by Jacklyn Moriarty
22 posts
Karathespellbinder - Kingdoms & Empires - Tumblr Blog
hope is a skill
So. I have this fancy family tree software and I thought I might as well use it, but it was having technical difficulties (or maybe I was the problem?) so here is this super low-quality Mettlestone family tree. Since it's impossible to read, (I just wanted to have a picture in a post for once, lol) I guess just rely on the image description! rip
Basically, I have figured out as best as I can the order of the Mettlestone siblings so I put them in, added their spouses, and added their kids. Oscar isn't in there but like he's an adopted grandkid so that is a bit of an inaccuracy; I'm not sure where he would go though? It was very fun researching the books to find all the ages, though ultimately there was a mostly-in-age-order list in SLV that filled in all the gaps. Before I found that list, I had known that Isabelle, Carrie, and Franny were the three oldest, that Emma and Patrick were at the end, and that Sophy was also a younger child.
kinda crazy they had 12 kids. that's a lot. In case you are wondering, the reason Bronte only had 10 gifts to give but 11 aunts is because Maya & Lisbeth shared a gift!
Also it's really cute that Jacob and Ildi combined their last names to make Mettlestone. Very wholesome.
minorly sad thoughts
There are 14 covers for 5 books. The editions I own do not match each other T_T
I have a big plan to make a post comparing historical coal mining (my background is in Scottish coal mines from the 1800s in the Central Lowlands--def the nerdiest hyperfixation I've had to date) and the mining conditions of the Shadow Thread mines the captured children endured during the Whispering Wars. I definitely noticed a lot of similarities and I cannot wait to write it all out mwahaha
"We covered the boy with a blanket and Astrid set his plank of wood (the one with the wheels) alongside him, tenderly tucking that in too. It had seemed special to him"
Yes, they just tucked a skateboard into bed. I laughed so hard. In their defense, they had never seen one before lol
pg. 24 of The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere by Jaclyn Moriarty
audiobook fangirling
The narrator for Oscar's chapters is Australian. Just like Oscar. I am so happy rn.
The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere by Jaclyn Moriarty
dreams of fanart
so. I can’t really draw. I want to learn, but that isn’t relevant to this complaint. Basically I just desperately wish I could draw pictures of all of these beautiful scenes and people but I know I would be disappointed if I tried? I just want to draw fanart of Kingdoms and Empires by Jaclyn Moriarty
Anyways I’m working on digitally coloring an illustration in the first book. Just kinda teaching myself, ig? It’s fun. Who knows when I’ll be satisfied with it though! Lol
It’s pretty cool that magic works without the threads now. Kinda like how money used to have actual worth when it was gold coins but now we trust paper to certify wealth or whatever money is?
Bronte says that mages somehow learned how to do the spells without the actual thread—though they can see the thread in their minds!
I also think the thread itself only has powers if a mage with matching speciality uses it. Like a True Mage could never use Shadow Thread to do any kind of magic, because shadow thread can only do shadow magic and only if a Shadow Mage is using it.
book title abbreviations
I think the abbreviations are funny. Also kind of useful?
EIABM or tEIAoBM- The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone
SAWW or tSAtotWW (American title is tWW) - The Slightly Alarming Tale of the Whispering Wars
SPC or tSPoC- The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst
ACOE or tACoOfE - The Astonishing Chronicles of Oscar from Elsewhere
ISLV or tISoLV (American title is tSoLV or SLV) - The Impossible Secret of Lillian Velvet
silly character names
My mom and I's favorite names in the Kingdoms and Empires series that we like to say out loud because they make us giggle:
Snatty Ra-Ra
Ronaldo C. Torrington
Jonathan J. Lanyard
I guess I just have to learn how to draw!! ha. haha. hah.
what it feels like to be in a small fandom with little to no fanart or fanfiction
Guide to the thread magic of the Kingdoms and Empires series by Jaclyn Moriarty
Colors of thread: | Name of thread/magic:
red and black | shadow thread/magic, dark magic
green and gold | binding thread, spellbinding
blue and silver | bright thread/magic, true magic
Librarians rock!
I just realized today that librarians have saved the day at least 4 times in kingdoms and empires so far, here is how:
The librarian on Lantern Island (who is unnamed) encourages Bronte while she researches a way to clear her Aunt Emma from jail just as Bronte is about to give up by giving her a plate of cookies :) letting Bronte find a key piece of evidence!
The librarian on Lantern Island later finds Bronte the contact information for Ronaldo C. Torrington, leading to the reunion of Bronte's Aunt Carrie and her long-lost lover, who she marries!
Carlos, the librarian at Katherine Valley Middle School, helps Esther find the books about magic that she eventually uses to defend her school against Shadow Mages even without Spellbinding (because she is very smart, brave, and practical).
Carlos later gives Esther a stack of books about Horseshoe Island Ogres, giving her information that exposes her teacher, the malicious Mrs. Pollock, as an evil ogre and saves Esther's class from Mrs. Pollock's insidious manipulation!
"Aunt Carrie rolled her eyes. "My point, Esther, is that I forbid you to say even one more time--" She paused and echoed my words angrily: "I'm just Esther.""
The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst by Jaclyn Moriarty, page 351.
If I had a nickel for every time the rules of ancient magic are lost to time and become only the realm of the isolated academic despite once being known by everyone, and when the magic returns no one believes it except for the few people who have been chosen by the magic already and the specialized scholars, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't very much, but it's still kinda weird that it happened twice, yeah?
p.s. It’s in two of my favorite books, The Stolen Prince of Cloudburst by Jaclyn Moriarty and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
¡¡spoilery thoughts!!
SPOILERS FOR BOOK 5
The Secret of Lillian Velvet by Jaclyn Moriarty
Every action that the Mettlestones have taken has been so important to the world that without them it would be an apocalypse. They are so powerful 🥺 and brave 🥺 especially Bronte and Esther 🥺 but mostly Lillian 😭 she is pure starlight and I cry about how much I love her. frequently
in praise of worldbuilding
Sterling silver foxes. That’s all.
“I was ten years old when my parents were killed by pirates. This did not bother me as much as you might think—I hardly knew my parents.”
and this isn’t even in the top 10 funniest lines of the chapter but it’s somehow also one of the best first sentences I’ve ever read?!!!
The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty, everyone. Please read it.
Bronte Mettlestone/Alejandro the ex-pirate is my Kingdoms and Empires OTP, but I also really love Imogen and Oscar. They are all just kids rn but I love imagining them all grown up and supporting each other!
bronte mettlestone series
—formally known as the Kingdoms and Empires series by Jaclyn Moriarty—is one of my new favorite series and I cannot find any hint of a fandom online. So I guess I’ll just see if I can start it/find it? Hello ppl? Are you out there??
These are true.
