hector while baby Eugenia drops a stolen earring that matches her dad’s (with her mountain goat plushie nearby),
Helen and Sophos just being stupid cute with their wee heir, while the Magus still studies his map and Pol’s sword leans on the wall beneath the three countries’ banners,
Your pantheon of deities, with the Great Goddess at the center,
Teleus and Relius enjoying each other’s company while Pheris (now with mobility aid!) ignores them (also there’s a pigeon),
Costis and bespectacled Kamet with a plate of nut cakes, and a familiar author in the background with her stack of six books,
And, finally, our long-awaited elephant, while two of Gen’s attendants search for their king.
Queen’s Thief Appreciation, Day 4: Conspiracy of Kings – books/characters as things my friends and I have said
The fact that Sophos used force in the end despite being the so-called bunny of the series is simultaneously devastating and funny, especially since we’re used to sneaky sneaky politics and scheming from Gen. (Not that Sophos wasn’t veritably sneaky in his own right.) It was completely unexpected and yet right!
Queen’s Thief Appreciation, Day 1: The Thief – in my saga of QT books/characters as things my friends and I have said.
I wanted to participate in qtappreciationweek this year, but didn’t have the time to create any serious, meaningful pieces that would properly honor and embody my all-encompassing love for these books, so I’ve come up with the happy medium of… memery.
I’ve come to the conclusion that my silly contribution to this fun celebration isn’t totally out of place, because it does encapsulate one of the reasons I was first drawn into the series: the humor. My gods, the humor. From the moment Gen splayed his body by the side of the road, content to endure his new life as a landmark, I was enraptured. I adore Gen’s unbridled, raw snark in The Thief.
