#i get they maybe aren’t as main characters as wylan and jesper but | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

toron0 · 1 year

Text

man I’ve seen a few posts now about wesper being an example of the hypersexualization of queerness and, idk, it sort of doesn’t sit right with me that showing a queer relationship as explicitly sexual is being called inherent hypersexualization? Like in general obviously queerness IS hypersexualized and that is an issue, but as a queer person it was such a lovely thing to have a show not just hint at a queer relationship, not just say ‘these two characters are together and you know that because we said so and maybe let them kiss once’, but allow a queer relationship to take up space and never shy away from making it clear that they ARE together and this IS a sexual relationship *as well as* a romantic one. One of my favourite things about the grishaverse is how queerness is just accepted without being talked about, like I don’t think there’s even one instance of homophobia at any point? And I love that we got to see this relationship on screen, it was such a balm to the soul to see queerness openly depicted and go unpunished. Yes, it’s not at all a slowburn, but it’s good in its own right, and there are definitely still things to explore that could create and maintain tension in the relationship (Wylan’s identity and back story is a big one, but the show also hasn’t gotten too deep into Jesper’s gambling yet, and I feel like they will they’re just saving it; plus the parem storyline could complicate Jesper’s relationship with his Grisha identity in new ways) so that they don’t become boring/irrelevant. It’s safe, it’s lovely, it’s so fucking tender it drives me insane (kit young’s physical acting - Jesper’s hands are so GENTLE with wylan it kills me every time they are so soft.) If you didn’t like it that’s completely fine! You’re allowed to dislike a piece of media lol. But many queer people - and don’t forget these are queer adults not teens - have sex, and it isn’t inherently fetishizing or hypersexualizing to let viewers know that. Esp in a show that explores sexuality in ALL it’s main relationships, the rest of which are between a man and a woman.

(On a slight side note I’d argue that wesper in the books aren’t actually a slow burn anyways, it just feels that way because it takes like one and two thirds of a book to get there, but the actual timeline from strangers to moving in together is like. 3 maybe 4 weeks tops, depending how long the boat journey back from the ice court took - and they didn’t even talk on that journey, just pined. Helnik is established first but they have like a year and a half of history at least, and Kanej have what, 2-3years of history? Wesper canonically speedruns a relationship too it just feels drawn out as readers bc the books themselves only cover 3-4 weeks of time.)

#I’m sorry but meeting as a ons and Jesper not remembering is so fucking funny to me #they’re adults and it felt very in character to me personally #but more importantly it’s just so fucking funny #they also did an amazing job with showing Wylan’s agency #which hopefully will help counteract some of the uwu baby cinnamon roll characterizations out there #and just generally the fandom tendency to infantilize wylan #here we have: two consenting adults #wesper #wylan van eck #Jesper fahey #grishaverse #six of crows #sab s2 #sab spoilers #sab s2 spoilers

634 notes · View notes

lunaajade · 3 years

Text

Everything You Need to Know about “Shadow and Bone” on Netflix (*UPDATED: POSSIBLE LANGUAGE OF THORNS ADAPTATION INFO)

Since it’s recently been confirmed that we’d be getting S&B content in a few days (finally!), I thought I’d compile and summarize as much info as I could to refresh everyone’s memories! Please spread the word/share this post to those who aren’t up to date! (I’ve seen some people online who are worried about how it’s going to turn out, and I’d like to be able to hopefully reassure those people)

Now, there’s a LOT of stuff, so there’s always the chance I missed/forgot something. This post will be split up into categories based on type of info, so here we go! I went back and listened to/watched both of the big live streams (NYCC and the S&B Charity Competition), went on the Grishaverse Reddit, etc. to find as much (extra/bonus) stuff as I could. (If I missed anything/got something wrong, please feel free to leave a comment!)

Update: A lot of people have been asking where it was confirmed we were getting content soon. I found out from one of the update accounts I follow.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

General/Key Info About the Show

-This first season will be adapting both “Shadow and Bone” and what has been dubbed a “Book 0″ (most likely meaning prequel/backstory/set-up) for “Six of Crows” -In relation to the above point, the timelines are being brought together for the show. (Normally in the books, the two series are set two years apart)(We don’t know how exactly or what this means for the story, but I have a really interesting theory that I thought up in relation to this, message me if you’d like to hear it.) -Leigh acknowledges and understands that some of us have doubts and are worried about the show, but she has publicly assured us (numerous times) of how much she loves the show and cast, how well she thinks the crew/writers did in bringing the Grishaverse to life, etc. See a later point below in the Facts/Tidbits section -The first season will have 8, one-hour long episodes -Alina has been made half Shu (half Asian) for the show! Leigh stated that was decided on after she and Eric had a lengthy discussion on Alina’s character. -The main cast (as in confirmed to be in all episodes) is comprised of Jessie Mei Li (as Alina), Archie Renaux (as Mal), Ben Barnes (as the Darkling), Freddy Carter (as Kaz), Amita Suman (as Inej), and Kit Young (as Jesper) -Wylan and Nikolai are NOT in the first season. (Nikolai didn’t appear until the second book, and Leigh confirmed that at this point in the story, the Crows had not met Wylan yet.) -Other cast members include Danielle Galligan (as Nina), Calahan Skogman (as Matthias), Daisy Head (as Genya), Sujaya Dasgupta (as Zoya), Luke Pasqualino (as David), Julian Kostov (as Fedyor), Simon Sears (as Ivan), Zoe Wanamaker (as Baghra), and more! -The Darkling will also be called “General Kirigan” in the show. From what we know, The Darkling will be the “enemy” to Ravka (so in essence, General Kirigan is his alias/fake persona (what he’ll most likely be referred to for most of the show), and no one knows that he’s actually their enemy. (Meaning it’ll most likely a super big moment when they learn their general was actually the Darkling in disguise)). -The show was shot on location in Budapest, Hungary. (And additional filming took place this past fall in Vancouver) -In order, the 8 episodes are titled the following: “A Searing Burst of Light”, “We’re All Someone’s Monster”, “The Making at the Heart of the World”, “Otkazat’sya”, “Show Me Who You Are”, “The Heart is An Arrow”, “The Unsea”, & “No Mourners”.

Other (Fun) Facts/Tidbits About the Show

-Upon seeing Jessie’s audition, Leigh loved her audition/portrayal of Alina so much that she apparently stated that she wanted her to play Alina or she’d be out of the project. She was sent five auditions to watch, Jessie’s was the third, and she said she didn’t bother watching the rest of them. -Leigh stated that she and Eric Heisserer (the creator of the show) said they were on the same page from the first meeting. All other past meetings with producers and companies about possible adaptations had left her with a bad feeling, but she said they’d had the same ideas about inclusion, story, staff, etc. She said she’s loved the respect he’s shown towards the work (and, in a way, to us the fans) -Netflix apparently also has the rights to adapt “The Language of Thorns” , though we’ve gotten no info on that adaptation yet. (UPDATE: I just watched a Leigh Bardugo event from Feb 2019 (a few weeks after the show was first announced, I think): As of that day, she said that she thought that they were going to use LoT more for "texture” (IMO that might mean worldbuilding?) in the show. And I don’t know if she was talking about LoT specifically because she was very vague, but she said that there were certain things in the show that she thinks readers will be really excited about. Again, this was over a year ago, back when they were still in pre-production and stuff, so don’t take my word for it. Besides this, I couldn’t find anything else relating to a possible LoT adaptation. Maybe they’ll have the stories from LoT appear as actual folk tales told in the show, and that’s the “adaptation”? IDK. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpHnw8Ygw5c&t=1906s)) -Leigh is an exec. producer on the show! I’m no expert, so I don’t know how much say/power she had in the process, but she definitely had some. -There is a RAVKAN edition of the “Shadow and Bone” book that Leigh says makes a cameo in the show! -Jesper’s guns had custom etchings done on them by a Hungarian antique gunsmith! (And they were so good that Leigh and Eric said that it looked like it belonged in a museum--they were also described to be quite heavy!) -Eric Heisserer is the creator of the show, he is an award-winning writer, well known for “Arrival”, “Bird Box”, and more. (If I remember correctly, Leigh said that he’d reached out to her about making the show!) -A DeKappel painting (maybe the one owned by Van Eck?) was confirmed to be in the pilot episode. -Pekka Rollins and Tante Heleen have been confirmed to be in the first season, but their casting has (up to this point) not yet been revealed. -Bo Yul-Bayur is confirmed to be in the show! (Though Kuwei has not) -Leigh will have a cameo in (I think) Episode 5! She will be wearing a Materialki kefta and will be opening a door, if I remember correctly. -A lot of the crew was also extremely passionate about the project and fans of the books -The “Lives of Saints” book that was published in October is an actual book/prop that is appearing in the show! -I’m personally fine with Mal, but Leigh says that Archie is going to change everyone’s minds with his portrayal! -The costume designer for the show is Wendy Partridge, known for her work on “Thor: The Dark World”, “Pompeii”, and more! -The composer for the show is Joe Trapanese, known for composing for “The Greatest Showman”, “Straight Outta Compton”, “Lady and the Tramp”, and more! At the NYCC Grishaverse panel, they revealed a little bit of the score (”Grisha Theme”): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFxIEbsHKJA

Fun Cast/On Set Stories/Facts

-The cast all loves each other, and are all extremely passionate about this show, which is great! (Leigh said that on her second visit to the set, she heard them singing together) -Leigh says that Ben Barnes once snuck up behind her on her first day on set and scared her by whispering “Fine, make me your villain” -Freddy’s favorite Grishaverse book is “Six of Crows”, but most specifically the first line of chapter 2 (”Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason.”) -Jessie would apparently come to set on some of her days off to support the cast and crew! -Sujaya has stated that her favorite Grishaverse character is Nikolai! (#Zoyalai) -Freddy has become famous/popular with the fandom, one of the reasons being because he often comments on posts/live streams asking something along the lines of “What was it like working with Freddy Carter? xoxo” -Danielle loves Nina and her journey in “King of Scars” -According to a Tweet, Freddy and Leigh said that there had been a scene with “a very pesky gate”--Freddy said that it “wouldn’t be proper to tweet the expletives [he] used that day” and that he thinks he “scarred” Amita and Eric. -Amita’s favorite thing about Inej is her silence, and her favorite Grishaverse book is “Six of Crows” (as of May, where we learned this during a live-stream, she said she’s read it three times and listened to the audiobook twice.) -There was a waffle truck on set on the last day of shooting! -Calahan says that if he could play any other Grishaverse character, he’d want to play Nikolai! -While she did work with the trainer to get more physically fit, Amita learned most of her knife techniques by herself! -Leigh said she cried a lot while on set! (She said there was one scene they were shooting that she has a very clear, vivid memory of writing many years back--based on the context of which she was talking about it, if I had to guess, I’d guess she’s describing the Winter Fete.) -Leigh also said that on one of her first days on set, it was funny/weird to see all the extras in First Army uniforms chilling on their phones, drinking coffee, etc. -One of Calahan’s favorite character dynamics in the books is the dynamic between Kaz and Matthias -There was a moment where Amita was fully in costume and doing amazing, graceful knife work, only to trip and fall when she’d finished. -Amita and Jessie and Sujaya were best friends on set. -Sujaya loved everything about playing Zoya. (Especially her confidence) -Leigh says one of her favorite props was Kaz’s cane, especially because of what it meant to her and the story. -If he could be any Grisha order, Calahan says he’d want to be a Corporalki -Calahan loves Matthias’s journey/arc. -Kit’s favorite Grishaverse book is “Crooked Kingdom”!

Links

-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X65iI1YXrbU (NYCC Grishaverse Panel) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHou5rVs6o0 (S&B Talent Show Charity Live Stream ft. the S&B Cast!--the IG video got taken down because Archie deleted his IG account and switched to a new one) -https://www.netflix.com/title/80236319 (”Shadow and Bone” on Netflix!) -https://twitter.com/shadowandbone_ (Official “Shadow and Bone” Twitter!) -https://www.instagram.com/shadowandbone/?hl=en (Official “Shadow and Bone” Instagram!) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRh-Pmbynww (Annoucement made by cast when filming wrapped! (can be found on the social media accounts, but here’s a link to YT)) -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bpY8uLtyB4 (A S&B Cast Crack video by HeartPhantom--it highlights a lot of the inside jokes and memes that we’ve gotten to witness among the cast, and also just generally shows off how hilariously chaotic everyone is (this cast is the definition of chaotic good, lol))

139 notes · View notes

enbychuya · 4 years

Text

SEPTEMBER’S RAID

A/N Here is the first part of my fic for @grishaversebigbang

CORPORALKI: @dirtyhandsnet, @jesper-faheyyy, and @softgr3mlin

MATERIALKI: @cla-oh (here!), @corpsecro (art here!), @siloueta, @myghostwontassociate

SUMMARY: Join your favorite Crows in a hilarious adventure full of challenges, stealth, and forty-five million kruge as our main characters gear up for the wildest heist of their lives...AREA 51.

Here’s a link to the fic on Ao3!

[PART ONE UNDER THE CUT]

PART ONE: THE PLAN Kaz Brekker interlaced his gloved hands, staring down the Wylan. “Why should I break into Area 51 for you? I don’t see a benefit.” Wylan shifted his weight. “Well, we could get the gang moving again. It’s been a while since we’ve been together. Also, I’ll give you money.” “How much?” He narrowed his eyes. “How does forty million kruge sound?” “Delightful. Make it fifty, and then we’ll talk.” “My father gave you thirty for breaking into the Ice Court!” Wylan protested. “It’s your business offer. I’ll fold. A bit. Forty-five, and you need to contact Nina and Inej.” He nearly choked. “But we haven’t heard from Inej since she left.” “You haven’t. Make it happen, or there won’t be a heist.” Kaz stood from his desk chair, crow-headed cane already firmly in his hand. “I just thought you could do it because I didn’t think anyone else could.” Everything came out in one breath. “And it would be fucking cool to find out if aliens exist.” “It’s a challenge, I know that much. But for forty-five million kruge…” His facial expression had shifted to one Wylan knew quite well. Scheming face. “I need you and that boyfriend of yours. We have a heist to pull off.” ~~~ Inej Ghafa, Dirtyhands’ former spider, had unsheathed her knives yet again. She had captured the captain of a slave ship, and now his blood would spill on the deck as payment for the passage. Assigning one of her crewmates to man the ship, she crept down to the hold, freeing everyone. They could sail back to where they came from, or become a part of her crew. It was a choice, and an interesting one. She didn’t see the seagull at first until it dropped an envelope on the deck of the ship. She turned, curious. A perfect black seal with a crow’s head. She opened the envelope, and finding, in Jesper’s perfect scrawl, a letter, and a single dried flower. She unfurled it curiously. ‘Hi, Inej! No, you need to make it more formal! Okay, okay, fine. Dearest Inej, Kaz wants you to- THAT’S TOO ABRUPT! Okay, well, how about, you dictate, and I’ll write, merch? I thought we were already doing that!’ Inej had to laugh. That was definitely Wylan and Jesper. She missed watching them argue and drive each other wild. She continued to read, wondering what the couple had to say. Dearest Inej, we, Wylan and Jesper, and absolutely nobody else, would like to request for you to come back to Kerch for a job. Wylan, you have to mention Kaz at some point. Fine, Kaz wants you for another job and wanted us to tell you. We’re breaking into Area 51, but we need a way to get to the Southern Colonies. I thought we could perhaps get a boat from our favorite deadly captain? We’ll make it quick, we promise. Yeah, it was Jes’s idea to see if aliens exist. Also, we’re paying Kaz 45 million kruge so we kinda really need you to agree to this…’ Inej chuckled, watching their conversation heat up. Wow, 45 million kruge? She could buy a fleet of ships for that. It was a rather enticing proposal, and she DID want to see Nina and the gang again. And Kaz. Oh, saints, Kaz Brekker. Could she really stand two weeks on board her ship with the insufferable schemer? She thought of how he had found her family again, and how they had left off. Maybe she could. All she needed was an idea. Inej went to her quarters on the ship, plucking a pen off her desk, and dashed back a reply. I’ll be in the harbor by sundown tomorrow. ~~~

Nina woke to a letter, which had somehow found its way to her, in the middle of Ravka. She was traveling to go see Matthias, who was now living near Os Kervo. She had gone back to The Little Palace to seek training for her newfound powers and to separate herself from the dangerous drug that was jurda parem, and it had mostly succeeded. She still felt the empty cravings sometimes, burning her from the inside out, but not of the magnitude she had the first few weeks. She opened the letter cautiously, hoping it was something from Matthias. Nina was only mildly disappointed when she realized it was Jesper’s tidy lettering and not the penmanship of her boyfriend. Nina, darling, we’d love to have you back in Ketterdam for a heist (read: Wylan made an irresponsible financial decision and now we’re going to Area 51 with Kaz and we need you). Anyway, bring Matthias, we’ll meet you at the harbor in Os Kervo with Inej if our plan goes well. Oh, and if you need an incentive, we’re paying Kaz forty-five million kruge and splitting it. And yes, I will buy you all the waffles you could possibly eat. She laughed a bit, Jesper’s humor still evident, even in writing form. She was quite partial to Kerch waffles, though, and it wouldn’t hurt to see her friends again. See you in Ravka! xoxo Jesper and Wylan. Nina smiled slightly. Of course, she would go visit Wylan and Jesper, and she was sure Matthias wouldn’t mind coming, too. But a little twinge of doubt struck her. What if she still wasn’t powerful enough to be useful? No. She had spread the plague without her old powers and helped save Kuwei Yul-Bo from being hunted. She could do this. Besides, her friends wouldn’t care if she could still crush someone’s windpipe or drop their pulse, just if she stayed alive. She was glad to be near Kribirsk, but the idea of crossing what had used to be the Unsea still made her uneasy. Who knew if the Darkling would be back? She continued on, determination burning in her chest. After the Ice Court, she felt like Area 51 would be a piece of cake. One last heist, if only for old times’ sake. She figured she would write back as soon as she was able, but she still had to worry about getting to Os Kervo safely. It would take her a few days until she reached it, but the road from Kribirsk would take her right to it. ~~~ Jesper paced anxiously, waiting for the replies from Nina, Matthias, and Inej. Wylan was sprawled on one of the chairs in the living room, watching his boyfriend carefully. “I’m sure it’ll be fine, Jes. Kaz said-” “Kaz says a lot of things, merchling. Whether or not he means them is another story. I don’t think even he can predict how Nina and Inej will react to the letters. We basically commanded them to come.” “I know, Jesper. I think Nina will be excited, especially since you promised waffles. Inej, well, she’s free now, but she is going to steer the ship.” He stood, and took Jesper’s hand. “Like most of Kaz’s plans, this one is bound to succeed.” The letter from Inej swept gracefully onto the floor from the leg of a passing crow, and Jesper picked it up. He scanned the single line, brow furrowing before he broke into a grin. “‘I’ll be in the harbor by sundown tomorrow.’” He read it excitedly. “We have to let Kaz know. I’ll bet he’ll want to see her.” “And I’ll bet that there’s gonna be tension of some sort. Let’s hope things aren’t batshit crazy, we ARE going to sail for two weeks.” “I thought we were going to the Southern Colonies.” Jesper’s shoulders had relaxed and he stopped pacing. “That’s where Area 51 is, isn’t it?” It was Wylan’s turn to fidget. “Actually, I’m not quite sure where it is. Kaz just said we’d be going. It’s probably past the Southern Colonies, in some remote place we don’t know.” “I think it’s called Nevada, and it’s definitely a place people know.” Wylan laughed. “I know, Nevada has a lot of people. I just mean Area 51 as a whole, it’s in a remote spot of Nevada. I hope Kaz has a simple plan.” “When does Kaz ever have a simple plan?” “Touché.” Jesper settled on the couch near Wylan, his leg bouncing slightly. “We need to let Kaz know, though. He was starting to make an alternative plan,” Wylan said sensibly. “For forty-five million kruge, Kaz will make hundreds of plans.” Wylan smirked. “Who’s telling Kaz that Inej said yes?” “Whoever didn’t promise Nina all the waffles she could eat,” Jesper grinned. “I AM the one who’s paying Kaz. I suppose it’s best I do it,” Wylan relented. “No mourners,” Jesper murmured. “No funerals,” Wylan finished.

#grishabigbang #gvbbcreation #i'm sorry about getting this up after the deadline tides please don't murder me xoxo love you

27 notes · View notes

blakeseptember · 5 years

Text

LGBT rep and why the way it's done bothers me

Listen. I love the fact that representation in books and television has become such a big deal lately, but can I just please rant about how goddamn annoying it is that queer people are always the side characters?

Let's set the scene. Hetero, cis, usually white main character is our hero. Maybe our story is told from two perspectives, or it just has two characters that rise over the rest. Maybe we have a boy and a girl, who are both heros, who both fight, and laugh, and fall in love. We've read this story a hundred times. I could name a hundred books like this.

But now we've got this representation ploywhere we've still got our hetero leads, but hey, now there's a side character who's just your standard gay stereotype!!! There's a chance you'll get a queer character as the mc in only a couple of scenarios: there's more than two point of view characters, or the book revolves around being gay.

God god god I am so SICK of never seeing myself represented in a main character. I'm sick of only getting side characters suffering for lack of development and an evident lack of understanding of what queerness is. I'm sick of having to read Gay Books™️ (of which there aren't many, but it's better than nothing) just to get a POV queer character. I'm sick of straight characters being queercoded to lure us in, and then it just being like "boom they're actually hetero surprise ✨"

I can think of only a few books that I've encountered where it's not a Gay Book™️ but it still has POV queer characters. I mean, Leigh Bardugo has Jesper and Wylan and Nina and I love her for it. Hank Green wrote a bi female protagonist in An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. Adam Silvera is publishing a fantasy book next January that will have queer main characters. There's a few more, but not that many, guys.

I'm sick of being the afterthought.

It's a start, but I'm so tired of having to actively seek out books with queer characters that aren't always sidelined, or that don't only show up every few chapters.

Give me lesbian space pirates!!! Nonbinary dragon riders!! Asexual demon hunters!! Agender shapeshifters! Pansexual wizards and demisexual assassins and magical kingdoms ruled by two queens and transgender knights and aromantic thieves and please, for the love of god, stop limiting representation to white, gay men. Theres such a vast and interesting array of sexualities and gender identities and there are so many incredible characters who haven't been made yet because so many people are too afraid to go beyond "gay" or maybe "lesbian" or maybe, just maybe "bisexual" every blue moon.

I don't want to be a side character to my hetero friend's magical quest. I want that quest to be mine. I want queer kids to see queer heroes and think "That can be me too."

#gay #lesbian #lgbtq #lgbtq community #lgbti #lgbt #books #fandom #representation #characters #asexual #aromantic #pansexual #demisexual #agender #nonbinary #also give me queer book recommendations i need some more gay characters now plz

19 notes · View notes

elliepassmore · 5 years

Text

Six of Crows Review

5/5 stars Recommended for people who like: fantasy, multiple POVs, heist stories, morally grey characters, diversity

Bardugo's writing has definitely improved between writing the Grisha Trilogy and this duology. There's more diversity of character, better plot continuity, and the stakes feel higher. Not to mention, the world building re: Kerch and Fjerda is amazing.

The novel starts being narrated by a young member of the city guard, and it's here we're introduced to the thing driving the plot: jurda parem. Parem can make Grisha--magic-users, for those who didn't read the Grisha trilogy first (you don't need to and I don't recommend it)--do fantastic, impossible things. Of course, this means the government wants Parem to be kept under wraps. Enter the Dregs, a street gang led by Kaz Brekker, the antihero (antivillian?) with a bum leg and a knack for getting out of tight spots. The Dregs are hired to break into the most secure place in the world, the Fjerdan Ice Court, and kidnap the scientist who invented Parem, bring him back to Ketterdam, and hand him over to the Council to keep him hidden. It's a fascinating set-up. A street-gang performing a high risk heist to kidnap a scientist? Sign me up. But beyond that, the plot opens up so many of the doors Bardugo utilizes for character-arcs and world-building.

Kaz Brekker is not a hero and he's definitely not the sort of person you'd want to run into...probably ever. In the slums of Ketterdam, referred to in the novel as the 'Barrel,' he's known as Dirtyhands. He's a master lock pick and practically leads the Dregs. Due to an accident a few years before the novel starts, he also walks with a cane and a perpetual limp. He's questionably moral, with the question more being 'does he have any?' more than 'you need to reevaluate that particular moral gap.' That's not to say he's necessarily a bad guy--albeit most of what he does is for money and revenge, but--he is one of the protagonists of the story, and he clearly cares for the members of his gang, even if he 1) doesn't show it, and 2) gets frustrated with them a lot. In the beginning of the story he definitely comes across as more uncaring than toward the end, and we sort of get to know why as the book progresses.

Inej Ghafa is a spy for the Dregs, contracted to them after Kaz got her out of a rough situation in one of the pleasure houses, which left some obvious trauma--this all occurs before the novel begins. She's one of the characters with the most straight morals. She's an ex-Suli acrobat who grew up in Ravka before she was kidnapped and brought to Ketterdam, and she uses those skills to scale walls, run across rooftops, and do otherwise gravity-defying tasks for the Dregs. Inej might be my favorite character of the bunch. She doesn't want to kill people, but she's unafraid to when it comes down to it, and has a collection of knives she named after Suli Saints. Her character growth in this book goes from 'not sure what I'll do with my life after this heist' (which will give each member $4 million) to following a Suli proverb "the heart is an arrow. It demands aim to land true" (311) and deciding she wants to hunt slavers.

Jesper Fahey is a Zemeni sharpshooter for the Dregs and a notorious gambler more adept at losing than winning. As good as he is with guns, he gets the group into a bit of trouble with the latter bit. Jesper always feels the need to move and the feeling he gets shooting or gambling helps fulfill that need. Despite the trouble, Jesper also saves the group several times using his sharpshooting skills. He's also hilarious and has a pretty big heart, he worries and asks after each of the characters, and I really like his relationships with the others. Bardugo definitely wrote him caring about others well, showing that sometimes there are fault lines in that, such as how he cares so much about Kaz and what he thinks that it sometimes impacts how he feels about himself or when he's so worried about *SEMI-SPOILER* Inej *SEMI-SPOILER END* after they're shot he can barely stand to be in the same room until they're recovered almost completely. There's a secret Jesper is holding onto that largely drives his arc in this book. Admittedly, his arc is more static than the others in this book, it mainly sets up for the complete arc in the second one.

Nina Zenik is a Heartrender Grisha from Ravka who made some bad decisions that landed her working for the Dregs in Ketterdam. She's the most bubbly of the group and loves to eat. A lot of her actions are driven by either trying to right her wrongs or trying to protect her country and people; so she's not exactly moral but she's definitely righteous. She's also a really funny character and the only one who really continuously, blatantly challenges Kaz throughout the novel, though the other characters do so in more subtle ways. I feel that a lot of the success of the heist ties into Nina and her abilities. For one, she has to be able to use her abilities to break in/out of a prison, make Matthias look like someone else, to erase the identifying gang tattoos some of the group has, subdue prison guards, subdue regular guards, basically take out an entire army, and *SPOILER* disguise Wylan *SPOILER END*. She does most of it without complaint, though that's not to say she's a pushover, she's definitely strong willed and opinionated, which, as stated earlier, means she's not worried about challenging the different characters' opinions and actions. A lot of her arc also occurs in the second novel and not so much this one.

Wylan Van Eck is their Ketterdam-born demolitions expert and bargaining chip. He's also decent with drawing and coming up with ideas on the sly. Wylan is definitely the baby of the group in terms of experience, but he makes up for it in his quick-thinking and seeming infinite supply of explosive materials. Surprisingly, despite his lack of a criminal upbringing and being the newest to the group, he doesn't really have many qualms about a lot of what occurs, though when he does he raises a bit of a ruckus about it. That seems to be his main arc in this book, and it's relatively easy to track; in the beginning, he has quite a few issues with pick-pocketing, but later on he's the one to suggest to Jesper to wake up guards before they kill them if it'll make the other boy feel better about it. It's not so much a devolution of morals as much as a rearranging of morals, so to say.

Finally, Matthias Helvar the Fjerdan ex-drüskelle (Grisha hunter) and the crew's way to know Ice Court. Matthias maybe has the most character growth out of all of them. He goes from essentially being a ranked murderer to someone who understands Grisha aren't evil and that the hate spouted by the drüskellen order is wrong. He's another character who has a strong moral compass, though his comes off as more righteous and 'look down my nose' than Inej's does. He comes off as cruel in the beginning, but almost immediately it's obvious he has a heart and a conscience under the drüskellen mask--at least for anyone not Grisha.

The relationships between the characters are all complicated, which makes them feel real. The way they bump and sharpen each other's edges and then soothing them back down makes them feel very much like a family, even though some of them--Wylan and Matthias--are newer members. Each of the characters also has their own intricacies and tics. Each of them also offers great representation for readers--Jesper is black and has ADHD and is bi, Inej is portrayed as looking Arabic or Persian and has PTSD, Nina is fat and also likely bi, Wylan has dyslexia and gay, Kaz walks with a permanent limp and is touch-averse (likely has PTSD too), Matthias has to fight against the hate that was taught to him, and the semi-surprise character who comes in later is portrayed as being East Asian, likely Chinese or Korean--and it's all written as being normal.

Bardugo also did a good job of building Ketterdam and Fjerda as a world I could see and rules I could understand. The way the Barrel was described allowed me to really be in the moment with the characters when they were at the docks or the Slat (Dreg HQ), that I could feel the chill of the ice in Fjerda or the fear of being in the Ice Court prison. You can also tell, from the way Bardugo built the places and the languages, that she paid a lot of attention to history and real countries and languages when creating the world of SoC. Kerch, the language, is loosely based on an older form of Dutch, and Ketterdam is based on pre-/ante-Industrial Revolution trading cities of the Netherlands. Fjerda is likely based on the Nordic countries, though I couldn't begin to say which language Fjerdan resembles, maybe a mix of them. Anyway, the point is that the world feels real, as if you could really crack open a textbook and read about Kerch or Fjerda alongside countries like France and Germany.

The characters were obviously a driving point of the story, but that's not to say there isn't plenty of action, because there is. Likewise, the plot is well thought out and has plenty of twists and turns to keep readers interested and guessing, though you might guess some of the things that occur beforehand.

97 notes · View notes

astralbooks · 6 years

Text

Top 5 Wednesday - Favourite M/M Couples

your favourite dudes loving dudes. they don’t necessarily have to be gay, they can be bi or pan or smth else

nowhere in the prompt did it say they have to be completely 100% unambiguously canon so not all of these will be, but i’ll say which ones aren’t

1. cecil palmer / carlos - welcome to night vale series - joseph fink & jeffery cranor

tbf, their relationship isn’t the focus of these books because they aren’t the main characters, but it’s still very present. more so in the second one, as carlos plays a larger role there. i’ve been listening to the podcast for years so these two mean a lot to me. and they’re married !! they’re actually a married couple !!! i still get really happy when i think about it

2. jesper fahey / wylan van eck - six of crows duology - leigh bardugo

the playful flirting was always going to escalate. and honestly, in a series where the other couples use dramatic turns of phrase to talk about their feelings, jesper’s ‘maybe i liked your stupid face’ is ICONIC

3. nick nelson / charlie spring - solitaire / heartstopper - alice oseman

heartstopper is a prequel webcomic to alice oseman’s debut novel. if anything, read heartstopper for the brilliant portrayal of someone realising that they aren’t straight. nick is bisexual and it’s written on the page, y’all

4. kenya kobayashi / satoru fujinuma - erased - kei sanbe

these two aren’t actually canon, but come tf on. kenya definitely has a massive crush on satoru, at the very least. he’s satoru’s partner in crime, and there’s no way that satoru would’ve succeeded without him. they even have their own special meeting place, away from all the others. i could talk about this for a while. if you want to talk to me about this pairing, or this series even, then please do. i need more people who’ve read/watched it

5. newt / thomas - the maze runner series - james dashner

i reread this series recently, and finally actually read the fever code, and as a result have been having a slight maze runner breakdown over the last few days. basically, newt isn’t straight. this is another thing i could talk about for a long time, tbh, so hmu if you want to hear it : D it’s not strictly canon, but dashner said it was okay to read newt that way, and he does talk about this pairing so....

#t5w #top 5 wednesday #tmr #james dashner #grishaverse #leigh bardugo #wtnv #joseph fink #jeffery cranor #solitaire #heartstopper #alice oseman #erased #kei sanbe

1 note · View note

bronanlynch · 3 years

Text

recent media consumption summary time

could’ve sworn the last one was only two weeks ago but apparently it was three. sorry for becoming unmoored from the passage of linear time

listening: you know when you use a song lyric as a fic title and then you get that song stuck in your head for the next week? anyway Whirlpool by Sea Wolf sure is a song that I enjoy and also have had stuck in my head for a week. I feel like I should have smarted musical things to say here but I like Sea Wolf, they’re nice to listen to, they’re sad man with guitar music without being identical to every other sad man with guitar band

reading: finished my reread of Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, and my main thought this time around is that I love Kaz with my whole entire heart. also love a good multi-layered heist scheme. also also Wylan/Jesper is cute but I do think they don’t get nearly as much relationship development as the two m/f couples and like, I really like these books but that is very much a trend especially in sff YA these days

also finished Lord Seventh (Qi Ye) by Priest and. god I love the characters so much. a friend group can just be a bunch of horrible gay people pining for each other and betraying each other in order to save each other’s lives. extremely tasty. also,

(I would say that missed opportunity is my one complaint but like. my actual main complaint is that as much as I love the characters, I think that if the racism in your text is blatant enough that I, a white american with very little knowledge of the specific racial coding happening can pick up on it, then it’s uh. probably pretty blatant and that’s Not Great)

also did some pride month impulse purchases at my local indie bookstore, including Molly Knox Ostertag’s The Girl from the Sea, a lesbian selkie graphic novel, which did so many things to my heart. first of all the art is so pretty

second of all, I too have been lonely and starting to realize that I’m gay while living in a beach town with a summer tourism economy, drifting apart from a friend group that I didn’t feel like I was part of and wishing I was literally anywhere else even though I loved the ocean. third of all, gay selkies

also read The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon which I enjoyed even though I am definitely not the target audience for first person present tense novels, even if those novels are portal fantasies about fae power struggles and arranged marriages. I really enjoyed the three main characters and their relationships, and the worldbuilding was fun, though the twist at the end (and lots of parts of the ending tbh) felt a little bit abrupt to me. also, and this is a personal thing, but someday I would love to read a fantasy novel with a transmasc character that actually feels like it reflects my experiences. I guess that’s part of the problem with looking for this in YA, but that’s where I tend to see transmasc protagonists so here I am. anyway, valid for anyone but especially trans teens to want to read a narrative about someone being loud and open about their identity but that’s not my experience. which I think is why I tend to construct my own trans narratives around characters who like, aren’t canonically trans but have themes about lying and hiding and being defensive about their image because *that’s* a trans experience I actually relate to.

I’ve started In Deeper Waters by F.T. Lukens, which is not a book I intended to buy but 1) look at the cover

2) I am weak for gay people on the sea. it’s fun so far, I’m not expecting any sort of in-depth anything about royal power but it’s cute and light and I’m having a good time. my main complaint is again a personal thing, which is not actually a complaint about the book itself and more about twitter discourse about how there should never be homophobia in sff that takes place in different worlds and how we’ve had enough of that so everything should take place in a world where it’s fine and normal to be queer. and again, that’s fine! I do enjoy books like that! I am currently enjoying a book like that! but again, I have a harder time relating to characters whose queerness isn’t mediated by fear the way mine is (this book sidesteps that by making the main character a very anxious person, which helps increase the relatability, but also. there’s this whole thing about how people distrust him and there are rumors about his ~perversion and yeah it’s about his secret hidden magic but. felt very weird to have that set-up and then not have homophobia play any part in the way other people talk about him, y’know? like please, stigmatized magic as a parallel for stigmatized sexuality is Right There)

watching: finished Nirvana in Fire and am having lots of normal and moderate emotions about it. belongs in my mental categories of “media I want to consume over and over again and take it apart and figure out how to write like that” and also “things I want to rewatch when I have enough energy to appreciate it” because I do think if I weren’t so tired these days I could’ve tried to have predictions instead of waiting for the characters to explain their plans to me, as much as I do love it when attractive people smirk at the screen and monologue about their schemes

also watched most of Castlevania season 4 (I have 3 episodes left) and it’s. well. it’s not Good but it’s a lot better than season 3. however, I only care about a few of the plotlines and everything else is kinda boring. I like Alucard’s plotline and I like Greta and I liked the two scenes where Hector and Isaac interacted and I liked the vampire lesbians deciding that being gay was more important to them than doing war crimes. cannot be bothered to care about anything else though, especially St. Germain. more importantly, Alucard’s new look fucks. love the whole cape + tits out thing.

finally got around to watching the end of the first season of Elementary and once again, I enjoy it when people explain complicated plans to me. love a good mystery. also, predictably, I’m in love with Moriarty. her first two dates with Sherlock are about art forgery and Roman artifacts in the London sewers, how was I supposed to *not* fall in love with her. also every time she interacts with Joan after the reveal has extremely homoerotic energy. ladies is it gay to become psychosexually obsessed with a woman who outplotted you

also, very importantly, my roommate realized I’d never seen Tsubasa OVAs, and they sure are an experience. I read the entire manga in like two days in a fugue state last winter and remember very little of the plot of the second half of the story, so the second OVA which is like. a random section of the late plot was kind of a lot to try to process at once, though I do appreciate one of the main ships doing a Gift of the Magi thing except instead of selling treasured possessions to get each other gifts they’re sacrificing parts of themselves. however the first one is my favorite arc, because it should not surprise anyone that the post-apocalyptic vampire arc is my favorite. also, I don’t need to remember the actual plot to remember and appreciate how much of an Eliot-core character Fai is. look at him. prettyboy ice wizard pretending to be flirty and performatively useless to hide his trauma. also he’s a vampire. he sets off the cosplay and gender envy parts of my brain so much

playing: nothing new since last time, just more Tidepools and Beam Saber. maybe someday I will play a video game again

making: got to cook for just the two of us last week instead of having to find something that everyone would eat, so Zan and I finally got to make chicken marsala from this recipe and it was extremely good. next time we’re gonna double the mushrooms though I think, the recipe didn’t make quite enough compared to the amount of chicken

someday I will make non-food things again but unfortunately, when most of your energy has to go to either cooking and cleaning for other people or trying to get other people to cook and clean,

writing: posted three new fics: the Persona selkie AU, the Nirvana in Fire miserable sapphic makeout fic, and a slice-of-life Persona fic for an exchange, and worked on a couple of other things that are still secret for zine reasons

#dreaming.txt #tuesday no problem extended universe #long post /

0 notes