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beeblackburn · 3 years

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The First Law for the fandom ask! 😁

The first character I ever fell in love with: In hindsight, Logen Ninefingers, given how much he eviscerates his character trope so completely even then, but in the immediate, at the time, sense? The moment Sand dan Glokta first complained about the steps, my heart was gripped and it took awhile.

A character that I used to love/like, but now do not: On a personal level, too many to count, everyone’s either such a piece of shit or were written sympathetically enough before Abercrombie knocked the pedestal off them in this series. That being said, Sand dan Glokta. I still really like him, partly thanks to The Trouble with Peace and one hell of a choice scene, but after what he did near the end of Last Argument of Kings, and revising the series, I can’t help, but realize what I liked about him was the potential that he’d grow a heart and stop doing awful things, and him doubling down at the end was disappointing, if not surprising.

A ship that I used to love/like, but now do not: Jezal/Ardee. It was cute when I first read it, and I generally think Jezal had enough strength of character to try to do right by her, if the kingmaking business hadn’t been a thing, but I think it’s super telling that, upon being king, he thought about making her his mistress instead of realizing that wouldn’t have placated Ardee and she’d be bitter about the broken promise. In the end, they never fully knew each other, Jezal never knew the full extent of Ardee’s past, and what attracted them to each other was the dream of something better rather than anything substantial. I pity them, but they absolutely wouldn’t have worked out like Glokta/Ardee ended up doing.

My ultimate favorite character™: Logen “The Bloody-Nine” Ninefingers. But Black Calder and Crown Prince Orso are really close behind and they could easily climb overhead Logen with The Wisdom of Crowds. I’m expecting it with Crown Prince Orso, depending on how his character goes.

Prettiest character: Probably Crown Prince Orso? I know Leo dan Brock, Jappo mon Rogont Murcatto, and Stour Nightfall (though Jappo and Stour’s more my type) are objectively more handsome, but I like a little pudge in my handsome boys and Orso’s got that while having a prettier personality.

My most hated character: Collem West, easily, but I think Malacus Quai could've been better, character-wise.

My OTP: Everyone/Therapy. Seriously, Shy/Temple. Abercrombie can write some really sweet couples for such a self-professed cynic, given Calder/Seff, Bethod/Ursi, and Shenkt/Vitari.

My NOTP: Bayaz/Power. Seriously, Shev/Carcolf. Shev, please stop going after someone you know is toxic. Walk away and close that door forever. You deserve so much better, you gay babe.

Favorite episode: Red Country or The Heroes.

Red Country has such a somber tone of bittersweet past and longing for redemption that I just ate up and broke my heart against. Lamb, Temple, Cosca, Shivers, Shy and the Felllowship, so many people want to do better from their pasts like in his past books but this time, maybe, just maybe, Abercrombie lets some of them win against their inner demons. It’s such a haunting book, men with the ghosts of their pasts hanging around them and the inevitability of changing times creeping onto them as they trek the Near and Far Country.

The Heroes is basically a typical cookie-cutter war story except it’s Abercrombie writing it. The entire Northern subplot of The First Law distilled into a narratively and thematically tight book, with some tremendously strong supporting characters, some of my favorite POVs (PRINCE CALDER! FINREE DAN BROCK! BREMER DAN GORST!) and carrying some of my favorite scenes of the entire series! It’s such a treat and I’ve loved each and all of my five rereads. This book puts all other war stories to shame for not even coming close.

Saddest death: Count Foscar (Monza relating him to the boy Benna was, laughing in the wheat, breaks me every time). Antaup (how dare you take a chapter to establish how heartbreaking a cock-blocker’s death would be, Abercrombie!), Tul Duru Thunderhead and Scale Ironhand. Oh, those hurt. Those hurt so much. And, despite how much of a shithead he was, Nicomo Cosca’s death hit me surprisingly hard. Sad and pathetic and broken.

Favorite season: Tricky. Because The Great Leveller and The Age of Madness have my favorite books in the entire series and the former’s got The Heroes and Red Country... but it’s also got Best Served Cold, which was I admittedly colder (heh) on. I’ll take the bullet that it’s a me problem and it’s still a fundamentally well-written book. The latter’s got A Little Hatred, which was a far better The Blade Itself in some ways, and, especially The Trouble with Peace, which was a roller-goddamn-coaster of a book with absolutely some of my favorite material by far. I’d say The Great Leveller for now, but I’m holding my breath on The Age of Madness usurping The Great Leveller in the end, given The Wisdom of Crowds sounds like it’s getting into all the revolutionary and freaky stuff I love about the trilogy, a relentless inferno for society and the soul.

Least favorite season: Look, I love every book in the Circle of the World, but The First Law was the result of Abercrombie stretching his legs for the first time, writing-wise, and it shows. Logen’s wife and children never fully breathe as a necessary part of him and his early magic shows growing pains in Abercrombie’s writing, West’s material isn’t as incisive a character deconstruction as it could’ve been (dude should’ve been more insidiously a piece of shit in his mind to subvert his “good commoner” trope), Dogman’s only gets by himself particularly interesting at the leg end of Last Argument of Kings, and Craw does his character better I’d say, Cathil and Ferro were underwritten (though I think Ferro’s got interesting stuff in her POV), and everything to do with Terez. Just. That. Ugh. The writing bones are solid and the main trio, Logen, Glokta, and Jezal, are all wonderful POVs, but I think it’s safe to say The First Law is Abercrombie’s freshmen writing, compared to his more affecting material in The Great Leveller and The Age of Madness.

Character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: ... Shivers? I do love him in The Heroes, Red Country, and The Age of Madness, but it always drives me a little crazy how much Shivers’ worsening moral decline is linked to Monza fucking Rogont and not him instead, making him out to be an entitled hyper-jealous asshole, and I ended up being disgusted by him. Add in the fact that he knew what he was getting into when he took a violent job and kept going, despite at least two targets, and kept caving into Monza’s higher payments, Shivers was always a piece of shit in his own right. He fell, he wasn’t pushed by Monza. I like enough of Shivers’ Best Served Cold material, but I just like his later material far more, even if I respect his earlier journey.

That being said, if he sacrifices himself for Rikke’s life in The Wisdom of Crowds, I’m going to rescind all this, because that’s the sort of perfect grace note to the anti-Logen and paaaaaaaaaaaaain. So let’s just go with Threetrees because, by god, he’s a relative snooze compared to the other “straight edges” of the series.

My ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: This could define almost anyone in this series, frankly. I guess Logen or Gorst? I really love their material, but they both definitely belong in a landfill.

My ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Can it be anyone but Crown Prince Orso? Dude’s the only one in this world who thinks “there’s a moral question” to rulership aloud to another and isn’t homophobic, racist, or sexist (looking at you, Leo). Even Calder’s got murdering Forley and Reachey in his dark deeds and Temple’s spent years helping Cosca, which... shudders.

My ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: Monza/Shivers. It’s got some good material and I really hope they can make peace in The Wisdom of Crowds, but also *waves hands* everything else about them, honestly. God, they really did both suck to each other.

Also, Leo/Stour. It’s so wrong, yet so right. I don’t even know if it’d be hate-fucking if they got together at this point, but these two morrions deserve each other.

My ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Jurand/Glaward, Rikke/Orso, and Cas/Vick? They’re pretty cute and could easily give each other some happiness, I feel.

#the first law #the age of madness #the great leveller #joe abercrombie

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xillionart · 3 years

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@vera-dauriac tagged me for “last five” (thanks <3) but the last few months I’ve been too busy to read/watch anything for recreation.... so I did the fandom asks instead haha.

Have some unpopular opinions re Orso/Rikke & Ardee I guessヽ(；▽；)ノ

· the first character i ever fell in love with: Glokta. 10 pages into TBI, after finishing his very first POV, I knew I’d be doomed.

· a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: Ardee, sadly. After TTWP, after how seeing how she interacted with Savine who was in an extreme similar situation with her in her youth, I realized I didn’t know her, not really. I should have foreseen it, but somehow I didn’t and couldn’t. Sigh...

· a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Jezardee, for the very reason above. Maybe TWOC will rekindle my shippy melancholy, who knows?

· my ultimate favorite character™: West & Glokta, if you make me choose I’d shoot you.

· prettiest character: Colonel!Glokta. The prettiest is always the irrecoverable, the destructible.

· my most hated character: none. I expected to say Bayaz here, but not quite so. He is more a natural force to me, something like wind or water or a personified destiny.

· my OTP: West/Glokta, but i think for now Orso/Jappo is closely following behind. Gosh, I almost forget how invested I can be with Abercombian slash............

· my NOTP: if I have to pick one, Orso/Rikke probably. I was, basically like, what? It was just tooooooo plot convenient (is this the right word?), felt like I was watching a cheap show where two characters suddenly jump into a bed because there hasn’t been any bedroom scene for 7 episodes which is unforgivable. I love how Rikke/Leo was written because it showcased both Rikke’s and Leo’s personalities so well, but for now, I don’t see much significance of Orso/Rikke other than constrasting with Leo/Savine, and even than constrasting can be portrayed in ways other than sex. (Okay, obviously this is my ACE ass talking.) I do love Rikke’s dynamic with Orso, just not this way.

· saddest death: I should say jezal, but rather than ALH, I feel Jezal’s death already happened at the end of LAOK. Who we read afterwards is but a ghost.

· favorite book: LAOK, TTWP closely behind

· least favorite book: Red Country, I can’t remember most plots of it right now....

· character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: wait, who is Whirrum????????

· my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Doesn’t this kind of describe every character? *snort* - I’d keep Vera’s line here. I’d pick Savine for this ask because of her degree of trashiness.

· my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: Orsoヽ(；▽；)ノヽ(；▽；)ノヽ(；▽；)ノ

· my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: as a pioneer in shipping Ganmark/Benna...

· my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: Casamir Junior/Victarine. I discover this ship when writing Orso/Jappo lol as super wonderful cameos, you know, King’s Man/Woman: Secret Services Σ（ﾟдﾟlll）

#the first law #the age of madness #answer

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xserpx · 3 years

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Crown Prince Orso from The Age of Madness for the character ask, please and thank you! 👀

What I love about them: God's, just about everything. His softness of belly. His insecurities. His intelligence. His optimism. Mostly I think it's his self-awareness that sets him apart from the other characters. Orso is always fully conscious of who he is and the power he has or doesn't have at any particular time. He weighs up possibilities and judges the potential outcome of almost every decision he makes, and by and large he actually aims to provide the best result for the most people - though obviously he frequently runs into the problem that you can't please everyone. It makes him extremely well-adapted to living in the world he does, I think, to be able to see multiple sides of any situation.

What I hate about them: Uh... his love for Savine, maybe? I don't blame him much, but I just don't really know what he sees in her. She's so different from the friends he usually chooses, and considering how well he knows her you'd think he'd realise how toxic she is. But I guess you can't always choose who you fall in love with.

Favorite Moment/Quote: Just the way Orso verbally murdered Leo in Common Ground. Now that was the King's fucking Justice. Loved every damn second of it.

What I would like to see more focus on: I don't want Orso to lose his optimism or sensitivity. I kind of feel like he will have to become more ruthless in the last book, just by dint of everyone wanting him dead, but ideally I want him to be the anti-Rikke, refusing to make his heart a stone in spite of the deck being stacked against him. I also really want to see Orso having to live amongst commoners in the mean streets of Adua, contrasting with Savine in Valbeck, maybe? I think he'd do much better in that kind of situation than she did, although like her I think it wouldn't necessarily be a learning curve, and if anything it would cement his desire to maintain his status as King of the Union.

What I would like to see less focus on: I'm not too fussed about Orso's love life. I don't want him to get his heart broken again :(

Favorite pairing with: Rikke, but I also definitely support Orso/Jappo.

Favorite friendship: Jappo or Hildi, I really can't choose.

NOTP: Savine.

Favorite headcanon: Despite happily defining himself as heterosexual, Orso has definitely had sex with men, and he doesn't mind it. There's no way Terez's son hasn't questioned his sexuality, especially considering his reputation as a King who fucks anything and everything. The best rumours are rooted in truth, after all.

#pretenderoftheeast #the first law #the age of madness #orso #the beautiful sun of the union <3

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xserpx · 3 years

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What are your predictions for The Wisdom of Crowds? How bad do you think Abercrombie is gonna hit us? Comparable to the final act of The Last Argument of Kings or worse?

Oh my god, it’s going to be so much worse than Last Argument of Kings. So. Much. Worse.

Especially since this time I think I’m vastly more invested in the characters than I was when I read LAOK. All the old favourites who’re still in play could easily get the chop - Calder, Shivers, Glokta, Finree, and Gorst all have the potential to wreck me - but I also fucking love the new characters, and some of them genuinely deserve to thrive even though the chances of that happening are slim to none.

Some dark as fuck shit that could legit happen:

I think Orso’s death would definitely make me cry, but it’s probably the most likely outcome. Joe Abercrombie is not a merciful man, and all this talk of hangings is uh... unsettling? just a little bit??

Savine could eat her baby. I mean, like that’s just totally on brand for her right now, especially with Zuri by her side. Eater!Savine... jfc, what a terrifying prospect.

Rikke could easily be betrayed by pretty much everyone she’s with right now - the biggest culprits there are the Nail, Clover, and Stour. What the fuck is the Nail’s game btw? Oh my god that boy stresses me out beyond belief. Or, y’know, she could become an evil overlord, swallowed up by her own magic, and just fuck absolutely everyone over. Whatever happens, Shivers is probably gonna suffer a whole lot :(

And Leo’s already lost so much but he could still lose Jurand, or his mother, or his life... and since they’re all faves I doubt I’d be able to get through any of that with dry eyes. I don’t know how Joe Abercrombie can do worse to him than what he did in A Footnote to History, which I struggled to get through honestly it was so damn dark, but like... I wouldn’t put it past him to try.

And that’s the personal scale. What is the Union gonna look like at the end of this? I doubt there’ll be a Union at the end of this. Monza could totally go for the throat. Rikke could unite the North, or she could destroy it completely with backstabbing and mistrust. Progress whomst?

PLUS, Bayaz won’t go down without a fight, and who’s going to fight him? Who’s gonna side with him? Maybe all the good guys are gonna band together to take down the evil master of the universe, but I seriously doubt it. I personally think Bayaz will come out on top, but if he dies I really think whatever follows will be even worse, somehow.

A few good things could also happen.

Shivers meeting Jappo?

Broad wrecking Isher’s entire face.