#Pseudonymous Bosch

[the-wise-mans-fear]

A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Mysterious Benedict Society, and the Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch were like superwholock for weird little autistic kids who liked to make up secret codes and write messages in invisible ink

[yesmaybenoso]

NEVER did i think i’d find a smaller fandom than the lab rats fandom

[thewhalestoeletters]

[joellalovestoread]

if you haven’t already-read the secret series by Pseudonymous Bosch.

it’s a great time! There’s secrets (duh), chocolate (yum), jokes (ofc), and gloves (beware!!!!!!)

and if you ARE part of the secret series fandom and HAVE read it, reblog to revive the fandom that never truly died. It’s our duty to make this fandom live as long as those in the midnight Sun (side eye).

thank youuuuuuuuuu!!! Now get reading!

[arlothinkstoomuch]

if there are no secret series fans left, I'm dead

[earlgrey-dear]

So I’m finally reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, and it’s revived my obsession with a Thing in books that I don’t know how else to explain than just.. narrators who have Opinions or otherwise interject their knowledge/thoughts/etc into the text. So here’s an incomplete list of more books I’ve read that do this:

Almost anything by Rick Riordan, but particularly the original Percy Jackson series

That weird middle grade Secret Series by Pseudonymous Bosch. I read that series multiple times when I was in middle school

The Black Company by Glen Cook. Tbh I just wanted it over with by the time I finished this series, but some of the narrators made it worth it

Basically anything by Sir Terry Pratchett. He is my comfort author

The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin (although I think this is to a lesser degree in the beginning)

Genre is literally irrelevant. Basically I just want the character to go “this is all fine” and the book to record scratch and the narrator goes “everything was not in fact fine” or otherwise interject and world build. It’s delightful

If people have other recommendations for similar vibes, please

[library-child]

Has anyone realized before that both Max-Ernest and Paul-Clay are named after painters who did weird stuff?

Hieronymus Bosch (1450 - 1516)

Max Ernst (1891 - 1971)

Paul Klee (1879 - 1940)

[3golb-terces]

*Sits up from bed at four in the morning*

Max-Ernest compulsively made sure every hair was the exact length because choosing favorites has been his trauma since birth. The only things he ever had that weren’t his parents’ influence was Cass and chocolate, that’s why he’s so protective of his friends and so addicted to chocolate. He literally had nothing else that wouldn’t trigger his need to mediate

[dragon12335]

I was just thinking about Max-Ernest and Paul Clay in the Secret Series and it hit me... MAX ERNST AND PAUL KLEE. I've read these books like 50 times and never noticed that.

[inmydr3amz]

How am I meant to explain that my favourite book series ever, that includes characters who have been ostracized from society finding family within each other, that includes depictions of child abuse, that includes depictions of broken and unconventional families, that includes depictions of eating disorders, that includes canonly queer characters being treated normally like every other character with no questions asked, that includes imperfect characters with realistic flaws, that provides societal commentary through the never-ending search for eternal beauty and youth, that includes depictions of child grooming, that includes depictions of child slavery, that includes depictions of literal cults, and includes one of my favourite and one of the slowest and sweetest slowburns ever is a literal children's comedy book series?

[thattripleabattery]

I love books that are written from the 2nd person where the author just pauses the story to trauma dump on the reader

[constantly-rainning]

My Secret Series Headcannons (because I've loved this series since I was a kid)

Cass is demiromantic/sexual. She thought something was wrong with her when she was a kid because everything on the movies and in books were talking about love, and she didn't really understand it. It's partially why she went Survival-Cass (and contributes to her canonical pick-me phase where anything remotely feminine is 'bad'). She eventually falls for Yo-Yoji though, after the two become good friends.

Yo-Yoji is bisexual. His gay awakening was falling for one of his bandmates. He absolutely tells everyone, okay? He's the embodiment of PRIDE. This man used to dye his hair rainbow on pride month before Max-Ernest convinced him to keep it ("Yeah but what about having rainbow all the time? It's not like you're only queer during June. How 'bout that?"). Though Yo-Yoji eventually goes back to dying his hair neon green and black. Yo-Yoji piercings. His parents aren't too happy, but Cass and Max-Ernest think they look great.

Yo-Yoji is absolutely a SoundCloud rapper. Also, his band takes off as a sick punk garage band. They eventually get around to doing tours or Alien's Rock. Yo-Yoji wears Alien's Rock merch in public, and shirts with his face on it, even if it's a little cringe.

Max-Ernst isn't gay, he's Achillean (male version of Sapphic). I absolutely think he'd spend therapy session after therapy session trying to logic down his attraction, but there would be some outliers in past experience that confuses him immensely ("I mean, I thought Ms. Mauvais was pretty, but I can't tell if it's because she's an attractive person or that I find her attractive..."), so to end the debate because his therapist is probably getting tired of him, he settles on Achillean. He's scared to tell Cass and Yo-Yoji, but they accept him with open arms (Yo-Yoji has no idea what it means at first, he just thinks Max-Ernest is part-Greek or something) (Yo-Yoji temporarily wanted to have something greek about him too so he isn't left out).

Owen is fluid in his gender, and sometimes goes by Elowen if he wants. Like, Owen prefers he/him, but other pronouns (even neos!), he's fine with. As long as Owen's being addressed with respect in mind, he's fine. Also, Owen absolutely dresses up for any and every occasion, regardless if it's for the Terces Society or not. Him and Yo-Yoji absolutely bond, and Owen drives Yo-Yoji to pride when Yo-Yoji's parents get too busy also his family isn't the most accepting.

Amber is a lesbian. Her gay awakening? The Skelton Sisters. Change my mind, I dare you (you can't).

Cass and Yo-Yoji are on and off dating. It always feels like the right thing but the wrong time. Maybe there isn't a right time.

The Secret Trio flinch every time they see someone wearing gloves, even if it makes sense with who they are. They always double-check the lunch food to make sure the gloved lunch ladies didn't put something into it. They skirt around construction/manufacturing workers. Max-Ernest can't seem to want to wear the white gloves that are a part of his magician costume.

The Secret Gang have code names for each other! It was groaned upon when max-Ernst brought it up, but Cass and Yo-Yoji eventually start vibing with it, especially Yo-Yoji. Cass is The Orb-acle (reference to the fact that Cassandra could tell the future, much like the Oracle, and the Sound Prism), Max-Ernest is Apollo (bad jokes, spiky hair like the rays of sun, is the god of truth "It's Max-Ernest like Max-Earnest, which basically means truth. How 'bout that?") and Yo-Yoji is Diyonysus (chill dude, chaos maker, is very cool, and has a perfect placement for a pun).

[justmeinabigolworld]

Last night -- actually, this morning, just before I woke up -- I had a really interesting dream that I'd like to make into a story idea sometime (perhaps)

The dream was about a book series that had similar vibes to series like The Secret Series, or A Series of Unfortunate Events, complete with a quirky author/narrator who had a personal stake in the story they were telling; you know, someone along the lines of Pseudonymous Bosch or Lemony Snicket.

In the first book, at the end of the first chapter, everyone has gone to sleep save for one protagonist, who finally asks, "Who are you?"

This reveals that she is aware of the narration, which totally blindsides the narrator. That wasn't supposed to happen. Things get weirder from there on out...

It's also gradually revealed that the author/narrator person, while well-meaning, is biased on a number of subjects, and they don't always know what they're talking about -- in fact, they're outright wrong quite a few times. Sometimes they judge characters based on bad information or a misleading first impression, or sometimes one development occurs when they were expecting the exact opposite. Kinda like an omniscient narrator, except the narrator isn't really omniscient -- they only think they are.

As for the actual plot of the book, I don't remember that much. I'm pretty sure that there were three protagonists or so, all kids, with the main one being the girl who could hear the narrator. She was intelligent, shrewd, and quieter than the others, and I think she had black hair. She and the others were staying in a musty old hotel in a little beach town; they were there because of the owner, a sickly old man, but I don't remember whether he was related to them or having them as guests or what. There was a carnival in town, and I think at least one booth was up to something nefarious.

And many nights, a group of adults would sneak into the hotel's basement after hours for some kind of meeting hosted by the owner. I'm pretty sure the narrator was in favor of these people, but I don't remember what they were actually doing, other than that it was something far less benevolent than the narrator had been led to believe...

Also, at the end of the book, there was a glossary and appendix like there are at the end of Secret Series books. However, there were actually two parts to the appendix: one had activities that involved ripping, folding, writing on, or otherwise altering the pages given, while the other was full of instructions for activities to do if the reader was borrowing the book from a library and couldn't mark the pages. Idk, my dreams are weird sometimes

I really want to make this into a story idea now!! One day i do plan on getting a middle grade novel published. I'm not saying this is the one, but one idea has to be, you know?

[void-bnnuy]

Hyperfixating on this character when I was 11 changed my brain chemistry I think

[dragonsareawesome123]

If I had a nickel for every children’s book series I’ve read about a young boy with daddy issues (well technically big brother issues for one of them but said big brother did end up raising him because their parents suck so still counts) ending up at a summer camp for kids with magic powers, I’d have two nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it happened twice.

[bracketsoffear]

Molly Moon's Incredible Book of Hypnotism (Georgia Byng) "Molly Moon is a British preteen living in a terrible orphanage. Just before her only friend is adopted and moves to America without saying goodbye, she finds a rare book on hypnotism, and gains the ability to hypnotize anyone through eye contact and make them do whatever she wants. She heads off to America to find her friend, hypnotizing people all the way. Meanwhile, a sinister wanna-be hypnotist stalks her… and he is willing to do anything to get the book in his hands.

Sequels deal with further developing psychic powers, including body-hopping, weather control, and even time travel."

The Secret Series (Pseudonymous Bosch) "The series is about two children who are not named Cass and Max-Ernest. Cass is a survivalist, while Max-Ernest has a condition (though no one knows quite what his condition is). One day, they are swept into the dangerous world of the Terces Society and the Midnight Sun…and the Secret.

Features alchemy, the quest for immortality, time travel, a very Lemony narrator, and the exploration of all five senses."