To be honest I don’t really read much fantasy, just because I tend to prefer realism most of the time and then gothic/horror or light sci-fi if not. But there are certainly fantasy novels I’ve loved and I’m trying to expand my reading scope and include more, so here’s a couple I’d recommend:

Tolkien, obviously. I think part of the reason I don’t read much fantasy now (especially high fantasy) is because I love The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings so much that nothing can ever beat them for me

Neil Gaiman, who is one of my absolute favourite authors. Particularly Neverwhere, American Gods, The Graveyard Book, Norse Mythology and Good Omens (written with Terry Pratchett)

Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy and the first of the new trilogy The Book of Dust. I loved these books to death as a kid and they still hold a special place in my heart, especially since there’s a new trilogy 

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter. Extraordinary and sensual feminist retellings of fairy tales from the 1970s

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado. These stories are somewhere on the cusp of fantasy/sci-fi/horror but they’re all spectacular. Think Angela Carter, if she was a queer woman of colour in the 21st century

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. A female-centric retelling of the King Arthur legend. Reading this book when I was a teenager was a life-changing experience

The Song of Achilles and Circe by Madeline Miller. Technically these count as fantasy, even if they’re just based on classical mythology! Everyone knows how much I love TSoA especially but Circe came out recently and it’s phenomenal

The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland (and most other Maitland novels). One of my favourite books, I’ve read it 3 times and have the audiobook as well. A really clever novel set in early 14th century England, with a shifting perspective and a great host of characters (primarily women). Fantasy elements come in the guise of pagan rituals and folklore

The Girl of Ink and Stars by Kiran Millwood Hargrave. Technically a kids book but I love everything she writes, and this book is just gorgeous

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan. Something in between fantasy, cli-fi and dystopian fiction. Basically about characters living on our earth when the sea levels have risen dramatically and people either live their entire lives on tiny sought-after islands or on boats. Also, gay!

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge. Brilliant and spooky English Civil War era historical fantasy novel

i can honestly say i have never thought about that before but now i am and i am LIVING ARI OH MY GODDD <33

like this is so precious. sneakily holding hands up in the balcony is like. the 1700s equivalent of kissing in the back of a movie theater and I am HERE FOR THIS. also now i’m thinking about thomas, who is Pining, inviting/dragging james, who is also Pining, to a play (Very Platonically of course it’s just that they’ve been Working So Hard and I really think you’ll enjoy this, Lieutenant, do come along – ) and james is just. sweatin. because he’s sitting So Close to Thomas, like there’s no desk between them now and he is Dying and unbeknownst to him, thomas is having the same thoughts, and james laughs at some joke and thomas just dies and then he smiles at james and then james just DIES and it’s all very blushy and very gay

but THEN they go AGAIN soon after they’re TOGETHER and listen just. imagine. t dot ham making his move and reaching for james’s hand and james just going !!!!!!!!!! for a moment or ten before so gently rubbing his thumb over thomas’s and the both of them just being so happy

also i’m 10000% Dying over the thought of them being pals with the house staff like that is The Most Endearing thing, i’ve got this image of a staff member seeing the pair of them walking out of the theater already absorbed in animated conversation about that one part and just smiling like, ah, yes, there they go, such nice young men, come again soon~

you. you i like 

Thanks! I’ve already done #1

3. An actor/actress you’ve seen in more than 8 movies? Name the movies.

Uuum the first who comes to mind would be Keira Knightley with Pride & Prejudice, Atonement, the 3 Pirates of the Carribean (haven’t seen the last one & don’t know if I will), The Phantom Menace, The Imitation Game, Never Let Me Go, A Dangerous Method, & Bend It Like Beckham... maybe others I’ve forgotten tbh if you mention that Keira is in the movie I will probably watch it

16. A film you love but everyone else hates?

OH BOY DO I EVER WANT TO - but first things first, I cannot take credit for the idea! I believe I first accepted this image into my heart ‘n soul after reading this tremendously nsfw and most excellent fic by azarias. (basic plot is that Miranda tells Thomas all about her, ah, encounter with James in the carriage and they both get off it’s amazing would highly recommend)

just. this is my ideal dynamic for them. married best friends checkin’ out guys together. like just imagine: they’re at some Society Gathering, and Thomas pulls Miranda aside and points out some young noble with sharp brown eyes who looks very good in that blue coat and tells her like “Miranda he and I just had a wonderfully lively conversation about de Cervantes and he’s an avid fencer with arms to prove it you should definitely seduce him”. Or Miranda pulls him aside to whisper that she’s heard that lord so-and-so of such-and-such over there shares his inclinations so perhaps they ought to have a chat? 

picture Thomas waiting up for Miranda after some tryst, like he’s sitting there reading, then he looks up when he hears her come in, and he smiles and puts his book down and asks “so how was it?” and she grins and grins and runs over and plops down next to him and gushes about how romantic he was, Thomas, and oh, his hands, or she mentions how nervous he was, because wouldn’t her husband notice her absence? and they both laugh and laugh and Thomas kisses her forehead. similarly, imagine Thomas coming home late after some Very Innocent Meeting with lord so-and-so of such-and-such, and Miranda asks “So, was I right?” all eager, and Thomas just grins coyly, so she gasps and says “I was, wasn’t I? Tell me everything.” so he laughs and tells her all about how it took him so bloody long to get the hint (”I brought up The Symposium three times, Miranda”) but once he did –

That’s a tough one! I’ve only found these:

‘Horses and Heroes: Plato’s “Phaedrus” and Mary Renault’s “The Charioteer”’ by Nikolai Endres

Reading behind the lines: Postmemory in contemporary British war fiction by Natasha Alden (I’m not sure how much there is in this one)

‘Masquing the Phallus: Genital Ambiguity in Mary Renault’s Historical Novels’ by Ruth Hoberman (this one focuses on the classical novels)

‘The Heart in Exile: Detachment and Desire in 1950s London’ by Matt Houlbrook and Chris Waters

Gay and After by Alan Sinfield (look up ‘Renault’ in the index); there may also be something in The Wilde Century but I haven’t got a copy to check

As for that, I have very much! I’m basically just copying these from my dissertation bibliography so I’ll leave it under the cut. Faves in bold:

jackrhackam replied to your post: Thomas totally bought a very soft brush to brush...

now i’m thinking about thomas seeing flint’s shaved head and just rubbing his hands all over that fuzz all the time because lbr every time anyone i know shaves their head no one can keep their hands off of it

but dude!! this!! its canon!! he touch!!