One of the things that impacted me the most, a long long time ago, was this.

Gideon is big. She is big. Big and masc and lesbian and loves to eat, and that is something cool, something to celebrate.

I am pretty consistent in what I like

And I know Dulcinea is a pretty controversial character

BUT

Well

WELL

Yes, yes, go loud, we’ve all seen it. It’s a classic, it’s iconic, remembering it will leave you crying in three books.

But I’m not here for this, I’m here because Tamsyn Muir does unreliable narration very well.

When you first meet Gideon, everyone is saying how shit she is with a rapier. She hasn’t trained for it, doesn’t like it, for the love of god do not use it lest somebody sees you being an embarrassment to the ninth house.

And you believe it, because Gideon herself is so sure.

And then you see her dueling with Magnus, and winning in three moves. Then you see her going head to head with Naberius, and losing, but not really. “I’d say you are the better duelist, but the ninth is the better fighter.”

And you think holy shit she was good all along. But I thought- but she said-

Turns out that neglecting a vilifying a child for all their life messes up their objectivity. Who would have thought?

So when Gideon fights against Camilla and thinks fuck fuck fuck she’s good what the fuck was that you know she has to be. You’ve seen it this time, you can be sure of what you’ve seen.

But then the second house challenges the sixth and everyone is outraged. How dare you pick on the weakest of the lot? How dare you throw punches with the nerds of the lot, you bully. Look at them, they are scrawny and geeky, they look like librarians.

They are just standing there, in civilian clothes, with a rapier old as balls and a cheese knife as off-hand, looking pathetic and meek. How awful can you be to pick on them?

And you feel confused because Gideon feels confused. Why is everyone so upset? You’ve seen Camilla fight and do cartwheels on a stair case. But everyone is so angry, so you doubt yourself because everyone is telling you one story and so maybe you are the one in the wrong after all?

Then the duel starts, and it’s so satisfying to watch. You were not wrong, after all.

I may have thought about Dulcinea more than once while reading JJK

Like with the treason and all