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multifandomconfusion · 5 months

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The Family Jewels Songs as The Crows

Kaz - Numb

Kaz Brekker is practically the embodiment of this song because he has tried to numb himself entirely.

Lyrics That Remind Me Of Kaz:

Oh, I get dark / Oh, and I'm in Hell / I need a friend / Ooh, but I can't yell / Yeah, I'm no good / No good to anyone / ‘Cause all I care about / Is being number one

Far gone families, far gone friends, / That's how it started, and how it ends / I can't open up and cry / ‘Cause I've been silent all my life

I feel numb most of the time, / The more I get the higher / I'll climb, and I will wonder why / I got dark only / To shine / And I'll light up the sky / Stars that burn the brightest / Fall so fast and pass you by / Spark like empty lighters.

Inej - Rootless

Inej has been separated from her home and family for much of her life. I would guess that she feels homeless and like she doesn't belong anywhere which is discussed in this song.

Lyrics That Remind Me Of Inej:

I'm a Cloud drifting by / Dripping Tears from the Sky / I'm a Snail without a Shell / A Leper with a golden Bell / I've got nowhere to go / I'm a stray cat on the roam / Choking on a chicken bone / For a home sweet, no sweet home

Running with my roots pulled up / So they could cut me free of love

Dragging my roots through the snow / No home-sweet and no sweet home / I've got nowhere to go / I'm rootless, I'm rootless

Wylan - The Family Jewels

Wylan obviously has a very rocky and difficult relationship with his family, specifically his father. This song fits him amazingly.

Lyrics That Remind Me Of Wylan:

I can't break the cycle, am I just a fool? / Falling down like dominoes, hit by family jewels / Pass it down from kid to kid, the chain will never end / 'Less I decide to go to it, will I see the end?

Ooh, don't you find it strange? / Only thing we share is one last name / Did I beat you at your own game? / Typical of me to put us all to shame

Oh, you think I'm unfit / Little did you know that I was cut for it / No glass slipper will ever fit

And literally the entire song.

Jesper - Shampain

This song combines the words shame and pain to represent the word champange. What could be more Jesper?

Lyrics That Remind Me Of Jesper:

Drinking champagne to forget yesterday / Coz I remember, the way, the way, the way / It ended the day, the day, the day, the day / That I walked away, away, away, away

Drinking champagne, meant for a wedding / Toast to the bride, a fairytale ending / Drinking champagne, a bottle to myself / Savor the taste of fabricated wealth

Matthias - Guilty

This song is about guilt and Matthias clearly struggles with guilt over all the terrible things he's done to Grisha, and in contrast how he betrayed his country. It also involves the imagery of a dog, which makes me think of Trassel. And it talks about dead family.

Lyrics That Remind Me of Matthias:

I was dreaming something dark / Hiding body parts / A broken dog, a broken leg / I left it cold, I left it dead

I was just a kid / That you could not forgive / Because it's harder / I was just a kid / And all I really wanted / Was my father

Guilty on the run / And I know what I have done / Guilty on the run / And I'm never forgiven

Nina - Seventeen

Nina is highly outspoken and opinionated just like the narrator of this song. Also she's seventeen lol.

Lyrics That Remind Me Of Nina:

You're a rich little boy / Who's had to work for his toys / You've got all the sensibilities / Of an upper class guy / No I'm not your little slave / No I don't twist and turn that way / Only got bad things to say / You're always asking what is up with me

Oh, you are embarrassed of me / ‘Cos I use my tongue freely / Bet you wish I couldn't speak / ‘Cos when I do, you know / I tell you why you're being weak

You teach me how to behave / I felt you question the way / I was brought up as a baby / Well you don't know fuck about my family

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ofswordsandsorcery · 1 year

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My thoughts on SHADOW & BONE S2

SHADOW AND BONE SEASON 2 SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

GRISHA VERSE SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

!!!!SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!!!

I wrote this while watching, so it's really chaotic

Also, I haven't read any of the books in a while, so forgive me for not remembering how to correctly write the names and probably forgetting stuff :D

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED CLICK OFF THERE ARE SPOILERS HERE

Episode 1

A privateer actually, it's an important distinction

Take your fuckin shoes off the bed

TAMAR AND TOLYA FUCKING ICONIC

Episode 2

THE BOOK, IT'S LIVES OF SAITS, OH SAINTS IS IT BEAUTIFUL

"you live in a single moment I live in a thousand"

You're old as shit we get it

Nina Zenik is a fucking menace and I am SO living for it

Also, we love a queen that eats <3

Oh oh Nikolai trying to steal Mal's girlfriend i see

Tamar and Alina interaction ahsjsjsjsj

The bonding over being shu han???

Awww, i loveee themm

You are FANCY CARGO

I'M DYING

Wylan and Nikolai working together would be the end of the world as we know it

HE SAID THE LINE

HE SAID IMPROBABLE

I- I CAN'T OMGGG

I thought the girl working for Aleksander was Zoya for a sec and i was SO confused

Aww, Wylan he's beyond thrilled, he just doesn't show it love

FUTURE HUBBYYS

Jes getting his fucking hat before leaving is everything

Episode 3

Soaaring flyyyyinnn

Nikolai is one hell of an inventor

Jes and Wylan on a missionnn *in a singing voice*

Nina giving Kaz contra >>>

Ajsjyjsjsjs Prince Nikolai reveal i am jsksksjsj AN ICON, truly

You lying bastard

Whack

Even more iconic

David and Genyaaaaa

I love David

I'm still so incredibly mad

On an unrelated note: Lewis Tan is one fine man

A casting decision I actually love

Side eye to Nikolai

(sorry paddy, nothing against you, you are doing a wonderful job just really not how I imagined Nikolai to look at ALL)

Nadja meets Tamar

Brb, I'm going to turn in to a useless queer

Also, I love Aldrick

ZOYALINA ZOYALINA ZOYALINA

Fuck allies, you need a wife

I am so living for Wylan begrudgingly agreeing with Jes

Wylans horrified stare at the piano playing omg and the little flinch

"He's really good" lol

Jes is so falling in love with Wylan over his piano playing skills

That LOOK

YOU KNOW WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT THAT IS SO CUTE I'M CRYING

Uhhh, kaz inej fight lol

Let me bandage it for you even tho i am deadly afraid of touching skin

Ahhh, communication

Omg the subtle shaking? The fear in his eyes? Well done.

What's your telll?

The cane the limp, know ones ever smart enough to look for the real one????

It's not what you think??

Nina is like yeah, take your bullshitting elsewhere

Ahaaa

I LOVE seeing that friendship develop.

Shit at first dates lmao

Love you Nina

Kaz fighting scene omg

Badass.

Crow club takeover? What?

Y'all I wasn't prepared for this

So much is happening at once, help

Eww he licked the knife? Bah

Go Inej, get his ass..

THE HAIR FLIP

INEJ INEJ INEJ INEJ INEJJJJJ

BABES YOU'RE FUCKING BADASS

Wow the prayer

So much emotionnnn

Ajhsjsjsj

Vladim, what are you doing love

General Kirigan what the actual fuck

That.. Is your mom

The horror on David's face

I feel the same way tho

I HaVe a PrOPosAL

Shut up Nikolai, you're gonna get punched again and you're face is actually to pretty for that...

STOP IT. They're holding hands

I repeat THEY ARE HOLDING HANDS

This is a fucking emotional roller-coaster

I'm not going anywhere - walks away

Thanks Jes, for saying what i thought

Jesper you little fuck

Don't betray Wylan like that?

Wylan talking about how Alby isn't responsible for who his father is

Van Eck im FUCKING LOOKING AT YOU

Oh Mathias my poor boy <3 he seriously needs a hug...

What's your price? Nuh uh

Episode 4

Vasily you idiot

TAMARR <3

Razrusha'ya

Ruined? I AM NOT RUINED I AM RUINATION

Baghra the wise im cackling

I KINDA LIKE YOUR FACE?

Jes you can't just drop that casually and then move one as if fucking nothing happend????

No mourners no funerals and it's almost all of my babies

Nadjas impressed look at Tamar and her axes has me SOBBING

TOLYA WITH HIS BOOOK

LOVE

That was a long time ago

Yeah oops

Make him kneel make him kneel make him kneel omg

That whole scene is so fucking good i had to actually rewatch it multiple times before i could move on

Tolya and Tamar supremacy <3

Not The POETRYYY

Tamar and Tolya meeting the crows??? Holy shit

This has taken so many twists and turns and loopings what

You could... Come with me??

Wylans lil shrug???? I'm actually crying

Kit's acting in the confession scene? SPECTACULAR the glances, the lil eye roll before be gathers the full courage, the little waver in his voice when he does confess??

A WYLAN KISS? WHAT I DID NOT EXPECT THAT AT ALL

HELP

HELPPPPP

Maybe you need a reminder?? The laughs the giggles I'm going to spontaneously combust

Wtf kaz

I worry about you?

I can't have a weak link in my crew?

You're a bloody idiot, is what you are

Nina should kock some sense into that head of yours after what you just said you moron

I think Rollins knocked it outa ya

And king he shall be

Just not yet oops

Unhinged Genya? hell yes!!!!

Ahhh, Baghra, you sly fucker

Not Adrik

Not him

Please not him

Jesper, Inej and Nina solidarity

Jes loves the gossip so much ahahahah

Episode 5

Genya not wanting David to see her because she's afraid of what he'll think hurts my heart

Genyalina hug supremacy

Baghra said sobatchka

I'm crying. This is not the time but omh

YOU DON'T NEED FIXING

Damn right she doesn't.

Tolya looking at the bowl of food is literally me

NINA AND TOLYA BONDING OVER FOOD

NOT WHAT I THOUGHT I'D GET BUT NOW I NEED MORE, OH LORD

I'm not here for you whoops

Oh Jes, you said the wrong thing baby

Bhez Ju? It looks INCREDIBLE!!!

Tolya being like wtf is going on with you and wylan is gold

I know metal

David i love you

The gentle forehead press

What did you do to him

Tolya giving relationship advice to jesper avout wylan I'm going to cry

Nvm I'm actually already crying

Nina trying to talk to Kaz about tea had me laughing so hard

Tolya snacking all the time, we love it

Zoya honestly

Tolyas comment about soldiers, i love that

Episode 6

MAMA

I'm laughing so hard

Poor Mal

He doesn't deserve any of this

The thief is so beautiful

And she's so badass

SHE'S DOING A GRISHA VERSION OF BLOODBENDING??? THAT IS GENIUS

Lol she's giving it to Jesper

I think she knows he's a special one

Love her so much

Another Wesper kiss??? Also, Tolya's knowing face lmao

Mathias = slab of fur and i will not refer to him as anything else ever again

Episode 7

Why on earth is everyone losing their hands?

This is ridiculous

Let me introduce you to Inej - Badass of the Barrel

Uh oh is right you witch

The crows join, it's over you idiots

Not the cane, that's a sacrilege what you just did.

Sibling reunion I'm sobbing over that hug

Um, Mal u okay hun?

Episode 8

Not kaz giving his cane away what is happening???

My Man

MY MAN

Kaz and Tolya bonding over Poetry? Of all things? love it

Ah ah ah is that an upward lip tug i see Kaz?

Jes... Why did you ruin the moment like that?

There's six of you you morons

Just don't know it yet lovelies

Have i said i don't like Genya's eye thing? It just looks so cheap

He wants an investment lol

Kaz you fuking idiot

You actually have to say it you know

Oof, the I want- I want you

Gives me the same vibes as i love, i love, i love you

How many fucking flying ships do they have?

Nah wtf is this Inej & Tolya shit

What's with the suggestive camera angles, stop that

Actually, i like the sturmhond look on Mal

Inej on the boat taking over slaver ships

So many things i didn't think I'd see this season omg

Ketterdam what kinda fucked up, out of proportion moon do you have???

Ugh not the apparat

Fuck off already, i didn't miss you at ALL

For a man of faith...

Love you for that, sobachka

Finally a better eye patch

Zoya you actually could lol

Are we going to get a triumvirate sitch with Alina?

Omgg yesss

You finally gonna go to Fjerda huh

I AM SO LIVING FOR THE DRESSES

EXCEPT ZOYAS... WHERE'S THE SIGNATURE BLUE SILVER?

Not that it doesn't look good just...

Talk about show stopping, am i right

Well, that's a way to end the show

Additional things I LOVED

- The show name at the beginning of every episode

- The different languages >>>>

- everything Tolya does

-Patrick Gibson as Nikolai, the longer I watched the better it got

What I did NOT like:

- lots of things actually but I have decided for myself that from here I'll just see the show as something different from the books and cherish it for what it is

-David and Genya having literally five seconds before he died? WTF? David was supposed to be here longer :/

-that they put SO MUCH into this season? like so much is happening at once and then they introduce additional stuff??? Felt a little rushed to me... Like were kinda already at the point of King of Scars but at the same time the SOC plotline is so ripped apart? I am confused...

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone season 2 #spoilers #alina starkov #malyen oretsev #the darkling #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #the crows #six of crows #nina zenik #matthias helvar #waffles #how do i tag help

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hamliet · 3 years

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The Crows Summon the Sun

Or, Hamliet’s review of Shadow & Bone, which gets a 4.5/5 for enjoyment and a 3.5/5 in terms of writing.

The true heroes of this story and the saviors of the show are the Crows. However, the problem is that the show then has an uneven feel, because the strength of the Crows plotline highlights the weaknesses of the trilogy storyline. But imo, overall, the strengths overshadow (#punintended) the weaknesses.

I’ll divide the review into the narrative and the technical (show stuff, social commentary), starting with narrative.

Narrative: The Good

It’s What The Crows Deserve

I went into the show watching it for the Crows; however, knowing that their storyline was intended to be a prequel, I wasn’t terribly optimistic. And while it is a prequel, the characters have complete and full arcs that perfectly set them up for the further development they will have in the books (which I think should be the next season?). Instead of retreading the arcs they’d have in the books, which is how prequels usually go, they had perfect set up for these arcs. It’s really excellent.

Jesper, Inej, and Kaz are all allowed to be flawed, to have serious conflicts with one another, and yet to love each other. They feel like a found family in the best of ways. Kaz is the perfect selfish rogue; he’s a much more successfully executed Byronic hero than the Darkling, actually. Inej is heroic and her faith is not mocked, yet she too is flawed and her choices are not always entirely justified, but instead left to the audience to ponder (like killing the girl), which is a more mature writing choice that I appreciated.

Jesper is charming, has a heart of gold despite being a murderer and on the surface fairly greedy, and MILO THE EMOTIONAL SUPPORT GOAT WAS THE BEST THING EVER. I also liked Jesper’s fling with Dima but I felt it could be better used rather than merely establishing his sexuality, like if Jesper and Dima had seen each other one more time or something had come of their tryst for the plot/themes/development of Jesper.

Nina and Matthias’s backstory being in the first season, instead of in flashbacks, really works because it automatically erases any discomfort of the implications of Nina having falsely accused Matthias that the books start with. We know Nina, we know Matthias, we know their motivations, backgrounds, and why they feel the way we do. It’ll be easy for the audience to root for them without a lot of unnecessary hate springing from misunderstanding Nina (since she’s my favorite). Matthias’s arc was also really strongly executed and satisfyingly tragic. Their plotline was a bit unfortunately disconnected from the rest of the story, but Danielle Gallagan and Callahan Skogman have absolutely sizzling chemistry so I found myself looking forward to their scenes instead of feeling distracted. Also? It’s nice seeing a woman with Nina’s body type as a romantic and powerful character.

Hamliet Likes Malina Now

Insofar as the trilogy storyline goes, the best change the show made was Mal. He still is the same character from the books, but much more likable. The pining was... a lot (too much in episode 4, I felt) but Malina is a ship I actually enjoyed in the show while I NOTP’d it in the books. Mal has complexity and layers to his motivations (somewhat) and a likable if awkward charm. Archie Renaux was fantastic.

Ben Barnes is the perfect Aleksandr Kirigan, and 15 year old me, who had the biggest of big crushes on Ben Barnes (first celebrity crush over a decade ago lol), was pretty damn happy lol. He’s magnificantly acted--sympathetic and terrifying, sincerely caring and yet villainous in moments. Story-wise, I think it was smart to reveal his name earlier on than in the books, because it helps with the humanization especially in a visual medium like film. Luda was a fitting (if heartbreaking) backstory, but it is also hard for me to stomach knowing what the endgame of his character is. Like... I get the X-men fallacy thing, but I hope the show gives more kindness to his character than the books did, yet I’m afraid to hold my breath. Just saying that if you employ save the cat, if you directly say you added this part (Luda) to make the character more likable (as the director did) please do not punish the audience for feeling what you intended.

I also liked the change that made Alina half-Shu. It adds well to her arc and fits with her character, actually giving her motivations (she kinda just wants to be ordinary in a lot of ways) a much more interesting foundation than in the books. Also it’s nice not to have another knock-off Daenerys (looking to you Celaena and book!Alina). Jessie Mei Li does a good job playing Alina’s insecurities and emotions, but...

Narrative: The Ehhhhhhh

Alina the Lamp

Sigh. Here we go. Alina has little consistent characterization. She’s almost always passive when we see her, yet she apparently punches an officer for calling her a name and this seems to be normal for her, but it doesn’t fit at all with what we know about her thus far. Contradictions are a part of humanity, but it’s never given any focus, so it comes across as inconsistent instead of a flaw or repression.

I have no idea what Alina wants, beside that she wants to be with Mal, which is fine except I have no idea what the basis of their bond is. Even with like, other childhood friends to lovers like Ren/Nora in RWBY or Eren/Mikasa in SnK, there’s an inciting moment, a reason, that we learn very early on in their story to show us what draws them together. Alina and Mal just don’t have that. There’s the meadow/running away thing, but they were already so close, and why? Why, exactly? What brought them together? The term “bullies” is thrown around but it isn’t ever explored and it needed to be this season. If I have to deal with intense pining for so many episodes at least give me a foundation for their devotion. You need to put this in the beginning, in the first season. You just do.

A “lamp” character is a common metaphor to describe a bad character: essentially, you could replace the character with a lamp and nothing changes. Considering Alina’s gift is light, it’s a funnily apt metaphor, but it really does apply. Her choices just don’t... matter. She could be a special lamp everyone is fighting over and almost nothing would change. The ironic thing is that everyone treating her like a fancy lamp is exactly the conflict, but it’s never delved into. We’re never shown that Alina is more than a lamp. She never has to struggle because her choices are made for her and information is gifted to her when she needs it. Not making choices protects Alina from consequences and the story gives her little incentive to change that; in fact, things tend to turn out better when she doesn’t make choices (magic stags will arrive).

Like... let’s look at a few occasions when Alina almost or does make choices. For example, she chooses to (it seems) sleep with Kirigan, but then there’s a convenient knock at the door and Bhagra arrives with key information that changes Alina’s mind instantly despite the fact that Bhagra’s been pretty terrible to her. If you want to write a woman realizing she’s been duped by a cruel man, show her discovering it instead of having the man’s abusive mother tell her when she had absolutely no such suspicions beforehand. There’s no emotional weight there because Alina doesn’t struggle.

When she is actually allowed to carry out a bad choice, the consequences are handwaved away instead of built into a challenge for her. Like... Alina got her friends killed. More than once. I’m not saying she’s entirely to blame for these but could we show her reacting to it? Feeling any sort of grief? She never mentions Raisa or Alexei after they’re gone, just Mal, and I’m... okay. They were there because of you. Aren’t you feeling anything? Aren’t you sad? The only time Alina brings up her friends’ deaths is to tell Kirigan he killed her friends when they were only there because she burned the maps. She yells at Kirigan for “never” giving her a choice, but she almost never makes any, so why would he? Alina has the gall to lecture Genya about choices, but she herself almost never has to make any.

Which brings me to another complaint in general: Alina’s lack of care for everyone around her when they’re not Mal, even if they care for her. Marie dies because of her (absolutely not her fault of course) but as far as we know she never even learns about Marie. She certainly doesn’t ever ask about her or Nadia. Alina seems apathetic at best to people, certainly not compassionate or kind.

The frustrating thing is that there is potential here. Like, it actually makes a lot of psychological sense for an orphan who has grown up losing to be reluctant to care for people outside of her orbit and that she would struggle to believe she can have any say in her destiny (ie make choices). It’s also interesting that a girl who feels like an outsider views others outside her. But the show never offers examines Alina’s psychology with any depth; it simply tells us she’s compassionate when she is demonstrably not, it tells us she makes decisions when it takes magical intervention to do so. It’s a missed opportunity. This does not change between episodes 1 and 8, despite the episodes’ parallel structures and scenes, which unintentionally reinforces that Alina had little real development.

Inej and ironically Jesper and Kaz embody the concept of “mercy” far better and with far more complexity than Alina does. The Crows have reactions to the loss of people who even betray them (Arken, etc), learn, and course-correct (or don’t) when they are even loosely involved in having strangers die. They’re good characters because they change and learn and have their choices matter. When they kill we see them wrestle with it and what this means even if they are accustomed to doing so. Jesper can’t kill in front of a child. Kaz wonders what his killings do to Inej’s idea of him.

Narrative: The Mixed Bag

Tropes, Themes, Telling vs. Showing

So the show’s themes in the Alina storyline are a mess, as they are in the trilogy too. Tropes are a very valuable way to show your audience what you’re trying to say. They’re utilized worldwide because they resonate with people and we know what to expect from them. The Crows' storyline shows us what it wants us to learn.

Preaching tells, and unfortunately, the trilogy relies on telling/preaching against fornicationBad Boys. It’s your right to write any trope or trample any trope you want--your story--but you should at least understand what/why you are doing so. The author clearly knows enough about Jungian shadows and dark/light yin/yang symbolism to use it in the story, but then just handwaves it away as “I don’t like this” but never does so in a narratively effective way: addressing the appeal in the first place. If you really wanna deconstruct a trope, you gotta empathize with the core of the reason these tropes appeal to people (it allays deep fears that we are ourselves unlovable, through loving another person despite how beastly they can be), and address this instead of ignoring it. Show us a better way through the Fold of your story. Don’t just go around it and ignore the issue.

The trilogy offers highly simplistic themes at best--bad boy bad and good boy good, which is fine-ish for kid lit but less fine for adult complexity, which the show (more so than the books) seems to try to push despite not actually having much of it.

Alina and Mal are intended to be good, we’re told they are, but I’m not sure why beyond just that we’re told so. Alina claims the stag chose her, but in the show it’s never explained why at all. Unlike with Kaz, Inej, Jesper, and hell even Matthias and Nina, we don’t see Alina or Mal’s complex choices and internal wrestling.

Like, Inej’s half-episode where she almost killed the guy they needed was far more character exploration than Alina has the entire show, to say nothing of Inej’s later killing which not only makes her leaps and bounds more interesting, but ironically cements her as a far more compelling and yes, likable, heroine than Alina. We see Inej’s emotional and moral conflict. We can relate to her. We see Kaz struggling with his selfishness and regrets, with his understanding of himself through his interactions with and observations of Inej, Alina, the Darkling, Arken, and Jesper.

We don’t explore what makes Mal or Alina good and what makes them bad. We don’t know what Alina discovers about herself, what her power means for her. We are told they are good, we are told she knows her power is hers, but never shown what this means or what this costs them/her. Their opportunities to be good are handed to them (the stag, Bhagra) instead of given to them as a challenge in which they risk things, in which doing good or making a merciful choice costs them. Alina gets to preach about choices without ever making any; Inej risks going back to the Menagerie to trust Kaz. Her choices risk. They cost. They matter and direct her storyline and her arc, and those of the people around her.

Production Stuff:

The Good:

The production overall is quite excellent. The costumes, pacing, acting, and cinematography (for example, one of the earliest scenes between the Darkling and Alina has Alina with her back to the light, face covered in his shadow, while the Darkling’s face is light up by her light even if he stands in the shadows) are top-notch. The soundtrack as well is incredible and emphasizes the scenes playing. The actors have great chemistry together, friend chemistry and romantic when necessary (Mal and Alina, the Darkling and Alina, Kaz and Inej, Nina and Matthias, David and Genya, etc.) All are perfectly cast.

The Uncomfortable Technicalities Hamliet Wants to Bitch About:

The only characters from fantasy!Europe having any trace of an accent reminiscent of said fantasy country's real-world equivalent are antagonists like Druskelle (Scandinavia) and Pekka (Ireland). When the heroes mostly have British accents despite being from fantasy Russia and Holland, it is certainly A Choice to have the Irish accent emphasized. The actor is British by the way, so I presume he purposely put on an Irish accent. I'm sure no one even considered the potential implications of this but it is A Look nonetheless.

The Anachronisms Hamliet Has a Pet Peeve About:

The worldbuilding is compelling, but the only blight on the worldbuilding within the story itself (ignoring context) was that there are some anachronisms that took me out of the story, particularly in the first episode where “would you like to share with the class” and “saved by the horn” are both used. Both are modern-day idioms in English that just don’t fit, especially the latter. The last episode uses “the friends we made along the way.” There are other modern idioms as well.

IT’S STARKOVA and Other Pet Peeves Around the Russian Portrayal

Russian names are not hard, and Russian naming systems are very, very easy to learn. I could have waved “Starkov” not being “Starkova,” “Nazyalensky” not being “Nazyalenskaya,” and “Safin” not being “Safina” as an American interpretation (since in America, the names do not femininize). However, “Mozorova” as a man is unfathomable and suggests to me the author just doesn’t understand how names work, which is a bit... uh okay considering a simple google search gets you to understand Russian names. They aren’t hard. I cannot understand why the show did not fix this. It is so simple to fix and would be a major way to help the story’s overall... caricature of Russia.

Speaking of that... Ravka is supposedly Russian-based, but it is more accurately based on the stereotypes of what Americans think of Russia. Amerussia? Russica? Not great.

The royals are exactly what Americans think of the Romanovs, right down to the “greasy” “spiritual advisor” who is clearly Rasputin and which ignores the Romanov history, very real tragedy, and the reason Rasputin was present in the court. The religion with all its saints is a vapid reflection of Russian Orthodoxy. The military portrayal with its lotteries and brutality and war is how the US views the Russian military. The emphasis on orphans, constant starvation, classification, and children being ripped from their homes to serve the government is a classic US understanding of USSR communism right down to the USSR having weapons of destruction the rest of the world fears (Grisha). Not trying to defend the Soviet Union here at all, but it is simplistic and reductive and probably done unconsciously but still ehhhh.

However, I’m not Russian. I just studied Russian literature. I’ve seen very little by way of discussion of this topic online, but what I do see from Russian people has been mixed--some mind, some don’t. The reality is that I actually don’t really mind this because it’s fantasy, though I see why some do. I'm not like CANCEL THIS. So why am I talking about this beyond just having a pet peeve?

Well, because it is a valid critique, and because it doesn’t occur in a vacuum. The Grishaverse is heralded as an almost paragon for woke Young Adult literature, which underlines itself what so frustrates me about how literary circles discuss issues of diversity and culture. Such praise, while ignoring its quasi-caricature of Russia, reflects a very ethnocentric (specifically American) understanding of culture, appropriation, and representation. All stories are products of their culture to various extents, but it bothers me on principle what the lit community reacts (and overreacts sometimes?) to and what people give a pass to. The answer to what the community reacts to and what it gives a pass always pivots on how palatable the appropriation is to American understandings and sensibilities. There’s nuance here as well, though.

I'm not cancelling the story or thinking it should be harshly attacked for this, but it is something that can be discussed and imo should be far more often--but with the nuance it begs, instead of black/white. But that’s a tall ask.

#s&b #hamliet reviews #shadow and bone #six of crows #kanej #jesper fahey #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #alina starkov #malyen oretsev #the darkling #darklina #malina #aleksander kirigan #netflix shadow and bone #s&b review

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goldengoddess · 3 years

Note

I'm so happy for you that you reached 500 followers. Can I request a blurb with Jesper Fahey, something about the one bed trope with him. Thanks! ☺️

YES BEST TROPE OH MY GOD THANK U ANON!!! sorry if this seems rushed, it is lol :') trying to get through requests!

kaz had warned the two of you that your heist might go overnight. that the information that you and jesper were staking out for was crucial to a future heist. so if the two of you didn't get the information the first day, you'd have to stay in the hotel with jesper.

and of course, because the mission was with jesper, and he couldn't stay focused for more than five minutes straight, you two had to spend the night at a hotel called "ketterdam plaza". spoiler alert, it did not live up to the connotations of the word plaza.

"it won't be that bad. all we really need is a warm room and a place to sleep, and we'll wake up early tomorrow so we don't have to worry about staying here for too long" jesper said as he led you to the room, messing around with the key.

you grimaced at the smell in the hall but nodded your head, keeping your lips in a tight line. he send you an apologetic look and pushed the key into the door. "room 32, that's a good number right?"

you giggled but the sound was soon stopped by the sight of your room. you first noticed the horrible color and the way that everything seemed so much darker than necessary, and you hated the dark.

then you noticed that there was only one bed.

your heart lept into your throat at the prospect of having to share a bed with jesper, who you secretly had always had a crush on.

you turned your head to look at jesper's reaction. but he didn't seem phased in the slightest. he just started taking off his coat and then his shirt, and climbing into bed.

your face turned red as you looked away when he took off his shirt. but you followed his lead and stripped down into your shirt and pants. if jesper was going to be all nonchalant about this, then you could be too.

the two of you wordlessly slipped into the single bed together. and even as you leaned as close to the edge as possible, there was little space between the two of you.

you clutched the blanket to your chest, shivering at the cold. jesper noticed and moved closer to you. "are you cold?" he whispered. if you focused hard enough you could feel his warm breath on the side of your neck.

you shook your head but your body betrayed you by making another shiver overtake your body. jesper chuckled lowly and slipped closer to you. he hesitantly placed his hand around your waist. and you held your breath at the feeling.

when he saw that you didn't push him away, he pulled you in closer. your back was pressed into his chest. you let out a breath and allowed yourself to relax into his embrace. he slipped his head into the crook of your neck.

you let out a pleased sigh and felt jesper smile into your skin. "this feels nice" you whispered, thinking that he wouldn't hear you.

he nodded though and placed a kiss on your neck. "if i knew that i just needed a single bed to get you into this position, i would have asked kaz to send us on a job like this one a long time ago."

you laughed and craned your neck so you could look at him. when he looked up you pressed your lips to his forehead, "i hate you stupid."

"no you don't darling."

#five hundred & june!#jesper fahey headcanon #jesper fahey #jesper fahey x reader #jesper fahey imagine #six of crows imagine #six of crows #shadow and bone #shadow and bone imagine

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firelxdykatara · 3 years

Note

kitty i can't wait for your thoughts of Shadow and Bone asdfasfaw

Ok well I just finished and I have so many fucking thoughts. Most good! Some, less so. Part of it may just be my bias because I’ve only read the Six of Crows duology and have little interest in actually reading the original trilogy, because I know how it ends and Leigh clearly hates me personally and doesn’t want me to be happy (/j), so I was already predisposed to be far more invested in the Crows and Darkling/Darklina segments (genuinely, the Mal/Malina scenes/storyline bored me to tears, and while I appreciate that the show went out of its way to change Mal’s character to make him much less of a toxic douchebag [I’ve read enough excerpts and explanations of his actions in the books to really loathe book!Malina], it isn’t enough to make me ship them when Darklina is right there), but I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that the Crows absolutely stole the show.

It’s actually kind of funny, because I’d assumed they were only being so heavily marketed to hype the show up even more, since while there’s a lot of TGT/SoC fandom overlap they are also two fundamentally different genres and I’d wager there are a lot of people who are massive fans of one but not so enthused with the other, while remaining fairly insignificant to the overall plot. Turns out, they make up fully half of the show’s runtime (much to my delight). Which is part of what I think will help this series stand on its own, both as a book adaptation and simply as a fantasy TV series.

I’ll put more of my story-specific thoughts under a cut, so there’s lots of show spoilers to follow!

I know that a lot of early reviewers were saying that Alina’s motivations and storyline revolved too much around Mal, and that really held true for me. It made sense in the beginning--he was the only constant in her life, she was thrust into something new, terrifying, and completely unfamiliar, and they’d developed an unhealthy codependence as a coping mechanism for their childhoods and the traumas they faced, the lives they lead growing up in a war-torn country. But she started coming into her power, falling for the General--not just his power and charisma, but what she felt when she was with him. The way he helped her summon the sun, the way she felt free in a way she never had before.

Until it all went to shit--but the Darklina make-out scene in episode 5? Fucking iconic. Poetic fucking cinema. The way they were quite literally about to have sex on that wartable (and someone better write fic of that moment, what if they hadn’t gotten interrupted), and the General left, but then he ran back just to kiss her one more time... this is what OTPs are made of ok.

I think what really bothers me overall is that Alina ultimately lacked agency in her one storyline, pretty much the entire way through. She did make a few choices, but they were mostly incidental, and a lot of it was Alina desperately trying to get back to Mal rather than seizing her own power and destiny and running with it. The most prominent example is the end of episode 5--Alina is having happy make-outs and almost bones the General in his own war room, and then he leaves, and Baghra comes in and infodumps to her about how evil he is and how he’s only using her and she needs to escape.

I recognize that a lot of this is probably because that’s essentially what happened in the book and Leigh is an executive producer for the show so she has a lot of shot-calling power. However, I really think that even in the book this plotline would’ve been better-served by having Alina make these discoveries on her own.

For example, imagine that the letters which were used as framing devices for episodes 2 and 3 were vitally important to the plot, rather than being one-offs that are mentioned a few times but not really affecting much of anything. Alina begins to get suspicious when she doesn’t receive word from Mal, and she starts wondering if her letters are even reaching him--so she starts snooping. She finds ashes in the war room hearth, late at night,, and recognizes a fragment of Mal’s signature and larger piece of her own. She now knows that someone--possibly the General, but maybe that creepy priest guy, or someone else in the palace--is keeping her and Mal from contacting one another. So she starts snooping around even more. She asks the General leading questions, trying to figure out what the truth is of his intentions. She still feels this pull--this connection to him, and she hopes she’s wrong, but she’s not willing to just sit around and wait for the other shoe to drop.

The Winter Fete still happens, she still gets the hot make-out session with the General, and then when he’s called away, she snoops through his papers, looking for anything that can tell her the truth. She finds a hidden compartment filled with journals.

She reads about Aleksander’s past (and, incidentally, wasn’t that supposed to be a huge moment in the books, him revealing his true name to her in private? kinda wish it had been kept that way in the show but who knows where they’ll go with it in the future)--that leads to the flashbacks in episode 6. She feels for him, but she also reads further--she gets a firsthand look at his desire for power, something that began as a noble desire to save his people, but was twisted by a lust for vengeance (for his lost love and all the Grisha who were killed) and shot through with greed, the realization that if he found the Sun Summoner he could control the Fold, rather than just destroy it. He could create a new world where Grisha could live without fear--where Grisha could rule.

Alina is terrified. Whoever the General used to be--whatever humanity she saw flickering in his eyes, the way his heart fluttered when they kissed--she can’t trust that it’ll be enough to save her from plans centuries in the making. So she goes to Baghra, the woman who helped her discover her power, learn to channel it--the woman who always seemed to know much more than she ever let on. Baghra gives her side of the story--Alina got it from the General’s perspective first, now Baghra is telling her something framed much differently. She isn’t sure what or who to trust, but she knows that Baghra seems willing to help her escape--but rather than trusting her ‘loyal Grisha’, she makes the choice she made in the show, to choose the other path, and winds up with the Crows.

Idk how Mal and the Stag thing would fit into this (if it isn’t obvious by now, Mal just... doesn’t interest me), but Alina’s story and her character arc would be so much stronger for it. And she’s supposed to be the central character, so her story being weak and her agency so frequently being compromised ultimately hurts the show as a whole.

I know I’ve gone on and on about Alina and the Darkling (look, I’m a slut for enemies-to-lovers, and also lovers-to-enemies-and-back, so Darklina and Helnik are where so much of my investment is rooted--plus Kanej, but that almost goes without saying), but the true standouts of the series were the Crows. Inej, Kaz, and Jesper, and Nina and Matthias in their episodes, stole the show (along with the Darkling, Ben is far and away the best actor in the cast and I love that for him, but Freddy, Amita, and Kit are also amazing, and Danielle&Calahan were fucking phenomenal as Nina and Matthias--I do have to say, though, that the whole cast is really solid and has amazing chemistry).

They worked together so perfectly--Freddy and Amita communicated so much with their eyes alone, especially together, and a whole lot of their relationship dynamic is rooted in how they exist together, which really came through. The show altered the Crows timeline considerably (I’m pretty sure Kaz would’ve been 14 during the original trilogy lol), so Inej is still at the Menagerie, but things like Kaz putting up the Crow Club for Inej’s freedom, the way Kaz needed her but could never bring himself to say it (until the end of the season dklhfgdkjfgh i SCREAMED)--the way Jesper played off the both of them, and it’s so obvious they all love each other even though they’re criminals and thieves and murderers, and Kaz would never admit it (out loud--which actually feeds into my theory that his love language is acts of service; Kaz does things for the people he cares about, he never announces it and he will almost always try to downplay it, but the way you know he cares is if, for example, he puts his entire life, everything he built, up as collateral for your freedom), but they’re a family.

One thing that I was kind of iffy about was Inej’s refusal to kill--but I thought it might be something they were planning to work into her overall character arc, and they did. It was the one line she hadn’t crossed--in the books, I’d imagine that it took a while for Inej to wind up at that point, being willing to kill on top of everything else. So I actually like that they worked that into the Crows plotline, and Inej killing for the first time was to save Kaz’s life.

Just like Kaz’s first selfless act was to save her.

(He’d deny it, of course. He protects his investments. He needed her for the job. But the truth is, he did it for her. And he’d do it again. Even if he’d never admit it.)

Meanwhile, Nina and Matthias’ storyline was pretty much note-for-note according to their backstory as it was revealed in Six of Crows, and I loved every second of it. Their chemistry was perfect, their journey from enemies to begrudging allies to friends to maybe something more (Matthias’ stomach cockblocking them when they were about to kiss had me fucking SCREAMING AT THE TV, and then of course the whole ‘betraying him to save him’ thing happened and I sobbed), and then suddenly right back to enemies.

Because from Matthias’ perspective, he trusted a witch--believed in her, liked her, wanted her--and she turned on him. He has no idea that she wasn’t the one who knocked him out in the first place, and no reason to believe her, because as far as he knows, she just confirmed everything he’d ever been told about Grisha. That they are deceitful and treacherous, would turn on you as soon as look at you, that they are dangerous and not to be trusted. It wasn’t revealed in-show but I imagine Matthias’ backstory is largely the same, which means that his entire family was slaughtered by Grisha when he was a young boy, and then he was turned into a brainwashed child soldier by the witch hunters and never knew anything else.

They are perfectly primed for their SoC arc next season and I, for one, am so stoked to see the rest of their journey. And if I slip Netflix a couple twenties, maybe they’ll let Helnik have a happy ending please please please.

Anyway, yeah! I have a lot of thoughts but things are still percolating in my head so I’ll probably float around the tags for a bit and let things settle. This is just a preliminary overview of my thoughts in the immediate aftermath of bingeing the entire show in one night kldfjghdkjfhgkjgf

EDIT TO ADD: I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT ABOUT THE TRUE STAR OF THE SHOW, M I L O

MILO BEST BOY. MILO THE MVP. MILO DESERVES ALL THAT IS GOOD IN THE WORLD AND I HOPE HE LIVES A HAPPY AND HEALTHY AND FULL LITTLE GOAT LIFE.

#shadow and bone #kanej #helnik #darklina #sab spoilers #alina starkov #the darkling #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #malina salt #asked #cobraonthecob

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bulletnotestudies · 3 years

Text

Tag 9 People to Learn about Their Interests!

thanks for the tag @study-van !

BOOKS

Favourite book series? all for the game Comfort book? the house in the cerulean sea Favourite book? another one when i refuse to pick faves, rn my fave stand-alone's maybe gideon the ninth Perfect book to read on a rainy day? people need a storm Favourite character? andrew minyard my beloved 5 favourite quotes from your favourite book(s) that you know by heart?

is your learning curve a horizontal line? (the foxhole court; nora sakavic)

it sounded like a dream; it tasted like damnation. (the foxhole court; nora sakavic)

don't look at me like that. i am not your answer, and you sure as fuck aren't mine. (the king's men; nora sakavic)

i would have come for you. and if i couldn't walk, i'd crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we'd fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. because that's what we do. we never stop fighting. (crooked kingdom; leigh bardugo)

i am being perfectly fucking civil. (the dream thieves; maggie stiefvater)

MUSIC

Favourite genre? tbh anything i vibe with, mostly rock tho Favourite song? recently it's been zitti e buoni bc of course lol Most listened song recently? according to spotify, my most listened song this month has been revolution by elias Song currently stuck in your head? losemyhead by littledeath 5 fave lyrics? i can't pick faves okay, but these come up rn:

"All my life I've been heading for hell But never had I thought I'd drag you down as well I just couldn't resist what he was trying to sell" - we have it all; pim stones (actually the whole of this song, the lyrics are amazing)

"E Coraline piange Coraline ha l'ansia Coraline vuole il mare Ma ha paura dell'acqua E forse il mare è dentro di lei" - coraline; måneskin

"Where the light shivers offshore Through the tides of oceans We are shining in the rising sun // As we are floating in the blue I am softly watching you Oh boy, your eyes betray what burns inside you" - i love you; woodkid

"I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim" - can you feel my heart; bring me the horizon

"You crazy assed cosmonaut Remember your virtue Redemption lies plainly in truth" - achilles come down; gang of youths

TV AND MOVIES

Favourite tv/movie genre? oh idK srsly, anything that's good Comfort movie? pirates of the caribbean (the original trilogy), the hunger games 1 & 2 Movie you watch every year? nerve, the hunger games, hp Favourite movie? again, i don't have a single fave, but one of them is parasite Favourite tv show? currently it's probs shadow and bone bc ofc it is Comfort tv show? shadow and bone, but also honestly just whichever i'm watching atm Most rewatched tv show? i rarely rewatch tbh, but i am gonna rewatch alice in borderland and s&b soon 5 fave characters?

kaz brekker; shadow and bone

jon snow; game of thrones

shuntarō chishiya; alice in borderland

jesper fahey; shadow and bone

daenerys targaryen; game of thrones (let's be clear, the ending does simly not exist in my mind)

jack sparrow; pirates of the caribbean

half of this is probs inaccurate bc my braincell's on vacay atm, so if i've forgotten a fave..... nothing happens, but the possibility's there lol

i'm gonna tag @myhoneststudyblr @tungumalaast @dutch-polyglot @athenastudying @medustudies @la-galaxie-langblr @smileystudies @asteristudy @studywithzorah if you guys feel like it x

#tag game #thanks yasemin!#i suddenly couldn't remember a single movie i've watched or book i've read lmao this was hard

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mundungs · 3 years

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ϟ. → robert sheehan : genderfluid : he/they/she : dealer of illicit objects and substances : the raven by the alan parsons project ϟ did you see mundungus fletcher ? you know , 31 year old halfblood who was formally in ravenclaw. some say dung can be quite furtive but are known to be unreliable. they are aligned with the order . maybe that’s why they remind me of naming stray cats, flicking a lighter over and over again, falling asleep on the subway. ϟ

some links for food

bio

stats

pins

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history

ciannán o’donnell is a flighty man, one of many relationships and flings and little loyalty, and so his affair with maeve fletcher does not last long. when she tells him she is pregnant, he moves on to a different woman, and maeve has her son alone, with her sister on her side. and thus, mundungus is born (and giving an arguably atrocious name).

he grows up with his mum – a halfblooded witch and by far his favourite person in the world – in limerick, attending muggle school there. he knew who his dad was, but wasn’t quite sure how to feel about — his father is a criminal, a prominent member of the irish mob.

he meets his dad for the first time at age seven, and was nothing but impressed. his dad showered him with gifts, his mum watching with a furious look on her face but biting her tongue. that moment was a switch for mundungus; he felt the need to impress his dad. he stole some sweets from a store on his way home from school a week later, fished some pennies out of the pockets of his classmates a few months later. when he phoned his dad to tell him, his laugh was warm and filled with life. his relationship with his dad got better as his behaviour got worse. the thrill of stealing, of doing stuff he wasn’t supposed to, lit him not only on fire because it was exciting, but also because he knew his dad would adore it.

but ciannan, a flighty man, pushes and pulls. and so mundungus was fed disappointment by his father, liking love off a shiny knife rather than a spoon ( silver or plastic, what the fuck does it matter ). details omitted, long story made short: his dad sucks and his mother tries, but mundungus is pulled towards that what smells of danger.

DRUGS MENT. at hogwarts, dung is sorted into ravenclaw. not at all the booksmart type, he falls more into the chaotic-creativity, random-bursts-of-wanting-to-learn-everything-about-something type of ravenclaw. there’s two worlds, then: the muggle world, where he slowly dips his water further in criminal waters, and the wizarding one, where he’s chaotic and messy but a student. when he grows older, these overlap: dung starts selling some of his dad’s weed at hogwarts, and soon gains a reputation of being able to get people less-than-legal shit.

not getting high off your own supply is not a sentiment he agrees with. not then, not later, not now. dung is fun, always in for a party and willing to supply the goods to throw it. if some rich purebloods lose a few galleons at said party, well, it sure isn’t him! END OF TW

he graduates with two newts, in herbology and potions, failing his dada and charms exams. he’s not an academic.

falling into the family business after graduation is easy. mundungus is attracted by the criminal underworld, both that of muggle ireland and that of the wizarding world. knockturn alley was a place frequented in teenage years, but now becomes more his place. he makes connections, exchanges strange potion recipes for other things. makes an odd wager on a bunch of stolen brass scales and turns a profit.

a career is not something that interests him; he is more interested in bending rules and making quick money. thievery, selling illegal shit, heists, fraud, fuck-all. mundungus is not limited by one descriptor, one kind of criminality. he just does what he wants and hopes to make a good penny.

but then he almost gets sent to azkaban over some, in his frank opinion, bullshit. it’s dumbledore who talks the wizengamot out of it, saddling dung up with some community service and persuading him towards the order. he’s twenty three. the war is still fresh. he has no interest in it, but he owes the old man. fine.

mundungus does vehemently oppose blood purity and any kind of discriminatory ideals, an anarchist in his very bones, but he is also cowardly. to side with self-proclaimed rebels is not in his blood and yet it’s where he ends up, bringing shady ties to the underworld to the table and a sheer ability to sneak around and fuck the law. and maybe, amidst the ranks of the order, dung finds something he’s not very familiar with: a large family. and dung? well, he’s the stoner, gay, super-fucking-chaotic cousin.

personality

if jesper fahey and kaz brekker had a child, it would be dung.

other character parallels: fezco ( euphoria ), boris ( the goldfinch ), doug judy ( b99 ), jason mendoza ( the good place ), chris miles ( skins ), nick miller ( new girl ), creed bratton ( the office ), scott lang ( marvel ), lillian ( unbreakable kimmy schmidt )

technically he’s homeless. he’s got a bedroom at his ma’s place, has a ton of squatter connects in the muggle scene and couch surfes aplenty, but dung doesn’t rent a place. why? landlords are evil. he could afford a place, just doesn’t see the point. life’s better with some adventure.

appears very neutral in public as it’s beneficial to his role in the order???

.... tortured artist. writes poetry and loves to draw and paint.

tattooed the fuck up. some are his own designs.

can usually be spotted wearing The Coat, a rly expensive, vintage long coat that he once stole of a pureblood. he’s enlarged the pockets with some handy spellwork and pretty much carries everything he owes in there, like his produce and his money and his second pair of shoes and his art supplies and probably some random trash.

loves animals. he loves stray cats especially <3 they are his kin.

an anarchist. a bit of a punk. a deep idealist with a cowardly heart so constantly betraying himself (and sometimes others?)

queer! enby! genderfluid! i used he/him pronouns throughout this intro but dung truly doesn’t give a damn what u use. loves to dress up in feminine clothes.

has a ton of aliases, lol, the most important one being marigold fincher.

cusses too fuckin much to be healthy :/

oh no he is a big sad insecure kid deep inside :/ dont tell anyone how embarrassing!!!! shhhh!! it’s a secret.

quick connection ideas

victim. wow please. if your character is rich. let me steal from u. pick ur pockets. break into ur house. get some of ur stuff and drop it on the black market.

customer. dung sells. whatever u need. drugs. weird magical things. ask and ye shall receive. his prices are whack but he does deliver <3

pal. party friends! order friends! random encounter friends! dung has a trashmouth and loves to talk pls let him chat u up and u will never be rid of him <3

couch. he couch surfs. a lot. if ur character trusts dung enough to let him into their home (which they shouldnt) then pls let him sleep over for a night. he will leave a strangely expensive necklace on ur kitchen table as a thank u. or wilted flowers. no in between.

skeptic. ur char is in the order and thinks dung is a liability and maybe they have a point. a point mundungus would rather not face :)

dmle bitches. dung hates anyone authoritative but esp the coppers at the ministry (hit wix & aurors) (yea he calls them coppers sorry he doesnt respect them enough to call them aurors <3). give me that doug judy/jake peralta dynamic. or just someone in the dmle who is like ... sigh this guy again???

fwb/one night stand/fling/etc. he’s a bit slutty <333 give him some ppl he’s hooked up with / will hook up with.

#muddywaters.intro #intro.#this one <3 this one has so much dumb energy in one body <3

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thelivebookproject · 3 years

Text

Talking Books With @magnuslightwood-bane!

[What is this and how can I participate?]

Important note: I haven’t changed or edited any of the answers. I’ve only formatted the book titles so they were clearer, but nothing else. Because I’m incapable of shutting up, my comments are between brackets and in italics, so you can distinguish them clearly.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Image description: a square titled “Know the blogger”. Name & pronouns: Ashley, she/her; country: United States; three adjectives to describe her: sarcastic, shy & bubbly /end]

1. What is a book that profoundly shaped the way you are/think?

I think The Lord of the Rings. I am a rather emotional person and am told often that I need to temper my emotions if people are going to want to be around me. If anyone has read The Lord of the Rings they'll know that no one (not even the men) are afraid to express their emotions (and even cry!). This really helped me feel better about how I react to things and I think has made me a more empathetic person because everyone has emotions. The Lord of the Rings I feel has made me feel more loving and loyal and made me realize how lucky am I to have such good friends (on and offline!).

2. Last book character you've wanted to befriend?

This is so hard because I'm reading multiple books at once! 😂 I think probably Jesper Fahey from Six of Crows. I just barely read the book and I instantly fell in love with this sarcastic baby.

[Jesper is a big dumb sweetheart 😍]

3. Do you like reading aloud to other people?

I guess it depends. I trip up on my words sometimes and that's a little embarrassing for me, but when I was younger I would read the Harry Potter series to my little sister because it was like I was fully introducing her to it. I don't know if that makes sense lol

4. Have you ever used a TBR jar?

I haven't actually! 😂😂 I would but there's always a subconscious list of what books I really wanna read. I have a pretty good memory so most of the time I'll remember what I wanted to read next or I'll forget and something totally random will remind me!

5. If you could live in any literary universe, which would it be?

Is this an extremely hard question? Yes. Did I spend an entire day thinking about it? Yes. Ok I kinda feel like I'm betraying my other favorite series but I would go to Middle Earth. Would I get to choose what race I am? Or would I have to stay as a human? If I had to stay as a human I would go what Aragorn did and basically travel everywhere. If I could choose I would wanna be an elf, and /then/ I would travel everywhere. Also everywhere is pretty, or at least has a really cool aesthetic. If I could bring a camera that would be amazing!! And if I could insert myself in a timeline I would totally go and hang out with Thorin's company.

Free space!

I would like everyone to remind everyone to drink water! 💙💙 And if they haven't, check out Lord of the Rings. Could you link my other account @kilioferebor ? it is mostly a LOTR and aesthetics blog

You can follow her at @magnuslightwood-bane.

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Thanks, Ashley! This was lovely.

Next interview: Wednesday, 21st of April

#talking books with #booklr #thelivebookproject #april 2021

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abstract-moth · 3 years

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My thoughts on Shadow and Bone Episode 5

Spoilers below the break of course

The stage and costume design for this episode was extremely well done. Much respect to everyone on the production crew that helped this made this world come to life.

MAL IS ALIVE

I really liked him in this episode. I didn’t expect that in addition to being a good tracker, Mal is a very good fighter. In the last episode he took down an entire Fjerdan unit and in this one he took down a Grisha. He also stood up to the Darkling. Badass.

Genya and Alina’s friendship was really nicely portrayed too. I feel like Genya is one of the few people Alina can really relax and be natural around.

Also those scene with Alina and the Darkling. I’m really trying to abstain from picking a side but let’s just say that this is really just providing ammunition for these shipping wars huh. *throws some popcorn into my mouth*

Do Kaz and Inej not know about Jesper’s abilities? Because it seemed like they didn’t know. Unless they knew and just wanted to force The Conductor to go into the fitting room. Or both.

Jesper’s characterization is on point. Like all this serious stuff is happening with political intrigue and meanwhile Jesper is flirting and fooling around.

Also that scene at the end. Man, Alina really made it easy for them. Normally, I would complain about things being too easy, but watching that I just wanted to laugh.

One thing that did bug me is that some of the pacing is really rushed. There are only 8 episodes so I understand why. However, I cannot feel sad that characters like Marie weren’t fleshed out at all. Meanwhile Genya and the Darkling only have a few scenes of character development. Just wish things could’ve been taken slower.

I think it was a very good choice to change the plot so that Baghra only warns Alina after she learned that the Stag had been found. It got rid of the confusing Witch of the North “I could’ve told you this earlier but I didn’t want to” plot point.

There were a lot more plot twists in this episode. Instead of commenting on each one, here is a direct transcript of all my notes while they were happening:

The Conductor betrayed them. He tried to kill her OHHHH

Awesome fighting Genya

That’s Marie. OHHHHHHHHHH plot twist plot twist plot twist

So they killed Marie? Is she dead?

OHHHH it was all for Kaz’s plan

Kaz: Okay, Plan B

Kaz: *sees an Inferni following him*

Kaz: Scratch that, Plan F

Alina feels her new world crumbling around her. I feel bad for her.

Badass Kaz

Inej kills for Kaz

Man Alina really made it easy for them. LOL.

And those are my thoughts. Onward to episode 6. If episode 6 doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, I’ll probably stop there for today. I have an early start tomorrow.

#shadow and bone #six of crows #shadow and bone spoilers #spoilers #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #alina starkov #mal oretsev #the darkling #genya safin #i'm abstaining from tumblr too btw #bc i really don't want to be spoiled #apologies to all my mutuals #original post

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loiskane · 3 years

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Shadow and Bone thoughts, notes eps 4-6

Book spoilers (no Rule of Wolves spoilers)

Ep 4

Jesper and the goat!!!!!! I love him

Tbh as much as I love them, I don't love how the Crows take up a good chunk of in every episode. This part is supposed to be Alina's story. Which will be over at some point and then it will be all about them and we're not going to see her and most characters ever again or only briefly. (unless they adapt King of Scars duology please adapt them please)

"You used to hide there as a boy", i smell bullshit Aleksander when were you there as a boy. The fountain is about YOU.

I love seeing filming locations I've been to several times

I like how Marie and Nadia are actually nice to her. They're not like super close with her and probably would ignore her if she was a regular squaller or Materialki but they’re not mean either

Nina!! You tell him

I'm still not trilled with the backstory change and while Danielle is a great actress, she's waay thinner than Nina is in the books. She's probably not Hollywood thin, but still.

It's kinda funny how this plan is similar to what the crew in The Gilded Wolves book do. Pretending to be other people, including artists and performers to break in to a fancy event. Btw The Gilded Wolves is a really great series, and there might be similarities it's not a knock-off SoC. Would recommend it. The second book is even better.

Get away from her go to jail

I wonder if the intimate scene will be in the show (probably yes ewww)

Seeing Mal's side of the story parallel to Alina shows so much they are so tragic at this point. Even in the books it's clear he cares for her a lot, we just see it through Alina's pov who doubts

We get a little less from Alina though

Her using her powers is amazing though

Ep 5

These backdrops are so Hungarian sometimes lol

Grisha will have new opportunities. King of Scars says no. But hopefully after Rule of wolves things will be better.

That is not what a straight person would do Genya, I don't care you're a tailor who touches people's faces all the time

YES THEY GOT THE POWERFUL MEN LINE

DAVID

They are so cute (Genya and Alina, and Genya and David too )

Book spoilers make me sad

We love an Inej and Jesper scene (I also stood in the literal spot they're standing omg last time I visited there)

What a show off I love him

They are so cuteeee sneaking out

Fedyor was just pranking them

Oh you need a FABRIKATOR to open it if only we had one of thosee

Also I'm waiting on them showing Jesper is attracted to women too, he's the bi disaster

Idunwantit.gif (to Darklina)

She's so funny

Get away from her

Omg nooooooo

JESPER

He looks fine in that uniform

"I'm a terrible actor" suree

Zoyaa. Oh that's interesting.

Gay (queer) heartrenders?? Feeding each other?? Did i misread that?

It's a shame they didn't put Genya in green for this like in the book

SUN SUMMONER

Oh Inej

He's so arrogant I want to hit him the face

Genya WRECKED him

What is she wearing under her kefta so it’s bulletproof? Did David make something for her awww

Nooooo

oh shit right Genya can't heal major injuries

Oh no who's going to die in Siege and Storm if Marie's already dead?? Not Nadia I hope. They could give a bigger part to the Alkemi girl who also dies there in the books. Also how will this affect Fedyor, losing Marie is key to him betraying them to the Darkling, but since her death happens earlier and not because they opposed the Darkling, but under his rule so then why would he betray them

At least he asks for consent?? (i still hate him though)

“Maybe you're dehydrated from the heat in your hut", that was savage Alina lol

Baghra dragging the Darkling, we stan

Well the mission is not going well is it Kaz

Is Kaz Brekker really worth killing for though??

She just jumped off that balcony wow

This shows exactly who he is, dude just threatened his own mother

Ep. 6

Zoya is so pretty

Ben is doing a c t i n g

"Poor Nina". Like you actually care, beyond her being an asset

They let her gooo

Inej and Alina awww

Szentendre (aka Ryevost) - sorry i’m annoying abt filming locations but 1 of my all time favourite fantasy series gets adapted and shot in the country i live in

Dragonfruit!!!

fuck that racist guy

Well Zoya's not wrong, she left on her own

Zoya he's not worth it

Zoya using her powers yeees

He found his way back to her!!

Sharing a bed trope always a good one

we stan the height difference (Alina & Mal)

HE SAID THE THING is this once upon a time (I will always find youuuu)

Heleen has the shares because Kaz is an idiot sometimes who does idiot stuff

See her powers don't scare him, stop saying he's intimidated by her being strong and more powerful than him he's not

The lineeeee, I will NEVER get over

Oh Matthias you'll never be back in your bed ooof

"I like it when you turn red", i mean increased circulation is good when you're cold

You are not happy people Matthias! but ofc you, a Fjerdan MAN, would say this

Askskjdf so many book lines

They are cute

Never been a huuge stan of them but they are cute

So ketfas are resistant to bullets okay (i feel this was probably in the books)

David still could've made hers though, which is cute but also messed up because Genya's kefta represents her being a servant and what the Darkling GIFTING HER to the Queen led to

Zoya's smile after scaring people i love it

Now this is interesting

Smoke and mirrors, smoke and mirrors, works even against the Darkling

I hope they don't make this into a rivalry idk if I want the Crows to be too involved with the fight against the Darkling

Nina is so extra and shameless I love her

She killed again, I blame Kaz

Noo don't hit David, how DARE you Kaz

They stole his carriage looool

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #shadow and bone spoilers

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