So, I have been recently going through my subscriptions and canceling things that I haven’t been using. The pandemic has killed my interest in many things, I think this is what we call burnout? And I’m taking this as an opportunity to try new things and see what I like (and maybe save a little money). I’m obviously not abandoning reading or abandoning audiobooks, but I’ve got some credits built…
What if Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother wasn’t a Fairy Godmother? What if she had an even Step-dad instead of an evil Step-mom? What if it’s not a prince at the ball but someone closer to home? What if instead of having a fairy godmother just grant her wish to go to the ball, she makes a deal with a mysterious woman that she can have all she wants with 7 wishes? To put it lightly this is not your…
What I’m Reading Now: Book of Night by Holly Black
There is a trend on #booktok right now asking who are the authors you will always buy their books no matter what they are about. Holly Black is one of those Authors for me. She knows how to tell a story. Especially if it includes Fairies. This is her first Adult book and the synopsis reminds me of my favorite series of hers, The Curse Worker Trilogy. So I’m stoked for this one.
Good: weaponised competence. Fulfill the precise letter of the request so much more thoroughly and extensively than any reasonable person would expect that it becomes actively inconvenient. Produce results that are completely useless for their intended purpose while simultaneously being so rigorously compliant with some plausible interpretation of the instructions you’ve been given as to admit no room for criticism. Go full Evil Genie on their asses.
(To address the notes remarking “this is just malicious compliance”, well, yes, it can be, but it almost never is. In most cases, the objective of malicious compliance is to perform the absolute minimum amount of productive labour that technically satisfies the duties of one’s role. The high-effort version described here is a tool with a very specific purpose, and would be counterproductive in most situations where malicious compliance is ordinarily called for.)
When I was in school a teacher told us that customs agent went on strike by doing their job so thoroughly, stopping and searching every car, that they provoked a massive traffic jam between France and Spain. And none of them stopped working so they weren’t, technically, not working.
This was a delightful little fairy tale if you can call it that. Olivia Prior is an orphan who grew up in a school that does not understand her or tries too. She is not able to speak but she has a lot to say and will not go unheard. Her father died before she was born and only has a diary of her mother that shows her fall more and more into madness. Throughout it tells her Olivia she will be safe…
