With A Little Help From My Friends

I cannot say how much i fucking love these books. I read them when I was still pretty clueless about queer things, still thinking i was “straight”, and i found many things fascinating about the worldbuilding and the characters. And now, years later, I’ll be laying in my bed trying to sleep and then suddenly I’m throwing my covers back like “YOU MEAN THAT WAS T4T????????” “Wait was that ASEXUAL REPRESENTATION OR AM I HALLUCINATING???????????”

I’d like to go back in time and hold little me’s head like “baby. You’re a faggot. There’s a reason you like this book and it ain’t just the dragons”

Oh and also! How could i forget! The third book in the series was literally the first book I ever read in English, bc it hadn’t been translated into my native language yet, and i was NOT GOING TO WAIT YEARS TO READ IT TF???? Literally i went

“Have I read a book in english before?”

“No.”

“How long is this one?”

“…640 pages.”

“……….Fuck it we ball.”

Man i gotta reread them it’s been too long.

Okay I said I'd make a more expansive post about this so here it is.

If you like high fantasy, check out A Chorus of Dragons by Jenn Lyons.

It's got

magic

dragons

demons

gods that aren't gods

a main character throuple

platonic marriage

distinct characters of various ages

just general diversity

the most incomprehensible family trees

sassy footnotes

and more!

There are five books and the worldbuilding is so neatly woven into the story so as not to overwhelm the reader. I was learning neat facts about the world even in the last book.

The overarching plot is a bit complicated to explain, but it's basically "Ancient mage with an ego has secret plans centuries in the making and must be stopped, but in the meantime there are demons wrecking havoc, terrible shitheads vying for political power, shapeshifters with dubious morals, revenge schemes, slavery, a god of annihilation that has slowly been consuming the sun, and so much family drama."

The five books are:

The Ruin of Kings (aka will someone please tell Kihrin what's going on)

The Name of All Things (aka the adventures of Janel and Qown, a horsegirl and her emotional support atheist priest)

The Memory of Souls (aka Oh My God)

The House of Always (aka Group Therapy tries to stop the apocolapyse)

The Discord of Gods (aka wtf is even going on--OH)

So in conclusion:

great characters, great pacing, great worldbuilding, great antagonists

LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT

i actually think it was really interesting the way that almost every character was trapped in a place of helplessness most torturous to them. like yes buck is in his worst nightmare, being trapped outside with no way in to save his family. but athena is limited to helplessness by protocol that’s above her head, something she always chafes against but this time can’t meaningfully get around. chimney is stuck on the other side of the glass unable to save his best friend. hen is stuck as the patient. maddie is stuck on the other side of the phone and forced to listen as her husband gets worse and worse. and eddie? god, eddie is trapped in texas, trying to choose his family, and he probably doesn’t even know that his real family is in mortal peril right now.

crucially the only two who aren’t restricted like this are bobby (which is likely to come up later) and ravi. and that’s what makes it such a good ravisode, because ravi is still the outsider to this little family. but he’s given that choice: save them or follow orders. and he makes the choice. because that’s what he’s learned from them, that sometimes you put yourself in danger to save someone else.

and then it doesnt even work. which puts him right into the same trapped, helpless boat as everybody else.

I like the way you think. who even needs sleep anyways hahahahahahahahahahahahahh—

there needs to be a 'next work' button on ao3 for works that aren't a series but are by the same author so when i go thru every fic in a fandom an author has written its less time between fics where i remember i should stop and go to bed

"thanks for doing this for me" "i'm doing it for chimney......... and you." vs "you really did that for me?" "yeah. yeah, you and christopher." this is not a fully formed thought but something about tommy initially negating buck's assumption that it was done out of love vs buck affirming to eddie that yes, i did do this for you and also for your son

sorry to be controversial or whatever but i actually really want a diaz parents redemption…

I really enjoy things better when I don’t see others opinions cause why are are people so negative about 9-1-1 every fucking episode. Why can’t you just enjoy it for what it is. Also why are fans picking apart the actors interactions and making awful conclusions about their relationships. Like plz stop being actually so miserable.

walk with me here. 8x15 opens and we’re in el paso, eddie is at home on his couch looking at the unanswered texts he’s sent to buck. (buck always answers, even when he’s on shift, why isn’t he answering!!) he sends one more text “hey kinda getting worried here. just send me some proof of life please”. he sighs puts the phone down and turns on the tv. big flashing breaking news sign “DANGEROUS VIRUS THREATENS DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. FIRST RESPONDERS TRAPPED AND QUARANTINED INSIDE BIO LAB.” the news helicopter shows shows the scene and we see all of the tents and military equipment and off to the side, the 118 engine. then the reporter (bonus points if they bring back taylor) “we’re getting word that a dangerous virus is in danger of being released into the city of los angeles after a fire broke out in the laboratory and an explosion resulted in the total lockdown of the facility, trapping first responders inside with this highly contagious and deadly virus. no word yet on the fate of the brave heroes of fire engine 118, or what this could mean for los angeles as a whole”. cut to eddie’s devastated face and then we cut to 911 title card.

Holy shit i can’t believe i actually came across this on the right day. Everyone say “Thank you David Shore!!!”

It's been 20 years today since David Shore looked at all the weirdos, cripples and faggots in the world and went pspspspsps

literally any time Eddie does something that turns out to be illegal